Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the passing of John Owen Stone AO on 17 July 2025;

(2) notes his extensive contribution to public life, including his service as Secretary to the Treasury, and as a Senator for Queensland;

(3) recognises his role in shaping policy and contributing to the national debate on issues from national economic policy and industrial relations to federalism; and

(4) extends its sincere condolences to his family and pays tribute to his lifelong dedication to the Australian people.

I acknowledge the contributions that will be made by the members for Wide Bay, Bean and Riverina. John Stone was an Australian original, the sort of person our country is fortunate to produce from time to time. Born in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, John was educated at Perth Modern School alongside Bob Hawke and then at the University of Western Australia, where he beat Hawke to become the president of the SRC. John became the 1951 Rhodes scholar for Western Australia and represented his state in hockey. He took out a PPE at Oxford and married Nancy Hardwick, his fellow Western Australian student, the following day. They would be married for 70 years.

As an economist, John joined the Commonwealth Treasury in 1954 and rose through the ranks, serving periods in London and Washington, DC, before returning to Canberra. He became Secretary of the Treasury in 1979, a position he held until his resignation in 1984. John's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury also left a lasting mark. He was at the centre of debates about economic policy when, as now, Australia was grappling with inflation, productivity and the direction of financial markets. His voice helped shape the public conversation about economic reform for nearly 70 years. From there, John entered political life, serving as a National Party senator for Queensland between 1987 and 1990 and as the leader of the National Party in the Senate for the duration of his service. He was also shadow finance minister from 1987 to 1989.

After parliament, John became a much-sought-after company director. I'm too young to remember John's career in the Public Service or the parliament, but I remember first seeing him on television in the early nineties on a program called The Last Shout, hosted by Barrie Cassidy, where John would do battle with some noted leftists—usually Anne Summers, Ros Kelly or Malcolm McGregor. John put his point forcefully, logically and with all the facts at his fingertips. Here was an example of a true lion in debate. He was trenchant, clear, courageous and always entertaining. His crisp language and distinctive intonation made his contributions crisp, compelling and memorable. They were also highly amusing. This was also true of his written contributions in the Australian, the Financial Review and Quadrant.

I came to know John personally through his intellectual and organisational leadership of the great institutions of conservative thought in Australia. He was a thought leader at the Institute of Public Affairs in the 1980s and 1990s. With the late Sir Harry Gibbs, he co-founded the Samuel Griffith Society, devoted to defending the Australian Constitution, especially from a federalist perspective, and John was an early supporter of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. John quoted de Tocqueville in describing these groups as launched to advance some truth and foster some feeling about the great questions of our time.

The annual meetings of the Samuel Griffith Society under John's leadership became a highlight of my year. They were gatherings of patriots, political leaders, lawyers, judges, academics and Australians from all walks of life interested in our Constitution, its history and ideas about public policy. Although the society was largely conservative, John always insisted on debate. He encouraged speakers from different perspectives because he relished arguments. As Nancy once said to me, 'Debate is the stuff of the Stone household,' and so it was with the Samuel Griffith Society. Some of the most important reflections on Australian public life in the last 50 years were delivered under his leadership: Sir Garfield Barwick on the rule of law, Sir Paul Hasluck on the role of the governor-general, and important critiques of the 1999 republic model and a bill of rights, among other issues. These were not just papers; they often shaped the public debate.

Some of my fondest memories of John Stone are of standing at the bar at Samuel Griffith conferences late into the night discussing issues over a few cold beers, just as John did in his Canberra days with public servants and members of the press gallery. Another highlight of any conference came when John himself would rise to the conference floor to make a point or critique and argument with which he disagreed. He attacked arguments with volcanic force, not to wound but to rebut with passion, because that's how John held his convictions. As one of his children said at his funeral, John didn't care if he hurt feelings; he cared about the integrity of the argument. Nancy held convictions strongly too, but she would temper some of John's rougher edges.

Some felt John could be harsh. I never found him so—quite the opposite. John and Nancy were extraordinarily generous to me. I was honoured when John asked me to succeed him as the conference convener of the Samuel Griffith Society, and before I entered parliament, when I wanted to understand the federal budget, it was John who sat me down over several weeks and explained to me the way the budget was put together, why debt was a problem and where to find the key information I was looking for. This was invaluable to someone without an economics background. Joanna and I were privileged to enjoy John and Nancy's hospitality, with sparkling lunches and superb conversation. The fact that he and Nancy raised five remarkable children is further testament to the lives they built together. As it so happens, earlier today the children gathered to scatter John and Nancy Stone's ashes at Wyalkatchem in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, where both John and Nancy grew up. John Stone was a remarkable Australian. May his memory be a blessing.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to contribute to the messages of condolence on the late John Stone AO. John Stone served in the other place from 1987 to 1990, representing the great state of Queensland, and also served as the leader of the National Party in the other place. He was shadow finance minister at a time when questions on our economy and national finances were daily topics of robust debate. He was also a longstanding public official, joining Treasury in 1954 and spending considerable time with the IMF and the World Bank before famously serving as the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury from 1979 to 1984. He was no shrinking violet, often appearing in the media of the day, providing commentary on any economic issue. To a child of the seventies and eighties, the persona of the public service mandarin seemed to be somewhere between Sir Humphrey Appleby and John Stone.

It was in this role that John Stone sat at the very beginning of the great economic reforms of the Hawke and Keating partnership, even though it's fair to say that he was not a strong supporter of those changes or the governments which shepherded them through. The Hawke-Keating years were a heady time of political change marked by the accords. Economic liberalism was matched by generational investments in the social contract. It was my experience of Labor governments during those times that started me on the journey that ultimately ended here. It was a time marked by a contest of ideas, and the outcomes of this process shaped our nation.

John Stone was an active participant in that contest. He had firm, sincerely held views and put these views forward forcefully in the public discourse, and even more so after resigning as secretary of the Treasury six days out from the 1984 budget. He was an economic rationalist during the time of the emergence of the third wave of social democratic and progressive politics. He was a sceptic on aspects of immigration when modern Australian multiculturalism began to come into form. He was a foundational member of the HR Nicholls Society and then later the Samuel Griffith Society. Don Dunstan famously described his ascendency in Treasury in the mid-seventies as being 'the Stone Age'.

His contributions to debate in the other place were always robustly informed by his personal philosophy and his extensive education and experience in public policy. His debates with the late Peter Walsh as finance minister were frequent features of the business of the Senate during that period. John Stone was very much a product of his time and his extensive education. His contributions to important debates on public policy helped shape outcomes in important ways during an incredibly important time of national reform and change. He resigned from the Senate on 1 March 1990 to run for the seat of Fairfax but failed to win the seat at the elections later that month. His career as parliamentarian might have been over, but he continued to make a significant contribution to public life.

It's not an exaggeration to say that I did not share John Stone's world view or philosophy—quite the opposite!—but it says something deeply profound about the fundamental decency of our democracy and the need for debate that I can stand here and respectfully reflect on the life and contributions of someone with whom I had deep disagreements. This sort of contribution is impossible in many other places around the world, but it's a normal and expected part of public discourse in our national parliament. I believe this is a good sign of the health of our democracy, a democracy that John Stone actively contributed to, not just during his time in parliament but before and after parliament.

But, above all, John Stone was a dedicated servant of his country, and he leaves behind a family which can, with justification, feel pride at his service and achievements over many decades. To his family, I convey my deepest sympathies and condolences for their loss. Vale, John Stone.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's an honour to rise and speak to this motion put forward by the member for Berowra, and I acknowledge the fine contributions before me. In July this year, Australia lost a great statesman with the passing of John Owen Stone OAM. Born in regional Western Australia in 1929, John was the oldest son of a farmer and a schoolteacher, and his early life on the farm during the Great Depression taught him the value of hard work and the importance of good education. John's early schooling was in a small, one-teacher school and then via correspondence, but his intelligence and drive to succeed did not go unnoticed. At the age of 12, his life changed when he earned one of 50 scholarships, which enabled him to attend any state Western Australian high school of his choice. This was just the first of John's many outstanding academic and career achievements.

John moved to Perth with his mother and brother and went to the Perth Modern School, where he was a member of the school's first XI cricket team, captained the hockey team and was a member of the state representative hockey team that won the 1948 and 1949 national championships. Although he loved history and languages, John chose to study science and mathematics, achieving high marks and seven distinctions—the maximum number possible—in his leaving certificate examination. After high school, John studied at the University of Western Australia, majoring in mathematical physics and serving as president of the students' association before graduating in 1950 with first-class honours.

John continued to excel, winning one of Western Australia's select exhibition prizes, the physics and mathematics exhibition, and became the 1951 Rhodes Scholar for Western Australia. He studied economics at Oxford, winning the James Webb Medley Scholarship in economics, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in politics, philosophy and economics. In 1954 John went to work at the Australian Treasury and married a biochemical researcher, Nancy Hardwick. John and Nancy had five children.

John held several pivotal Treasury roles before becoming Secretary of the Australian Treasury in 1979 under the Fraser government, a position he held until his departure in 1984. After Treasury, John held a number of positions, including as: professor in the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University; senior fellowship at the Institute of Public Affairs; national paper columnist; public speaker; and founding member of the Council for the National Interest and of the HR Nicholls Society. In 1987 John was elected as a senator for Queensland and became Leader of the National Party in the Senate and shadow minister for finance before resigning from the Senate in 1990 to run for the House of Representatives.

John's campaign for the House of Representatives was unsuccessful; however, he continued to contribute to the nation, becoming a member of the committee to inquire into the efficiency and effectiveness of the Australian Defence Force in 1996 and 1997. He founded the Samuel Griffiths Society and contributed to newspapers and periodicals like the Quadrant and the National Observer. He held firm opinions about government, having too much power in society, about the public service becoming too politicised to give independent advice, and about trade unions having too much power over government. But he felt these concerns could be exposed and combatted by vigorous debate, which he saw as the lifeblood of democracy.

In 2022 John's contribution to the parliament and public administration were recognised when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, and he has been described as a man of total integrity and considerable wit and mastery of the language. He made an enormous contribution to our nation. John passed away in July at the age of 96. May he rest in peace.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.