Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to add my voice to those of colleagues in honouring the life and legacy of the late senator John Owen Stone. John Stone was one of the great conservative thinkers of his generation. He served our country at the highest level of public administration, brought deep economic insight to the Treasury and, in this chamber, made a contribution that will never be forgotten.

Although he was a senator for Queensland, John Stone was born in 1929 in Perth, in my home state of Western Australia, so I feel both a personal and a state pride in his life and achievements. He was educated at Perth Modern School and later at the University of Western Australia before winning a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University, where he read philosophy, politics and economics and where he stood out for his formidable intellect and clarity of thought.

The parallels with John Stone's later political opponent Bob Hawke are uncanny. Both were born in 1929, both attended Perth Modern School and UWA, and both won a Rhodes Scholarship. Each was president of the undergraduate guild at UWA, with John Stone having defeated Bob Hawke for the presidency in 1951. It probably explains why there was never any love lost between the two in the many decades that followed.

Returning to Australia, he joined the Commonwealth Treasury in 1954 and, over the next three decades, became one of the most influential public servants of his time. His rise was swift but deserved, and in 1979 he was appointed secretary to the Treasury, serving under prime ministers Fraser and Hawke. It was not an easy time to carry out such a significant role. The Australian economy was experiencing significant upheaval, with inflation, stagflation and structural weaknesses that would later demand sweeping reform. Through it all, John Stone brought a disciplined, conservative perspective to economic management. He believed in sound money, restrained government and policies that promoted self-reliance, productivity and national resilience. He was never afraid to speak truth to power. Indeed, that was one of his hallmarks. As Treasury secretary, he saw his role as the custodian of economic integrity, and, while his forthrightness at times unsettled ministers, no-one ever doubted the quality of his judgement. But it did lead him to openly clash with several of the treasurers he would serve, including a young John Howard.

He was the driving force behind the Fraser government's 'fight inflation first' strategy, and his conservative economics, coupled with his influence on the government, led South Australian premier Don Dunstan to describe the period as the 'new Stone Age'. So great an asset was John Stone that, following Labor's 1983 election win, he was kept on at the Treasury by Paul Keating, despite the reservations of Bob Hawke and the rest of his cabinet. Nevertheless, John Stone resigned in August 1984.

Shortly after, John Stone delivered the Edward Shann Memorial Lecture in economics at UWA titled '1929 and all that'. This lecture drew parallels between the state of the Australian economy in the 1980s and the state of the Australian economy on the eve of the Great Depression, pointing to three key problems: financial mismanagement, protectionism and ossified labour markets. Along with Gerard Henderson's essay 'The industrial relations club', John Stone's speech provided the intellectual foundations for the formation of the HR Nicholls Society in 1986, where he initially served as president and remained involved for decades. I shouldn't say this, but on this occasion I will. Many years ago, I was gifted a tie of the HR Nicholls Society—a gift that I took great pride in—and it sits in my Senate suite to this day. But I know that we can keep a secret!

In 1987, John Stone made the rare transition from mandarin to parliamentarian, elected as a National Party senator for Queensland. One could ask how a Western-Australian-born classical liberal economist living in Sydney arrived in this chamber as a Queensland National Party senator. He was offered the spot on the party's Queensland Senate ticket after developing the Joh for Canberra campaign's single-rate tax policy. When delivering his maiden speech, he wore his HR Nicholls Society tie—I'm not—though he reassured other senators:

… when I put on this tie this morning I had no intention of being provocative.

Whilst many, including John Howard, blamed the Joh for Canberra campaign for the coalition's 1987 election loss, John Stone was appointed shadow minister for finance. Though his time in this chamber was brief, it was impactful. John Stone brought with him an unparalleled grasp of economic and constitutional matters, and he used that expertise to sharpen our debates and challenge assumptions. It is no surprise that a politician with John Stone's keen economic insight and vision held ambitions to be the Treasurer, and in 1990 he resigned from the Senate to unsuccessfully contest a seat in the House of Representatives.

John Stone, though, remained a prolific writer, speaker and contributor to conservative publications, particularly Quadrant. He was particularly concerned with the creeping centralisation of power in Canberra and was a staunch defender of states' rights, something he attributed in part to his Western Australian upbringing. This led John Stone to his next political project, which was inspired by what he perceived as a growing disregard by the Hawke government for the federal principles of the Australian Constitution in the Tasmanian dams matter, including attempts to amend the Constitution with four simultaneous referenda in 1988.

In 1992, he co-founded the Samuel Griffith Society, of which I'm a proud member. The society is dedicated to defending the Constitution against all who would attempt to undermine it, particularly in support of decentralisation, federalism and the restoration of the authority of parliament. With the support of his wife, Nancy, John Stone led the organisation until his retirement in 2009. How fitting it is then that he will be especially remembered this month when the national conference of the Samuel Griffith Society is held in Perth.

His views were never for the fainthearted. He was a man of strong convictions and a robust defender of traditional liberal conservative values. He spoke with clarity, sometimes sharply, reflecting a frustration with what he saw as drift or compromise. John Stone himself would not have shied away from the fact that some of his contributions were controversial. He believed public life demanded honesty, even perhaps especially when it was uncomfortable. In an era increasingly wary of strong views and unfashionable opinions, John Stone reminded us that a healthy democracy requires diversity of thought, intellectual courage and the space to disagree. Despite this, those who knew him personally remember a man of courtesy, loyalty and great personal discipline. He was, of course, deeply devoted to his wife, Nancy, and to their entire family.

As a Western Australian, I'm proud that our state produced such a formidable national servant. As a Liberal senator, I pay tribute to a man who embodied so many of our enduring values. It was a privilege on a number of occasions to have met and spoken with both John and Nancy, most frequently, but not exclusively, at meetings of the Samuel Griffith Society.

As economic debates again circle around inflation, spending and debt, we would do well to revisit the insights of John Stone. His warnings about fiscal excess, short-termism and bureaucratic bloat remain as relevant today as when he first raised them. John Stone's legacy will live in our laws, our debates and in the integrity he brought to every role. Like others, I extend my condolences to his family and to all that knew him.