Tony Street

The Honourable
Tony Street
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
3 November 1980 – 11 March 1983
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byAndrew Peacock
Succeeded byBill Hayden
Minister for Industrial Relations
In office
5 December 1978 – 3 November 1980
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byAndrew Peacock
Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations
In office
22 December 1975 – 5 December 1978
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded by
  • Ian Viner (Employment)
  • Himself (Industrial Relations)
Minister for Labor and Immigration
In office
11 November 1975 – 22 December 1975
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byJim McClelland
Succeeded by
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Corangamite
In office
26 November 1966 – 18 January 1984
Preceded byDan Mackinnon
Succeeded byStewart McArthur
Personal details
Born
Anthony Austin Street

(1926-02-08)8 February 1926
Melbourne, Australia
Died25 October 2022(2022-10-25) (aged 96)
Political partyLiberal
RelationsStreet family
Parent
Residence(s)'Eildon', Lismore, Victoria

Anthony Austin Street (8 February 1926 – 25 October 2022) was an Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1966 to 1984, representing the Division of Corangamite for the Liberal Party. He held ministerial office in the Fraser government, serving as Minister for Labor and Immigration (1975), Employment and Industrial Relations (1975–1978), Industrial Relations (1978–1980), and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1980–1983). His father Geoffrey Street was also a federal government minister. Street was the last surviving Liberal minister of the first Fraser ministry, as well as the last surviving Assistant Minister of the McMahon government.

Early life

Street was born in Melbourne on 8 February 1926, one of two children born to Evora (née Currie) and Geoffrey Street and was raised at the family property 'Eildon', near Lismore, Victoria. His father was elected to federal parliament in 1934 and promoted to the ministry in 1938. He was killed in the 1940 Canberra air disaster, when his son was 14 years old.[1]

Street attended Melbourne Grammar School. After leaving school in 1944 he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy and served as an able seaman aboard HMAS Norman (M 84), HMAS Queenborough and HMAS Shropshire.[2]

Political career

In 1966 Street was elected as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Corangamite division in Victoria, Australia. He remained in this position, winning re-election, until he resigned on 18 January 1984.[3]

From 14 September 1971, during the McMahon Ministry, he was Assistant Minister assisting the Minister for Labour and National Service. In the First Fraser Ministry he became the Minister for Labour and Immigration. In the Second Fraser Ministry he served as Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, and Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Public Service Matters. During the Third Fraser Ministry he served as minister in several posts, including Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Minister for Industrial Relations. Swapping portfolios with Andrew Peacock, Street served as Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs during the Fourth Fraser Ministry, from 1980 until 1983.[4]

As employment minister, Street ordered the Commonwealth Employment Service to discontinue collecting its seasonal unemployment statistics on the grounds that they had become inaccurate. Responsibility was transferred to the Australian Bureau of Statistics which began issuing monthly figures.[5]

Street supported multilateralism as foreign minister, stating that "in its role as a middle power, Australia needs a foreign policy which encompasses not just bilateral relations but the multilateral diplomacy of international organisations and blocs of countries acting together".[6]

Street's prominent public addresses included the 1979 Alfred Deakin Memorial Lecture "Class Conflict or Common Goals" and the 1982 Roy Milne Memorial Lecture "Alliances and Foreign Policy Today".[7]

Personal life and death

Street held directorships in several companies and served as a Melbourne Cricket Club committee member. He ran a family property at Lismore.[8]

Street died on 25 October 2022, at the age of 96.[9][10]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tony Street.
  1. ^ Hazlehurst, Cameron (1990). "Street, Geoffrey Austin (1894–1940)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12.
  2. ^ "The Hon Anthony Austin Street OM 1944". Melbourne Grammar School. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Ministries and Cabinets". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. ^ Appendix 3: Fourth Fraser Ministry, 3 November 1980 to 7 May 1982, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 25 July 2016
  5. ^ Hutchens, Gareth (15 August 2021). "When politicians manipulated employment data, and journalism was disgraceful". ABC News. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. ^ Ungerer, Carl (6 November 2013). "Abbott must abandon his Anglosphere nonsense". The Australian. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. ^ "The Hon Anthony Austin Street | Melbourne Grammar School".
  8. ^ "The Hon Anthony Austin Street | Melbourne Grammar School".
  9. ^ "STREET, Tony". Herald Sun. News Corporation AU. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Vale Hon Anthony (Tony) Street". Melbourne Cricket Club. Melbourne Cricket Club. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Labour and Immigration
1975 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations
1975–1978 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New title
 Minister for Industrial Relations
1978–1980 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Foreign Affairs
1980–1983 		Succeeded by
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Corangamite
1966–1984 		Succeeded by