John Elden McLeay (30 March 1922 – 26 December 2000) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and represented the Division of Boothby in South Australia from 1966 to 1981. He held ministerial office in the Fraser government as Minister for Construction (1975–1978) and Administrative Services (1978–1980).

Early life

McLeay was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, the son of Sir John McLeay, a federal politician, as was his brother,

George McLeay George McLeay (6 August 1892 – 14 September 1955) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Menzies Liberal government. Early life McLeay was born in Port Clinton, South Australia and educated at Port Clinton Public School unt ...

. McLeay was educated at Scotch College and volunteered for the second Australian Imperial Force in 1941 and served in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

as a gunner from 1942 to 1943. He was a member of the

Unley City Council Unley is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, within the City of Unley. The suburb is the home of the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Unley neighbours Adelaide Park Lands, Fullarton ...

from 1949 to 1970 and was mayor from 1961 to 1963.

Political career

After his father's retirement as the member for Boothby, McLeay was elected in his place at the 1966 election, representing the Liberal Party. He was supportive of the white minority governments in South Africa and

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. While visiting the latter in February 1970, he was interviewed on a

Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...

television program, during which he controversially described Australia as "almost a Communist state" and praised Rhodesia as "much more advanced in some ways than we are". Prime Minister John Gorton subsequently stated that the government had no intentions of relaxing sanctions on Rhodesia. The interview increased McLeay's profile in Australia and his name became "a by-word for right-wing opinions" according to ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

''. McLeay was Assistant Minister assisting the

Minister for Civil Aviation The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...

from August 1971 until the defeat of the McMahon government at the December 1972 election. He was appointed Minister for Construction in the Fraser ministry from December 1975 until December 1978, when he was appointed Minister for Administrative Services. He was not reappointed to the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

in November 1980 and resigned from parliament in January 1981.

Later life

McLeay was Australia's Consul General to Los Angeles from 1981 to 1983. He was survived by his wife, Clythe and their three sons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeay, John Jr. 1922 births 2000 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Boothby Members of the Australian House of Representatives Consuls-General of Australia in Los Angeles Politicians from Adelaide John Jr. People educated at Scotch College, Adelaide 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers