John Owen Stone (born 31 January 1929) is a former
Australian public servant and politician. He was Secretary to the
Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...
between 1979 and 1984,
and a senator for Queensland, representing the
National Party, from 1987 to 1990.
Early life
Stone was born on 31 January 1929 in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
. After gaining
first class honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
in
mathematical physics
Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The '' Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developme ...
for his
bachelor of science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree and representing his state at
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
(under 21), he was selected as the
Rhodes Scholar from Western Australia for 1951. At
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
he was awarded first class honours in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and won the
James Webb Medley Prize for Economics
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
.
Public service career
In 1954, Stone returned to Australia and joined the
Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...
. He rose within the Treasury department to become
Secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
during the period of the
Fraser government. He penned a severe critique of Fraser's economic policies, which was used against the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
once the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
won the
1983 federal election. He supported some of the Hawke-Keating government's economic reforms, although he had little time for
Bob Hawke or
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
personally. While his resignation from the Treasury did not become effective until 14 September 1984, he announced his imminent departure on 15 August 1984, just six days before the 1984–85 Budget was handed down. That was seen by commentators at the time as a strongly adverse comment on the government's direction.
Despite holding what were seen by some to be
neoliberal economic views, Stone initially opposed the decision in December 1983 to float the Australian dollar, and consistently deplored a
consumption tax
A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added tax. However, a consumpti ...
. In fact, after it was introduced, he repeatedly denounced the
GST GST may refer to:
Taxes
* General sales tax
* Goods and Services Tax, the name for the value-added tax in several jurisdictions:
** Goods and services tax (Australia)
** Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
** Goods and Services Tax (Hong Kong)
**G ...
, and then–Treasurer
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...
.
Politics
An informal advisor to
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
's longest-serving
premier, Sir
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...
, Stone was elected to the
Australian Senate at the
1987 election representing Queensland, as a member of the pro-Bjelke-Petersen
National Party.
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
, Liberal Party leader at the time, appointed Stone as the Opposition finance spokesman. Following the release of the
Coalition's ''
One Australia'' immigration policy in 1988, Stone said: "Asian immigration has to be slowed. It's no use dancing around the bushes."
In 1990, Stone left the Senate and contested the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
seat of
Fairfax, his Senate place being taken by
Bill O'Chee
William George "Bill" O'Chee (born 19 June 1965) is an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 1999, representing the state of Queensland.
Biography
O'Chee was born to a Chinese father and a ...
.
Unsuccessful in his attempt to win Fairfax, he abandoned parliamentary life but remained very much in the public eye.
Later activities
After 1990, Stone was an outspoken critic of multiculturalism and a supporter of the
Samuel Griffith Society, which he helped found. He had a column on economics and politics in ''
The Australian Financial Review
''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...
''. Other Australian publications for which he wrote include ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', the quarterly ''
National Observer'', and ''
Quadrant''. Stone was critical of the Howard Government for eroding the power of the states within the Australian
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
system, regarding that as a departure from the long-standing Liberal/National coalition support for "states' rights". However, in an article published in the March 2008 issue of ''Quadrant'', Stone argued that Howard had been Australia's greatest Prime Minister.
In June 2022, Stone was appointed
Officer of the Order of Australia in the
2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to the people and Parliament of Australia, and to public administration".
Notes
References
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, John
Australian Rhodes Scholars
Living people
1929 births
Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland
Members of the Australian Senate
National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Officers of the Order of Australia
People educated at Perth Modern School
Politicians from Perth, Western Australia
Secretaries of the Department of the Treasury of Australia
University of Western Australia alumni
20th-century Australian politicians
Quadrant (magazine) people