John Elden McLeay (30 March 1922 – 26 December 2000) was an Australian politician. He was a member of 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. For example, while the political systems ...

and represented the

Division of Boothby The Division of Boothby is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian federal electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistrib ...

in South Australia from 1966 to 1981. He held ministerial office in the

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

as Minister for Construction (1975–1978) and Administrative Services (1978–1980).

Early life

McLeay was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, 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 u ...

. McLeay was educated at Scotch College and volunteered for the

second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

in 1941 and served in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

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

. He was supportive of the white minority governments in South Africa and

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. 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 Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician, farmer and airman who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. He held office as the leader of the leade ...

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 1 ...

''. McLeay was Assistant Minister assisting the Minister for Civil Aviation from August 1971 until the defeat of the

McMahon government The McMahon government was the period of federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister William McMahon of the Liberal Party. It was made up of members of a coalition between the Liberal Party and the Country Party, led by ...

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 in November 1980 and resigned from parliament in January 1981.

Later life

McLeay was Australia's

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

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 for Australia in Los Angeles Politicians from Adelaide John Jr. People educated at Scotch College, Adelaide Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Australian MPs 1966–1969 Australian MPs 1969–1972 Australian MPs 1972–1974 Australian MPs 1974–1975 Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983