Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): I join with the Prime Minister in honouring the life of Anthony Austin Street. Born in 1926, the son of Evora and Geoffrey Street, Tony was raised on the family farm, just near Lismore. His father was a veteran of Gallipoli and the Western Front who later served as Minister for Defence, Minister for Army and Minister for Repatriation in Menzies's United Australia Party. Tragedy struck Tony early in life, at just 14 years old, when his father was killed in the Canberra air disaster in 1940. Such was his father's influence, Tony would follow in his military and political footsteps. The graduate of Melbourne Grammar joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1944 as a gunnery radar operator. He served on three of Her Majesty's Australian ships, seeing action in the Pacific. From the high seas to the seat of Corangamite—Tony was elected in 1966, 32 years after his father's victory in the same electorate. Tony had joined the Liberal Party 20 years earlier, seeing it as the only party which represented the whole of Australia. In his maiden speech, the man born and bred on the land spoke passionately about Australia's primary producers. He espoused the benefits of applying scientific methods to increase production, describing extension work as 'the primary producer's most valuable weapon in his continual battle against rising costs'. He imparted the value that computers and data analysis would progressively play in managing the increased complexity of farming operations. Such prescient ideas in 1967 reflected the mind of a policy powerhouse—a man who would go on to hold wide-ranging political positions. Under Billy McMahon's prime ministership, Tony was the Assistant Minister for Labour and National Service. During the Whitlam years he held the shadow ministries of social security and welfare, health, primary industry, shipping and transport, and science and technology. Most prominently, under Fraser's prime ministership, he was the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Public Service Matters, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, championing Australia's role as a middle power in the latter. While seeking to promote industrial productivity through better employer and union relationships, Tony was nonetheless one to stand his ground. In 1972 he helped break union attempts to ban the export of merino rams. The Courier-Mail said that occasional TV confrontations with Labor politicians and union leaders usually found the unruffled Tony Street winning on points with his firm but polite and concise statements. It was his soft, sincere and conciliatory manner which Bob Hawke respected. The then ACTU president worked constructively with Minister Street in trying to curb the nation's unemployment and industrial downturn. Just as Tony was a loyal Liberal, he was a trustworthy lieutenant of his prime minister. With Fraser towering over Street, their critics frequently labelled the old friends 'the odd couple'. The self-deprecating Street laughed it off, recalling that in his navy days he and a tall friend were called 'dot and dash'. Tony's passion for politics was matched by the obsession with cricket. He was admired for being a mean spinner with a devastating leg break when playing for his school's first XI. After retiring from parliament in 1984, Tony served on the Melbourne Cricket Club's committee for 14 years. Notably, he is the MCC's longest serving member, with a tenure of just under 90 years, having joined at age six. A column in the National Times in 1975 gives us a pithy measure of Tony's character, describing him as a conscientious and hard worker, a solid family man—polite, cautious and pragmatic. Tony will be remembered as a country-loving, motorbike-riding, Cessna-flying cricket tragic who approached all aspects of life with a balance of realism and idealism. On behalf of the coalition, I offer my heartfelt condolences to Tony's colleagues, friends and family, especially his wife, Ricky, and his three sons, Geoffrey, Alan and Philip. May he rest in peace. The SPEAKER: As a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. Anthony Austin Street, I ask all present to rise in their places. Honourable members having stood in the ir places— The SPEAKER: I thank the House. Debate adjourned.