56 Facts About Ian Sinclair

Ian McCahon Sinclair was born on 10 June 1929 and is an Australian former politician who served as a Member of Parliament for 35 years, and was leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989.

Ian Sinclair served as either a minister or opposition frontbencher for all but a few months from 1965 to 1989, and later Speaker of the House of Representatives from March to August 1998.

Ian Sinclair was elected to parliament in 1963, and added to the ministry in 1965 as part of the Menzies Government.

Ian Sinclair was elected deputy leader of his party in 1971.

Ian Sinclair was a senior member of the Fraser government, spending periods as Minister for Primary Industry, Minister for Communications, and Minister for Defence.

In 1984, Ian Sinclair replaced Anthony as leader of the Nationals.

Ian Sinclair led the party to two federal elections, in 1984 and 1987, but was replaced by Charles Blunt in 1989.

Ian Sinclair was father of the parliament from 1990 until his retirement at the 1998 election.

Ian Sinclair spent his final six months in parliament as Speaker of the House of Representatives, following the sudden resignation of Bob Halverson; he is the only member of his party to have held the position.

Ian Sinclair served as co-chair of the 1998 constitutional convention, alongside Barry Jones.

Ian Sinclair is entitled to the Right Honourable prefix as one of the few surviving Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

Ian Sinclair was the son of Gertrude Hazel and George McCahon Sinclair.

Ian Sinclair attended Knox Grammar before going on to the University of Sydney, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1949 and Bachelor of Laws in 1952.

Ian Sinclair served in the No 22 Squadron RAAF from 1950 to 1952, as part of the Citizen Air Force.

Ian Sinclair instead took up a grazing property near Bendemeer and set up the Sinclair Pastoral Company, of which he became managing director.

Ian Sinclair was a director of the Farmers and Graziers' Co-operative Limited from 1962 to 1965.

Ian Sinclair married Margaret Anne Tarrant in 1956, with whom he had one son and two daughters.

Ian Sinclair remarried on 14 February 1970 to Rosemary Fenton, who had been Miss Australia in 1960; they had one son together.

Ian Sinclair resigned in order to seek election to the House of Representatives at the 1963 federal election, retaining the Division of New England for the Country Party after the retirement of David Drummond.

In 1965, Ian Sinclair was appointed Minister for Social Services in the Menzies Government, replacing Hugh Roberton.

Ian Sinclair stood for the deputy leadership of the Country Party after the 1966 federal election, but was defeated by Doug Anthony.

When Country Party leader John McEwen retired in February 1971, Anthony was elected as his replacement and Ian Sinclair defeated Peter Nixon for the deputy leadership.

McMahon wanted Ian Sinclair to become Minister for Foreign Affairs, but for various reasons had to keep him in the primary industry portfolio and appoint Les Bury as foreign minister instead.

Ian Sinclair did later serve as acting foreign minister in Bury's absence.

In 1973, Ian Sinclair was one of the six Country MPs to vote in favour of John Gorton's motion calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

In 1977, Ian Sinclair was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

The Finnane Report, which was tabled in the Parliament of New South Wales on 27 September 1979, alleged that Ian Sinclair had improperly loaned himself money from companies he controlled, attempted to conceal the loans, and forged his father's signature on company returns.

Ian Sinclair's supporters criticised the report on several grounds, including that the inquiry was conducted in secret, that its release prejudiced Sinclair's right to a fair trial, and that it was politically biased as both Walker and Finnane were members of the ALP.

Ian Sinclair was found not guilty on all charges on 15 August 1980, following a 23-day trial in the District Court of New South Wales.

Ian Sinclair returned to the ministry in August 1980 as Minister for Special Trade Representations.

Ian Sinclair was finally made Minister for Defence in May 1982, holding the position until the government's defeat at the 1983 election.

Ian Sinclair was elected as his replacement on 17 January 1984, defeating Stephen Lusher by an unspecified margin.

In 1985, Ian Sinclair came into conflict with the National Farmers' Federation over his claims that the organisation did not have the support of farmers.

Ian Sinclair came into conflict with the Liberal Party on a number of occasions.

Ian Sinclair denounced former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser's support of sanctions against apartheid South Africa, accusing him of "prejudice against Southern Africa and the whites there".

Ian Sinclair proclaimed a "deep abhorrence" of apartheid, but believed the sanctions were too "heavy-handed".

Ian Sinclair supported the re-admission of South Africa to the United Nations, the lifting of the sporting boycott, the re-establishment of an Australian trade commission, and direct flights between Australia and South Africa.

Later in the year, Ian Sinclair questioned the value of ANZUS, stating that Australia should reconsider its commitments to New Zealand as it had become too isolationist.

Ian Sinclair believed Australia should adopt a more assertive role than provided for in the Dibb Report.

Ian Sinclair opposed trade sanctions on Fiji following the 1987 coups d'etat and was accused by foreign minister Bill Hayden of sympathising with the perpetrators.

The immediate trigger for Ian Sinclair's defeat was dissatisfaction with his conditional support for the Hawke government's deregulation of the wheat industry.

When Blunt lost his seat at the 1990 election, Ian Sinclair made an attempt to regain the NPA leadership, but was defeated by Tim Fischer, and retired to the back bench.

Ian Sinclair was thus the first NPA leader since the formation of the Coalition to have never served as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

Ian Sinclair underwent a double heart bypass surgery in September 1991.

In March 1993, aged 63, ten days after the Coalition lost the 1993 federal election, Ian Sinclair unsuccessfully challenged Tim Fischer for the party leadership.

Ian Sinclair was seen as a candidate for the speakership if the Coalition won the 1993 election, however this did not eventuate.

Aged nearly 70, Ian Sinclair announced his intention to retire from Parliament at the next federal election.

Ian Sinclair served as speaker for the last six months of his term, during which he usually wore an academic gown.

On his first day in office, Ian Sinclair faced a motion of dissent from Labor opposition frontbencher Simon Crean when he ruled Labor MP Janice Crosio's question out of order; the dissent motion was not carried and Ian Sinclair's ruling upheld.

Ian Sinclair became Speaker during a controversial time for Parliament; as a result, he usually presided over raucous sessions and was seen at times as giving rulings lenient to the government whilst being combative to the opposition.

Ultimately, Ian Sinclair was unable to reverse his retirement, and St Clair refused to stand aside for him.

In January 2001, Ian Sinclair was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia.

On 1 March 2000, Ian Sinclair became the inaugural chairman of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, a non-profit organisation which issues grants to regional communities.

Ian Sinclair retired on 30 June 2019 and was succeeded by Tim Fairfax.

Ian Sinclair served for several years as the Honorary President of the Scout Association of Australia, New South Wales Branch, retiring in 2019.

Ian Sinclair received Scouts' National Presidents Award on World Scout Day 2020.