Tony Staley

Anthony Allan Staley AO (born 15 May 1939) is an Australian politician and businessman.

The Honourable Tony Staley AO
President of the Liberal Party of Australia
In office 28 August 1993 – 1 July 1999
Leader	John Howard
Preceded by	Ashley Goldsworthy
Succeeded by	Shane Stone
Member of the Australian Parliament for Chisholm
In office 19 September 1970 – 19 September 1980
Preceded by	Wilfrid Kent Hughes
Succeeded by	Graham Harris
Personal details
Born	(1939-05-15) 15 May 1939 Melbourne, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Elsa, Cynthia, Maggie, Sue. Present partner: Suzie Forge
Children	Richard Anthony William Staley, Jonathan Allan Witton Staley, Samuel John Staley, Alexandra Mary Staley, Lucinda Winsome Staley
Occupation	Businessman

Staley was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne. He was the Member for Chisholm from 1970 to 1980 and was Minister for the Capital Territory from February 1976 to December 1977 in the Fraser Government and then Minister for Post and Telecommunications until his retirement from Parliament.

He later served as Federal President of the Liberal Party of Australia. In May 1994 when Liberal Leader John Hewson called a leadership spill, Staley as Liberal President caused controversy when he withdrew his support for Hewson. The controversy was due to the expectation that the organisational wing of the party which Staley was in charge of as president did not interfere with the parliamentary party in selecting the leader. In the subsequent leadership spill Hewson was defeated by Alexander Downer but it was expected that Staley would not have survived as party president if Hewson had won the spill. He did continue on in the position and supported John Howard's bid to become Leader of the Opposition and ultimately Prime Minister.[1]

In 1990 he was involved in a serious road accident, which left him needing to use calipers to walk.[2]