Lawrence James "Larry" Anthony : A memory jog for voters in the NSW Northern Rivers federal electorate of Richmond

Now that it appears former Howard Government minister and Nationals MP Larry Anthony may be contemplating a return to politics perhaps it is also time to recall a little of his history.......

Lawrence James “Larry” Anthony 
(aged 54 years)

Professional company director

Photograph from The Guardian 13 September 2015

* Jackeroo between 1979-80.

* Small business and industrial advocate adviser, Sydney Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in 1984-85.

* Stockbroker and investment banker, Potter Warburg and Merrill Lynch, in 1985-91 and 1993-96.

* Manager and director of the Northern Rivers Railroad Company in 1991-93. The company set up by himself, his father and business partners operated a passenger service as well as freighting cement powder and fly ash from Grafton to Casino and Murwillumbah NSW under sub-contract.

* Anthony and partners sold the Northern Rivers Railroad Company to Queensland Rail  in 2002 and all local passenger trains ceased on the Murwillumbah line. This line is was eventually closed by NSW Rail on 16.05.04.

* Federal Member for Richmond NSW of Parliament 1996-2004:

Parliamentary Secretary (Trade) from 21.10.98 to 20.7.99.

Minister for Community Services from 20.7.99 to 26.11.01.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from 26.11.01 to 26.10.04.

* Defeated at general elections in 2004 after winning 45.79 per cent of first preference votes but failing to pick up enough subsequent preference votes.

* Director of Indue Ltd from 17.02.05 and Deputy Chairman from 18.07.08. Retired sometime in the 2012-13 financial year.

* Registered Larry Anthony & Associates Pty Ltd on 09.03.05.

* Non-executive director of Creditlink, a Brisbane-based credit union bank, from March 2005.

* Became a director of Australia’s largest childcare company, ABC Learning Centres Limited, in 2005. Reported to have received annual director’s fee of $65,000 and was paid more than $235,000 to lobby governments on its behalf.  Was a member of ABC Learning's audit committee in 2007. The company went into receivership on 11.11 08 owing an est. $1.6 billion to debtors. The receiver finally wound the company up in 2015.

* Chairman technology company uniDap Solutions Pty Ltd  and a director of CertainEdge Pty Ltd (dates unknown) .

*Non-executive director of Macquarie Media Management (unknown start date). Retired in 2008.

* Moved to Queensland about 2008.

* Decided not to stand at the 2007 federal election.

* Decided not to run at the 2010 federal election giving this explanation:

Anthony said his reason for not wanting to stand was the same one he had when he decided against running in 2007.

"In politics you are a rooster one day and a feather duster the next. It can be pretty ephemeral.

"When I'm on my death bed it will be my children by my bedside, not the people who voted for me."

* Stood for federal presidency of the National Party of Australia in 2010 and was defeated.

* Decided not to stand at the 2013 federal election.

* One of the company spokespeople in SAS Consulting Group’s YouTube Inside Word presentations since August  2014.

* Chair of the ADC Northern Development Summit held in Townsville, Queensland in September 2014. Summit organised by the ADC Forum, a not-for-profit leadership group. 

* Part-owner and director of lobbyist company SAS Consulting Group Pty Ltd along with Jennifer Anne Anthony ATF Anthony Family Trust and others.  Entered in NSW Register of Third Party Lobbyists from 01.10.15 to date and on the Australian Government Register of Lobbyists (start date unknown).

Clients include:

SEQ Catchments - natural resource management organisation

Indue Ltd - financial payment products and settlement services

ERM Power – operates electricity sales and electricity generation businesses

China Telecom Global Limited – multinational communications corporation

Wanda Ridong (Gold Coast) Development Pty Ltd - Chinese Development & entertainment company

Shenhua Watermark (Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Limited) – multinational mining company based in China holding state and federal approval to develop an est. $1.2 billion coal mine on the Liverpool Plains in north-west NSW. On 16.10.12 and 15.04.13 Anthony met with NSW Dept. of Planning as a representative of Shenhua.

* Federal President of the National Party of Australia from 13.09.15 to date.

* January 2016 rumours begin in media that Larry Anthony will be seeking preselection as Nationals candidate in the Richmond electorate at this year’s federal election. The seat is currently held by Labor’s Justine Elliot.