The Economic Giant the Political Class Tried to Ignore

The economic giant the political class tried to ignore

Despite being maligned by Australia’s political and economic establishment, John Stone had the necessary fortitude and the intellect to shift debate.

Giant the political class tried to ignore

This article was originally published in Australian Financial Review on or about 23 July 2025 and was written by the author in their capacity as a contributor for that publication.  It has been republished on the IPA website with permission. The views expressed are those of the author alone. Despite being maligned by Australia’s political and economic establishment, John Stone had the necessary fortitude and the intellect to shift debate towards…

John Stone, political activist • Dominic Kelly

The obituaries for former Treasury secretary and National Party senator John Stone — who died last week at the age of ninety-six — have so far focused on his thirty-year career as a public servant, with his even longer second act as a political activist treated as something of a footnote. This is misleading. Stone’s arch-reactionary politics were central to his every contribution to public life. Along with Western Mining executives Hugh Morgan a…