Former NSW Premier John Fahey dies
Former NSW Liberal premier John Fahey has died, aged 75. Mr Fahey played a key role in securing the 2000 Olympics to Sydney. He also leapt to protect Prince Charles from an attack on Australia Day in 1994.
NSW
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Mr Fahey served as premier from 1992 to 1995 and dedicated almost two decades of his life in service to NSW and Australia.
“History will also remember him as a brave man, for his quick-thinking and selfless action to protect Prince Charles from an attack on Australia Day in 1994,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement on Saturday.
Ms Berejiklian paid tribute to the former Liberal premier whose image of jumping for joy after having helping secure the Olympic Games for Sydney would forever be etched in peoples’ minds.
Not only did he played a key role in what was one of the biggest victories in NSW and Australian history, Mr Fahey also helped deliver major reforms for the State such as the introduction of the Disability Services Act, the NSW Senior’s Card and the first NSW Minister for the Status of Women.
As Minister for Industrial Relations, Mr Fahey also led a major overhaul of NSW’s Industrial Relations system.
“Today we mourn the loss of the Honorable John Fahey AC, Premier of NSW from 1992 to 1995, who dedicated almost two decades of his life in service to NSW and Australia,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“My thoughts are with John’s wife Colleen, his children and grandchildren. I have spoken to Colleen to pass on my condolences and offer a State Memorial Service.
“Personally, I am grateful for John’s support and encouragement. He has always been a wonderful role model to generations of Liberals. His contribution to the State and Nation will leave a lasting legacy.”
Prime Minister Scott Morriosn described Mr Fahey as an “optimist, who believed in Australia”,
“He knew how much it had enabled him in his own life,” Mr Morrison said.
“John’s was truly an Australian story of his generation. He gave more than he received. His cheery and cheeky smile was what always left his impression on you, long after the topic or issue had passed.”
“He was one of a kind who had an earthy and tested faith and who was sustained by his loved family.”
Mr Fahey migrated to Picton from New Zealand as a boy and was raised with strong Catholic values, which remained with him his whole life.
He was elected as State Member for Camden in 1984. In 1996 he made the move to Federal politics, elected to the House of Representatives for Macarthur, where he served as Finance Minister in the Howard Government. He dedicated 17 years of his life to politics before retiring in 2001.
Former NSW premier Bob Carr described his former “sparring partner” as a “formidable opponent”.
Mr Carr, who replaced Mr Fahey as premier after Labor defeated the Coalition at the 1995 state election, said he believed his experience in State politics contributed to his later success as a federal finance minister in the Howard government.
“His jump for joy at Monte Carlo celebrating Sydney’s win will be the image that captured him for all time in public imagination,” Mr Carr said.
“But I like to think of thim as embodying the liberal small l tradition rather than the conservative tradition in the non-labor party.
“He also went on from NSW politics to make a very solid contribution as federal minister for finance under John Howard and his state experience probably explains his success in the federal role.
Mr Carr said there was a time when Mr Fahey looked “unbeatable”.
“He was a formidable opponent,” he said.
“There was a time off the back of his success in getting the Olympics, managing a bushfire crisis and tackling a potential assassin running towards Prince Charles when it looked like he’d be unbeatable. As an opponent, he was as tough as he was gallant.
“It is very sad news.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he was saddened by the death of Mr Fahey.
“A proud Liberal who will be greatly missed, John as Premier and later Finance Minister provided great service to his State and his Country,” Mr Frydenberg wrote.
US ambassador and former NSW Senator Arthur Sinodinos also paid tribute to Mr Fahey on Twitter.
“Vale John fahey, political leader, sportsman and anti drug campaigner but also a dedicated husband and father who endured illness and family tragedy with fortitude and relentless optimism, could tell a good yarn too,” he tweeted.
Former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull also paid tribute to Mr Fahey online.
Mr Turnbull thanked Mr Fahey for his “service to Australia and NSW”.
“He was a true liberal and one of the first senior Liberals to support an Australian Republic. Lucy and I send our love to Colleen and their family,” Mr Turnbull tweeted.
Mr Abbott described Mr Fahey as a man of “great decency and strength of character”.
“John Fahey was universally regarded as a good bloke. He was someone you could always rely on and was utterly straight with everyone he dealt with,” Mr Abbott tweeted.
“He went out of his way to provide me with very good advice when I was a new MP.”
“He was always ready to serve. His dedication to his family and his long and effective involvement with a range of significant organisations testify to his great decency and strength of character. “