Tony Eggleton was the gentleman giant of party politics who was a window into history

Tony Eggleton, the former long-serving Federal Director of the Liberal Party at his home in Canberra.

Tony Eggleton, who died at age 91 on Saturday, was the most significant figure in Liberal Party history who was not a member of parliament. There is nobody who compares to Eggleton, who counselled Liberal leaders for a quarter of a century, beginning with Robert Menzies, and ran seven federal election campaigns.

He was a true gentleman of politics who was always courteous and unfailingly polite, and reluctant to reflect negatively on those he worked with from 1965 to 1990 as press secretary, chief of staff and party federal director. He was a loyalist but was also not blind to the flaws and faults in the men and the party he served.

Tony Eggleton in 1979.

Eggleton was, for me, a window into history. I had many interviews, conversations and emails with him over a 10-year period.

The emails and calls tapered off in the past year or two as he battled declining health. He was a keen observer of politics, especially the fortunes of the Liberal Party, and read The Australian every day. Visiting his home on Buxton Street in Deakin was a pleasure. Although long retired, he always wore a suit and tie.

He would guide me past the stately furnishings to his home office and sit behind the desk for the interview. He had books and mementos packed on to shelves and fading portraits of Liberal leaders he had worked with.

The roll call is extraordinary: press secretary to Menzies, Harold Holt, John Gorton and Billy McMahon; chief of staff to Billy Snedden and Malcolm Fraser; federal director of the Liberal Party (1975-1990), during the leaderships of Fraser, Andrew Peacock, John Howard, Peacock again and John Hewson.

As director of navy public relations, Eggleton impressed Menzies with how he handled the collision of HMAS Melbourne with HMAS Voyager, and the prime minister asked him to become press secretary in 1965.

He called Eggleton “Laddie” and a strong mutual regard developed. Eggleton found Menzies kind and shy, quite unlike the public stereotype.

Eggleton organised Menzies’ farewell press conference and timed his walk from the office to the parliamentary dining room so he would have time for a “nervous pee” before the live TV cameras rolled.

Federal Liberal MP Philip Ruddock speaks to former Federal Director of the Liberal Party Tony Eggleton in 2015.

Eggleton’s happiest time in politics was working for Holt. “We became much more than just a prime minister and a press secretary, we became friends and we became very close,” he told me. When Holt disappeared in the Cheviot Beach surf in 1967, Eggleton gave regular updates to the media about the doomed search. “The unhappiest moment of my life was the death of Harold,” he reflected.

Eggleton continued as press secretary to Gorton, rejecting an offer from Clyde Packer to join GTV-9, but quickly became disappointed with the new prime minister’s lack of discipline, drinking and womanising. “He was imprudent from time to time, and he thought he could be prime minister five days a week,” Eggleton recalled. “I have great fondness for him but I had greater expectations than he was able to deliver.”

By 1971, Eggleton had lined up a job in London managing communications for the Commonwealth of Nations.

When McMahon replaced Gorton as prime minister, he reluctantly stayed for a few weeks. McMahon begged him to continue as press secretary and offered him a later diplomatic appointment if he did. Eggleton declined. Snedden persuaded him to return from London and become his chief of staff in 1974.

It was Eggleton who announced Fraser had defeated Snedden in a 1975 leadership ballot. He admired and respected Fraser, even though he could be very demanding. That admiration never dimmed. “Compared with newer Liberals, who just see him as a turncoat and not being all that helpful, I got to see him through a different prism for over half a century,” he said.

One of the few regrets Eggleton had was remaining federal director through to the 1990 election. “I stayed federal director for too long,” he reflected. “You had a Peacock party and a Howard party (but) at least we had an organisation that was consistent.”

On election eve 1990, he thought Peacock would lead the Coalition back to power. He was mistaken.

Tony Eggleton, Federal Director of the Liberal Party, with Malcolm Fraser.

Eggleton arrived in Fremantle from the UK on his 18th birthday, in April 1950, to work as a journalist for the Bendigo Advertiser.

As a political operative, he maintained an interest in the media and was accessible to journalists. He recommended “openness” and “honesty” rather than “devious spin” in media relations. He was a founding member of the National Press Club and inaugural president (1962-64).

After politics, Eggleton worked as secretary-general of CARE International. I first met Eggleton when he was overseeing the national Centenary of Federation commemorations in 2001 and I was a member of the NSW Centenary of Federation Committee. He loved working again in Old Parliament House and enjoyed sharing memories of those earlier years.

When Holt died, Eggleton was approached about running for his seat of Higgins. He had a national profile, having been on television during those difficult days after Holt’s disappearance.

In any event, a seat had to be found for Gorton, who was then in the Senate. Eggleton said he never had an ambition to be a politician, only an ambition to work for the party and its leaders.

Tony Eggleton

“I’ve had a fantastic life,” Eggleton told me. “The insights I’ve had and the things I’ve been able to do, I may not have done as a member of parliament. So, life is full of opportunities and crossroads, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But I look back on tremendous friendships, and on all sides of politics.”

When I sat with Eggleton in his office almost 10 years ago for the first interview, pressing him for recollections of political leaders past, it conjured up so many memories that he became emotional. He contemplated his own life.

When he died, he offered, Gorton would ask him to “come back as his press secretary up in the sky”. So even though Eggleton is gone, he continues to serve.