Frederick Michael Chaney, AO (born 28 October 1941) is an Australian former politician who was deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1989 to 1990 and served as a minister in the Fraser government. He was a Senator for Western Australia from 1974 to 1990, and then served a single term in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993.
He was elected Deputy Leader as part of the successful coup that saw Andrew Peacock overthrowing John Howard. This was seen as a betrayal by Howard as he and Chaney had been close friends prior to the coup.[3]
Chaney was ousted as deputy leader after the 1990 election, when he unsuccessfully recontested the position in a field of eight candidates and came in third.[4]
Chaney had earlier defeated Reith for the deputy's position in the leadership coup that ousted Howard in May 1989 in which Reith was Howard's running mate.[5]
When Chaney retired in 1993, John Hewson unexpectedly led the Coalition to defeat at that year's election and it is the opinion of analyst and commentator Antony Green that Chaney could have succeeded him as Liberal leader had he not decided to retire.[7]
John Hewson described Fred Chaney as "the little ---- from the west."[8]
Later life
Chaney was appointed to the National Native Title Tribunal in 1994, initially on a part-time basis. He became a full-time member in 1995 and deputy president in 2000, retiring in 2007. He was also chancellor of Murdoch University from 1995 to 2002, and co-chair of Reconciliation Australia from 2000 to 2005. Chaney left the Liberal Party in 1995, believing that his work "required engagements across party lines and without political involvement".[3]
On 15 January 2020, it was announced that Chaney would be one of the members of the National Co-design Group of the Indigenous voice to government.[9]
Criticism of the Liberal Party
In early May 2022, Chaney wrote an article criticising the Liberal Party, saying that the party lost its way. Chaney stated "members [of parliament] are no longer able to successfully execute what the electorate demands and it is now in the sad position of being held hostage by its extremes and those of [the National Party]", in particular the party's lack of action on climate change. Chaney called for the election of more centrist independents, against "politics as usual". Chaney announced support for his niece, Kate Chaney, running as a Climate 200-backed independent for the seat of Curtin against the incumbent Liberal member Celia Hammond in the 2022 Australian federal election.[10] Kate Chaney subsequently won the seat at the election.
Honours
Chaney was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1997 "for service to the Parliament of Australia and to the Aboriginal community through his contribution to the establishment of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia and mediating with the National Native Title Tribunal".[11]
Chaney was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Murdoch University in 2003 "for services towards Aboriginal reconciliation and as Chancellor",[12] and in 2017 the Australian National University awarded him the same honour, "for his exceptional contribution to public service through parliament and his lifelong commitment to Indigenous issues".[13]
