Sir Phillip Reginald LynchKCMG (27 July 1933 – 19 June 1984) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1966 to 1982. He was deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1982, and served as a government minister under three prime ministers.
Lynch was born in Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, the oldest child of Dorothy Louise (née Reilly) and Reginald Thomas Lynch. His father was a fitter. Lynch grew up in the suburb of Kew and attended Catholic schools, initially a Marist Brothers school in Hawthorn and then Xavier College. He went on to study at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1955 and a diploma in education in 1964. He was active in student politics, and campaigned against the White Australia policy. After graduating, Lynch worked as a schoolteacher for about a year, mostly at Collingwood Technical School. He then joined Manpower (Australia) Pty Ltd, a management consulting firm of which he eventually became managing director. He married Leah Brigid O'Toole in 1958, with whom he had three sons.[2]
Community
Lynch joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1959; he became the Melbourne vice-president (1962) and president (1963), and then national president (1966).[3]
He has a foundation member of the Frankston Rostrum Club 41 in 1967 and was a sought after speaker at their events.[4]
Early years in politics
As a university student, Lynch considered joining the Australian Labor Party, but was alienated by the party's left wing. His decision to join the Liberal Party was unusual for someone from a working-class Catholic background, and throughout his career he was one of the party's few Catholic MPs. Lynch first stood for parliament at the 1955 federal election, aged 22, running in the safe Labor seat of Scullin. He was state president of the Young Liberals from 1956 to 1958, and served on the party's state executive from 1956 to 1963. Lynch was eventually elected to the House of Representatives at the 1966 election. He won Liberal preselection for the Division of Flinders against a large field of other candidates.[2]
Opposed to the “white Australia policy” and Australia's restrictive immigration regime, as Minister for Immigration in 1970 he toured Europe in a successful drive to recruit workers for Australia's underpopulated workforce, meeting with the leaders of several nations and Pope Paul VI. A conciliating presence between opposing factions both within and outside his party, he was also partly responsible for exposing the Khemlani loans affair that, although Lynch was not actively involved, was to contribute to the dismissal of the Whitlam government and election of Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister in 1975.
Malcolm Fraser appointed Lynch Treasurer in 1975. When the Treasury portfolio was split into Treasury and Finance in December 1976, Lynch held both portfolios. He is noted for using the expression "rubbery" to describe some of the estimates in his 1977 Budget Speech, leading to the use of the expression "rubbery figures" in Australian political debate.[5] He was forced to resign from the ministry on 19 November 1977 when it became known that he was using a family trust to minimise his tax obligations, which was perceived as a conflict of interest. He was replaced as Treasurer by John Howard and as Minister for Finance by Eric Robinson. An official inquiry found that he had done nothing illegal or improper, and he returned to the ministry in December, as Minister for Industry and Commerce after facing a challenge for the deputy leadership from Defence MinisterJames Killen, which he defeated by 71 votes to 20.[6][7]
After the 1980 election, Fraser formed the Committee of Review of Government Functions, popularly known as the "Razor Gang", which Lynch chaired.[8]
^Buckley, Brian (2012). "Sir Phillip Reginald Lynch (1933–1984)". Lynch, Sir Phillip Reginald (1933–1984). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
^Rostrum Victoria Handbook – 1974 July – January 1975. Melbourne: Rostrum Victoria. 1974. pp. 28–29.
^Who's Who – Australasian edition: Business and Industry. Who's Who Edition. p. 197. ISBN9783925306082. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021. LYNCH Lady Leah , born Feb 1st, 1935 ... Company Secretary and Director of Denistoun Pty Ltd., edu, St. Anne's Ladies' College; College of Occupational Therapy, Melbourne University [St. Mary's Hall]
