Editing Ian Sinclair (section)

{{Short description|Australian politician (born 1929)}}
{{Other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = Ian Sinclair
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AC}}
| image            = Ian Sinclair 1970 (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Sinclair in 1970
| office           = [[Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]]
| predecessor      = [[Bob Halverson]]
| successor        = [[Neil Andrew]]
| term_start       = 4 March 1998
| term_end         = 31 August 1998
| office1          = [[National Party of Australia|Leader of the National Party]]
| deputy1          = [[Ralph Hunt (Australian politician)|Ralph Hunt]]<br />[[Bruce Lloyd]]
| predecessor1     = [[Doug Anthony]]
| successor1       = [[Charles Blunt]]
| term_start1      = 17 January 1984
| term_end1        = 9 May 1989
| office2          = [[National Party of Australia|Deputy Leader of the National Party]]
| leader2          = [[Doug Anthony]]
| term_start2      = 2 February 1971
| term_end2        = 17 January 1984
| predecessor2     = Doug Anthony
| successor2       = [[Ralph Hunt (Australian politician)|Ralph Hunt]]{{cisb|Parliamentary Offices|titlestyle=background-color:#eee}}

| office3      = [[List of longest-serving members of the Parliament of Australia|Father of the House]]
| term_start3  = 20 February 1990
| term_end3    = 31 August 1998
| predecessor3 = [[Tom Uren]]
| successor3   = [[Philip Ruddock]]

| office4      = [[Leader of the House (Australia)|Leader of the House]]
| leader4      = [[Malcolm Fraser]]
| term_start4  = 19 August 1980
| term_end4    = 7 May 1982
| predecessor4 = [[Ian Viner]]
| successor4   = [[James Killen|Sir James Killen]]
| leader5      = [[Malcolm Fraser]]
| term_start5  = 22 December 1975
| term_end5    = 27 September 1979
| predecessor5 = [[Fred Daly (politician)|Fred Daly]]
| successor5   = [[Ian Viner]]

| office6        = [[Manager of Opposition Business in the House (Australia)|Manager of Opposition Business]]
| leader6        = [[Malcolm Fraser]]<br>[[Andrew Peacock]]<br>[[John Howard]]
| term_start6    = 16 March 1983
| term_end6      = 28 April 1987
| predecessor6   = [[Lionel Bowen]]
| successor6     = [[John Spender]]
| leader7        = [[Billy Snedden]]<br>[[Malcolm Fraser]]
| term_start7    = 14 June 1974
| term_end7      = 11 November 1975
| predecessor7   = ''unknown''
| successor7     = [[Gordon Scholes]]{{cise}}{{cisb|Cabinet Posts|titlestyle=background-color:#eee}}

| office8        = [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|Minister for Defence]]
| term_start8    = 7 May 1982
| term_end8      = 11 March 1983
| primeminister8 = [[Malcolm Fraser]]
| predecessor8   = [[Jim Killen]]
| successor8     = [[Gordon Scholes]]

| office9        = [[Minister for Communications (Australia)|Minister for Communications]]
| term_start9    = 3 November 1980
| term_end9      = 7 May 1982
| primeminister9 = [[Malcolm Fraser]]
| predecessor9   = [[Tony Staley]]
| successor9     = [[Neil Brown (Australian politician)|Neil Brown]]

| office10 = Minister for Special Trade Representations
| term_start10 = 19 August 1980
| term_end10 = 3 November 1980
| primeminister10 = Malcolm Fraser
| predecessor10 = [[Douglas Scott (politician)|Douglas Scott]]
| successor10 = ''office abolished''

| office11        = [[Minister for Agriculture (Australia)|Minister for Primary Industry]]
| primeminister11 = [[Malcolm Fraser]]
| term_start11     = 11 November 1975
| term_end11      = 27 September 1979
| predecessor11   = [[Rex Patterson]]
| successor11     = [[Peter Nixon]]
| primeminister12 = [[John Gorton]]<br />[[William McMahon]]
| term_start12    = 5 February 1971
| term_end12      = 5 December 1972
| predecessor12   = [[Doug Anthony]]
| successor12     = [[Lance Barnard]]

| office13        = [[Department of Shipping and Transport|Minister for Shipping and Transport]]
| primeminister13 = [[John Gorton]]
| term_start13    = 28 February 1968
| term_end13      = 5 February 1971
| predecessor13   = [[Gordon Freeth]]
| successor13     = [[Peter Nixon]]

| office14        = [[Department of Social Services (Australia)|Minister for Social Services]]
| primeminister14 = [[Sir Robert Menzies]]<br />[[Harold Holt]]<br />[[John McEwen]]<br />[[John Gorton]]
| term_start14    = 22 February 1965
| term_end14      = 28 February 1968
| predecessor14   = [[Reginald Swartz]]
| successor14     = [[Bill Wentworth]]{{cise}}

| office15      = Member of the [[Australian Parliament]] for [[Division of New England|New England]]
| term_start15  = 30 November 1963
| term_end15    = 31 August 1998
| predecessor15 = [[David Drummond (politician)|David Drummond]]
| successor15   = [[Stuart St. Clair]]

| office16      = [[New South Wales Legislative Council|Member of the Legislative Council]]<br/> [[New South Wales|of New South Wales]]
| term_start16  = 23 April 1961
| term_end16    = 24 October 1963
| predecessor16 =
| successor16   = [[Alexander Alam]]

| birth_name  = Ian McCahon Sinclair
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1929|6|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], Australia
| death_date  = 
| death_place = 
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Margaret Tarrant|1956|1967|reason=died}}
* {{Marriage|[[Rosemary Fenton]]|1970}}
}}
| relations   = [[Peter King (Australian politician)|Peter King]] (son-in-law)
| children    = 4
| religion    = 
| party       = [[National Party of Australia|National]]
| occupation  = Grazier
}}
'''Ian McCahon Sinclair''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AC}} (born 10 June 1929) is an Australian former politician who served as a [[Member of Parliament]] for 35 years, and was leader of the [[National Party of Australia|National Party]] from 1984 to 1989. He served as either a minister or opposition frontbencher for all but a few months from 1965 to 1989, and later [[Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]] from March to August 1998.

Sinclair was born in [[Sydney]] and studied law at the [[University of Sydney]]. He later bought a farming property near [[Tamworth, New South Wales|Tamworth]]. Sinclair was elected to parliament in 1963, and added to the ministry in 1965 as part of the [[Menzies Government (1949–66)|Menzies Government]]. Over the following six years, he held various portfolios under [[Harold Holt]], [[John McEwen]], [[John Gorton]] and [[William McMahon]]. Sinclair was elected deputy leader of his party in 1971. He was a senior member of the [[Fraser government]], spending periods as [[Minister for Agriculture (Australia)|Minister for Primary Industry]] (1975–1979), [[Minister for Communications (Australia)|Minister for Communications]] (1980–1982), and [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|Minister for Defence]] (1982–1983). In 1984, Sinclair replaced Anthony as leader of the Nationals. He led the party to two federal elections, in 1984 and 1987, but was replaced by [[Charles Blunt]] in 1989. Sinclair was [[Father of the Australian Parliament|father of the parliament]] from 1990 until his retirement at the 1998 election. He spent his final six months in parliament as Speaker of the House of Representatives, following the sudden resignation of [[Bob Halverson]]; he is the only member of his party to have held the position. He also served as co-chair of the [[1998 constitutional convention]], alongside [[Barry Jones (Australian politician)|Barry Jones]].

With the death of [[Peter Nixon]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-03 |title=Vale Peter Nixon AO |url=https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1772932/vale-peter-nixon-ao |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=richmondfc.com.au |language=en}}</ref> Sinclair is the only surviving Country/Nationals MP elected in the 1960s,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://australianpolitics.com/parliament/house/living-former-house-members-1949-1972|title=Living Former Members Of The House Of Representatives (1949–1972)|author=Malcolm Farnsworth|year=2020}}</ref> and he is the last surviving minister who served in the [[Tenth Menzies Ministry|Menzies]], [[Holt Government|Holt]], [[McEwen Ministry|McEwen]], [[Gorton government|Gorton]], and [[McMahon government]]s, as well as the [[First Fraser Ministry]]. He is entitled to the [[Right Honourable]] prefix as one of the few surviving Australian members of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/Practice6/Practice6HTML?file=Chapter5&section=10&fullscreen=1 | title=Parliament of Australia }}</ref>