John Dorman Elliott (3 October 1941 – 23 September 2021) was an Australian businessman and state and federal president of the Liberal Party. He had also been president of the Carlton Football Club. He frequently provoked controversy due to his political affiliations, his brushes with the law, and his abrasive personal style.

Early life and education

Elliott was born in Melbourne on 3 October 1941. He was the son of Frank Elliott and his wife, Anita. He completed his secondary schooling at Carey Baptist Grammar School in Kew. He then attended the University of Melbourne and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree and later completed a Master of Business Administration degree at the Melbourne Business School.

Career

Elliott joined BHP for two years. He then left to do an MBA, before joining global consulting firm McKinsey & Company in 1966 and federal president of the Liberal Party.

In 1985, Elliott's company, by then called Elders IXL, played an important role as a white knight in fending off Robert Holmes à Court's attempted takeover of diversified mining company BHP. Elders bought a large share in BHP, which blocked Holmes à Court's attempt to take control. As a result, Elliott joined the BHP board. He then attempted a management buyout of Elders, but this was unsuccessful and left his A$80 million fortune considerably reduced.

Subsequently, the National Crime Authority of Australia (NCA) investigated a foreign exchange transaction undertaken by Elders. He was chairman of the 500 Club, which he formed in the 1980s, and was the biggest donor to the Liberal Party in Victoria.

His various political involvements led to him being caricatured in Rubbery Figures, a satirical rubber puppet series that screened in Australia during the late 1980s. He was often depicted holding an Elders IXL beer can while belching or exclaiming "pig's arse".

In 1990, Elliott was a vocal supporter of the Multifunction Polis (MFP), a controversial concept to build in Australia a new "technology city" with a population of 100,000. At the time, the leader of the Liberal Party, Andrew Peacock, was vehemently opposed to the plan, claiming the Multifunction Polis would become an "Asian enclave".

Sports administration career

Carlton Football Club President

Elliott became the president of the Carlton Football Club in 1983, when he replaced Ian Rice. During Elliott's tenure as president of the Club, he oversaw a significant period of on and off field success for the club. Elliott also oversaw Carlton's two premiership victories in 1987 and 1995.

After the 2002 AFL season, Elliott was voted out of office as president of the Carlton Football Club, a position he had held for two decades. Further, in a move some thought to be ungracious given his long service to the club, his name was also removed from all signage at Carlton's home ground at Princes Park. Elliott was then replaced by Ian Collins as President of Carlton Football Club.

Later life

In January 2005, he declared himself bankrupt, to be discharged in July 2008.

On television, Elliott was a regular guest panelist on the ABC television program Q&A. In 2010, he appeared on the televised Dick Smith population debate, where his vision to harness Northern Australia's excess rainfall via pipeline to the Murray–Darling headwaters in Queensland received wide support.

In 2012, he featured on the ABC's Agony Uncles program. On radio, he regularly appeared on a program presented by his son Tom on talkback station 3AW. The eldest is Tom Elliott (born 1967), an investment banker and radio and television presenter.

Known for his "eccentric, crass and often controversial style of business and politics", Elliott was also a long-term cigarette smoker and claimed to have considered running for the 2016 Australian Senate on a platform of "Smokers' Rights".

References

  • John Elliott Full Biography at ICMI.com.au
  • The John Elliott Report