Tony McLellan - Author
Tony McLellan began his business career at age 15, managing the family sheep station when his father died. Tony grew up on a sheep station mending fences and killing rabbits. It turned out to be the perfect apprenticeship for a business high-flyer who crossed the Atlantic on the Concorde as casually as most people catch a bus.
Moving to the city to study, he graduated summa cum laude, and then spent half his working life abroad.
A crisis in his business and family life at the age of 47 taught him the deeper meaning of achievement: The path to a truly successful life begins when you focus on serving others.
Tony's responsibilities include the development of a new city in Egypt. Later he served as the president and CEO of a number of major international corporations, transacting business in more than twenty countries.
A proven leader, since returning to Australia, Tony has been elected the chairman of a number of listed public mining companies. He was the founder and chairman of Chrysos Corporation Limited, in partnership with the CSIRO.
With a passion for the poor, Tony has served as a director of several not-for-profit organisations, both overseas and in Australia. He is now chairman emeritus of Australian Christian Lobby. Married for 60 years, Tony and Rae are the proud parents of three children and grandparents of two princes and six princesses.
Nick Cater - Co-Writer
Nick Cater is a writer and media commentator on political and cultural affairs. Born and educated in the United Kingdom, he has been a proud Australian citizen for 30 years. He became Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre in 2014 after a long career as a journalist, foreign correspondent and editor. His book The Lucky Culture was published in 2013. He writes regularly for The Australian, hosts the Watercooler podcast and appears frequently on radio and television.
A word from the co-writer
Tony McLellan does not lightly accept the word “no” for an answer, which helps explain how he came to lead such an interesting and varied life. Tenaciousness is a quality that has served Tony well for more than 80 years, turning his journey into a story worth telling.
His persistence also helps explain my association with this book. I politely declined Tony’s first invitation to help him craft his story, making the point that the good Lord in his infinite wisdom had only put 24 hours in the day. The argument cut no ice with Tony, however, and so I went along for the ride. I’m glad I did.
I found myself captivated with the story of Tony’s childhood growing up on a property in western New South Wales where a can-do spirit is a matter of survival and nothing is handed to you on a plate. I pestered him for more stories from that period and visited Jumble Plains myself where I was shown around Tony’s childhood home, unoccupied and somewhat dilapidated, by the property’s current hospitable owners, Ros and Greg Baker.
My wife Rebecca and I made a pilgrimage to the Tottenham Hotel where Tony first encountered his wife Rae in the breakfast room. We called on Paula Clegg and her husband Richard, who described young Tony bouncing out of his flash sports car to cross Umang Street in Tottenham exuding confidence beyond his years and not a little charm.
After moving to Sydney and later to Melbourne, Tony rode the commercial property boom of the 1960s. He gained the reputation for leadership that launched his international career working on projects in the Pacific, Egypt, Europe, Canada and the United States. In crafting a series of fascinating anecdotes into a narrative, I was impressed by Tony’s record-keeping, including a detailed itinerary or hundreds of international flights and a chronological list of the 41 homes the McLellans occupied on four continents over six decades of married life.
This story is much more than the story of a highflying globetrotter who shared flights on Concorde with the rich and famous. It is a story of man who discovered himself through self-reflection and grace. By the time he reached 50, Tony had achieved what counts in worldly terms as success, allowing for the ups and downs in his business fortunes. What was missing, however, was the spiritual dimension, the acknowledgement of a greater force, a guiding hand and a life lived for others directed by God.
My aim was to ensure that Tony’s decency, warmth and selfless devotion is illuminated on the printed page as brightly as it shines in the flesh. I hope you will enjoy taking this journey with him as I have.
Nick Cater - April 2021
Not everyone who reads this story will share Tony’s faith and some may find his Christian interpretation of the world in the second half of the book somewhat challenging. As someone who’s faith has wavered over the years, I sympathise, but would encourage readers to persist. Wrestling with these sections of the book has been enlightening for me, forcing me to draw on the understanding of scripture with which I was blessed in my younger years and thinking deeply about the meaning of discipleship.
Difficult as some of us may find it to surrender to faith, I share Tony’s conviction that we must not shirk from the gospel’s message or try to soften its edges. The modernisers who try to lower the barriers to entry into God’s kingdom by watering down the more demanding aspects remove the very essence of faith. As Cardinal George Pell once memorably explained to me, offering the trappings of Christianity without acceptance of the Divine is like serving a glass of tonic without the gin.
Working as closely as Tony and I on a project such as this was either going to make or break our friendship. I am delighted to say that our friendship has only deepened as our understanding of one another has grown. My thanks go to Rae and Tony for their warm hospitality, to Rebecca for agreeing to join me on our summer journey to Tullamore, and to the Bakers, the Cleggs and many other solid folk who made us feel so welcome.
Well worth the read, click the book to purchase a copy
John Anderson
Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Tony McLellan's fascinating and inspirational story is as exceptional as the man himself. From the Australian bush to some of the great and palatial places in the world, and from sorrow to faith, this is a story not to miss.
John Howard AC, OM
These memoirs capture the personal experiences and lessons learnt from leadership across a wide range of business and not-for-profit activities here and overseas. But as important, are those nuggets of advice and example that only a few experience, by observing closely, and through meeting those prominent leaders at the very heart of the business and political world.
David Bussau
Founder of Opportunity International and Senior Australian of the Year
A must read for discerning and aspiring leaders. The secrets of Tony's dynamic leadership unfold and blend into a mystery of his intimacy with Jesus, culminating in a life of service to a hurting world.
Archbishop Foley Beach
Inspirational, motivational, spiritually anointed. Walking with Tony McLellan as he describes life's important truths compels one to seek to make a difference with the talents one has been given by God. Read this with a pen in your hand.
Phillip Cave Chairman Excelsia College, Sydney
Christian leadership is a skill we must continually feed. This book tells of one man's lifetime of practical leadership experiences both successes and learning experiences. It is full of good healthy food and therefore incumbent on us all to read this book and learn.
Dr Sam Chand
You will cry, laugh out loud, shout in the victories and commiserate in the low times. You will come face to face with greatness. God's trust in Tony and Tony's overflowing gratefulness to his Creator shine through.
Hon Richard Alston
After several midlife crises, both personal and professional, Tony became a committed Christian and thereafter devoted an enormous amount of time and money to supporting and running various Christian organisations around the world. His takeaway is that it is the striving for success that leads to the top.