| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable |
| Larry Anthony | |
| Office: | Minister for Civil Aviation |
| Term Start: | 11 May 1951 |
| Term End: | 9 July 1954 |
| Successor: | Athol Townley |
| Primeminister1: | Robert Menzies |
| Term Start1: | 19 December 1949 |
| Term End1: | 11 January 1956 |
| Successor1: | Charles Davidson |
| Office2: | Minister for Transport |
| Primeminister2: | Robert Menzies Arthur Fadden |
| Term Start2: | 26 June 1941 |
| Term End2: | 7 October 1941 |
| Predecessor2: | Position re-established |
| Successor2: | George Lawson |
| Office3: | Member of the Australian Parliament for Richmond |
| Term Start3: | 23 October 1937 |
| Term End3: | 12 July 1957 |
| Predecessor3: | Roland Green |
| Successor3: | Doug Anthony |
| Birth Date: | 1897 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Warren, New South Wales Colony, British Empire |
| Death Place: | Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Party: | Country |
| Relatives: | Anthony family |
| Allegiance: | Australia |
| Serviceyears: | 1914–1916 |
| Rank: | Sapper |
| Commands: | 2nd Signal Troop (Engineers) |
| Military Blank1: | Service number |
| Military Data1: | 521 |
| Military Blank2: | Active duty |
| Military Data2: | 25 July – 10 August 1915 |
| Military Blank3: | Discharge reason |
| Military Data3: | Medically unfit |
| Military Blank4: | Awards |
| Military Data4: | |
Hubert Lawrence "Larry" Anthony (12 March 189712 July 1957) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Country Party and held ministerial office in the governments of Arthur Fadden and Robert Menzies, serving as Minister for Transport (1941), Postmaster-General (1949–1956), and Minister for Civil Aviation (1951–1954). A soldier and banana-grower before entering politics, he represented the New South Wales seat of Richmond from 1937 to 1957, which was later held by his son Doug Anthony and grandson Larry Anthony.
Anthony was born on 12 March 1897 in Warren, New South Wales. He was the son of Honoria Elizabeth (née McNab) and George Edward Anthony. His mother was born in Ireland and his father, who was working as a labourer at the time of his birth, was born in Australia.[1]
Anthony attended the Warren Public School. He left school at the age of fourteen and joined the Postmaster-General's Department as a messenger boy. He later worked as a postal assistant in Peak Hill, New South Wales. In October 1914, Anthony enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).[1] He was assigned to the No. 2 Signal Troop of the Royal Australian Engineers and embarked for Egypt in December 1914.[2] Anthony served on the Gallipoli campaign as a sapper and was present at the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. A Bible he lost at Gallipoli was recovered by his commanding officer and returned to him in 1934.[3] He was evacuated to England due to illness in August 1915, subsequently returning to Australia where he was discharged from the AIF in October 1916.[1]
After leaving the military, Anthony moved to Sydney where he worked as a clerk and studied accounting and economics. In 1919 he took up a property near Tweed Heads, New South Wales, under a soldier settlement scheme and established a banana plantation. He served on the Tweed Shire Council from 1919 to 1922. His plantation's first crop failed due to banana bunchy top virus and they had to leave the property. A subsequent sugar-growing venture was also unsuccessful.[1]
Anthony briefly worked as a land agent on what would become Queensland's Gold Coast, selling land at Burleigh Heads and Surfers Paradise on commission. Using his savings he returned to banana-growing, eventually becoming one of Australia's most successful producers. He helped establish the New South Wales Banana Growers' Federation in 1928 and was an advocate for research into bunchy top.[1] By 1944 he reportedly had over 200acres under cultivation.[4]
In 1937 Anthony was elected to the House of Representatives as Country Party member for the seat of Richmond. As a powerful figure in the party he had rapid promotion. He was an Honorary Minister 1940–1941, and Minister for Transport in 1941. During the years of the wartime Australian Labor Party government (1941–1949), he was a senior member of the Opposition.[1]
In 1949 the conservatives returned to power under Robert Menzies, and Anthony became Postmaster-General, adding the post of Minister for Civil Aviation in 1951. He held these posts until his sudden death at Murwillumbah in 1957.[1]
In 1921, Anthony married Mary Jessie Stirling. He was widowed in 1941 and in 1946 married Lyndall Marion Thornton, a widow. He had a daughter and two sons from his first marriage and another daughter from his second marriage.[1]
Anthony's son John Douglas Anthony succeeded him in federal parliament upon his death and went on to serve as leader of the Country Party and deputy prime minister of Australia. Doug's son Lawrence James Anthony also held the seat of Richmond and was a government minister, becoming the first three-generation dynasty in the House of Representatives.[1]