The former defence minister and Liberal party stalwart Kevin Andrews has died aged 69.
Andrews died on Saturday with his wife, Margie, by his side, his family announced in a statement shared by the former prime minister Tony Abbott on social media.
He had been battling cancer for the past year.
“We are deeply proud of his service to our country, our local community and his party, although shattered by his death after a year-long battle with cancer,” the statement said.
“Kevin was devoted to his country, his family, and his faith and lived a full life of service.
“Right up to his death, he was working on a number of projects, including his memoirs, which we will endeavour to have published posthumously.”
The father of five represented the blue-ribbon seat of Menzies in Melbourne’s east for three decades, holding prominent cabinet positions in the Howard and Abbott Coalition governments.
He was a senior figure in the Liberal party’s right wing who championed conservative causes and served at various times as minister for defence, social services, immigration, ageing and workplace relations.
Andrews was born in the Gippsland town of Sale in eastern Victoria and moved to Melbourne to study law at both Monash University and the University of Melbourne.
He worked as an associate to Sir James Gobbo at the supreme court of Victoria before leaving to become a barrister.
After six years he moved into politics, winning Menzies in a 1991 byelection, which he held for the next 31 years.
He rose to prominence while still a backbencher when he introduced the Andrews bill in 1996, which restricted the rights of the ACT and Northern Territory to make euthanasia laws. The legislation remained in place for the next 25 years before being repealed in 2023.
As a cabinet minister, he pushed for several controversial pieces of legislation, including a citizenship test and industrial relations package WorkChoices.
He nominated them among his achievements in his valedictory speech to parliament, although WorkChoices faced strong opposition and was a major factor in the Coalition’s defeat in the 2007 election.
He backed Abbott when Malcolm Turnbull challenged him for the leadership in 2015, unsuccessfully standing for deputy leader against Julie Bishop on the same day.
A devoted Catholic, Andrews opposed abortion, same-sex marriage and stem cell research. He married his wife, Margaret, in 1979.
Andrews retired in 2022 after losing a preselection battle for Menzies, the first time a sitting federal Liberal MP was unseated in a Victorian preselection battle in more than three decades.
He was the longest-serving member of parliament at the time and in his final speech said he entered politics to make a difference.
“It was a concern that government was not acknowledging and responding adequately to the needs of families, particularly those with children, that motivated me to stand for election in the first place,” he said in March 2022.
Zali Steggall, the independent MP for Warringah, praised Andrews’ handling of a parliamentary review into the family law system in a post on Bluesky.
“While we held different views on some issues, I valued his leadership as chair of the Family Law Review,” she said.
“He went to great lengths to ensure the committee’s work was thorough and sensitive for the many who gave evidence to the committee.”
Andrews also worked as a sports reporter, race caller and wrote multiple books on topics including marriage, Italian cycling and a biography of Australia’s 10th prime minister, Joseph Lyons.
“Kevin Andrews dedicated his life to the things he cared for most: family, faith, community and nation,” the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said in a statement.
“He served all four with integrity and devotion.
“Kevin’s Liberal colleagues and his Labor opponents would agree, he was a man of conviction. He was respected as someone who held his views firmly and argued them fiercely.”
Abbott said in a statement posted to X that Andrews was “a fine Australian, a highly effective minister, a loyal colleague, and a great friend”.
“Almost to the last, Kevin was making the most of his time, ‘filling the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run’, writing regularly for The Spectator and preparing his memoirs,” Abbott said.
“His strong sense of duty and service; his human decency and common sense; made him an adornment to our public life and an exemplar for future generations.”
Scott Morrison, another former Liberal prime minister, described Andrews as “a selfless public servant who lived his sincere faith through his devotion to his wife, Margie, and his family, his passion for the Liberal party and his patriotism for our country”.
Keith Wolahan, who succeeded Andrews as the member for Menzies after defeating him in preselection in 2021, said in a statement posted to X that Andrews was “a man of unwavering principle and conviction, whose dedication to his country, his faith, his family, and his community defined his life”.
The Victorian Liberal leader, John Pesutto, said in a statement that Andrews had made important contributions to the party and to public life, “across areas of defence, housing, immigration, ageing and social services and [as] a strong and passionate advocate for his local community”.
The archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, said in a statement posted to Facebook that he was deeply saddened about Andrews’s death.
“Among so many gifts he shared, there were three dimensions to Kevin’s life that were quite extraordinary,” Comensoli said.
“He was: A man of deep and remarkable faith; a man committed wholeheartedly to marriage and family; and a man of dedicated public service.”
Former federal director of the Liberal party Brian Loughnane described Andrews as “a true parliamentarian always guided by his faith in his public career and private life”.
Former Labor party leader Bill Shorten said of Andrews: “While we were opposed on many political fronts, I respected that he always fought for his values: what you saw was what you got.”
• This article was amended on 14 December 2024. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Kevin Andrews died on Friday 13 December. He died on Saturday 14 December.
