McLellan's glorious ride from Jumble Plains to eternity

I first met Tony McLellan on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at an industry Luncheon with Warren Truss, the then Leader of The Nationals, when I was Chairman of the National Policy Forum (the fundraising arm of The Nationals). As the host for the luncheon, I sat next to Tony and straight away I was mesmerised by his affable demeanour and his wonderful, I presume, Akubra hat that he placed neatly by his side at a table of leading corporate leaders over lunch.

Well, after 12 years we have become not only corporate colleagues but indeed brothers in Christ connecting on a regular basis on social, economic, and religious issues of concern, dare I say, over lunch. On many occasions at these luncheon meetings, we spoke about life and how we should really record our experiences form a corporate and religious perspective. Well God works in mysterious ways because it was to the month a year ago at lunch on Wednesday 30 September at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Kirribilli where Tony handed over a ‘draft’ chapter of his book he has been working on for some time. I was dumbfounded. Tony asked me to read a few chapters of his book as he was keen to receive any feedback.

One month later I wrote to Tony saying “I am so chuffed you have shared some of the chapters of your book which I shall read in the next week or so…”  So, after reading the drafts of various chapters here I am today reading the final published version of Tony’s book - A Glorious Ride: From Jumble Plains to Eternity.

This book reads like a feature film. In a nutshell it is one inspiring story of rolled up sleeves, practical faith, and a resolute determination to give life a go. Tony McLellan 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. 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. A Glorious Ride is an antidote for the dismal secularism of our times and a rallying cry against despair.

The book also has a co-author in the name of Nick Cater who 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. He writes regularly for The Australian and has become a close professional colleague and a friend over, you guessed it, many lunches with Tony and me.

Nick’s introduction in the book has a wonderful passage that captures the challenges Tony’s has successfully penned in this story:

Not everyone who reads this story will share Tony’s faith and some may find his Christian interpretations of the world in the second half of the book somewhat challenging

and further,

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.

Interestingly, Tony whispered to me it was through the co-authorship of the book that Nick renewed his faith when he began, as he says in the introduction, “thinking deeply about the meaning of discipleship.”

For those not familiar with the location Jumble Plains, it is north of Condobolin, south from Nyngan and west of Dubbo in central NSW. This is where the story begins.

Tony McLellan grew up on a sheep station mending fences and killing rabbits and began his business career at age 15, managing the family sheep station when his father died. Moving to the city to study, he graduated summa cum laude, and then spent half his working life abroad.