A biographer of former Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and his wife Enid has rubbished claims from the United Australia Party's Clark candidate that he is related to the late political power couple.
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Anne Henderson, who has written books on both Joseph and Enid, issued a statement today saying that she can "confidently declare" that UAP Clark candidate Jim Starkey has "no relationship to Joe and Enid Lyons and their descendants".
UAP leader Clive Palmer has sought to draw an explicit link between his party and the original United Australia Party, which was founded by Joseph Lyons in the 1930s. Mr Palmer has claimed both Joseph Lyons and former Prime Minister Robert Menzies as past members of his party.
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Reports emerged earlier this week that Mr Starkey's purported links to the Lyons family may be dubious, with Sue Hall, a granddaughter of Joseph and Enid, casting doubt on the claims.
Joseph Lyons was the first and only Tasmanian-born prime minister, while his wife, Enid, was the first woman elected to the House of Representatives, as well as the first woman to serve in federal cabinet.
Ms Henderson said any media outlets that had reported Mr Starkey's supposed heritage as fact "should correct any earlier reports of same".
"Jim Starkey, when questioned by David Austin - great-grandson of Joe and Enid Lyons - has stated that his grandfather was a William Henry Lyons (i.e. a son of Joe and Enid Lyons) and his sister was Dulcy," she said. "There are no children of Enid and Joe Lyons named William Henry or Dulcy. Any claim to the contrary is simply false."
"The United Australia Party of the 1930s and early 1940s - founded by Joe Lyons and other MPs from the non-Labor side of politics and which eventually became the Liberal Party of Australia - has no connection with Clive Palmer's current UAP."
There are no children of Enid and Joe Lyons named William Henry or Dulcy. Any claim to the contrary is simply false.
- Anne Henderson
Mr Austin, a school principal based in Canberra, told The Examiner there were 108 great-grandchildren of Joseph and Enid and Jim Starkey is "not one of them".
"I do not pretend to be a spokesman for the family, but simply one great-grandson who is distressed, as others in the family are, that Mr Starkey can make the claim that he is related to Joe and Enid, when, to me, he is obviously using this assertion for political gain," Mr Austin said.
"On examining the extensive family tree which was prepared by Brendan Lyons, son of Joe and Enid, there is no mention of the name Starkey in the hundreds of entries contained therein.
"I have been in contact with Mr Starkey several times asking him to prove his claims but he has ignored my requests."
On Thursday, Mr Palmer spoke at a campaign event at the Country Club in Launceston. There, he addressed concerns around Mr Starkey's supposed family heritage.
"We've looked back at [Mr Starkey] before he was endorsed, and if you do a Google search, you'll find there are a number of articles, not recent articles, but ones going back 10-20 years which set all of this up," Mr Palmer said.
"I don't want to put myself or the party in a family dispute. That's something, really, you should try to keep out of politics.
"We've got no reason to believe that he's not the person he says he is. ... You'd have to view those claims with a grain of salt."
The UAP was contacted for comment.