Former deputy PM Tim Fischer dies aged 73

Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has died aged 73 after a decade-long battle with cancer.

Former Nationals leader Tim Fischer on his first tractor at Gunyah Museum in Lockhart, NSW. Source: AAP

Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has died aged 73 after a decade-long battle with cancer.

The 73-year-old had been battling acute leukaemia and cancer for 10 years and was receiving treatment at the Albury Wodonga Cancer Centre.

 Born on 3 May in 1946 in Lockhart, regional New South Wales, the popular politician was always proud to come from a dusty small town and go on to - at one point - becoming acting prime minister.

Mr Fischer was just 20 years old when he was conscripted into the Army - serving as an officer, and a platoon commander in Australia, and Vietnam.

Former ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer at the National Press Club in Canberra, 2012.

AAP

 

But his passion for the rights of regional Australians led him to politics and he was elected into New South Wales state parliament, and then federal parliament in 1984.

Mr Fischer became an MP at just 24-years-old, going on to become the widely-respected leader of The Nationals from 1990-1999, and also served as Trade Minister.

From 1996, Mr Fischer acted as Deputy Prime Minister under John Howard.

He often said over the course of his life, he was most proud of supporting Mr Howard on the gun control legislation, as well as the Darwin-Adelaide rail link.

Tim Fischer, left, in Peshawar, 200 kilometeres west of Islamabad.

AAP