[2] He was the first of two sons born to Eva Sydney Myee (née Hunt) and Horace Joseph Stone; his father was a wheat farmer and his mother was a primary school teacher.
[3] Stone spent most of his early childhood on his father's farming property at Korbel in the Western Australian wheatbelt.
Despite holding what were seen by some to be neoliberal economic views, Stone initially opposed the decision in December 1983 to float the Australian dollar, and consistently deplored a consumption tax.
[8] John Howard, Liberal Party leader at the time, appointed Stone as the Opposition finance spokesman.
Other Australian publications for which he wrote include The Sydney Morning Herald, the quarterly National Observer, and Quadrant.
However, in an article published in the March 2008 issue of Quadrant, Stone argued that Howard had been Australia's greatest Prime Minister.