Former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Doug Anthony has died, aged 90.

He died peacefully in the Heritage Lodge aged-care home in Murwillumbah, northeast NSW, on Sunday morning his family said in a statement.

Mr Anthony was leader of the Country Party/National Party for 12 years and deputy prime minister for nearly 10, influencing Coalition policies for much of the 1970s and 1980s.

“Although Doug was privileged to serve the people of Australia in high office, he always considered his family to be his greatest legacy and contribution to the world,” the family statement said.

“He was very much a man of the Tweed region, and it is fitting that he should depart this life from within the community that he loved so much.

“His family is tremendously proud of his legacy. While always very humble, he made a lasting contribution to the nation, and particularly to people in country Australia.”

He is survived by his wife Margot, his three children and nine grandchildren.

-AAP