Community
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TONY STEPHENS. Freda Whitlam: educationalist passionate about her girls.
Freda Whitlam, a formidable educator and church leader, was principal of a prominent Sydney private girls school, helped establish the University of Western Sydney and the University of the Third Age, and became Moderator of the Uniting Church of Australia. She died on Wednesday, May 30, at the age of 97. Continue reading »
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CAROL SUMMERHAYES. At a tribute to Graham Freudenberg.- A REPOST from June 8 2017
Graham revealed in his memoir that he wrote his first speech in Brisbane in May 1945, aged 10, at the time of VE Day, and delivered it to his mother. In 1946 he scored a job with ABC Radio reading scripts of school broadcasts – “I learned a lot about the use of English written Continue reading »
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JENNY HOCKING. Harold Holt: The legacy is evident, 50 years after his disappearance.
It was a quintessential Australian death. On 17 December 1967, Australia’s 17th prime minister, Harold Edward Holt, waded into the churning surf at Victoria’s Cheviot Beach, defying a swift current and a strong under-tow that left others in his party refusing to enter. Within minutes Holt was swept up and out, “like a leaf … Continue reading »
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PETER BROWNE. Historian of the present.Ken Inglis
When I visited Ken Inglis early last month, a few weeks before he died, I found him engrossed in the day’s edition of the Sunday Age. It was perhaps eighty years since he’d begun reading the papers as a schoolboy in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Preston, and during that time he’d become one of Australia’s Continue reading »
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CAROL SUMMERHAYES. Another Trans-Siberian experience.
John Tulloh’s post brought back memories of my Trans-Siberian train journey, some twenty-three years after his. He was there in 1967, and not a lot had changed when I was there in 1990, travelling in the reverse direction. Continue reading »
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BOB CARR. Tribute to Johno Johnson. ‘Keep the faith…both of them’
The separation of church and state was not a fetish of John Richard Johnson. He adored the Cross on Calvary. And rallied to The Light on The Hill. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. An appreciation of Ian Marsh.
Ian Marsh who passed away last week, was a highly original thinker with the genuine curiosity of a true intellectual. Ian liked to describe himself as one of the last ‘Deakinite Liberals’. This apt description reflected: Ian’s contributions to industrial policy, and especially how the state can help foster innovation, and Ian’s preference for a Continue reading »
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ALBERT MISPEL. 1938-2017
Pearls & Irritations advises the sad news that Albert Mispel, who was instrumental in getting this blog started (and indeed, suggested its name) has passed away. Albert had an exciting life during which he taught school in New Guinea, was a core member of the Glebe Society fighting expressways during the 1970s and, later in Continue reading »
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PETER GIBILISCO. Where are the public intellectuals like Hugh Stretton.
“The worst kind of bad social science, Stretton argues, purports to select the things to be explained, and the ways of explaining them, without resort to values and valuation” Continue reading »
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IAN WEBSTER. A tribute to Anne Deveson – understanding the homeless mentally ill
Anne Deveson’ s media presence spearheaded the media’s involvement in public health and mental health. She contributed at so many levels – social commentaries and documentaries -which challenged our sensibilities. Continue reading »
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BINOY KAMPMARK. Des Ball: The man who sank the myth of controlled nuclear warfare
The late Professor Des Ball of the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre came as close as any on being a public intellectual on nuclear strategy. While some of his counterparts in the United States felt that using nuclear weapons was feasible and sound, Ball, who died last week, issued his pieces with Continue reading »
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NICHOLAS FARRELLY. What is King Bhumibol’s legacy?
New Mandala co-founder Nicholas Farrelly reflects on a remarkable and contentious reign. The 70-year reign of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej started and ended inauspiciously. It was a family tragedy that unexpectedly brought Bhumibol to the throne. He went on to become the world’s longest serving monarch but, in death, his formidable legacy is deeply tarnished Continue reading »
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GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. On Gough Whitlam’s 100th birthday, 11 July 2016.
This tribute is being published as a foreword to the book ‘Not just for this life’. Wendy Guest has put together all the tributes paid to Gough Whitlam in the House and the Senate in October 2014. This tribute to Gough Whitlam will be published by the UNSW Press. Something very special and wonderful happened Continue reading »
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Eric Walsh. Tribute to Brian Johns.
The death of Brian Francis Johns, 79, in the early hours of New Years Day marked the end of one of the most impressive Australian media careers of the last half century. During this period Johns engaged in and excelled at the top level of almost all aspects of media affecting the lives of everyday Continue reading »
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Vale Malcolm Fraser
Repost from 21/03/2015 I am sure that Malcolm Fraser’s concerns for human rights were always there. But as he grew and matured, that concern flourished and became obvious to all. He became our moral compass on human rights. I was first conscious of Malcolm’s concern for human rights when I listened to his speech in Continue reading »
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Edmund Campion. Homily for the funeral service of Brian Johns.
Family, friends, colleagues of Brian Johns. The other morning, after Brian had died, it came to me, so this is the end of a conversation that endured for more than sixty years. Then I recalled that one name had dominated our earliest talks together, all those years ago, the name of Dorothy Day. Dorothy Day? Continue reading »
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Julianne Schultz. Tribute to Brian Johns.
Brian Johns: A critical Australian romantic Brian had a gift for friendship. I first got to know him in the late 1970s; I know that many of you knew him for longer. Over the years as some of his closest friends passed away, he made time to get to know others and share their dreams, Continue reading »
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Defence and Security, Human Rights, Immigration, refugees, Indigenous affairs, Politics, Tributes, World Affairs
Tributes to Malcolm Fraser.
See below, tributes from Fred Chaney and Robert Manne on Malcolm Fraser’s achievements in public life. John Mendue. Fred Chaney in The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/20/malcolm-fraser-a-leader-who-believed-there-is-a-moral-compass-in-our-nations-life Robert Manne in The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/20/frasers-great-conservative-achievement-cementing-whitlams-progress-on-race Continue reading »
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Ian Macphee. Personal memories of Malcolm Fraser.
I first met Malcolm in 1973 when he was shadow minister for Industrial Relations in the Coalition opposition. I was Director of the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures and intensely involved in industrial relations. Malcolm had just been given that responsibility and wished to explore issues seriously. We did so for over two hours. I told Continue reading »
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Graham Freudenberg. Gough Whitlam Commemorative Oration.
You will see below what I think is a remarkable speech by Graham Freudenberg about Gough Whitlam’s contemporary relevance. This oration is much longer than I normally post on this blog, but it is an outstanding oration which I am sure you will enjoy. The Whitlam Institute will also be publicising this oration. John Menadue Continue reading »
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Graham Freudenberg. Gough being Gough.
LAUNCH OF JAMES CARLETON’S ‘THE WIT OF WHITLAM’,BELLEVUE HOTEL, PADDINGTON, NSW, 8 DECEMBER 2014 As Henry Kissinger discovered to his chagrin in Beijing in 1971, Gough made a habit of getting there first. The Bellevue is no exception. Most of us here probably associate the Bellevue with its glory days when Suzie Carleton was, as Continue reading »
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Steve FitzGerald on Gough Whitlam, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou
Of the many things I admired and loved about Gough, one of the most delicious, next to our shared liking for food, was that he was the best person I’ve ever been privileged to brief. It wasn’t just that he soaked it up like blotting paper and asked for more and never forgot. It was Continue reading »
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John Mant. Tribute to Gough Whitlam
It is difficult to make this speech – so much to say about this great man and his times. I observed him from a number of angles: Working with Tom Uren and Gough Whitlam on urban policy proposals before the elections. Assisting my friends Peter Wilenski and James Spigelman in their work on the administrative Continue reading »
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Antony Whitlam. Tribute to Gough Whitlam
The Honourable (Edward) Gough Whitlam, AC QC State Memorial Service The Honourable Antony Whitlam QC Sydney Town Hall 5 November 2014 Auntie Millie Ingram gave a moving Welcome to Country. I also wish to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation on whose land this notable building stands. I pay respect to Gadigal elders – Continue reading »
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Noel Pearson. Tribute to Gough Whitlam.
The Honourable (Edward) Gough Whitlam, AC QC State Memorial Service Noel Pearson Sydney Town Hall 5 November 2014 Paul Keating said the reward for public life is public progress. For one born estranged from the nation’s citizenship, into a humble family of a marginal people striving in the teeth of poverty and discrimination, today Continue reading »
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John Faulkner. Tribute to Gough Whitlam
The Honourable (Edward) Gough Whitlam, AC QC Senator John Faulkner State Memorial Service Sydney Town Hall 5 November 2014 “Dying will happen sometime. As you know, I plan for the ages, not just for this life.” As those words show, Gough Whitlam always thought – and planned – on a grand scale. In the past Continue reading »
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Graham Freudenberg AM. Tribute to Gough Whitlam.
The Honourable (Edward) Gough Whitlam, AC QC State Memorial Service Graham Freudenberg AM Sydney Town Hall 5 November 2014 This is the greatest privilege of my very privileged life. And I thank the Whitlam Family for it. Gough Whitlam sets Time itself at defiance. Can it really be 45 years ago, he stood right Continue reading »
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Richard Woolcott. Whitlam on the world stage: Courage, vision and wit
Gough Whitlam had political courage and a vision for Australia. A forward-looking, pragmatic realist, he sought to reshape Australia’s approach to the countries of North and Southeast Asia, the region in which we are forever situated. It was stimulating to be a senior official in the then Department of Foreign Affairs when Gough became prime Continue reading »
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Eric Walsh. Gough Whitlam – Australia’s greatest reforming Prime Minister.
Australian media had never seen anything like it. Suddenly print, radio, television and social media were overwhelmed – blanket coverage of a single event. Edward Gough Whitlam, Australia’s 21st and greatest reforming Prime Minister, was dead. Newspapers were turned over to almost complete coverage ,not only of the fact that the former PM had died, but Continue reading »
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Kelvin Canavan. Gough Whitlam: a tribute to an education visionary.
I first met E. G. Whitlam when he spoke at a series of ‘State Aid’ rallies in Sydney prior to the 1969 federal election. He was in full voice before a Catholic community that had packed halls and cinemas on eight Sunday evenings, demanding financial support for their schools from federal and state governments. The Continue reading »