DOCSLIB.ORG

Policy Winter 04.Indd

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Policy Winter 04.Indd cover story Punching Above Our Weight If Australia wants to maintain its influence in the world, it needs to keep reforming its economy and increase its population, says Paul Kelly ustralia’s opinion makers love to old fashioned debates we once had about power discuss our identity. Paul Keating were infected with racism, imperialism and a left the Lodge eight years ago but the cultural cringe that could only dismay today’s identity debate, while devoid of its sophisticated and cosmopolitan Australians. Past A previous passion, still exerts its hold leaders such as Billy Hughes, Arthur Calwell over the quality media. This is no bad thing. Yet and ‘Black’ Jack McEwen were obsessed with its endurance highlights by omission the debate Australia’s power, or rather its lack of power, Australia refuses to have—over the nature and and the ideas they championed of nationalistic extent of its power in the world. imperialism, racial-based mass immigration and This is a subject not to be raised in polite an unforgiving protectionism are now out of sight company and rarely to be confronted in the and out of mind, interned as the aberrations of straightjacket of Canberra officialdom. There are political primitives. other debates that command attention—our ties with America, our engagement with Asia, our counter-terrorism strategies and our defence force Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large at The Australian. structure. But as a nation we prefer to discuss He is the author of numerous books including the various parts of our existence rather than the The End of Certainty: The Story of the 1980s totality of our existence. (1992) and Paradise Divided: The Changes, the This is because we have belatedly learnt how Challenges, the Choices for Australia (2000). to behave in civilised company. We know that the 28 Vol. 20 No. 2 • Winter 2004 • Policy Policy • Vol. 20 No. 2 • Winter 2004 29 Punching Above Our Weight There is one discussion that we do have about important in Asia, nearly half, 46% disagreed. power. It is about the morality of its use. As Only 30% felt that Australia ‘is able to influence academics and journalists are less subject to moral major issues in ways important to Australia’. and religious codes in their personal lives so their And 52% said it was now harder for Australia to claims to be moral guardians of Australian policy influence trends in world politics. These are the have become more presumptuous and pompous. people, of course, charged with this precise task. Their broad conclusion is easy to summarise—the It is fashionable to debunk the Government’s Keating Government was immoral and the 1997 Foreign Affairs and Trade White Paper Howard Government is more immoral. Keating’s that missed the Asian financial crisis but its offence was to seek a personal relationship with arguments have a long-run validity. The White President Suharto to leverage a series of foreign Paper warned that the disparity in growth rates policy objectives. Howard’s offence is deeper: it is between Australia and industrialising East Asia the absence of any moral conscience in his pursuit meant that the gap in economic size, technological of objectives from East Timor’s independence to and industrial sophistication will narrow, and, as border protection to his alliance with President a result ‘Australia will be able to rely less on its Bush in the so-called war against terror. When strategic and economic weight in the region to survival is not an issue then morals command a achieve its policy objectives’. In short, its relative premium. power is in decline. This idea is no longer popular. Since the Asian crisis the Howard Government has been an Since the Asian crisis the Howard exponent of the opposite view. It argues that our Government has argued that our influence in the world is increasing (when has any influence in the world is increasing government said otherwise?) with Foreign Minister (when has any government said Alexander Downer insisting that Australia is otherwise?) with Foreign Minister a very significant nation and the world’s 13th largest economy. However, notwithstanding such Alexander Downer insisting that cyclical trends, the challenges that face Australia Australia is a very significant nation and are immense. the world’s 13th largest economy. They begin with the 1997 White Paper’s projection of a relative decline in Australia’s ‘hard’ power in its own region. The best two measures Our focus on morality helps to substitute that define our ‘hard’ power are population and for any sustained debate about national strategy. GDP. At Federation some of the Founding Fathers This is because in the two generations since the dreamt that in 100 years time Australia would have Vietnam War Australia’s strategic circumstances a population of 50 million or aspire to become a have been relatively benign. (It also reflects our second United States. But its arid centre and ‘she’ll be right’ fatalism). Australia is a more distance from European cities defied such dreams. confident nation today and is conscious of its Australia is dwarfed by its neighbours—Indonesia transition to national maturity. Sooner or later, (215 million), China (1.3 billion), India (1.1 however, it must confront the strategic debate billion), Thailand (64 million) and Malaysia (25 inherent in its national situation. million). Current trends suggest that over the next half century this gap between Australia and The coming decline of Australian relative its region will increase and that it will increase in power proportional terms. A premonition of the problem is identified in Australia’s economic growth over the past Making Australian Foreign Policy by Allan Gyngell decade tops the rankings among the industrialised and Michael Wesley when they report a survey OECD nations. It has been a stellar performance. they conducted of DFAT’s policy officers (242 But many East Asian nations at an earlier stage responded). While 51% agreed that Australia was of economic development than Australia can be 30 Vol. 20 No. 2 • Winter 2004 • Policy Policy • Vol. 20 No. 2 • Winter 2004 31 Punching Above Our Weight expected to record higher growth rates in coming security terms virtually co-terminus with the US, decades. When the ANU’s Professor Glenn is fully integrated into the US economy (which Withers superimposes current economic trends takes more than 85% of its exports). Finally, the and population projections he finds that Australia’s United Kingdom is a member of the EU outside GDP ranking slips by mid-century from sixth to the Euro zone, enjoys its trans-Atlantic links 11th in the Asia-Pacific. Indonesia, Thailand and is a member of NATO. These constitute and Hong Kong—all smaller economies than for our former Empire partners an intensity of Australia’s today—would be larger. China would regional bonds and networks that transcend any be more than 30 times as large; Thailand now a comparable ties Australia is likely to create with its third the size of Australia’s economy would be own geographic, political and economic partners. larger. It is true that Australia benefits from being Second, Australia is in a region where in a dynamic region. However, as the 1997 White dislocation and conflict are on the rise. Australia Paper says (or sometimes leaves unsaid) these is the metropolitan power in the South Pacific economic trends mean the advantages Australia and a key player in a trouble-afflicted South enjoys in technology and economic weight will be East Asia. The South Pacific is increasingly beset eroded or reversed over time. by state failure and self-determination disputes; It is easy to say that such long-run trends defy witness the recent crises in Fiji and Solomon precise prediction. It is however difficult to argue Islands and the alarm in Canberra about Papua that this trend is improbable. And if it is probable, New Guinea’s stability. The future of East Timor then this decline in Australia’s ‘hard’ power must remains problematic. South East Asia represents have serious consequences for its future influence. an intersection of rising Muslim extremism, growing secessionist disputes and weak central Strategic realities governments, notably in Manila and Jakarta. The The situation is compounded by a series of Howard Government’s 2000 Defence White Paper strategic realities. First, unlike the situation facing said that Australia ‘cannot be secure in an insecure many other middle powers there is no political region’ yet our own region is becoming more or regional economic union for Australia to join. insecure and the forces driving such insecurity will Australia will not join the European Union. It will not be expended soon. not become a state of the United States. It will As a consequence Australia will have to assume not be accepted as a fully fledged member into a greater role within its own neighbourhood not any subsequently created East Asian economic just as a security partner but to uphold civil society union. In short, it will not find safety in numbers and check the drift towards failed states. This by trading away sovereignty to enter a regional awareness is seen in the Howard Government’s federation. Its location and the absence (apart from more interventionist approach to Papua New New Zealand) of neighbours at a comparable stage Guinea and Solomon Islands. The threat of of economic development means that Australia’s Islamic terrorism will drive Australia into deeper destiny will be determined as a free standing collaboration with Indonesia, the Philippines and nation state and not as a component in a larger other regional partners—a direction set after the political, economic or regional bloc.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • John Curtin's War
    backroom briefings John Curtin's war CLEM LLOYD & RICHARD HALL backroom briefings John Curtin's WAR edited by CLEM LLOYD & RICHARD HALL from original notes compiled by Frederick T. Smith National Library of Australia Canberra 1997 Front cover: Montage of photographs of John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia, 1941-45, and of Old Parliament House, Canberra Photographs from the National Library's Pictorial Collection Back cover: Caricature of John Curtin by Dubois Bulletin, 8 October 1941 Published by the National Library of Australia Canberra ACT 2600 © National Library of Australia 1997 Introduction and annotations © Clem Lloyd and Richard Hall Every reasonable endeavour has been made to contact relevant copyright holders of illustrative material. Where this has not proved possible, the copyright holders are invited to contact the publisher. National Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data Backroom briefings: John Curtin's war. Includes index. ISBN 0 642 10688 6. 1. Curtin, John, 1885-1945. 2. World War, 1939-1945— Press coverage—Australia. 3. Journalism—Australia. I. Smith, FT. (Frederick T.). II. Lloyd, C.J. (Clement John), 1939- . III. Hall, Richard, 1937- . 940.5394 Editor: Julie Stokes Designer: Beverly Swifte Picture researcher/proofreader: Tony Twining Printed by Goanna Print, Canberra Published with the assistance of the Lloyd Ross Forum CONTENTS Fred Smith and the secret briefings 1 John Curtin's war 12 Acknowledgements 38 Highly confidential: press briefings, June 1942-January 1945 39 Introduction by F.T. Smith 40 Chronology of events; Briefings 42 Index 242 rederick Thomas Smith was born in Balmain, Sydney, Fon 18 December 1904, one of a family of two brothers and two sisters.
    [Show full text]
  • 3. Nation Building Or Cold War: Political Settings for the Arnhem Land Expedition
    3. Nation Building or Cold War: Political settings for the Arnhem Land Expedition Kim Beazley Frank M. Setzler, the Deputy Leader of the Arnhem Land Expedition and its senior American, described in his diary the Expedition’s chief Australian political patron, Arthur Calwell, after their first meeting: Met Mr Arthur Calwell, Minister of Immigration and Information, who is a most delightful politician with a sharp tongue, quick wit, and keen mind. He has red hair and talks out of the side of his mouth. He has cousins and has visited them here in the US (Pennsylvania).1 In a sentence, Setzler captured the attributes that would take Calwell to the leadership of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but which also killed his political career when, a generation later, telegenic requirements either advanced or impaired a political career. Setzler was documenting a meeting with the minister on 25 February 1948 at the outset of their pre-expedition meetings in Canberra. Later he described a convivial Arthur Calwell at a cocktail party at the American Embassy, and the next day at an equally lubricated gathering hosted by the minister in Parliament, also attended by Opposition Leader, Robert Menzies.2 These functions were a peaceful social interlude at the beginning of two of the most bitter years in Australian politics, which were the prelude to the longest- serving government in Australia’s history, led at the outset by the man who introduced Setzler to sparkling Porphyry Pearl at the gathering mentioned above: R. G. Menzies. The Expedition—arguably the most dramatic manifestation of Australian– American scientific collaboration—was a quiet backdrop to an intense debate that went to the heart of Australian political culture at the onset of the Cold War.
    [Show full text]
  • Howard's Decade
    Lowy Institute Paper 15 howard’s decade AN AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN POLICY REAPPRAISAL Paul Kelly Lowy Institute Paper 15 howard’s decade AN AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN POLICY REAPPRAISAL Paul Kelly First published for Lowy Institute for International Policy 2006 PO Box 102 Double Bay New South Wales 2028 Australia www.longmedia.com.au [email protected] Tel. (+61 2) 9362 8441 Lowy Institute for International Policy © 2006 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large of The Australian. He was of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including but not limited to electronic, previously Editor-in-Chief of The Australian. He writes mechanical, photocopying, or recording), without the prior written permission of the on Australian and international issues and is a regular copyright owner. commentator on ABC television. Paul holds a Doctor of Letters from the University of Cover design by Holy Cow! Design & Advertising Melbourne and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Printed and bound in Australia Typeset by Longueville Media in Esprit Book 10/13 Sydney. He has honorary doctorates from the University of New South Wales and from Griffi th University, and is National Library of Australia a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Cataloguing-in-Publication data He has been a Shorenstein Fellow at the Kennedy School at Harvard University and a visiting lecturer at the Kelly, Paul, 1947- . Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Studies Centre, UCD School of History and Archives THE
    Australian Studies Centre, UCD School of History and Archives in collaboration with the Royal Irish Academy THE INAUGURAL AUSTRALIA LECTURE Shipwrecked in Arcadia: the Contemporary Australian Experience. Paul Kelly, Editor at Large, The Australian 26th November, 6 for 630pm Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson St, Dublin In this Inaugural Australia Lecture, Australia's most eminent and distinguished political journalist, Paul Kelly, considers what has happened to Australia over the past 30 years in economic, social, immigration and strategic terms. He argues that Australia’s experience is divorced from most of the rest of the West in Europe and America – its resources mean it is highly integrated into Asia and China; it retains a tight alliance with the US; it has had 30 years of growth and missed recession in the 2008‐09 global crisis. Yet it is now facing serious problems of complacency and reform exhaustion following the highly disappointing six years of Labor Government. The task of the new Abbott Government is to rekindle reform, re‐ structure the economy and restore discipline in a deteriorating fiscal environment. The risk for Australia is that it has squandered the prosperity of the past decade with far harsher times coming. There will be a wine reception before the lecture. PAUL KELLY Paul Kelly is Editor‐at‐Large on The Australian. He was previously Editor‐in‐Chief of the paper and he writes on Australian politics, public policy and international affairs. Kelly is a regular television commentator on the Sky News program, Australian Agenda and is the author of seven books including The Hawke Ascendancy, The End of Certainty and November 1975.
    [Show full text]
  • The Leader of the Opposition
    The Leader of the Opposition ‘…just as there can be no good or stable government without a sound majority, so there will be a dictatorial government unless there is the constant criticism of an intelligent, active, and critical opposition.’ –Sir Robert Menzies, 1948 The practice in Australia is for the leader of the party or coalition that can secure a majority in the House of Representatives to be appointed as Prime Minister. The leader of the largest party or Hon. Dr. H.V. Evatt coalition outside the government serves as Leader of the Opposition. Leader of the Opposition 1951 - 1960 The Leader of the Opposition is his or her party’s candidate for Prime National Library of Australia Minister at a general election. Each party has its own internal rules for the election of a party leader. Since 1967, the Leader of the Opposition has appointed a Shadow Ministry which offers policy alternatives and criticism on various portfolios. The Leader of the Opposition is, by convention, always a member of the House of Representatives and sits opposite the Prime Minister in the chamber. The Senate leader of the opposition party is referred to as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, even if they lead a majority of Senators. He or she usually has a senior Shadow Ministry role. Australia has an adversarial parliamentary system in which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition face off against one another during debates in the House of Representatives. The Opposition’s role is to hold the government accountable to the people and to Parliament, as well as to provide alternative policies in a range of areas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rudd Government Australian Commonwealth Administration 2007–2010
    The Rudd Government Australian Commonwealth Administration 2007–2010 The Rudd Government Australian Commonwealth Administration 2007–2010 Edited by Chris Aulich and Mark Evans Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/rudd_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: The Rudd government : Australian Commonwealth administration 2007 - 2010 / edited by Chris Aulich and Mark Evans. ISBN: 9781921862069 (pbk.) 9781921862076 (eBook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Rudd, Kevin, 1957---Political and social views. Australian Labor Party. Public administration--Australia. Australia--Politics and government--2001- Other Authors/Contributors: Aulich, Chris, 1947- Evans, Mark Dr. Dewey Number: 324.29407 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by ANU E Press Illustrations by David Pope, The Canberra Times Printed by Griffin Press Funding for this monograph series has been provided by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Research Program. This edition © 2010 ANU E Press Contents Acknowledgments . vii Contributors . ix Part I. Introduction 1 . It was the best of times; it was the worst of times . 3 Chris Aulich 2 . Issues and agendas for the term . 17 John Wanna Part II. The Institutions of Government 3 . The Australian Public Service: new agendas and reform . 35 John Halligan 4 . Continuity and change in the outer public sector .
    [Show full text]
  • Australia's Clean Energy Act: a New Measure in the Global Carbon Market Bruno Zeller Dr
    Loyola University Chicago International Law Review Volume 10 Article 4 Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2013 2013 Australia's Clean Energy Act: A New Measure in the Global Carbon Market Bruno Zeller Dr. Assoc. Prof. , Victoria University Michael Longo Dr. Assoc. Prof., Victoria Law School, Victoria University Follow this and additional works at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/lucilr Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Bruno Zeller Dr. & Michael Longo Dr. Australia's Clean Energy Act: A New Measure in the Global Carbon Market, 10 Loy. U. Chi. Int'l L. Rev. 179 (2013). Available at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/lucilr/vol10/iss2/4 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by LAW eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola University Chicago International Law Review by an authorized administrator of LAW eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AUSTRALIA'S CLEAN ENERGY ACT: A NEW MEASURE IN THE GLOBAL CARBON MARKET Dr. Bruno Zeller & Dr. Michael Longo' I. Introduction. ......................................... 179 II. The Australian Legislation .............................. 180 III. Outline of the Act............. ............... ...... 187 IV. Liable Entities and Covered Emissions ..................... 89 V. Pollution Caps and Emission Units........................ 190 VI. Trading of Units ..................................... 192 VII. Jobs and Competitiveness Program .. ...................... 193 VIII. Conclusion. ......................................... 196 I. Introduction The compromise reached at Durban on December 11, 2011 ("Durban Compro- mise") on a climate action roadmap committed states to negotiating a legal agree- ment by 2015, which would prospectively come into force in 2020. It represents a limited success on the international stage.
    [Show full text]
  • Letter to The
    NOTICE OF FILING This document was lodged electronically in the FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA (FCA) on 1/04/2021 12:07:00 PM AEDT and has been accepted for filing under the Court’s Rules. Details of filing follow and important additional information about these are set out below. Details of Filing Document Lodged: Particulars (including Further and Better Particulars) File Number: NSD206/2021 File Title: CHARLES CHRISTIAN PORTER v AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION ACN 429 278 345 & ANOR Registry: NEW SOUTH WALES REGISTRY - FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA Dated: 1/04/2021 1:48:57 PM AEDT Registrar Important Information As required by the Court’s Rules, this Notice has been inserted as the first page of the document which has been accepted for electronic filing. It is now taken to be part of that document for the purposes of the proceeding in the Court and contains important information for all parties to that proceeding. It must be included in the document served on each of those parties. The date and time of lodgment also shown above are the date and time that the document was received by the Court. Under the Court’s Rules the date of filing of the document is the day it was lodged (if that is a business day for the Registry which accepts it and the document was received by 4.30 pm local time at that Registry) or otherwise the next working day for that Registry. Company Giles Pty Ltd Level 13, 111 Elizabeth St Sydney NSW 2000 (e) [email protected] (ABN) 81637721683 Level 11, 456 Lonsdale St Melbourne VIC 3000 (w) companygiles.com.au
    [Show full text]
  • Turnbull's Long Road to Stability
    Turnbull’s long road to stability THE AUSTRALIAN 12:00AM JULY 6, 2016 Paul Kelly, Editor-At-Large, Sydney http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/paul-kelly/federal-election-2016-turnbulls- long-road-to-stability/news-story/62872dc95f1f600d85618c2222ed5447 Illustration: Eric Lobbecke The Liberal Party is facing a potential crisis — perhaps one of the most dangerous in its history — that will determine whether the Abbott-Turnbull era of government can be salvaged or will collapse in ruin with a litany of destructive consequences. Provided the Liberals can form a government, the test is simple — whether they have the discipline to give governing another shot or prefer to blow up their party. The omens are mixed. There has been a bizarre mood since the election, caused by the dashing of expectations. Labor, helped by some Liberals, has been brilliant at selling the idea that Malcolm Turnbull is finished. Yet Turnbull, though gravely diminished, has probably won the election. Whether Turnbull can stabilise a re-elected Liberal Party for an entire term is another issue — but a win is a win is a win. While Bill Shorten’s performance is a catalyst, the potential crisis is essentially internal. It penetrates to Turnbull’s leadership, his ability to hold his party together, and whether the liberals and conservatives can reconcile in a new parliament. The immediate test is whether Turnbull, though weakened, has the numbers in parliament to survive, probably as a minority government PM. It is true minority government may be a poisoned chalice leading to a slow political death, with Shorten punching away until the next poll delivers a landslide ALP majority.
    [Show full text]
  • Australia and the U.S. Rebalancing to Asia Strategy
    Australia and the U.S. Rebalancing to Asia Strategy October 26, 2012 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R42822 Australia and the U.S. Rebalancing to Asia Strategy Summary Australia, a traditionally staunch U.S. ally, is exploring ways to support the U.S. strategy of increasing its involvement in Asia—often called the rebalancing to Asia strategy—at a time when Australia has embarked on significant cuts to its defense budget. Australia is seeking to strengthen its long-standing defense alliance with the United States without jeopardizing its important trade relationship with China. Australia’s strategic geography is increasingly focused on its north and west at a time when the United States is also increasingly focused on the same areas, namely Southeast Asia and the northern reaches of the Indian Ocean. An analysis of Australia’s role in the United States’ Asia strategy is particularly relevant as Congress considers future U.S. strategy, force structure, and defense procurement decisions. Australia’s place in the U.S. rebalancing to Asia strategy is an important one to a large extent because the United States and Australia share many values and strategic perspectives. Australia’s strategic worldview generally is one that views the United States as a force for good in the world and in Australia’s Indo-Pacific region. The May 2012 Australian force posture review gives insight into Australian strategic thinking relative to its defense posture. While there is strong support for further developing bilateral defense cooperation with the United States, planned Australian defense budget cuts, and their potential impact on Australian defense capability plans, may place limits on the extent to which Australian defense capabilities can grow in the years ahead.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Queensland University of Technology ePrints Archive AN ELEGY FOR GREG HAM: COPYRIGHT LAW, THE KOOKABURRA CASE, AND REMIX CULTURE * MATTHEW RIMMER The Kookaburra case was a tragic and controversial copyright dispute, highlighting the need for copyright law reform by the Australian Parliament. In this case, a copyright action was brought by Larrikin Records against Men at Work, alleging copyright infringement by Down Under of the Kookaburra song composed by Marion Sinclair. The dispute raised a host of doctrinal matters. There was disquiet over the length of the copyright term. There were fierce contests as to the copyright ownership of the Kookaburra song. The litigation raised questions about copyright infringement and substantiality — particularly in relation to musical works. The case highlighted frailties in Australia’s regime of copyright exceptions. The litigation should spur the Australian Law Reform Commission to make recommendations for law reform in its inquiry, Copyright and the Digital Economy. This paper provides a critical evaluation of the options of a defence for transformative use; a defence for fair use; and statutory licensing. The paper also examines the question of appropriate remedies in respect of copyright infringement. The conclusion considers the implications of the Kookaburra case for other forms of musical works — including digital sampling, mash-ups, and creative remixes. It finishes with an elegy for Greg Ham — paying tribute to the multi- instrumentalist for Men at Work. I INTRODUCTION As a child of the 1980s, I have fond memories of the Australian band Men at Work and their song Down Under, a pub rock anthem.
    [Show full text]
  • EDWARD GOUGH WHITLAM Ac Qc 1916–2014
    THE AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15 61 EDWARD GOUGH WHITLAM ac qc 1916–2014 was promoted two years later to a post in Sydney, then assistant crown solicitor in Canberra in 1927. As crown solicitor from 1937 he was closely involved in the drafting of wartime legislation and post-war reconstruction. Fred and Martha were devout Baptists and teetotallers, lovers of the arts (though Martha was deaf) and imbued with an ethos of civic service. Their son Gough abandoned formal worship, imbibed moderately, delighted in most cultural forms and devoted his talents to the public betterment. Like Thomas Macaulay, the child spoke from the outset in perfectly formed sentences. His schooling began in Sydney and was completed in Canberra, where he excelled in languages, history and literature. He completed an honours degree in Arts at the University of Sydney in English, Latin and Greek, with the intention of becoming a classicist; extra-curricular interests affected his results, so in 1938 he began an LL.B. Through his membership of the university dramatic society he met Margaret Dovey and it was through her father William Dovey KC that he became a judge’s associate in 1941. Shortly after marrying Margaret in 1942, Gough began training in the RAAF and photo: aah archives served subsequently as a navigator in northern Australia and the Pacific. He completed his law degree after the war hen Gough Whitlam was elected an Honorary as a beneficiary of the Commonwealth Reconstruction WFellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities Training Scheme, acquired a block of land in Cronulla in 1993, he had served terms as Australian Ambassador to with a war service home loan and supplemented his UNESCO and as a member of its executive board; he had income by winning a national quiz competition for two chaired the Council of the National Gallery of Australia successive years.
    [Show full text]