<
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/05/sydney-newspaper-rebellion-the-night-the-censors-called-armed-officers-on-the-press-australia-arthur-calwell>
"Eighty years ago in September 1943, Australia’s newspaper owners feared the
worst when Labor’s Arthur Calwell was sworn in as minister for information in
John Curtin’s wartime government.
Unlike most politicians, the federal member for Melbourne relished fighting
with the press. Calwell’s political career had begun with a libel action
against a newspaper – and it would end the same way three decades later.
Two years before he was sworn in as minister, Calwell famously said the
Australian press is “owned for the most part by financial crooks and is edited
for the most part by mental harlots”.
A tough political brawler with a legendary ability to hold a grudge, no other
government minister ever gave newspaper owners as much trouble. When Curtin set
sail for the United States in early April 1944, he had not even arrived before
Sydney’s daily newspapers were suppressed at gunpoint with Calwell’s
permission. This set off the most dramatic incident in Australian press
history."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
