Alan Fitzgerald (satirist)
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Alan John Fitzgerald (5 November 193531 March 2011) was an Australian author, journalist and
satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...
. He was known for his unwavering opposition to the
Australian republican movement The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a Nonpartisanism, non-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. The ARM and its supporters have promoted various models, including a parliamentary republic, and the organisa ...
and worked alongside
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
during Abbott's tenure as president of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) during the 1990s. Fitzgerald was a significant figure in the founding of the National Press Club, serving as president for several years. As a journalist, he provided his services to numerous publications and programmes, in both print and
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
journalism, including '' The Herald'', ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', '' The Bulletin'' and '' The Sunday Australian''. He also achieved considerable recognition as an author, having developed a niche in which he wrote about
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
n history and culture; ''Fitzgerald's Canberra'' and ''Life in Canberra'' are two notable examples of his writing in this area. Fitzgerald had been writing a book on the
Irish Australian Irish Australians () are ‌‍‍‍‍residents of Australia who are either fully or partially of Irish people, Irish descent. Irish immigrants and their descendants have had a prominent presence in Australian society since the First Fle ...
experience at the time of his death.


Biography

Born in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Fitzgerald graduated from the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree (English and
Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
). He lived in the Canberra suburb of Isaacs with his wife, Maria; they had two sons and six grandchildren.


Career

He arrived in Canberra in 1964 from
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
, where he had gone to join '' The Fiji Times'', then owned by Pacific Publications,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. However, he was also invited by editor, John Douglas Pringle, to write satirical columns for ''
The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...
'', having met Pringle in London some years earlier. He joined the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) and then became its Director of Public Information. After its abolition in 1989 (and 20 years with the NCDC), Fitzgerald transferred into the same position at the National Capital Planning Authority. He became a member of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery. He later broadened his
opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...
s, writing for ''
The Sun-Herald ''The Sun-Herald'' is an Australian newspaper published in tabloid or compact format on Sundays in Sydney by Nine Entertainment. It is the Sunday counterpart of the ''Sydney Morning Herald''. In the six months to September 2005, ''The Sun-H ...
'', ''
The Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated a ...
'', ''The Sunday Australian'', ''The Bulletin'', ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' and ''The Age''. He was also a correspondent for CBC-Ottawa in 1974, and as well conducted his own current affairs program for nine years on Canberra radio station
2CA 2CA is an Australian Commercial broadcasting, commercial radio station on the AM band serving Canberra. It is jointly owned by the Capital Radio Network and Grant Broadcasters. The station broadcasts on AM Stereo 1053 kHz and on Digital Au ...
. He was also a frequent contributor to ABC radio programs and made regular appearances on Channel Seven's breakfast program.


Politics

In
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, Fitzgerald was elected to the ACT Advisory Council for the
True Whig Party The True Whig Party (TWP), also known as the Liberian Whig Party (LWP), is the oldest political party in Liberia and Africa as a whole. Founded in 1869 by primarily darker-skinned Americo-Liberians in rural areas, its historic rival was the Re ...
, promising to take no action as a mock platform. He was re-elected in
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
, with 21% of the vote, as an
Australia Party The Australia Party was a minor centrist political party in Australia from 1969 to 1986. It was most influential in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The party was established in 1969 under the leadership of Senator Reg Turnbull, as a merger o ...
candidate, ahead of the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
candidates and second only to the Labor Party (ALP) team. For many years, Fitzgerald was a member and chairman of the ACT Historic Sites and Building Committee (later renamed the Heritage Council), a body that had been established at his initiative. The Committee sought to protect historic homesteads and buildings, during a time when Canberra was rapidly being extended into surrounding rural areas. In May 1970, Fitzgerald stood for the Australia Party (founded by Gordon Barton) in the May 1970 ACT by-election for the House of Representatives. He won 17.5 percent on first preferences, the highest vote of any Australia Party candidate in a federal election, but was eliminated from the vote count in the final distribution of preferences. Fitzgerald again stood as an Australia Party candidate for the same seat at the 1972 federal election. He did not stand for election again until the
1992 Australian Capital Territory election Elections to the 1992 Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly was held on Saturday, 15 February, alongside a referendum on an electoral system for future elections. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by ...
, where he was a member of Harold Hird's Better Management Team. None of that team were elected. Fitzgerald was elected the President of the National Press Club for two terms, 1969–70 and 1970–71, and remained on the committee for many years. As a
monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...
, he was a founding member and chairman of the ACT & Region branch of the ACM and played an active role in the Australian republican debate. In 1998, he was the ACM's primary candidate in the election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention, but lost on a final distribution of preferences to the ARM candidate, Frank Cassidy.


Death

Fitzgerald died of cancer on 31 March 2011, aged 75.


Bibliography

* ''Fitzgerald's Canberra: A Guide to Life in the National Capital''. Dalton Publishing. 1969, 1970 and 1971. * ''The Best of Fitzgerald''. Dalton Publishing. 1970. * ''Old Fitz's Unparliamentary Handbook''. Clareville Press. 1976. * ''Historic Canberra, 1825-1945''. Australian Government Publishing. 1977. * ''Italian Farming Soldiers: PoWs in Australia, 1941-47''. Melbourne University Press. 1981. * ''Alan Fitzgerald's Canberra with cartoons by George Molnar''. Clareville Press. 1983. * ''Canberra's Engineering Heritage''. (Editor). Clareville Press. 1983. * ''Canberra and the New Parliament House''. Lansdowne Press. 1983. * ''Canberra in Two Centuries – A Pictorial History''. Clareville Press. 1987. * ''Victory: 1945, War & Peace''. Gore & Osment/Australian War Memorial. 1995. * ''Barons, Rebels & Romantics – The Fitzgeralds' First Thousand Years''. Clareville Press. 2004. * ''The Italian Farming Soldiers''. Clareville Press. Revised editions; 1999, 2007. * ''A Big Head (And coping)''. Random House. 1992.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Alan 1935 births 2011 deaths Australian columnists Australia Party politicians Australian Capital Territory politicians Australian monarchists Australian satirists People from Canberra Deaths from cancer in the Australian Capital Territory