Alan Ramsey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alan Graham Ramsey (3 January 193824 November 2020) was an Australian journalist and columnist for ''
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 ...
'' from 1986 to 2008. In a career spanning 56 years, he worked for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
,
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
,
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 ''
Australian Associated Press Australian Associated Press Ltd (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was founded in 1935 by Keith Murdoch. AAP employs around 90 journalists who work in bureaus in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. It al ...
''; covering the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, Australian politics, and writing columns and opinion pieces. He was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame in 2017.


Early life

Ramsey was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, on 3 January 1938 to Thelma Ruth Simmonds and Eric Ramsey. His father worked assorted jobs including a factory job and a few sales jobs. He was the eldest of five siblings. His mother took him and his siblings to live at
Chittaway Point, New South Wales Chittaway Point is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible ...
, when his father was enlisted in the war. He completed his Intermediate Certificate studies from Gosford High School before joining ''The Daily Telegraph''.


Career

Ramsey started his career in journalism in 1953 as a copy boy and later as a cadet journalist working for
Frank Packer Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family. Early life Frank Packer was born in ...
, who then owned the Sydney ''Daily Telegraph''. Ramsay gained experience working for small newspapers in
Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...
and Darwin, before joining
Australian Associated Press Australian Associated Press Ltd (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was founded in 1935 by Keith Murdoch. AAP employs around 90 journalists who work in bureaus in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. It al ...
(AAP). He was a correspondent for AAP in
Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...
and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, before being appointed in 1965 as a correspondent to travel with the first contingent of Australian combat troops to
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
. After returning to Australia, he was appointed to cover federal politics in
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 ...
for ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'', in February 1966. During a parliamentary debate in 1971, Ramsey shouted "You liar!" from the
press gallery {{Short description, Parliamentary reporters The press gallery is the part of a parliament, or other legislative body, where political journalists are allowed to sit or gather to observe and then report speeches and events. This is generally one of ...
of the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
, directed at then Prime Minister
John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician, farmer and airman who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. He held office as the leader of the leade ...
. Ramsey said he felt compelled to speak out because Gorton's speech contradicted "one particular crucial part" of what Gorton had said in his office in an interview. ''
Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...
'' faithfully reported Ramsay's clearly audible interjection, which was a blatant breach of parliamentary rules. Realising his error, Ramsey quickly conveyed his gravest apology both to the House and, most particularly, to the Prime Minister. Gorton graciously accepted the apology, while inviting the Labor Party Opposition to withdraw its motion that Ramsey be immediately arrested by the
serjeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-ar ...
of the House. Ramsey later recalled that House speaker
William Aston Sir William John Aston, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (19 September 1916 – 21 May 1997) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he attended state schools before becoming an accountant and company director. He served in World W ...
had helped him draft the apology. Ramsey wrote for a number of other publications before becoming a speech-writer and press secretary for
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
opposition leader Bill Hayden from 1978 until 1983. He took over the weekend national politics column for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' from Peter Bowers and wrote the column from 1987 until his retirement in December 2008. He retired as the oldest longest serving Australian political reporter covering Federal politics. In his 2009 book ''A Matter of Opinion'', he published a selection of more than a decade of opinion pieces for ''The Herald''. He was a member of the board of the Whitlam Institute, but resigned, along with another director, subsequent to the forced resignation of founding director Peter Botsman in November 2002, after Botsman had been targeted by fellow director
Mark Latham Mark William Latham (; born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...
, following a falling out between the two. Writing about him in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', columnist Damien Murphy notes that his columns brought in a mix of "insights, anger, venom, sentimentality, and grace." He goes on to say that Ramsey through his columns was a "chronicler of Australia's march from Menzies to modernity." He was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame in 2017.


Personal life

Ramsey was married twice: first to Jeanette Murphy and then to journalist Laura Tingle. Ramsey and Tingle divorced in 2017. He had three children from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage. He died on 24 November 2020, aged 82, after suffering from dementia and having spent the last months of his life in a nursing home on the south coast of New South Wales.


Books

* *


References


External links


Interview on the ABC with Ramsey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Alan 1938 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Australian journalists 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Australian journalists 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers Australian political journalists Deaths from dementia in Australia Writers from Sydney The Sydney Morning Herald people