Gerard Henderson
{{Short description|Australian author, columnist and political commentator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Gerard Henderson
| image =
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| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1945}}
| birth_place = Balwyn, Victoria, Australia
| death_date =
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| occupation = Author, columnist and political commentator
| nationality = Australian
| education = Xavier College
| alma_mater = University of Melbourne
| subject = Politics, Culture & Media
| movement =
| notableworks =
| spouse = Anne Henderson
}}
{{Conservatism in Australia|Intellectuals}}
Gerard Henderson (born 1945) is an Australian author, columnist and political commentator noted for his right-wing Catholic and conservative views.{{cite journal|last=Porter|first=Eric|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/39496298/version/52350089|title=Taking Conservatives Seriously: Gerard Henderson and Social Policy|journal=Just Policy|number=45|date=October 2007|pages=30–37|issn=1323-2266|via=Trove|quote= This article assesses Gerard Henderson's work and ideas. Henderson mainly contributed to Australian conservatism with a concern for social justice and feels that government plays a vital role in securing the conditions for freedom. This article identifies Henderson's vision for Australian society and evaluates how well he achieves his aims. The article also takes Henderson's conservatism seriously, treating his ideas as a coherent philosophical statement worthy of analysis.}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thesydneyinstitute.com.au/publications/contributors/gerard-henderson/|title=Gerard Henderson|publisher=The Sydney Institute|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330003500/http://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/publications/contributors/gerard-henderson/|archive-date=30 March 2017|url-status=dead}} He founded and is the executive director of The Sydney Institute, a privately funded Australian current affairs forum.{{cite web
|url= http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/thinkers-of-influence/2005/12/09/1134086810518.html?page=fullpage
|title=Thinkers of influence
|author1=Ewin Hannan|author2=Shaun Carney|work=The Age |date= 10 December 2005
|quote= While not a think tank, it operates as a forum for debate. It does not commission research or have policies." "The institute is privately funded, with all papers delivered to it published in The Sydney Papers. }}
Education and earlier career
Henderson was educated at Melbourne's Catholic, Jesuit-run Xavier College, one of the city's elite private schools. He went on to study arts and law at the prestigeous University of Melbourne during the second half of the 1960s.{{cite web |last1=Henderson |first1=Gerard |title=CATHOLIC TRIBALISM AND THE FOUNDATION OF MELBOURNE’S NEWMAN COLLEGE 1914-1918 |url=https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/blog/contesting-catholic-identity-the-foundation-of-newman-college-melbourne-1914-18/ |website=thesydneyinstitute.com.au |publisher=The Sydney Institute |access-date=3 February 2025 |language=en-AU |date=3 July 2019 |quote=I was at the University of Melbourne in the second half of the 1960s}} He later completed a PhD.
Henderson taught at the Tasmania and La Trobe universities before working for four years on the staff of Kevin Newman in the Fraser government. He moved to the Department of Industrial Relations in 1980; from 1984 to 1986 he was chief-of-staff to John Howard, during which time Howard was deputy leader, then leader, of the Liberal Party of Australia.
The Keating government appointed Henderson to the board of the Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities. Later, the Howard government appointed him to the Foreign Affairs Council. He was one of the people invited to Kevin Rudd's Australia 2020 Summit held in April 2008.
Works
For several years, Henderson had a weekly column in The Sydney Morning Herald. He also writes "Media Watch Dog", a weekly compendium of media criticism, written from the perspective of a blue heeler named Nancy.{{cite web |title=Media Watch Dog – Full Archive |url=https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/media-watch-dog-full-archive/ |publisher=The Sydney Institute |access-date=2019-03-17}} In December 2013, his column moved to The Weekend Australian, which also carries Media Watch Dog.[https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/gerard-henderson "Gerard Henderson"], The Australian
He has written several books.
- Mr Santamaria and the Bishops (Hale & Iremonger, 1982; {{ISBN|9780868060590}})
- Australian Answers (Random House Australia, 1990; {{ISBN|9780091699314}})
- Gerard Henderson Scribbles On (Wilkinson Books, 1993; {{ISBN|9781863501323}})
- Menzies' Child: The Liberal Party of Australia (HarperCollins, 1994; second edition 1998: {{ISBN|9780732259235}})
- A Howard Government? Inside the Coalition (HarperCollins, 1995; {{ISBN|9780732256395}})
- B. A. Santamaria (HarperCollins, 2005; {{ISBN|9780732264253}})
- Santamaria: A Most Unusual Man (MUP, 2015; {{ISBN|9780522868586}})
- Cardinal Pell, the Media Pile-On & Collective Guilt (Connor Court Publishing, 2021; {{ISBN|9781922449818}})
Media appearances
In 1994, Henderson profiled former prime minister Bob Hawke for the ABC TV program Four Corners. He was a regular political commentator on radio, and appeared occasionally on Insiders, another ABC TV program. In early 2020, Henderson was dropped from the show after new host David Speers reportedly wanted to try new conservative voices amid claims from sources in the ABC that Henderson failed to sufficiently engage with issues during panel discussions.{{Cite news|last=Meade|first=Amanda|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/24/conservative-commentator-gerard-henderson-dropped-from-abcs-insiders-program|title=Conservative commentator Gerard Henderson dropped from ABC's Insiders program|date=2020-02-24|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2020/02/insiders-drops-conservative-gerard-henderson.html|title=Insiders drops conservative Gerard Henderson|author=David Knox|date=2020-02-24|website=TV Tonight|access-date=2020-03-05}}
Views
In 2006, Henderson said John Howard had lost the ongoing culture wars, writing, "In my view, there is only one area where the Coalition has failed to have a significant impact – namely, in what some have termed 'the culture wars'."{{cite journal
|journal=The Sydney Institute Quarterly |issue=29 |pages=11–22
|title=The Howard Government and the Culture Wars
|url=https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/blog/tsi-quarterly-issue-29/
|last=Henderson |first=Gerard |date=August 2006}} ([http://podcast.thesydneyinstitute.com.au/podcasts/SIQ%20archive%20PDFs/Issue%2029,%20August,%202006.pdf PDF])
Henderson has supported the movement for Australia to become a republic.[https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/blog/republicans-may-feel-entitled-to-sneer-but-it-wont-help-their-cause/ Republicans may feel entitled to sneer, but it won't help their cause], Gerard Henderson's Weekly Column, 29 March 2014
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/gerardhenderson/ Gerard Henderson columns] in The Sydney Morning Herald {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227220714/http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/gerardhenderson/ |date=27 February 2007 }}
- [https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/media-watch-dog-full-archive/ Media Watch Dog archive]
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Category:Journalists from Melbourne
Category:Bloggers from Melbourne
Category:Australian columnists
Category:The Australian journalists
Category:Australian public servants
Category:People educated at Xavier College
Category:University of Melbourne alumni
Category:Conservatism in Australia
Category:Australian republicans
Category:Academic staff of the University of Tasmania