Graham Freudenberg
{{Short description|Australian speechwriter (1934–2019)}}
{{Other uses|Freudenberg (disambiguation){{!}}Freudenberg}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Graham Freudenberg
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AM}}
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1934|5|12}}
| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|07|26|1934|05|12|df=y}}
| death_place = Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia
| nationality = Australian
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist, author and speechwriter
| years_active = 1952–2010
| known_for = Speechwriter to a number of leaders of the Australian Labor Party,
| notable_works = "It's Time" speech for Gough Whitlam
}}
Norman Graham Freudenberg {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|r|uː|d|ən|b|ɜːr|g}}; 12 May 1934 – 26 July 2019) was an Australian journalist, author and political advisor and speechwriter who worked with the Australian Labor Party for over forty years, beginning when he was appointed Arthur Calwell's press secretary in June 1961.
Early life
Freudenberg was born in Brisbane, Queensland.{{cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/graham-freudenberg-legendary-labor-wordsmith-20190726-p52b4i|title=Graham Freudenberg, legendary Labor wordsmith|publisher=Financial Review|date=26 July 2019}} He was of Jewish origin.{{cite web
| url=https://www.australianjewishnews.com/our-disappointing-relationship-with-gough/
| title=Our Disappointing Relationship with Gough
| website=Australian Jewish News
| access-date=2024-03-01
}} His father was a soldier who fought at Gallipoli and, being a patriot, he named his son after a former colonial governor of Queensland, Field Marshall Sir Henry Norman.Gough Whitlam, "The two of us: Gough Whitlam & Graham Freudenberg", The Age, Good Weekend, 5 November 2005 Freudenberg was educated at the Church of England Grammar School in Brisbane.{{cite book|last=Mason|first=James|title=Churchie: The Centenary Register|year=2011|publisher=The Anglican Church Grammar School|location=Brisbane, Australia|isbn=978-0-646-55807-3}} He then studied journalism in Melbourne and worked for some years with the Melbourne Sun.Graham Freudenberg, "The two of us: Gough Whitlam & Graham Freudenberg", The Age, Good Weekend, 5 November 2005
He wrote the documentary This Is Television (1960).{{Cite web |last=Vagg |first=Stephen |date=2023-08-08 |title=Forgotten Australian Television Documentaries: This is Television |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-television-documentaries-this-is-television/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=FilmInk |language=en-AU}}
Career
Freudenberg wrote over a thousand speeches for several leaders of the Australian Labor Party at both the federal and state level, representing New South Wales.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/26/graham-freudenberg-revered-labor-speechwriter-dies-aged-85|title=Graham Freudenberg, revered Labor speechwriter, dies aged 85|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 July 2019}}
Senior Labor Party leaders for whom he prepared speeches included Arthur Calwell, Gough Whitlam, Neville Wran, Bob Hawke, Barrie Unsworth, Bob Carr and Simon Crean.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/obama-offers-hope-for-the-art-of-speechmaking-20080121-gdrxmc.html|title=Obama offers hope for the art of speechmaking|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=21 January 2018}} He was "centrally involved" in policy speeches for fourteen federal elections and nine New South Wales State Elections.Michelle Grattan, "Weeks of drama, a great duel and a dismissal", The Sunday Age, 6 November 2005, p. 13. Freudenberg was principal speechwriter for the leading campaign "It's Time" speech that Labor leader Gough Whitlam presented at the launch of the Labor campaign for the 1972 Australian federal election.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/graham-freudenberg-speechwriter-to-whitlam-hawke-and-more-20190726-p52azb.html|title=Graham Freudenberg: speechwriter to Whitlam, Hawke and more|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 July 2019}}
Honours
In 1990 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of "services to journalism, to parliament, and to politics".[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883041 Australian Honours List.]
From 1995 to 1998 he served on the council of the National Library of Australia.{{cite journal |author=National Library of Australia |date=1999 |title=Appendix 1. The Council of the National Library of Australia |journal=Annual Report, 1998–1999 |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/annrep99/appendices.html |archive-url=http://webarchive.nla.gov.au/gov/20010723072440/http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/annrep99/appendices.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 July 2001 |access-date=17 February 2017 }}
In June 2005, Freudenberg was inducted as a lifetime member of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch).{{cite web|url=https://johnmenadue.com/graham-freudenberg-says-sorry/|title=GRAHAM FREUDENBERG says "Sorry"|date=12 November 2017|publisher=John Menadue}}
He won the 2009 Walkley Book Award for Churchill and Australia.{{Cite web|title=Obituary - Graham Freudenberg - Obituaries Australia|url=http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/freudenberg-graham-29839|access-date=2020-10-25|website=oa.anu.edu.au}}
Death
He lived in retirement on Bribie Island, Queensland. Freudenberg died on 26 July 2019, aged 85, after a long illness.{{cite news|url = https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-26/gough-whitlam-speechwriter-graham-freudenberg-dies/11349020|title = Revered political speechwriter Graham Freudenberg dies after celebrated career|last = Macmillan|first = Jade|date = 26 July 2019|accessdate = 26 July 2019|work = Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}
Books by Freudenberg
- A Certain Grandeur – Gough Whitlam in Politics (1977){{cite web|url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/a-certain-grandeur-gough-whitlam-in-politics/author/freudenberg-graham/sortby/3/|title=A certain grandeur; Gough Whitlam in politics|publisher=ABEBooks|accessdate=26 July 2019}}
- Cause for Power – the Centenary History of the NSW Labor Party (1991) {{ISBN|0-949138-60-6}}
- A Figure of Speech (2005) {{ISBN|1-74031-105-1}} (autobiography)
- Churchill and Australia (2008) {{ISBN|978-1-4050-3870-6}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060117191253/http://www.whitlam.org/people/freudenberg_graham.html Whitlam Institute]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freudenberg, Graham}}
Category:20th-century Australian journalists
Category:Australian biographers
Category:Australian male biographers
Category:Members of the Order of Australia
Category:National Library of Australia Council members