Peter Coleman

Peter Coleman
Peter Coleman
Born	15 December 1928 (age 97); Melbourne, Australia
Died	31 March 2019 (aged 90)
Occupation(s)	Author, editor, politician
Years active	1950s–2019
Known for	Editor of The Bulletin and Quadrant; Member of New South Wales Legislative Assembly; Member of Australian House of Representatives

William Peter Coleman (15 December 1928 – 31 March 2019) was a distinguished Australian author and politician. With a journalistic career spanning more than six decades, he held editorial positions at The Bulletin from 1964 to 1967 and led Quadrant as editor for two decades. Coleman authored sixteen books covering political, biographical, and cultural themes. Alongside his editorial pursuits, he was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1968 and 1978, representing the Liberal Party. During this period, he occupied ministerial posts and concluded his state political tenure as the Leader of the New South Wales Opposition. From 1981 until 1987, Coleman served as the federal representative for Wentworth in the Australian House of Representatives.

Early life

Born in Melbourne to Stanley Charles Coleman, an advertising professional, and Norma Victoria Tiernan, Coleman relocated to Sydney where he attended North Sydney Boys High School and later studied at the University of Sydney. His academic mentors included philosophers John Anderson and John Passmore. Furthering his studies in political philosophy at the London School of Economics, he worked under Michael Oakeshott, completing a thesis on Georges Sorel and earning a Master of Science (Economics) degree in 1952. That same year, he married writer and librarian Verna Scott. The couple had three children: two daughters—Tanya, a lawyer married to Deputy Liberal Leader Peter Costello, and Ursula, an author of children's literature—and a son, William, who pursued economics.

Following a period teaching English in the Sudan, Coleman returned to Australia to embark on a journalism career. By 1958, he was associate editor at The Observer, part of Australian Consolidated Press, working alongside editor Donald Horne and financial editor Michael Baume. When The Observer merged into The Bulletin in 1961, Coleman assumed the role of editor from 1964 to 1967. During his editorship, he published several titles including Australian Civilization, Obscenity Blasphemy Sedition, The Bulletin Book, and Cartoons of Australian History. After stepping down from The Bulletin, he took on the editorship of Quadrant, maintaining this position for twenty years.

Political life

Coleman entered politics in 1968 when he was elected as the Liberal representative for the marginal New South Wales seat of Fuller, defeating Labor candidate Frank Downing. Initially serving as a backbencher, he also contributed as a member of the Australian Council for the Arts (1968–1973), councillor at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (1970–1985), and Chairman of the Interim Council for the National Film & Television School (1971–1973). In 1974, he chaired the Select Committee on Appointment of Judges to the High Court in preparation for the 1977 referendum.

Advancing in government ranks, Coleman was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to Premier Tom Lewis in June 1975. Later that year, in October, he became Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue. Under Premier Sir Eric Willis's administration starting January 1976, Coleman served as Chief Secretary until the government's defeat in May 1976. Despite this setback, he retained his seat with a marginally increased majority.

While in opposition, Coleman held the position of Shadow Minister for Justice and Services. On 16 December 1977, following internal leadership contests, he was elected leader of the Liberal Party. His Coalition's campaign during the 1978 election focused on opposing "Whitlamism" but suffered a decisive loss known as the "Wranslide." As anticipated by some observers, Coleman lost his seat to Alderman Rodney Cavalier.

In September 1979, Coleman was appointed Administrator of Norfolk Island. Following Robert Ellicott's resignation, Coleman secured Liberal pre-selection and won election to federal parliament representing Wentworth in an April 1981 by-election. He retired from politics prior to the 1987 election and resumed his literary endeavors.

Post-political career

Following his departure from the political arena, Coleman resumed his focus on writing full-time, engaging in journalism and authoring books such as The Liberal Conspiracy. The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Struggle for the Mind of Postwar Europe, an extensive examination of intellectual movements during the Cold War era. He penned biographies on notable Australian personalities including the poet James McAuley, comedian Barry Humphries, filmmaker Bruce Beresford, and economist Heinz Arndt. His literary output also encompassed poetry, a culinary guide, and a compilation of essays from Quadrant entitled The Last Intellectuals. In 2008, Coleman collaborated with his son-in-law, Peter Costello, to assist in producing The Costello Memoirs: The Age of Prosperity.

Coleman conducted numerous interviews with leading Australian figures across journalism, the arts, law, economics, philosophy, and politics. These recordings are preserved by the National Library of Australia and feature individuals such as Hugh Atkinson, Garfield Barwick, Bruce Beresford, Jim Carlton, Charles Higham, and Michael Kirby. He contributed regularly as a columnist to the Australian edition of The Spectator through his weekly segment 'Australian Notes', while also writing for The Australian and participating in ABC broadcasts. Coleman passed away on 31 March 2019.

Awards and recognition

In 2001, Coleman was honoured with the Centenary Medal. Seven years later, in 2008, the University of Sydney bestowed upon him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in recognition of his impact on Australia's intellectual landscape. On 8 June 2015, he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his distinguished contributions to print media as an editor, journalist, biographer, and author, as well as for his service to Australian parliaments and the broader community.

Books

Reissued (2015) by Connor Court Publishing, Ballarat
Reissued (2000) through Duffy & Snellgrove, Sydney
Reissued (1973), expanded edition (1978)
Reissued (2006) by Connor Court Publishing

Edited volumes

Official reports

Coleman, Peter. Report on visits to foreign film & television schools, January 9 – February 7, 1970. Film and Television School (Australia) Interim Council, 1970, Canberra.
Coleman, Peter (chair). Report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon the appointment of Judges to the High Court of Australia, NSW Parliamentary Paper no. 53 1975. NSW Government Printer, 1976, Sydney.

Essays, interviews, chapters, lectures

'An Interview with Peter Coleman' by Frank Devine, featured in Quadrant, May 2006
‘A Political Formation or No Roads to Damascus' (Cheshire 1963), included in Australian Politics. A Third Reader, edited by Henry Mayer and Helen Nelson.
'Ballade of Lost Phrases: James McAuley' from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010.
'Conservative without a Cause? Andrew Norton Talks with Peter Coleman.' Published in Policy, Autumn 1995.
‘From Fellow Travelling to Political Correctness' within Political Correctness in South Africa, edited by Rainer Erkens and John Kane-Berman. South African Institute of Race Relations, 2000.
'How I wrote The Liberal Conspiracy' from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010.
'I Thought of Archimedes' appearing in The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010.
‘Leaves from the Diary of a Madman' included in Confessions and Memoirs, edited by Michael Wilding and David Myers. Central Queensland University Press, 2006.
Entries on ‘Political Cartoonists', 'Political Correctness', 'Political Journalists' within The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, edited by Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts, published by Oxford University Press, 2007.
Preface to Cricket versus Republicanism and other Essays (1995), Quakers Hill Press.
Preface and essay 'The Santamaria Story' in The Bulletin Book. A Selection from the 1960s by Angus and Robertson, 1963.
'The Patron State', delivered as the Bert Kelly Lecture, 1995.
'The Phoney Debate' from Australia and the Monarchy: A Symposium, edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1966.
'The Sad and Noble Music of Michael Oakeshott' from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010.
'The Usual Suspects. Quadrant at 50' by Martin Krygier. Published in The Monthly, December 2006.

Critical analyses and reviews of Coleman's works

Robinson, Geoffrey (2022) "From Georges Sorel to Peter Costello: Peter Coleman and the Making of Australian Liberal Conservatism" Australian Journal of Politics and History 68(3):447-466
Martyr, Philippa (May 1996) "Civilised disagreement" Review of Double take in Quadrant 40(5):80–81

References

External links

[Peter Coleman on "Radical Students. The Old Left at Sydney University" Alan Barcan. Melbourne University Press] [1]
[“What is Political Correctness” by Peter Coleman] [2]
[“The Devil and James McAuley” review authored by Peter Coleman in Weekend Australian dated 17 July 1999] [3]
[“James McAuley's 20 Quadrants” paper presented by Peter Coleman at Sydney University in 2002] [4]
[“James McAuley: A Poet in Politics” authored by Peter Coleman in 1992] [5]
[“Ballade of Lost Phrases: James McAuley” excerpted from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010] [6]
[“I Thought of Archimedes” from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010] [7]
[“How I wrote 'The Liberal Conspiracy'” from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010] [8]
[“The Sad and Noble Music of Michael Oakeshott” from The Last Intellectuals: Essays on Writers and Politics, Quadrant Books, 2010] [9]
[“All That Swagger – Robert Manne's Virtuous Trajectory” by Peter Coleman in Quadrant 2005] [10]
[“Leaves from the Diary of a Madman” authored by Peter Coleman in 2006] [11]
[“The Bulletin, the Editor and The Cherry Orchard”, Peter Coleman. Published in Voices, Quarterly Journal of the National Library of Australia, Volume VII, Number 1, Autumn 1997] [12]