AustLit

'Paul Hasluck (1905–1993), Australian politician, minister, public servant, poet, historian, and governor-general, was always going to present a formidable task for a future biographer, for his was a life richly documented, not only by his own extraordinary literary output but by the words of those around him. Geoffrey Bolton's task was to make sense of this wealth of information to present his subject sympathetically within the strong narrative drive of one who lived his life largely in the public sphere. As a ‘first-class historian’, Bolton writes, ‘few public figures can have been so conscious of the future looking over their shoulders’ (474). The archives of the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, including parliamentary and ministerial papers and correspondence, show Hasluck in his public life, the efficient and diligent minister, politician and public servant, highly productive and effective in his professional life, yet always seeming the background man, austere and colourless in his public demeanour. Twice he put himself forward for leadership of the parliamentary Liberal party. After the retirement of Sir Robert Menzies in January 1966, he took on William McMahon for the deputy leadership, but ‘did virtually nothing’ (389), while his opponent worked the party and the media, and prevailed by just a few votes. Again, after the disappearance of Harold Holt in January 1967, Hasluck could have become prime minister, but contested the leadership against John Gorton without enthusiasm, unwilling to engage in the politicking and horse-trading needed to secure the support of his party. On the morning of the vote, Hasluck ‘conversed with nobody, but contented himself with retiring to the parliamentary library’ (410). Even so, he only just lost, showing that although he commanded a solid body of respect, ‘his almost wilful refusal to chase votes told against him’ (411).'  (Introduction)