Alan Fitzgerald

Alan John Fitzgerald (5 November 193531 March 2011) was an Australian author, journalist and satirist. He was known for his unwavering opposition to the Australian republican movement and worked alongside Tony Abbott during Abbott's tenure as president of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) during the 1990s.

Fitzgerald was a significant figure in the founding of the National Press Club, serving as president for several years. As a journalist, he provided his services to numerous publications and programmes, in both print and radio journalism, including The Herald, The Age, The Bulletin and The Sunday Australian. He also achieved considerable recognition as an author, having developed a niche in which he wrote about Canberran history and culture; Fitzgerald's Canberra and Life in Canberra are two notable examples of his writing in this area. Fitzgerald had been writing a book on the Irish Australian experience at the time of his death.

Biography

Born in Sydney, Fitzgerald graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Arts degree (English and Political Science).

He lived in the Canberra suburb of Isaacs with his wife, Maria; they had two sons and six grandchildren.

Career He arrived in Canberra in 1964 from Fiji, where he had gone to join The Fiji Times, then owned by Pacific Publications, Sydney. However, he was also invited by editor, John Douglas Pringle, to write satirical columns for The Canberra Times, having met Pringle in London some years earlier. He joined the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) and then became its Director of Public Information. After its abolition in 1989 (and 20 years with the NCDC), Fitzgerald transferred into the same position at the National Capital Planning Authority. He became a member of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery.

He later broadened his opinion pieces, writing for The Sun-Herald, The Sunday Observer, The Sunday Australian, The Bulletin, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He was also a correspondent for CBC-Ottawa in 1974, and as well conducted his own current affairs program for nine years on Canberra radio station 2CA. He was also a frequent contributor to ABC radio programs and made regular appearances on Channel Seven's breakfast program.

Politics In 1967, Fitzgerald was elected to the ACT Advisory Council for the True Whig Party, promising to take no action as a mock platform. He was re-elected in 1970, with 21% of the vote, as an Australia Party candidate, ahead of the Liberal Party candidates and second only to the Labor Party (ALP) team.