Page 1517 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2011
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Alan John Fitzgerald was born to Patrick and Ursula in Sydney on 5 November 1935. Alan grew up in Clovelly in Sydney’s east and was educated at the Marcellin College, Randwick.
After leaving school, Mr Fitzgerald worked in an advertising agency and then became a journalist, working in Sydney and Melbourne before travelling to Europe, staying abroad and travelling the continent for two years. In 1961, he married Maria McFadden who was then working for the Department of the Navy.
In 1964, John Pringle invited Mr Fitzgerald to join the Canberra Times in the parliamentary press gallery. Working through the 60s and into the 70s, Mr Fitzgerald worked with well-known commentators such as Laurie Oakes, Caroline Jones, Mike Willesee and Alan Ramsay.
It was in these years that his satirical skills shone as he wrote about the rapidly emerging Canberra. He documented the well-known lack of social amenity so often reported by saying:
Finding something to do in Canberra is easier than finding something to do after it.
His love of satire was matched with his fondness for Canberra, and his writing was well regarded. A well-known quote of life for many new to Canberra. coming for work and gradually establishing families, was:
The best thing about living in Canberra is that your relatives are interstate.
Whether one left Canberra to escape family or not, many could relate to this comment.
As Mr Fitzgerald immersed himself in the political scene, he had some desire to join the ranks officially. He first ran for the ACT Advisory Council. His election platform was certainly not conventional and, as others have stated this morning, he formed a joke party called the True Whig Party. He promised to do nothing and cited his inspiration was local politicians. He went on to refuse to engage in a campaign launch and speech and cited his ongoing silence as meaningful.
The most interesting outcome was that he was elected, gaining the third highest vote. After all the satire and fanfare, Mr Fitzgerald took his role seriously and went on to serve two terms for the Canberra community. His assistance to many did not form part of his public agenda. He just got on with the job and helped people. This led him to accept an invitation to join the Australia Party and run for the federal seat of Canberra. Mr Fitzgerald ran twice but was unsuccessful.
He had a keen interest in planning and development, and we have heard from the Chief Minister this morning some of the comments he made about planning in the capital. As someone who lived through Canberra growing and thriving, transforming from a country town to a thriving city, he had a wealth of information and opinions regarding the future of the capital, something that will be missed.
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