Phillip Adams
Encyclopedia
Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, AO
(born 12 July 1939) is an Australia
n broadcaster
, film producer
, writer
, social commentator, satirist
and left-wing pundit
. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live
, four nights a week on the ABC
, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited
-owned newspaper
, The Australian
. Adams was said to be a member of "the Advisory Board of Wikileaks
", though he has personally denied having any contact with WikiLeaks since initial contact with Assange and accepting a request to be an advisor.
, Victoria, the only child of Congregational Church
minister the Reverend Charles Adams.
His parents separated when he was young. He has written:
"Mother dumped [his father] in favour of a rather sleazy businessman... - a sociopath who tried to murder me... I spent my latter part of my childhood trying to protect my mother from this psycho."
Of his education he has said: "I was forced to leave school before completing my secondary education and the only job I could get was working in advertising."
Adams joined the Communist Party
at age 16, whilst employed in advertising, but left at age 19. He has often compared dogmatic belief in Communism
with dogmatic belief in Roman Catholicism.
", "Break down the Barriers", "Guess whose mum has a Whirlpool" and "watch the big men fly for a Herbert Adams Pie", working with such talents as Fred Schepisi, Alex Stitt, Peter Best, Robin Archer and Mimmo Cozzolino. He left the advertising industry in the 1980s. Monahan Dayman Adams purchased the successful Sydney agency MoJo
in 1987 and carried on as MojoMDA. Its lineage can today be traced to Publicis Mojo, an Australian subsidiary of the French
multinational
advertising
and communications company holding Publicis Groupe.
He wrote regular columns for The Age
and The Bulletin
. He currently writes twice weekly for The Australian
.
.
on Radio National
from Virginia Bell. Late Night Live is broadcast across Australia on ABC Radio National as well as on Radio Australia
and the Internet
.
A serious discussion of world issues, the programme is tempered with Adams' gentle and ironic humour.
Regular contributors include Bruce Shapiro
and Beatrix Campbell
. At times, Adams refers tongue-in-cheek to his listeners as "the listener" or "Gladys", as though he had only one listener; he also refers to listeners collectively as "Gladdies". Recently, Adams has begun introducing the show saying "Good evening Gladdies and Poddies", in reference to the show's growing podcast
listener base.
In 2010 a new theme was picked, Wild Swans Concert Suite by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Jane Sheldon soprano,Composer: Elena Kats-Chernin Publishing/Copyright: ABC Classics.
From 2007 to 2010, the theme music was Elena Kats-Chernin
's Russian Rag, which Adams humorously refers to as "The Waltz of the Wombat".
The previous music was Bach
's concerto for oboe, violin and orchestra in C Minor, BWV 1060: III. Allegro.
The call to give equivalent broadcast time on the ABC to a "right wing Phillip Adams" began with John Hewson
in 1993.
In July 1996 Prime Minister John Howard
said in an interview with journalist Peter Cole-Adams: "I think one of the weaknesses of the ABC is that it doesn't have a right-wing Phillip Adams. I think that would be a good idea. It would make a lot of people feel things were better".
Former ABC managing director Jonathan Shier
is reported as saying:
Former ABC board member Michael Kroger
asked (15 May 2002) "why [...] is it not possible 'for someone to hold down a presenter's position who is clearly on the other side of Australian politics?'"
Adams responded with a "Public Forum" programme on 9 May 2001, asking "Where is the Right-Wing Phillip Adams?"
In July 2002 Imre Salusinszky
wrote a satirical piece for Quadrant
, "My Life as Phillip Adams: A Memoir".
during the 1970s. He was the author of a 1969 report which led to legislation by Prime Minister John Gorton
in 1970 for an Australian Film and Television Development Corporation (later the Australian Film Commission) and the Experimental Film Fund.
Together with Barry Jones
, Adams was a motive force behind the Australian Film Television and Radio School
which was established under the Whitlam government.
He also played a key role in the South Australian Film Corporation
, which was created in 1972 and became a model for similar bodies in other Australian states.
Adams played a key role in the establishment of the Australia Council
and the Australian Film Development Corporation, later known as the Australian Film Commission
.
As head of delegation to the Cannes Film Festival he signed Australia's first co-production agreements with France
and the UK. He was Chairman of the Australian Film Institute, the Film and Television Board of the Australia Council, the Australian Film Commission, and Film Australia. He helped establish the Australian Caption Service, which provides services for hearing impaired television viewers - and the Travelling Film Festival to take quality films into rural areas.
In the 1960s Adams wrote, produced and directed (as well as serving as cinematographer for) his first feature film "Jack And Jill: A Postscript" (1969); the first feature to win the Australian Film Institute Award, and the first Australian film to win the Grand Prix at an international festival.
Adams produced or co-produced other features including the critically panned but hugely popular film adaptation of Barry Humphries' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
, directed by Bruce Beresford
, which became the most successful Australian film ever made up to that time. Other films include "The Naked Bunyip
", "Don's Party
", "The Getting Of Wisdom
", "Lonely Hearts", "We Of The Never Never
", "Grendel Grendel Grendel
", "Fighting Back" and "Hearts and Minds
".
.
He chaired the National Australia Day Council. Its principal task was to choose the Australian of the Year. He also chairs the Advisory Board for the Centre of the Mind at the University of Sydney and the Australia National University in Canberra, and has been a board member of Greenpeace
, CARE Australia
, the National Museum of Australia
, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, the Adelaide Festival of Ideas
and Brisbane's Ideas at the Brisbane Powerhouse. He was co-founder of the Australian Skeptics.
Adams is the author or editor of over 20 books, including The Unspeakable Adams, Adams Versus God, The Penguin Book of Australian Jokes, Retreat from Tolerance, Talkback and A Billion Voices, Adams Ark (published in 2004) and (with Lee Burton) "Emperors of the Air" (Allen & Unwin).
Robert Manne has described Adams as "the emblematic figurehead of the pro-Labor
left intelligentsia
". Adams had a close relationship with every Labor leader from Gough Whitlam
to Kevin Rudd
, advising on public relations, advertising and policy issues. However, on 19 July 2006 he was reported as saying of the Labor Party:
"They hate me," he says. "I think Kim Beazley is a serious error. I think the party's been going downhill federally ever since Keating left... The Labor Party's hardly worth feeding federally."
In 2010 Adams resigned from the ALP after the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
, lost the prime ministership at the Australian Labor Party leadership election
.
Adams' life and extracurricular activities have made him a source of interest to fans and foes of all persuasions for many years. Australia's security intelligence organisation kept an extensive ASIO File on Adams. The file began at about the time he turned 16 years of age.
. He has four daughters: three with his first wife and one with Newell.
He lives on Elmswood, a cattle property near Gundy in the Hunter Valley
of New South Wales
. He also has a home in Paddington
, an inner suburb of Sydney
. Adams is a collector of rare antiques
, including Egypt
ian, Roman
and Greek
sculpture
s and artifact
s.
He has written "I'd been an atheist since I was five" but has an interest in spiritual
matters, particularly life after death
.
In 1979 a portrait of Adams by artist Wes Walters
won the Archibald Prize
.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 12 July 1939) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, social commentator, satirist
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and left-wing pundit
Pundit (politics)
A pundit is someone who offers to mass media his or her opinion or commentary on a particular subject area on which they are knowledgeable. The term has been increasingly applied to popular media personalities...
. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live
Late Night Live
Late Night Live is an Australian radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National as well as on Radio Australia shortwave radio and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web....
, four nights a week on the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
-owned newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
. Adams was said to be a member of "the Advisory Board of Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
", though he has personally denied having any contact with WikiLeaks since initial contact with Assange and accepting a request to be an advisor.
Early years
Adams was born in MaryboroughMaryborough, Victoria
-Education:Maryborough has three schools:*Highview Christian Community College*Maryborough Education Centre Years Prep–12*St Augustine's Primary School Grades Prep–6-Music:...
, Victoria, the only child of Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
minister the Reverend Charles Adams.
His parents separated when he was young. He has written:
"Mother dumped [his father] in favour of a rather sleazy businessman... - a sociopath who tried to murder me... I spent my latter part of my childhood trying to protect my mother from this psycho."
Of his education he has said: "I was forced to leave school before completing my secondary education and the only job I could get was working in advertising."
Adams joined the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
at age 16, whilst employed in advertising, but left at age 19. He has often compared dogmatic belief in Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
with dogmatic belief in Roman Catholicism.
Career
Adams began his advertising career with Foote Cone & Belding and later with Brian Monahan and Lyle Dayman became a partner in the agency Monahan Dayman Adams. They took that company to a successful public listing and Adams became a millionaire in the process. He developed such successful campaigns as "Life - Be In It", "Slip, Slop, SlapSlip-Slop-Slap
Slip-Slop-Slap and wrap is the iconic and internationally recognised sun protection campaign prominent in Australia during the 1980s. Launched by Cancer Council Victoria in 1980, the Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign features a singing, dancing Sid Seagull encouraging people to reduce sun exposure and...
", "Break down the Barriers", "Guess whose mum has a Whirlpool" and "watch the big men fly for a Herbert Adams Pie", working with such talents as Fred Schepisi, Alex Stitt, Peter Best, Robin Archer and Mimmo Cozzolino. He left the advertising industry in the 1980s. Monahan Dayman Adams purchased the successful Sydney agency MoJo
Mojo (advertising)
Mojo was an Australian advertising agency formed in Sydney by Alan Morris and Allan Johnston in 1979. Its lineage can today be directly traced to Publicis Mojo, an Australian subsidiary of the French multinational advertising and communications company holding Publicis Groupe.Johnston, initially...
in 1987 and carried on as MojoMDA. Its lineage can today be traced to Publicis Mojo, an Australian subsidiary of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
multinational
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and communications company holding Publicis Groupe.
He wrote regular columns for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
and The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
. He currently writes twice weekly for The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
.
2UE
In the late 1980s and early 1990s Adams presented a late-night program on Sydney commercial radio station 2UE2UE
2UE is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by Fairfax Media. It is Sydney's and Australia's oldest commercial radio station, first broadcasting on 26 January 1925 on 1025 kHz AM before moving to 950 kHz in 1935 when virtually all Australian radio stations were assigned new...
.
Late Night Live
Adams took over Late Night LiveLate Night Live
Late Night Live is an Australian radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National as well as on Radio Australia shortwave radio and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web....
on Radio National
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
from Virginia Bell. Late Night Live is broadcast across Australia on ABC Radio National as well as on Radio Australia
Radio Australia
Radio Australia is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , Australia's public broadcaster.- History :...
and the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
A serious discussion of world issues, the programme is tempered with Adams' gentle and ironic humour.
Regular contributors include Bruce Shapiro
Bruce Shapiro
Bruce Shapiro is an American journalist, commentator and author. He is executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a resource center and think tank for journalists who cover violence, conflict and tragedy, based at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Shapiro...
and Beatrix Campbell
Beatrix Campbell
Mary Lorimer Beatrix Campbell, OBE is a British campaigning journalist and author.Since the mid 1970s, she has published numerous articles and book reviews in such publications as Marxism Today, Red Rag, Time Out, Feminist Review, New Statesman, New Socialist, The Guardian, The Independent,...
. At times, Adams refers tongue-in-cheek to his listeners as "the listener" or "Gladys", as though he had only one listener; he also refers to listeners collectively as "Gladdies". Recently, Adams has begun introducing the show saying "Good evening Gladdies and Poddies", in reference to the show's growing podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
listener base.
In 2010 a new theme was picked, Wild Swans Concert Suite by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Jane Sheldon soprano,Composer: Elena Kats-Chernin Publishing/Copyright: ABC Classics.
From 2007 to 2010, the theme music was Elena Kats-Chernin
Elena Kats-Chernin
Elena Kats-Chernin is an Australian composer.Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent , and migrated to Australia in 1975.-Europe:...
's Russian Rag, which Adams humorously refers to as "The Waltz of the Wombat".
The previous music was Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's concerto for oboe, violin and orchestra in C Minor, BWV 1060: III. Allegro.
Criticism
Adams has been criticised as being an example of left-wing bias in the ABC.The call to give equivalent broadcast time on the ABC to a "right wing Phillip Adams" began with John Hewson
John Hewson
John Robert Hewson AM is an Australian economist, company director and a former politician. He was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 1990 to 1994 and led the party to defeat at the 1993 federal election.-Early life:...
in 1993.
In July 1996 Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
said in an interview with journalist Peter Cole-Adams: "I think one of the weaknesses of the ABC is that it doesn't have a right-wing Phillip Adams. I think that would be a good idea. It would make a lot of people feel things were better".
Former ABC managing director Jonathan Shier
Jonathan Shier
Jonathan Shier is an Australian-born media executive who lived in the United Kingdom from 1976 until 1999, who is best known for his controversial tenure as managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1999-2002.- References :...
is reported as saying:
- Shier: It is hard - it has been hard - when I've asked the people in charge of editorial to give me the example of the right-wing Phillip Adams.
- Adams: Well, it was echoing a repeated statement of John Howard's.
Former ABC board member Michael Kroger
Michael Kroger
Michael Norman Kroger is a businessman and a powerbroker within the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne.-Early Life :...
asked (15 May 2002) "why [...] is it not possible 'for someone to hold down a presenter's position who is clearly on the other side of Australian politics?'"
Adams responded with a "Public Forum" programme on 9 May 2001, asking "Where is the Right-Wing Phillip Adams?"
In July 2002 Imre Salusinszky
Imre Salusinszky
Imre Salusinszky in an Australian journalist and English literature academic with a strong literary interest in Northrop Frye, a Canadian poet.-Background and career:...
wrote a satirical piece for Quadrant
Quadrant (magazine)
Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
, "My Life as Phillip Adams: A Memoir".
Film work
Adams played a key role in the revival of the Australian film industryCinema of Australia
Cinema of Australia, more commonly referred to as the Australian film industry, refers to the system of production, distribution, and exhibition of films in Australia. Film production commenced in Australia in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film made...
during the 1970s. He was the author of a 1969 report which led to legislation by Prime Minister John Gorton
John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:...
in 1970 for an Australian Film and Television Development Corporation (later the Australian Film Commission) and the Experimental Film Fund.
Together with Barry Jones
Barry Jones (Australian politician)
Barry Owen Jones AO, FAA, FASSA, FAHA, FTSE, FACE is a writer, lawyer, social activist, quiz champion and former politician. He campaigned against the death penalty throughout the 1960s, particularly against the execution of Ronald Ryan, and remains against capital punishment...
, Adams was a motive force behind the Australian Film Television and Radio School
Australian Film Television and Radio School
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is the Australian national centre for professional education and advanced training in film, television, radio and digital media. The School is an Australian Commonwealth government statutory authority...
which was established under the Whitlam government.
He also played a key role in the South Australian Film Corporation
South Australian Film Corporation
South Australian Film Corporation is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972. Former State Premier Don Dunstan played an instrumental role in the foundation of the Corporation and its early film production activities....
, which was created in 1972 and became a model for similar bodies in other Australian states.
Adams played a key role in the establishment of the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
and the Australian Film Development Corporation, later known as the Australian Film Commission
Australian Film Commission
The Australian Film Commission was an Australian government agency with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a production arm responsible for production and commissioning of films for government...
.
As head of delegation to the Cannes Film Festival he signed Australia's first co-production agreements with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the UK. He was Chairman of the Australian Film Institute, the Film and Television Board of the Australia Council, the Australian Film Commission, and Film Australia. He helped establish the Australian Caption Service, which provides services for hearing impaired television viewers - and the Travelling Film Festival to take quality films into rural areas.
In the 1960s Adams wrote, produced and directed (as well as serving as cinematographer for) his first feature film "Jack And Jill: A Postscript" (1969); the first feature to win the Australian Film Institute Award, and the first Australian film to win the Grand Prix at an international festival.
Adams produced or co-produced other features including the critically panned but hugely popular film adaptation of Barry Humphries' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie is a 1972 Australian film starring Barry Crocker, telling the story of an Australian 'yobbo' on his travels to the United Kingdom. Barry McKenzie was originally a character created by Barry Humphries for a cartoon strip in Private Eye...
, directed by Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
, which became the most successful Australian film ever made up to that time. Other films include "The Naked Bunyip
The Naked Bunyip
The Naked Bunyip is a 1970 Australian documentary film directed by John B. Murray. The film explores sex in Australia using a fictional framework.-Synopsis:...
", "Don's Party
Don's Party
Don's Party is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The film based on the play was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
", "The Getting Of Wisdom
The Getting of Wisdom
The Getting of Wisdom is a novel by Australian novelist Henry Handel Richardson. It was first published in 1910, and has almost always been in print ever since.-Plot introduction:...
", "Lonely Hearts", "We Of The Never Never
We of the Never Never
We of the Never Never is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published this book...
", "Grendel Grendel Grendel
Grendel Grendel Grendel
Grendel Grendel Grendel is an Australian animated film based on John Gardner's novel Grendel and starring Peter Ustinov. It was released in 1981....
", "Fighting Back" and "Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds may refer to:* A biblical quotation; see the Wikisource link-Film:* Hearts and Minds , a 1974 documentary film about the Vietnam War-Television:...
".
Other work
Adams chaired the Commission for the Future, established by the Hawke Government to build bridges between science and the community. In 1988 the Commission won a major United Nations award for educating Australia on the issue of greenhouse and climate changeClimate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
He chaired the National Australia Day Council. Its principal task was to choose the Australian of the Year. He also chairs the Advisory Board for the Centre of the Mind at the University of Sydney and the Australia National University in Canberra, and has been a board member of Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
, CARE Australia
CARE Australia
CARE Australia is an Australian, not-for-profit, secular humanitarian aid agency assisting in disaster relief efforts and addressing the causes of global poverty in developing countries...
, the National Museum of Australia
National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....
, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, the Adelaide Festival of Ideas
Adelaide Festival of Ideas
The Adelaide Festival of Ideas has been held every two years since 1999 over a period of three or four days in October at venues throughout Adelaide in the alternate year to the long-established Adelaide Festival of Arts....
and Brisbane's Ideas at the Brisbane Powerhouse. He was co-founder of the Australian Skeptics.
Adams is the author or editor of over 20 books, including The Unspeakable Adams, Adams Versus God, The Penguin Book of Australian Jokes, Retreat from Tolerance, Talkback and A Billion Voices, Adams Ark (published in 2004) and (with Lee Burton) "Emperors of the Air" (Allen & Unwin).
Robert Manne has described Adams as "the emblematic figurehead of the pro-Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
left intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
". Adams had a close relationship with every Labor leader from Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
to Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, advising on public relations, advertising and policy issues. However, on 19 July 2006 he was reported as saying of the Labor Party:
"They hate me," he says. "I think Kim Beazley is a serious error. I think the party's been going downhill federally ever since Keating left... The Labor Party's hardly worth feeding federally."
In 2010 Adams resigned from the ALP after the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, lost the prime ministership at the Australian Labor Party leadership election
Australian Labor Party leadership election, 2010
A leadership election of the Australian Labor Party was held on 2010. The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, was challenged by the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, for the leadership of the party, and therefore the prime ministership, since the ALP has held a majority in...
.
Adams' life and extracurricular activities have made him a source of interest to fans and foes of all persuasions for many years. Australia's security intelligence organisation kept an extensive ASIO File on Adams. The file began at about the time he turned 16 years of age.
Personal life
Adams is married to Patrice NewellPatrice Newell
Patrice Lesley Newell is a former model, TV presenter, turned author, alternative lifestyle advocate and biodynamic farmer...
. He has four daughters: three with his first wife and one with Newell.
He lives on Elmswood, a cattle property near Gundy in the Hunter Valley
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire...
of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He also has a home in Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
, an inner suburb of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Adams is a collector of rare antiques
Antiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
, including Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s and artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
s.
He has written "I'd been an atheist since I was five" but has an interest in spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
matters, particularly life after death
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
.
In 1979 a portrait of Adams by artist Wes Walters
Wes Walters
Wes Walters, Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize.Born Mildura, Victoria, 1928. He was a realist portrait painter and abstract artist. He painted nearly 200 portraits of leading Australians, especially academics, businessmen, artists, and musicians. Awarded Minnie Crouch Prize in 1953 and...
won the Archibald Prize
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
.
Honours and awards
- Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 1987
- Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) 1992
- Human Rights Medal awarded by the Australian Government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity CommissionHuman Rights and Equal Opportunity CommissionThe Australian Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution, a statutory body funded by, but operating independently of, the Australian Government. It has the responsibility for investigating alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation...
(2006) (Shared with Father Chris Riley) - Australian Humanist of the Year 1987 - Awarded by the Council of Australian Humanist SocietiesCouncil of Australian Humanist SocietiesThe Council of Australian Humanist Societies is the national umbrella organisation for Australian humanists. It is affiliated with the International Humanist and Ethical Union...
- Raymond Longford Award (the Australian film industry's highest accolade, in 1981, for "Outstanding Services to the Australian Film Industry"
- Senior ANZAC Fellow (1981)
- Henry LawsonHenry LawsonHenry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
Arts Award (1987) - Living TreasuresAustralian Living TreasuresAustralian Living Treasures are people who have been nominated by the National Trust of Australia. The first list of 100 Living Treasures was published in 1997....
by the National TrustNational Trust of AustraliaThe Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
in 1998 - Honorary doctorateDoctorateA doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
, Griffith UniversityGriffith UniversityGriffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current... - Honorary doctorate, University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
- Honorary doctorate, University of South AustraliaUniversity of South AustraliaThe University of South Australia is a public university in the Australian state of South Australia. It was formed in 1991 with the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology and Colleges of Advanced Education. It is the largest university in South Australia, with more than 36,000...
- Honorary doctorate, Edith Cowan UniversityEdith Cowan UniversityEdith Cowan University is located in Perth, Western Australia. It was named after the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman....
- Australian Republican of the Year 2005 (Australian Republican Party)
- Walkley Award for Broadcast Journalism (2004)
- United Nations Media Award (2005)
- Windgrove Laureate (2004)
- Responsibility in Journalism Award 1998 (SCICOP) New York
- Australian Centenary Medal (1 January 2001) http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1126132&search_type=quick&showInd=true "For service to Australian society in journalism"
- Multiple AFI Awards for various films
- A minor planet, discovered by R.H. McNaught at Siding Spring (1990) was named "Phillipadams" by the International Astronomical UnionInternational Astronomical UnionThe International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
(1997)
Film
- Kitty and the Bagman
- A Personal History of the Australian Surf
- Hearts and MindsHearts and MindsHearts and Minds may refer to:* A biblical quotation; see the Wikisource link-Film:* Hearts and Minds , a 1974 documentary film about the Vietnam War-Television:...
(1966) (producer) - Jack and Jill: A Postscript (1970) (producer, writer, director)
- The Naked BunyipThe Naked BunyipThe Naked Bunyip is a 1970 Australian documentary film directed by John B. Murray. The film explores sex in Australia using a fictional framework.-Synopsis:...
(1970) (producer) - The Adventures of Barry McKenzieThe Adventures of Barry McKenzieThe Adventures of Barry McKenzie is a 1972 Australian film starring Barry Crocker, telling the story of an Australian 'yobbo' on his travels to the United Kingdom. Barry McKenzie was originally a character created by Barry Humphries for a cartoon strip in Private Eye...
(1972) (producer) - Don's PartyDon's PartyDon's Party is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The film based on the play was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1976) (producer) - The Getting of WisdomThe Getting of WisdomThe Getting of Wisdom is a novel by Australian novelist Henry Handel Richardson. It was first published in 1910, and has almost always been in print ever since.-Plot introduction:...
(1978) (producer) - Grendel Grendel GrendelGrendel Grendel GrendelGrendel Grendel Grendel is an Australian animated film based on John Gardner's novel Grendel and starring Peter Ustinov. It was released in 1981....
(1981) (producer) - Fighting Back (1982) (executive producer)
- Lonely HeartsLonely Hearts (1982 film)Lonely Hearts is a 1982 Australian film directed by Paul Cox. A middle-aged man, Peter, goes to a dating agency in search of a companion. He is introduced to a shy bank clerk Patricia....
(1982) (executive producer) - We of the Never NeverWe of the Never NeverWe of the Never Never is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published this book...
(1982) (executive producer) - Abra Cadabra (1983) (producer)
- Dallas DollDallas DollDallas Doll is an Australian film starring Sandra Bernhardt, David Ngoombujarra, Roy Billing, Victoria Longley, Frank Gallacher, Jake Blundell, Rose Byrne and written and directed by Ann Turner.-Plot:...
(1994) as Radio Announcer - Road to NhillRoad to NhillRoad to Nhill is a 1997 Australian comedy-drama film directed by Sue Brooks. The film won the "Golden Alexander" for Best Feature-Length Film at The International Thessaloniki Film Festival .-Plot:...
(1997) as God (voice)
Television
- Adams' Australia (part of BBC TV's contribution to Australia's celebrations for its bicentenaryAustralian BicentenaryThe bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1970 on the 200th anniversary of Captain James Cook landing and claiming the land, and again in 1988 to celebrate 200 years of permanent European settlement.-1970:...
). - The Big Questions with Professor Paul DaviesPaul DaviesPaul Charles William Davies, AM is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, currently a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science...
- Death and Destiny filmed in Egypt with Paul Cox.
- More Big Questions with Professor Paul Davies
- Face The Press SBS
- Short Cuts ABC
- Four Corners
- This Day TonightThis Day TonightThis Day Tonight was an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program of the late 1960s and early 1970s.- Overview :...
- ParkinsonParkinson (TV series)Parkinson is a British television talk show that was presented by Sir Michael Parkinson. It was first shown on the BBC from 1971 to 2004, and on ITV from 2004 to 2007.-Background:...
- 7:30 Report
- Clive JamesClive JamesClive James, AM is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism...
- Will Be Back After This Break (7 Network)
- Two Shot series 1 and 2 (ABC)
- Short and SweetShort and SweetShort+Sweet is a multi-form arts platform presenting festivals in theatre, dance, music-theatre and cabaret across Australia and Asia...
(2 6-part series, ABC) - Talking Heads
- CompassCompass (TV program)Compass is an Australian weekly news-documentary program screened on ABC Television on Sunday nights. Presented by Geraldine Doogue, the program is devoted to providing information about faith, values, ethics, and religion from across the globe....
- Sunday
- A Current Affair
- Sixty Minutes
- Australian StoryAustralian StoryAustralian Story is a national weekly documentary series, produced and broadcast on ABC Television.Since 1996 Australian Story has featured many Australians from diverse backgrounds and reputations...
- Counterpoint with William F. Buckley Jr
- CNNNN
- The Chaser's War on EverythingThe Chaser's War on EverythingThe Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It has won an AFI Award. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts...
- Compere, Australian Film Institute Awards Telecast
- Co-presenter, the Australian Bicentennial Celebration
External links
- Biography (ABC)
- Broadcaster Phillip Adams
- Phillip Adams AO, Social Commentator and Columnist
- Why We Need a Revolution Now
- "I Am Proud That."
- An Afternoon with Philip Adams
- My Life as Phillip Adams: A Memoir (Imre Salusinszky)
- ABC "Talking Heads", transcript
- ABC "Dimensions"
- Melbourne University Publishing