Generations of service by the Downers
The Downer family’s papers are a fine contribution to our political memory.
For Alexander Downer, politics is in the blood. His grandfather, John Downer, was premier of South Australia. His father, Alexander Downer Sr, was appointed high commissioner to London after serving as a minister in Robert Menzies’ government.
Downer, steeped in this history, is conscious he is walking in his father’s footsteps.
“I grew up with my father being a politician and so political issues were constantly discussed around the meal table and as children we were taken to electorate functions with delight by my mother and father,” Downer, 63, tells The Australian.
As a boy, Downer lived in the same residence and now works in the same office that his father occupied as high commissioner from 1964 to 1972. Downer recalls visiting his father at Australia House for lunch — always fish. “I’m very conscious of it every day,” Downer says. “I still meet some of the same people he met.”
They shared an interest in public policy, although Downer says he was more of an “economic liberal” whereas Alick, as his father was known, was “more in the Menzies tradition of an economic pragmatist, and somewhat protectionist”. Surprisingly, Alick did not encourage his son to go into politics.
“He was interested in policy rather than the gamesmanship of politics,” Downer says. “When I said to him I was interested in going into politics, he tried to discourage me. He found the gamesmanship of politics terribly depressing and thought I would hate it. I managed to adapt to it, don’t you worry.”
Downer is enjoying himself immensely as Australia’s top diplomat in London. He keeps a close eye on Australian politics and enjoys observing British politics. He finds the contacts he established as foreign minister in John Howard’s government to be invaluable.
During an expansive and engaging interview, Downer talks about his family and reflects frankly on his political career — and the papers that chronicle both, now available for the public to view.
The Alexander Downer Collection at the University of South Australia — an archive of three generations of family papers, photos and artefacts — provides a window into this extraordinary political family. The Australian has been given access to these records.
These personal, not official, papers include an extensive collection related to Downer’s time as foreign minister (1996-2007); his period as Liberal Party leader (1994-95); as a shadow minister in the 1980s and 90s; and his earlier career, before being elected to parliament in 1984, as an adviser, economist and diplomat. There are also birthday cards and schoolboy poetry.
The papers relating to Downer’s ministerial years include detailed daily diaries recording thousands of meetings and the activities of his staff. There are files of correspondence, parliamentary papers and electorate material. And there are mementos of many overseas visits: a plaque, a lapel badge, a necktie, a statue, a paperweight, a coin.
One of the most revealing aspects of the collection are the briefings prepared for overseas trips detailing his likes and dislikes. Downer prefers rooms in a “quiet” part of the hotel. He “has no objections” to breakfast meetings. He likes English and French newspapers delivered to his room each morning. He prefers speeches formatted in 18-point Times New Roman font.
His hobbies include art, theatre, film, opera and music. If there’s time, Downer likes to see live sport and visit “significant historical and architectural and archaeological sites”. If Nicky Downer is travelling, then posts should be aware she doesn’t like “museums or art galleries” but enjoys “gardens, walking, food (and) interesting craft shops”.
On holiday, Downer likes “reading, watching cricket, playing tennis, beach cricket, swimming (and) avoiding the media”. His favourite shirt colour? “(The) minister likes blue, green, lemon and navy — avoid pink, purple, orange, brown.” And, if there’s time for a cigar, Downer prefers Monte Cristo or Cohiba.
“I was nearly 12 years as foreign minister,” Downer says, “so you can imagine how many places I went to.” He describes the travel as fantastic and says one of the secrets to not being perpetually exhausted was getting by on just six hours’ sleep a night, and catching winks in planes and cars.
“When I go to these cities I love to look at the architecture of the cities, also galleries and museums,” he says. “I always find time to do the tourist things and go and see the historic places.” This is important for policymaking because it informs a country’s identity, history and politics.
Downer is proud of Australia’s involvement in East Timor and Solomon Islands; building closer relations with the US, Britain and in Asia; and the role Australia played in Afghanistan and Iraq after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
He brushes off criticism, still occasionally made, over Iraq’s missing weapons of mass destruction, the wheat for weapons scandal or the treatment of David Hicks, for example.
While not blind to his personal faults and perhaps some policy misjudgments, Downer doesn’t look obsessively backwards. “There is no point in regretting anything,” he says. He is at ease with his legacy.
Downer speaks highly of Howard. “We worked very closely throughout all of those years,” Downer says. “He had a very clear view of what he thought was right or wrong, was a good decision-maker, consultative. The Liberal Party regards Howard as one of its two great heroes, the other being Menzies.”
After working as an economist at the Bank of NSW and joining the Department of Foreign Affairs, which included a posting to Brussels, in 1982, Downer secured a job in Malcolm Fraser’s prime ministerial office. He wrote speeches and media releases, and offered policy and political advice.
“He was tough to work for,” Downer says of Fraser. “He was very demanding but he was also very considered. What was most striking about him was his commitment to his country. He had a great love of Australia and an ambition for Australia, whether you liked his politics or whether you didn’t. I learnt a lot about politics working for him.”
Fraser wrote to Downer after the 1983 election defeat and included a reference. “Mr Downer demonstrated very real application as well as efficiency under pressure, and dedication in his work,” Fraser wrote to prospective employers. “I am pleased to recommend him.”
After the 1983 election, Downer worked for what is now the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry before joining the staff of opposition leader Andrew Peacock. A letter from Peacock’s senior private secretary advises he would earn $27,850 a year plus $7044 in lieu of overtime.
Although Peacock was “a more relaxed and easygoing person to work for”, Downer says it was a difficult time for the party after the Fraser years. “The Liberal Party was looking for a sense of direction and trying to work out what it stood for,” he says. “I don’t think the Liberal Party has been through a phase like that in recent years.”
Downer won the South Australian seat of Mayo in 1984 and set his sights on the frontbench. If he had failed to secure a shadow ministry post after the 1987 election, Downer says he probably would have quit parliament.
In 1994, Downer, then shadow treasurer, challenged John Hewson for the party leadership. The 1993 election had seen the Coalition endure its fifth election defeat in a row. Downer joined with Peter Costello on a “dream team” ticket. Downer defeated Hewson by 43 votes to 36.
Downer offers a generous assessment of Hewson, describing him as “a transitional leader” who invested intellectual rigour into the party’s policy development processes. This gave the Howard government “an intellectual framework” to rally behind.
“I think Hewson was a really important figure in the Liberal Party’s history,” Downer says. “Fightback should be remembered for the intellectual contribution it made to future policy in Australia.”
Downer’s term as opposition leader was marked by policy stumbles and political gaffes. He resigned the leadership so Howard could reclaim the role in early 1995. “These things are painful,” Downer says. “I wasn’t sure we were going to win the next election with me as the leader, and plenty of people thought that.”
He is frank about his leadership of the party. “I was just way too inexperienced,” he says. “I was confronted with a whole lot of issues I just didn’t know enough about. The party looks to the leader for guidance on where we should go on issues and I was not able to give that guidance.”
The remarkable thing about Downer is the transformation he made from bumbling opposition leader to become one of the most respected and significant foreign ministers in Australia’s history. Alongside Howard and Costello, he is a Liberal elder statesman.
But what energises Downer today is his work as high commissioner. “Britain is still very much the centre of the world,” he says. “Perhaps commentators don’t focus enough on the huge weight of Britain in the world.”
He notes Britain’s large military, its nuclear capability, its UN Security Council membership, Commonwealth role, large economy and soft power, such as the media and the arts, which makes it “hugely important” in global affairs. Downer says this benefits Australia. The relationship is “a great force multiplier in Australian diplomacy”.
Downer works with Australian businesses, looks for common foreign policy interests and undertakes representational work. It’s a relationship some take for granted. “It just works very smoothly,” Downer says. “It’s not a struggle. We don’t really have bilateral problems. We tend to work together and we tend to be, not surprisingly, extremely like-minded.”
When he ascended to the Liberal leadership, Downer said he was “born of the Liberal Party”. After three generations of Downers in politics, a fourth is now emerging. He notes his daughter, Georgina, was elected to the Victorian Liberal Party’s administrative committee in March — a possible stepping stone to a parliamentary career.
“I’ve always known politics,” Downer says. “I’m also interested in history. Honestly, I’ve always been captivated by history. I read a lot of history and still do.”
That mix of history and politics makes the Downer papers a valuable contribution to Australia’s political memory.
