Labor speechwriter Graham Freudenberg dies, aged 85

Graham Freudenberg, speechwriter to Labor leaders including Whitlam and Hawke, has died.

Graham Freudenberg was one of Labor’s greatest speechwriters.

Graham Freudenberg, who wrote speeches for Labor’s federal and NSW leaders for more than 40 years, died early this morning in hospital at age 85. He had been suffering from prostate cancer for several years.

Graham Freudenberg with Evan Williams and Gough Whitlam.

He was the principal wordsmith for Labor prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, and worked for a trio of NSW Labor premiers: Neville Wran, Barrie Unsworth and Bob Carr. He wrote thousands of speeches during his lifetime.

MORE: Troy Bramston — Freudenberg’s power of words

Mr Freudenberg was born in Brisbane in 1934 and worked as a newspaper and television journalist before joining the staff of Labor leader Arthur Calwell, as his press secretary, in 1961.

I took Graham Freudenberg back to the prime minister’s office in Old Parliament House last August, where he had last worked for Bob Hawke, and recorded his memories for posterity. We have lost a remarkable man who made a huge contribution to Australia. #auspol @MoAD_Canberra pic.twitter.com/tiWcemcTSh

— Troy Bramston (@TroyBramston) July 25, 2019

He soon gravitated to speechwriting and crafted some of Australia’s most significant political speeches including Calwell’s criticism of the Vietnam War in 1965 and Whitlam’s “It’s Time” election campaign policy speech in 1972.

Paul Keating today praised Mr Freudenberg as “a literary prince” and a “prince of the Labor movement” who was happy to celebrate his career largely in anonymity.

“He was a master writer, able to distil complexity into phrases and sentences that were as powerful as they were simple, and more often than not, replete with a beauty that made them compelling,” the former prime minister said.

Paul Keating’s statement on the death of Graham Freudenberg: “a literary prince” and “prince of the Labor movement” #auspol pic.twitter.com/13wB96Rw1U

— Troy Bramston (@TroyBramston) July 26, 2019

He wrote several award-winning books, including A Certain Grandeur: Gough Whitlam in Politics (1977) and Churchill and Australia (2008).

Mr Freudenberg was awarded life membership of the Labor Party’s NSW Branch in 2005 and a tribute dinner was held in his honour in 2017 in Sydney.

He is survived by long term partner, Tom Kusano.