John Menadue

John Laurence Menadue AO (born 8 February 1935) is an Australian businessman and public commentator, and formerly a senior public servant and diplomat. He served as Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1975 to 1976, working under the Whitlam and Fraser governments. He was later appointed by Malcolm Fraser as Australian Ambassador to Japan, in which position he served from 1977 to 1980.

John Menadue
AO
7th Australian Ambassador to Japan
In office
1977–1980
Preceded byMick Shann
Succeeded byJames Plimsoll
Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
In office
1 February 1975 (1975-02-01) – 30 September 1976 (1976-09-30)
Preceded bySir John Bunting
Succeeded byAlan Carmody
Personal details
Born
John Laurence Menadue

(1935-02-08) 8 February 1935
South Australia
NationalityAustralian
Spouse(s)Cynthia née Trowbridge (d.1984)
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
OccupationPublic servant
Websitehttp://www.johnmenadue.com/

Biography

Menadue was born in South Australia on 8 February 1935.[1][2]

From March 1960 to October 1967 Menadue was private secretary to Gough Whitlam, deputy leader of the Labor Opposition in the federal parliament (Whitlam became leader in February 1967). In 1966 Menadue stood unsuccessfully as Labor candidate for the NSW federal seat of Hume.[3]

Public service and diplomatic career

He was Australian Ambassador to Japan from 1976 to 1980.[4]

Business career

In October 1999, Menadue published his autobiography Things You Learn Along the Way.[5] He was the founding Chair of New Matilda (NewMatilda.com), an independent weekly online newsletter which was launched in August 2004. He is the founder and fellow of public-interest think tank, the Centre for Policy Development.[6] He also publishes the public affairs blogsite Pearls and Irritations.[7]

Honours

Menadue was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1985 for public service.[8] In 2003 he was awarded the Centenary Medal 'for service to Australian society through public service leadership'.[9] In 1997, he received the Japanese Imperial Award, The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Kun-itto Zuihō-shō), the highest honour awarded to foreigners who are not head of state or head of government.[10]

Personal

Menadue was first married to Cynthia née Trowbridge with whom he had 4 children and one foster daughter. Cynthia died of cancer in October 1984 aged 49. Menadue remarried to Susie in 1986 and he had two children with her. Together they have fifteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.[11][12]

Notes
  1. Birth Notice, The Adelaide Chronicle, 21 February 1935. Retrieved 12 July 2015
  2. John Menadue, Things You Learn Along the Way, p. 4. Retrieved 12 July 2015
  3. Barnes, Allan (3 October 1975). "Happy revolution around the PM". The Age. p. 5.
  4. John Menadue, Australian Broadcasting Commission, archived from the original on 25 April 2013
  5. "John Menadue", PM, Australian Broadcasting Commission, archived from the original on 3 November 2012
  6. About John Menadue, Centre for Policy Development, archived from the original on 14 August 2013
  7. Pearls and Irritations homepage, by free subscription.
  8. "Officer of the Order of Australia: Menadue, John Laurence". It's an Honour. Australian Government. 10 June 1985.
  9. "Centenary Medal: Menadue, John Laurence". It's an Honour. Australian Government. 1 January 2001.
  10. "Alumni awards", Adelaidean, University of Adelaide, September 2009, archived from the original on 30 March 2014
  11. Slee, John (18 August 1985). "Wattle blossom diplomat". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 63.. Cynthia Menadue wrote a book about her experiences in Japan, especially during the time she was there when her husband was the Australian ambassador in Tokyo. Her book was published as Cynthia Menadue, 1985, Shadows on the Shoji: A Personal View of Japan, Sydney: John Ferguson, ISBN 0 909134 82 0.
  12. About John Menadue on Menadue's website
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