John Laurence Menadue (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 Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

and Fraser governments. He was later appointed by

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

as Australian Ambassador to Japan, in which position he served from 1977 to 1980. After which Menadue returned to Australia and was appointed the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs from 1980 to 1983. Later, in 1983, he became the Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State and the Secretary of the

Department of Trade Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Biography

Menadue was born in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on 8 February 1935. From March 1960 to October 1967 Menadue was private secretary to

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

, deputy leader of the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

Opposition in the

federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

(Whitlam became leader in February 1967). In 1966 Menadue stood unsuccessfully as Labor candidate for the NSW federal seat of Hume.

Public service and diplomatic career

Menadue headed the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1974 to 1976, working under

prime ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

and

. He was Australian Ambassador to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1976 to 1980. Menadue returned to Australia in 1980 to take up the position of Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. In 1983, he was appointed Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State and

Business career

Menadue worked as General Manager of

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

from 1967 to 1974. He was Chief Executive Officer of

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

from June 1986 to July 1989. In October 1999, Menadue published his autobiography ''Things You Learn Along the Way''. He was the founding Chair of

New Matilda newmatilda.com, commonly known as New Matilda, is a left-wing independent Australian website of news, analysis and satire. History The website was established by John Menadue in August 2004. Its founding editor was Natasha Cica. The website is ...

(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 Centre for Policy Development is a public policy think tank in Australia. CPD claims to be independent and non-partisan. Personnel Past research fellows *Mark Bahnisch

. He also publishes the public affairs blogsite ''Pearls and Irritations''.

Honours

Menadue was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) in 1985 for public service. In 2003 he was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

'for service to Australian society through public service leadership'. In 1997, he received the Japanese Imperial Award, The

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

(Kun-itto Zuihō-shō), the highest honour awarded to foreigners who are not head of state or head of government.

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.About John Menadue on Menadue's website
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Notes

References and external links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menadue, John 1935 births Living people Ambassadors of Australia to Japan Australian public servants Australian businesspeople Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Secretaries of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretaries of the Australian Government Immigration Department 20th-century Australian public servants