
Neil McInnes (6 September 1924 – 28 April 2017) was an Australian intellectual, journalist and senior public servant.
His career as a journalist spanned the mid-1940s to the late 1970s in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. His scholarly work focused on the theoretical underpinnings of
Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
as well as the communist parties of Western Europe. In the Australian public service, he occupied several high level posts in intelligence and security from the late 1970s to 2009.
Early life and background
Neil McInnes was born on 6 September 1924 in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, the fifth of seven children. He was educated at
Sydney Boys' High School
Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a sub ...
where he won a number of awards, notably for debating. He studied medicine and physiology at
The University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
between 1942 and 1947, however he did not graduate. McInnes also took Philosophy 1 with the Challis Professor of Philosophy
John Anderson John Anderson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* John Anderson (jazz trumpeter) (1921–1974), American musician
* Jon Anderson (John Roy Anderson, born 1944), lead singer of the British band Yes
* John Anderson (producer) (1948–2024 ...
whose influence permeated several generations of students, known as the Andersonians. During World War II, the intellectual life of Sydney was still centred on the university, but towards the end of the war, a small group of students began to meet in various houses to discuss a broad range of intellectual concerns. Along with McInnes, the informal membership of the group included leading students in English, French, German, History, Philosophy and Science such as Paul Foulkes, Ernest Foulkes,
Henry Harris,
Noel Hush, George Munster,
Jim Baker and Bill Maidment. This undergraduate association went by various names, notably The Apostles, though Anderson reportedly coined the name ‘The Poseurs Push’ for the group. McInnes established lifelong friendships with many of these students, as well as others who were also influenced by Anderson, notably
Eugene Kamenka
Eugene Kamenka (4 March 1928 – 19 January 1994) was an Australian political philosopher and Marxism, Marxist scholar.
Biography
Kamenka was born in Cologne in 1928 and migrated to Australia with his parents in 1937. He was of Russian-Jewish ...
. McInnes contributed to student publications, chiefly ''Hermes'' and ''
Honi Soit
''Honi Soit'' is the student newspaper of the University of Sydney. First published in 1929, the newspaper is produced by an elected editorial team and a select group of reporters sourced from the university's populace. Its name is an abbrev ...
'', for a time edited by fellow student
Murray Sayle
Murray William Sayle (1 January 1926 – 19 September 2010) was an Australian journalist, novelist and adventurer.
A native of Sydney, Sayle moved to London in 1952. He was a foreign correspondent for ''The Sunday Times'' in the late 1960s an ...
, who soon left the university to start his long and distinguished career as a journalist. At this time McInnes also became close to
Harry Hooton
Henry (Harry) Arthur Hooton (9 October 1908 – 27 June 1961) was an Australian poet and social commentator whose writing spanned the years 1930s–1961. He was described by a biographer as ahead of his time, or rather "of his time while the ma ...
, who was drawn to intellectual circles around Sydney University and opposed the generally favoured realist philosophy of Anderson and its activist offshoot, the Libertarian Society. McInnes and Hooton carried on corresponding for many years.
Career
Journalism
In 1947, McInnes left Sydney with his lifelong companion June (Julie) Turner (1924-2005). He moved to
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
to work as a journalist for ''
The Cairns Post
''The Cairns Post'' is a major News Corporation newspaper in Far North Queensland, Australia, that exclusively serves the Cairns area. It has daily coverage on local, state, national and world news, plus a wide range of sections and liftou ...
'', sharing a house with Murray Sayle who was also working on the newspaper at the time.
In 1948 he left Australia for
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
to become a deputy editor for one of India's oldest newspapers, ''
The Statesman''. In 1952 he was promoted to editor of the Calcutta-based financial newspaper ''Capital''. In 1953 and 1954, he was also the permanent correspondent in India of the London-based Commonwealth journal of international affairs,
The Round Table.
Following several extended trips to Europe, he moved permanently to France in 1955, living in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and later in the
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
area for ten years. He devoted his time to research and writing. In 1965 Neil McInnes returned to Australia to work for ''
The Australian Financial Review
The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...
''. He moved back to Paris at the end of 1966 when he took up the position of European editor of ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' and ''
Barron’s Financial Weekly.'' He continued writing for ''The Australian Financial Review'' and also wrote for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''.
Intellectual thought
In the 1960s, McInnes started publishing scholarly articles on Marxist theory, critically examining the roots of the development of Marxism, notably in western European countries such as Germany and France. He focused much of his early work on studying the influence of
Georges Sorel
Georges Eugène Sorel (; ; 2 November 1847 – 29 August 1922) was a French social thinker, political theorist, historian, and later journalist. He has inspired theories and movements grouped under the name of Sorelianism. His social and ...
on Marxist ideas. He regularly contributed articles on this topic to journals such as ''Survey'', ''
Encounter'' and ''Politics''. This was a time when a widespread effort was under way to challenge the post-war sympathies with the USSR of many Western intellectuals and fellow travellers, particularly among liberals and the non-Communist Left (notably through the
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...
). In the 1970s during his time in Paris as a financial journalist, he wrote four respected books which provided an in-depth analysis on the development and theoretical underpinnings of the Communist parties of Western Europe and
Eurocommunism
Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sough ...
. He was close to a number of French neo-liberal intellectuals known for their opposition to Marxist ideology, notably
Jacques Rueff
Jacques Léon Rueff (23 August 1896 – 23 April 1978) was a French economist and adviser to the French government.
Life
An influential French conservative and free market thinker, Rueff was born the son of a well known Parisian physician and ...
,
Raymond Aron
Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century.
Aron is best known for his ...
and
Jean-Francois Revel, who considered that the battle against communism was also one of ideas.
Public service career
In 1978, McInnes was recruited by
Prime Minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
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. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...
to become the Deputy Director (economic) of the newly created
Office of National Assessments
The Office of National Assessments (ONA) was an Australian statutory intelligence agency established by the ''Office of National Assessments Act 1977'' as an independent statutory body directly accountable to the Prime Minister of Australia a ...
(ONA), established to provide intelligence assessments on political, strategic and economic issues directly to the Prime Minister. It was reported that
Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 57th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United ...
recommended McInnes to Fraser for this appointment. In 1982 he was promoted to Head of Policy Coordination within the
Department of Defence, where his responsibilities included oversight of intelligence and security agencies. He was a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet between 1983 and 1986. In this capacity, he was closely involved in providing intelligence and security policy advice to Prime Minister
Hawke on both national and international matters. He accompanied the Prime Minister on official visits abroad, notably to the White House in February 1985.
In 1986, McInnes became the inaugural
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, a position he held until his retirement in September 1989. The creation of this office followed a recommendation by Mr Justice Hope in his Royal Commission reports on the intelligence and security agencies with respect to their accountability.
In June 1989, McInnes was appointed a Member of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AM) for public service.
Later life
Between 1990 and 2005, McInnes returned to his career observing and commenting on a range of topics relating to political philosophy and international relations. His articles were published in ''
Quadrant
Quadrant may refer to:
Companies
* Quadrant Cycle Company, 1899 manufacturers in Britain of the Quadrant motorcar
* Quadrant (motorcycles), one of the earliest British motorcycle manufacturers, established in Birmingham in 1901
* Quadrant Privat ...
'' and ''
The National Interest
''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...
''.
Between 1990 and 2008 McInnes was a consultant to the
Australian Secret Intelligence Service
The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS ) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Commonwealth of Australia, responsible for gathering, processing, and analysing national security information from around the world, primarily throug ...
(ASIS), where he acted as
ombudsman
An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...
. He retired from active public life in 2009 at the age of 85.
He died in
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
in 2017 aged 92.
Bibliography
Articles
* "An Examination of the Work of Wilhelm Reich," in Hermes 48, pp. 26–29, 1946
* ''Les débuts du marxisme théorique en France et en Italie (1880-1897)'', Études de Marxologie, n° 3, juin 1960
* ''What Asians Think of Us - I: To Indians: Distant, Insignificant'', The Bulletin, December 28, 1960, p. 25
* ''Lettres et extraits de lettres d’Engels à Bernstein, Présentation de Neil Mclnnes'', Études de Marxologie, Janvier 1961, p. 41 - 78
* ''Antonio Gramsci'', Survey, October 1964, pp. 3–15
* ''Australia - How Provincial?'', Quadrant, Vol. 9, No. 5, September-October 1965, pp. 9-17
* ''Havemann and the Dialectic'', Survey, January 1967, pp. 25–37
* ''The Christian-Marxist Dialogue,'' Survey, April 1968, pp. 57–76
* ''Knopfelmacher's Essays (Review)'', Politics, Vol. 3, Issue 2, 1968, pp. 207-213
* ''Lenin und der Italienische Sozialismus 1915-1921. Ein Beitrag zur Grundungsgeschichte der Kommunistischen Internationale'', Soviet Studies, 10/1968
* ''Helmut König, "Lenin und der italienische Sozialismus 1915-1921. Ein Beitrag zur Gründungsgeschichte der Kommunistischen Internationale" (Book Review)'', Soviet Studies, 10/1968
* ''Knopfelmacher's essays,'' Politics, v.3, no.2, November 1968, pp207–213
* ''A caricature of Gramsci, Book review, Politics, Vol. 4, 1969 - Issue 1, pp. 112–118''
* ''Social Democracy since the War,'' Survey, Winter-Spring 1969, pp. 18–31
* ''Georg Lukacs'', Survey, Summer 1969, pp. 122–140
* ''The Young Marx and the New Left'', Journal of Contemporary History, 01/1971, Vol. 6, Issue 4
* ''Zionism and its liberal critics, 1896-1948'', Journal of Contemporary History, 10/1971, Vol. 6, Issue 4
* ''Alien Marx, Review of Alienation by Bertell Ollman,'' Encounter, June 1973, pp. 63–65
* ''The Communist Parties of Western Europe and the EEC'', The World Today, 02/1974, Vol.30, Issue 2
* ''Justice and Disobedience: Georges Sorel on The Trial of Socrates'', Politics, Vol. 10, 1975, Issue 1, pp. 37–43
* ''"World Communism" in Fragments'', book reviews of World Strength of the Communist Party Organizations, by the US Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence And Research (1974) and 1975
Yearbook on International Communist Affairs
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
, edited by Richard F. Starr (1975), in Problems of Communism, November 1975, pp. 43–45
* ''The coming deluge
ook Review
Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to:
* Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec
* On-off keying, in radio technology
* Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska
* Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck
* Ook, the ...
'' Quadrant, Vol. 20, No. 5, May 1976, pp. 71–73
* ''East-West Relations within the Communist Movement'', Survey, Summer/Autumn 1976, pp. 102–105
* ''Communism in Italy and France, Book Review'', International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs), 01/1977
* ''Abstraction, alienation, and commodity'', Lecture given at the Harry Eddy School of Philosophy, Sydney Philosophy Club, Quadrant, Vol. 23 Issue 12, December 1979
* ''Liebestod and after'', Quadrant, Vol. 34, No. 4, April 1990, pp. 60–65
* ''One without the other
ook Review
Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to:
* Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec
* On-off keying, in radio technology
* Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska
* Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck
* Ook, the ...
', Quadrant, Vol. 36, No. 3, March 1992, pp. 80–81
* ''Islam and the West'', Quadrant, Vol. 36, No. 4, April 1992, pp. 6–7
* ''The culture state
ook Review
Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to:
* Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec
* On-off keying, in radio technology
* Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska
* Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck
* Ook, the ...
' Quadrant, Vol. 36, No. 6, June 1992, pp. 84–85
* ''Monsieur le Pen's politics'', Quadrant, Vol. 36, No. 10, October 1992, pp. 10–13
* ''What's left of the Oedipus complex?'' Quadrant, Vol. 36, No.12, December 1992, pp. 30–37
* ''The nation state vs. the global society'', IPA Review (Institute of Public Affairs), Vol.46, No.1, 1993, pp. 40–42
* ''From melting pot to salad bowl. Review of Kukathas, Chandran (ed.). Multicultural Citizens: the Philosophy and Politics of Identity, 1993'', IPA Review (Institute of Public Affairs), Vol.46, No.3, 1993, pp. 30–32
* ''Heidegger's Nazism'', Quadrant, Vol. 37, No. 4, April 1993, pp. 31–35
* ''Enough Said , Review of Culture and Imperialism, by Edward W. Said'', The National Interest, Fall 1993, pp. 104–108
* ''Bad Books: Move Over, Blinky Bill, The Choice of Botany Bay, Manning Clark, Melbourne, 1960.'' Institute of Public Affairs Review, Vol. 47, No.1, pp. 49–50, 1994.
* ''One Who Made A Revolution, Review of Robert Skidelsky and John Maynard Keynes' The Economist as Saviour 1920-1937'', The National Interest, Fall 1994.
* ''Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph A. Schumpeter (Book Review),'' The National Interest, Spring 1995, p. 85
* ''Ortega and the Myth of the Mass'', The National Interest, Summer 1996, pp. 78–88
* ''Volkogonov's Journey'', The National Interest, Winter 1996, pp. 47–54
* ''The Great Doomsayer: Oswald Spengler Reconsidered'', The National Interest, Summer 1997
* ''Hayek's Slippery Slope'', The National Interest, Spring 1998, pp. 56–66
* ''The Road Not Taken'', (Foreword by Chadran Kukathas), The Center for Independent Studies, Occasional paper No. 65, November 1998.
* ''"Orientalism", the Evolution of a Concept'', The National Interest, Winter 1998, pp. 73–81
* ''Koestler and His Jewish Thesis'', ''Review of Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind, by David Cesarani'', The National Interest, Fall 1999, pp. 103–109
* ''A Skeptical Conservative'', The National Interest, Fall 2000, pp. 82–89
* ''The Long Goodbye'', The National Interest, Summer 2001, pp. 105–114
* ''Popper's Return Engagement'', The National Interest, Spring 2002, pp. 72–80
* ''The Failure of Africa'', Quadrant, Vol. 47, No. 4, Apr 2003: pp. 18–22
* ''Requiem for a Genocide'', Review of "The Fabrication of Aboriginal History" by Keith Windschuttle, The National Interest, Summer 2004, pp. 176–183
* ''The Strange Journey of a Bad Idea'', The American Interest, Vol. 1 No.2, December 2005
Contributions to Books
* ''The Labour Movement'', in "The Impact of the Russian Revolution, 1917-1967 : the influence of Bolshevism on the world outside Russia", issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Oxford University Press, 1967
* ''Georges Sorel'', in “The founding Fathers of Social Science”, edited by Timothy Raison, Baltimore, Penguin Books, 1969
* Articles on ''Engels, Friedrich; Gracián Y Morales, Baltasar; Gramsci, Antonio; Labriola, Antonio; Lukács, Georg; Marías, Julián; Marxist Philosophy; Ortega Y Gasset, José; Sorel, Georges; Zubiri, Xavier'', in “Encyclopedia of Philosophy”, Macmillan, first edition 1973; Second Edition 2006, Donald M. Borchert, Editor in Chief, Thomson Gale, Thomson, Star Logo and Macmillan
* ''Ethics as the Theory of History,'' in “Liberty and Politics: Studies in Social Theory” edited by Owen
Harries, Pergamon Press, 1976
* ''From Comintern to Polycentrism: the First Fifty Years of West European Communism'', in “Euro-Communism, Myth or Reality”, edited by Paolo Filo della Torre, Edward Mortimer and Jonathan Story, Penguin Books, 1979
* ''The Long Goodbye, or Eric’s Consoling Lies'', in “The Strange Death of Soviet Communism: A Postscript”, edited by Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Transaction Publishers, 2008
Books
* ''The Western Marxists,'' Library Press, 1972
* ''The Communist Parties of Western Europe'', Oxford University Press, 1975
* ''Euro-communism,'' published for the
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...
, Georgetown University, by Sage Publications, 1976
* ''French Politics Today: The Future of the Fifth Republic'', Sage Publications, 1977
References
External links
*ONA website https://www.ona.gov.au/
*IGIS website http://www.igis.gov.au/
*ASIS website https://www.asis.gov.au/
{{DEFAULTSORT:McInnes, Neil
1924 births
2017 deaths
Writers from Sydney
University of Sydney alumni
Writers about communism
Politics of Europe
Australian intelligence agencies
Members of the Order of Australia
20th-century Australian journalists
People educated at Sydney Boys High School