PM Transcripts

A
FOR MEDIA 2 October 1990
A major figure in Australian literature for more than three
decades, Patrick White, leaves behind him a legacy of novels
and plays that have helped to define the modern Australian
identity. It is no secret that as an uncompromising and frank
commentator on a wide range of contemporary social issues,
Patrick White was at times a sharp critic of this
Government. Of course in this we were not Robinson Crusoe.
He sought a more humane and thoughtful world a quest that
led him to see serious flaws all around him, and not least
in himself. But we can all take pride in the fact that his
great talents as an author were recognised in 1973 when he
became the first and only Australian to be awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature.
With Patrick White, Australian writing expanded in scope, in
depth and in richness, and his achievements must be an
inspiration to younger Australian writers.