Frank Browne (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Francis Courtney "Frank" Browne (9 September 1915 – 14 December 1981) was an Australian journalist.
Browne was born in Coogee, New South Wales
to New Zealand
-born tailor Courtney Brown and Linda Veronica, née Heckenberg. He attended Christian Brothers' College in Waverley
and went on to enter the Royal Military College
, having failed to win a bursary
for university. In August 1935 he was discharged and described as "temperamentally unsuited to the military profession"; Browne would later claim that he was in fact expelled as a result of an affair with an officer's wife. He also claimed (falsely) to have won a "gold pocket" for sporting excellence.
After leaving the military Browne became a cadet journalist on Smith's Weekly
and then travelled to the United States
, writing for the Chicago Tribune
. He boxed professionally as "Buzz Brown" in the featherweight
division. It was later rumoured that he had served with communist forces in the Spanish Civil War
in 1937, receiving a Soviet decoration after his wounding, a fact he later refused to confirm or deny. He returned to Sydney
in 1938.
Browne, now a greyhound racing
correspondent for The Daily Mirror
, enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces in January 1942, serving in anti-tank regiments and then with the North Australia Observer Unit as a commissioned lieutenant
. He married Marie Katherine Ormston, a musician, on 19 September 1942 at St Mary's Cathedral
, and was declared medically unfit for service on 10 February 1943.
Browne then became involved in politics, contesting the 1943 federal election
for the United Australia Party
against H. V. Evatt
in the seat of Barton
. He contested the state seat of Bondi
in 1944 for the Democratic Party and then Vaucluse
in 1947 as an Independent Liberal. A Liberal Party
branch president in 1945, his attempt to form a Young Liberals' League was met with disbandment. As a result of these setbacks he grew to dislike most politicians, with the notable exception of Billy Hughes
.
In 1946 Browne established a weekly subscriber newspaper, Things I Hear, an often scandalous political gossip publication that John Gorton
referred to as "Things I Smear". He infuriated politicians of all parties, despite sometimes providing astute political analysis.
Browne is best remembered for his involvement in the groundbreaking parliamentary privilege case in 1955. Labor
MP Charles Morgan
began the affair in May by objecting in parliament to a reference made in the Bankstown Observer (of which Browne was the editor) alleging his involvement in "an immigration racket". The standing committee
on parliamentary privilege
found Browne and the Observers owner, Raymond Fitzpatrick, in breach of said privilege, and the two were called before the Bar of the House on 20 June.
Before the Bar, Browne spoke passionately about freedom of speech
; his address prompted rare bipartisan unity, with Prime Minister Robert Menzies
describing it as "an exhibition of unparalleled arrogance and impertinence" and deputy Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell
describing Browne as "an arrogant rat". The House voted 55 to 11 that Browne should be imprisoned for three months, and he was sent to Goulburn Gaol
.
Browne formed the Australian Party
on his release, which enjoyed little success, and in the 1960s wrote a column for the Daily Mirror. He contested the Australian Senate
unsuccessfully in 1974, and continued publishing Things I Hear until 1977. In that year he travelled to Rhodesia
to work for Ian Smith
. He died at Darlinghurst
in 1981 of liver cirrhosis and was cremated.
Browne was born in Coogee, New South Wales
Coogee, New South Wales
Coogee is a beachside suburb of local government area City of Randwick. It is located 8 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is also a part of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney....
to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born tailor Courtney Brown and Linda Veronica, née Heckenberg. He attended Christian Brothers' College in Waverley
Waverley, New South Wales
Waverley is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Waverley is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council....
and went on to enter the Royal Military College
Royal Military College
The Royal Military College can refer to:* Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada* Royal Military College Saint-Jean in Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada* Royal Military College, Duntroon in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia...
, having failed to win a bursary
Bursary
A bursary is strictly an office for a bursar and his or her staff in a school or college.In modern English usage, the term has become synonymous with "bursary award", a monetary award made by an institution to an individual or a group to assist the development of their education.According to The...
for university. In August 1935 he was discharged and described as "temperamentally unsuited to the military profession"; Browne would later claim that he was in fact expelled as a result of an affair with an officer's wife. He also claimed (falsely) to have won a "gold pocket" for sporting excellence.
After leaving the military Browne became a cadet journalist on Smith's Weekly
Smith's Weekly
Smith's Weekly was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. An independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia, Smith’s Weekly was one of Australia’s most patriotic newspaper-style magazines....
and then travelled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, writing for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
. He boxed professionally as "Buzz Brown" in the featherweight
Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...
division. It was later rumoured that he had served with communist forces in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in 1937, receiving a Soviet decoration after his wounding, a fact he later refused to confirm or deny. He returned to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1938.
Browne, now a greyhound racing
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
correspondent for The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror (Australia)
The Daily Mirror was an afternoon paper established by Ezra Norton in Sydney, Australia in 1941, gaining a licence from the Minister for Trade and Customs, Eric Harrison, despite wartime paper rationing. In October 1958, Norton and his partners sold his newspapers to the Fairfax group, which...
, enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces in January 1942, serving in anti-tank regiments and then with the North Australia Observer Unit as a commissioned lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. He married Marie Katherine Ormston, a musician, on 19 September 1942 at St Mary's Cathedral
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia...
, and was declared medically unfit for service on 10 February 1943.
Browne then became involved in politics, contesting the 1943 federal election
Australian federal election, 1943
Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 August 1943. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin easily defeated the opposition Country Party led...
for the United Australia Party
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
against H. V. Evatt
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, QC KStJ , was an Australian jurist, politician and writer. He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1948–49 and helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
in the seat of Barton
Division of Barton
The Division of Barton is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia...
. He contested the state seat of Bondi
Electoral district of Bondi
Bondi was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1913 and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Bondi. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Eastern Suburbs...
in 1944 for the Democratic Party and then Vaucluse
Electoral district of Vaucluse
Vaucluse is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, based on the suburb of Vaucluse. Vaucluse is one of two original electorates to have never been held by the opposing Labor party and always by the Liberal Party or its predecessors, the other...
in 1947 as an Independent Liberal. A Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
branch president in 1945, his attempt to form a Young Liberals' League was met with disbandment. As a result of these setbacks he grew to dislike most politicians, with the notable exception of Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
.
In 1946 Browne established a weekly subscriber newspaper, Things I Hear, an often scandalous political gossip publication that John Gorton
John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:...
referred to as "Things I Smear". He infuriated politicians of all parties, despite sometimes providing astute political analysis.
Browne is best remembered for his involvement in the groundbreaking parliamentary privilege case in 1955. Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
MP Charles Morgan
Charles Morgan (Australian politician)
Charles Albert Aaron Morgan was an Australian politician. Born in Woonana, New South Wales, he was educated at Catholic schools and then at Sydney Technical College. He became a solicitor in 1920 and eventually a Labor lawyer...
began the affair in May by objecting in parliament to a reference made in the Bankstown Observer (of which Browne was the editor) alleging his involvement in "an immigration racket". The standing committee
Standing Committee
In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...
on parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...
found Browne and the Observers owner, Raymond Fitzpatrick, in breach of said privilege, and the two were called before the Bar of the House on 20 June.
Before the Bar, Browne spoke passionately about freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
; his address prompted rare bipartisan unity, with Prime Minister Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
describing it as "an exhibition of unparalleled arrogance and impertinence" and deputy Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell
Arthur Calwell
Arthur Augustus Calwell Australian politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1940 to 1972, Immigration Minister in the government of Ben Chifley from 1945 to 1949 and Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1960 to 1967.-Early life:Calwell was born in...
describing Browne as "an arrogant rat". The House voted 55 to 11 that Browne should be imprisoned for three months, and he was sent to Goulburn Gaol
Goulburn Correctional Centre
The Goulburn Correctional Centre is an Australian maximum and 'Super Maximum' security male prison located in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia....
.
Browne formed the Australian Party
Australian Party
The Australian Party can refer to a number of political parties in Australia's history, most recently to the party started by Queensland independent MP Bob Katter known as Katter's Australian Party...
on his release, which enjoyed little success, and in the 1960s wrote a column for the Daily Mirror. He contested the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
unsuccessfully in 1974, and continued publishing Things I Hear until 1977. In that year he travelled to Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
to work for Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
. He died at Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...
in 1981 of liver cirrhosis and was cremated.