National Press Club (Australia)

The National Press Club is an association of primarily news journalists, but also includes academics, business people and members of the public service, and is based in Canberra, Australia. History The National Press Luncheon Club was founded in 1963 by a few journalists with the backing of the Canberra Press Gallery. The founding president was Tony Eggleton. It was renamed the National Press Club in 1968, and established official premises in 1976. The National Press Club address is a weekly formal speech of approximately one hour, which includes time for questions from members of the press. The president introduces the speaker and moderates the questions. The addresses are broadcast on the ABC Network at 12:30 pm. Guests have included heads of government and ministers of Australia and other countries. Notable speeches Don Dunstan, 1970 Don Dunstan, the newly-elected Premier of South Australia, addressed the National Press Club on 24 June 1970. Germaine Greer, 1972 Germaine Greer addressed the National Press Club on 19 January 1972. Gough Whitlam, 1975 Gough Whitlam spoke at the National Press Club on 10 December 1975. The address was nearly one month after Whitlam had been dismissed from the position of Prime Minister by governor-general John Kerr, with an election having been called for 13 December. In the speech, Whitlam defended his government's reforms and transparency. Bob Hawke, 1983 Federal Opposition Leader Bob Hawke addressed the press club on 2 March 1983, just 3 days before the 1983 Australian federal election. Paul Keating, 1993 Then-Prime Minister Paul Keating made a speech at the National Press Club on 11 March, two days before the 1993 federal election. In the speech, Keating attacked Opposition Leader John Hewson's proposed industrial relations program and economic policy Fightback!, claiming its goods and services tax (GST) would not support jobs and would discourage tourism. He also criticised Hewson for refusing to answer questions or speak to the National Press Club. Keating defended his government's progress on economic reform and integration with Asia and the world. John Howard, 1998 Then-Prime Minister John Howard addressed the National Press Conference on 1 October 1998, which was also two days before that year's federal election. Howard outlined the arguments in favour of the Coalition's taxation reform plan, noted that the government had honoured many commitments made during the 1996 election campaign, and criticised the Labor Party's 1998 election campaign as pessimistic. Grace Tame, 2021 Grace Tame, recipient of the Australian of the Year award, addressed the National Press Club on 3 March 2021. She recounted the sexual abuse she faced from her teacher, her struggles with anorexia, and discussed the importance of a systematic national approach to supporting survivors of sexual assault and adequately addressing predators. Paul Erickson, 2025 As the National Secretary and Campaign Director for the Australian Labor Party, Erickson was invited to address the National Press Club on 21 May 2025, just 18 days following the party's landslide win at the 2025 Australian federal election. The Labor Party recorded their best ever result at a federal election, claiming 94 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the most ever for a single party and on par with the Coalition's 1996 result. The party's national vote of 55.22% two-party-preferred was the highest achieved by any party at a federal election since 1975, and was the first election since 1966 that a returning government had retained every single one of its seats. Erickson had been the National Secretary of the Labor Party since 2019, and had now directed two winning campaigns in a row. Erickson's address focused on the 2025 campaign strategy employed by Labor, specifically citing their "lethal" advertising campaign and evidence-based approach as key to the party's decisive victory. Following his initial speech, Erickson was queried by News Corporation reporters about what they allege was a "scare campaign" led by Labor against the Coalition. Erickson defending the claim, stating Labor's election ads warning voters opposition leader Peter Dutton would cut health services to pay for its nuclear power policy would “sail through” any truth in political advertising test. All Australian News Corporation papers endorsed the Coalition at the election. Erickson additionally claimed in his address that Peter Dutton had been stuck in a conservative media “echo chamber” and was too quick to fight culture wars and import Donald Trump-style political tactics, and that Labor had the communications and political skills to sell major reform ideas to voters. Hillel Newman, 2026 Israeili Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman made a National Press Club address on 31 March 2026. His address came after several months after the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting, a terrorist attack targeting Jewish Australians. The social and political turmoil that followed the attack included mass protests against a visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, nationwide marches against the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the announcement by the Albanese government of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion and the passage of several pieces of state and federal legislation aimed at curbing antisemitism in Australia. There were several protests against the National Press Club hosting Ambassador Newman for his address, including from prominent journalist Greg Jericho who labelled the Government of Israel a "murderous regime" for the hundreds of journalists killed by the Israeli Defence Force. Newman's address caused controversy as he voiced support for Israel's contentious new death penalty laws that exclusively target Palestinians. Several days before the address, the Australian government co-signed a statement alongside countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, urging Israel not to pass the new laws and arguing they were "de facto discriminatory". In the address, Newman also claimed, without providing evidence, that members of a Lebanese television news crew recently killed by an Israeli air strike during their invasion of Lebanon were members of a violent militant group. During his address, the ambassador also refused to issue an apology on behalf of the Israeli government for the unlawful killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza in 2024, despite being queried repeatedly by the Australian journalists in attendance. Pauline Hanson, 2026 Pauline Hanson, leader of the far-right One Nation party, delivered a speech to the National Press Club on 17 June 2026. The speech was Hanson's first address since entering politics in 1996, and followed a rise in support for One Nation in opinion polls. In the speech, Hanson called for Australia to become a monocultural state and claimed multiculturalism is "utterly flawed". Hanson called for industrial relations to be overhauled, abortion to be criminalised after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and radical Islam to be "eradicated". She accused transgender people of "infecting all of society" and likened support for transgender people to radical Islam, and affirmed her commitment to abolishing the National Indigenous Australians Agency. She also reiterated her calls to strip taxpayer funding from public media, including reforming the ABC as a television licence-funded broadcaster and stripping its funding from metropolitan markets, and abolishing the SBS entirely because she viewed it was redundant to the Internet and thus a waste of taxpayer money. During Hanson's speech, a banner was unfurled behind her, containing a picture of Hanson with text accusing her of opposing pay rises for workers while secretly taking a pay rise. The banner read: "I opposed a pay rise for workers, while I took a $100,000 pay rise for myself!" Left-wing activist group GetUp! claimed responsibility for the banner; the National Press Club referred the incident to the Australian Federal Police, prompting an investigation. After the address ended, Sarah Martin, a reporter for The Guardian, asked Hanson whether she aided her daughter Lee's appointment as political advisor to a New South Wales Senator. Hanson called Martin a "trashy journalist" in response and claimed that Lee had not been hired due to nepotism. Hanson then told Martin she would be "banned" from questioning. Hanson's address was unfavourably compared to the far-right in the United States and United Kingdom; noting her attitude towards journalists and hostility to immigrants, Islam, and transgender people, has similarities to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. Journalism awards Midwinter Ball C.E.W. Bean Foundation 2007 federal election leaders' debate controversy On 21 October 2007 a debate between Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd was hosted by the National Press Club from the Great Hall of Parliament in Canberra. The debate was televised live by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Channel Nine and Sky News. A controversial decision was taken during the debate to interrupt the provision of the live transmission signal to the Channel Nine network because of the inclusion by Channel Nine within its broadcast picture of a real-time line chart of the aggregate studio audience reaction to the debate. This type of chart is referred to as the 'Worm', after the form in which it is rendered and an approximately 'worm-like' movement of the display within the area of the screen in which it appears. The decision by the National Press Club to interrupt the provision of the live transmission signal to the Channel Nine network has been heavily criticised as contrary to the principles of free speech that are a part of the journalistic tradition. On 22 October 2007, Greens Senator Bob Brown called for a Senate inquiry into the circumstances in which the transmission signal had been cut. Gallery See also National Press Club (United States) Canberra Press Gallery Melbourne Press Club Walkley Awards Notes References External links Official website