By Richard Whitington

My late father, the journalist and author, Don Whitington, was head of the Daily Telegraph’s Canberra bureau during WW2, and lived in Canberra for that period.

In the late 1940s he co-founded Australian Press Services, publisher of the weekly newsletter, Inside Canberra, and the syndicated column, Behind the Headlines.

By the time I was born, in 1949, our family was living in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Don had an office in the Sydney CBD, as well as the one he maintained in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery in the old Parliament House.

He commuted to Canberra, usually by car, for parliamentary sitting weeks. He always stayed at the Hotel Canberra.

Several times a year, from when I was an infant, my mother and I would join him. I have distinct memories of staying up quite late, for one so young, sitting with my father in the lounge/bar, while he had a drink with politicians and other journalists – and being passed around the group from knee to knee. I recall the names of MPs Arthur Fadden, Bill Falkinder, Malcolm McColm, Archie Cameron; and the journalist Alan Reid. I’m sure there were others.

From my early teens, I’d accompany Don to Canberra during school holidays, staying at the Hotel Canberra, and working in his office, learning the craft of journalism, the career I’d always aspired to, and briefly practiced.

In my later teens, I confess, nobody asked to see my ID when I’d join the late-night gatherings for a drink.

My last visit, in those circumstances, was in 1967, my final year at school.

Seven years later, I was back in Canberra, on Gough Whitlam’s staff. The “living away from home” allowance didn’t quite cover “The Canberra’s ”tariffs", but there were still plenty of late-night drinks there.

From memory, my last overnight stay at The Canberra was on Saturday 11 November 1995 when my wife and I were in town to attend a dinner at Old Parliament House, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Whitlam Government’s dismissal.

In my time, I’ve enjoyed more overseas travel than many people, mostly funded by the businesses I worked for, or by the taxpayer, when I worked for Whitlam.

I’ve stayed in some of the best hotels in the world, in the world’s most famous cities. My youngest daughter now lives in Canberra. When I visit, often with several of her siblings in tow, I make a point of taking them, and their children to the Hotel Canberra for a look around, telling them some “grandpa” tales.

It remains one of the most charming, visually pleasing hotels I’ve ever been in, and certainly the one with the most memories. It’s little exaggeration to say I’ve been associated with the Hotel Canberra since I was born!

Image: National Archives Australia. Richard Whitington with Hon. EG Whitlam launching Don Whitington's unfinished autobiography 1978.