Hugh Stretton

Hugh Stretton died after a long illness 18 July 2015, aged 91. His passing was mourned in many Australian newspapers, academic journals and other publications, with the Sydney Morning Herald calling him “one of Australia’s leading public intellectuals”.

The Stretton Centre was established by the University of Adelaide in 2014 and the Government of South Australia as an institute to integrate industry, workplace and urban development.

In 2006, he was voted one of Australia’s ten most influential public intellectuals

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours on 2004, Hugh Stretton was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), at the time the highest honour within the Order of Australia. The citation reads “For service as a historian, social commentator and writer profoundly influencing and shaping ideas in the community on urban policy, town planning, and social and economic development”.

Hugh Stretton was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001, “for long service to the public housing sector”.

A portrait of Hugh Stretton by Australian artist Robert Hannaford won the Peoples Choice Award in the 1991 Archibald Prize.

His 1976 book “Capitalism, Socialism and the Environment” is regarded as a pioneering effort in the then-new field of environmental sociology. It was one of the first to consider the societal implications of ecological limits.

At the time of the book’s publication Australia was undergoing significant social and political change, culminating in the election of the socially-progressive Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister of Australia in 1972. Stretton was employed as a consultant to both state and federal governments over the period of the Whitlam Government’s term and eventually worked with the newly established Department of Urban and Regional Development. This allowed him to have a significant impact on urban policies of the Whitlam Government over the course of his term in office.

One of Stretton’s first and best-known works, Ideas for Australian Cities, was privately published in 1970. It was widely-read and stirred considerable interest in the ideas that he presented.

Stretton published several books on a wide range of topics. His first, The Political Sciences, was published in 1969 during his tenure as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University. He put forward ideas on the importance of urban development for the economic development of Australia which were heavily influenced by his study and personal experience of the National Capital Development Commission.

Stretton remained at the College until he took up a position as Professor of History at the University of Adelaide in 1954, becoming the youngest professor in Australia at the time. He stepped down from this position in 1968 and was appointed Visiting Research Fellow with the University’s Department of Economics. Upon his retirement from the University in 1989, he was awarded both with the title of emeritus professor of history and an honorary doctorate.

He graduated Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and became a fellow in history at Balliol College. During this time, he also spent a year tutoring and reading history at Princeton University.

Upon his demobilisation on 8 February 1946, he successfully enrolled as a Rhodes Scholar to study history at the University of Oxford. His application was supported by Sir Robert Menzies who wrote highly of him.

Stretton was born in Cambrai Private Hospital, St Kilda East, son of Victorian judge Len Stretton. He was educated at Mentone Grammar School and Scotch College, Melbourne for his secondary school years. He subsequently enrolled at the University of Melbourne for his undergraduate education. However, the ongoing Second World War interrupted his studies and he served in the Royal Australian Navy. He enlisted as a rating on 5 May 1943 having declined a commission. Stretton was posted to numerous supply depots and ships throughout his service, including HMAS Penguin in Sydney and two corvettes based out of Darwin. As a result of his, he did not complete his studies at Melbourne.

Professor emeritus Hugh Stretton AC (15 July 1924 – 18 July 2015) was an Australian historian who wrote books on politics, urban planning and economics, and a Rhodes Scholar. He was a key figure in the development and implementation of government policies affecting cities, particularly during the Whitlam Government.