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{{Short description|Australian public servant and diplomat}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
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| name = Peter Wilenski
| name = Peter Wilenski
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AC}}
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AC}}
| image =
| image = Peter Wilenski.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption =
| caption = Wilenski in 1975
| birth_name = Peter Stephen Wilenski
| birth_name = Peter Stephen Wilenski
| birth_date = 10 May 1939
| birth_date = 10 May 1939
| birth_place = [[Łódź]], [[Poland]]
| birth_place = [[Łódź]], [[Poland]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|11|3|1939|05|10|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|11|3|1939|05|10|df=y}}
| death_place = Sydney, Australia
| death_place = [[Sydney]], Australia
| office1 = [[Departmental secretary|Secretary]] of the [[Department of Labor and Immigration]]
| office1 = [[Departmental secretary|Secretary]] of the [[Department of Labor and Immigration]]
| term_start1 = 31 March 1975
| term_start1 = 31 March 1975
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| term_start4 = 15 February 1992
| term_start4 = 15 February 1992
| term_end4 = 14 May 1993
| term_end4 = 14 May 1993
| nationality = {{flagicon|Australia}} Australian
| nationality = Australian
| occupation = Public servant
| occupation = Public servant
| years_active =
| years_active =
| religion =
| religion =
| spouse = Gail Radford<br>Jill Hager
| spouse = Gail Radford<br/>Jill Hager
| children = Michael and Katie
| children = 2
| alma_mater=[[University of Sydney]]<br>[[University of Oxford]]
| alma_mater=[[University of Sydney]]<br/>[[University of Oxford]]
}}
}}
'''Peter Stephen Wilenski''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AC}} (10 May 1939 – 3 November 1994) was a senior Australian public servant and ambassador. He was a champion of women's rights and equal opportunity.
'''Peter Stephen Wilenski''', {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AC}} (10 May 1939 – 3 November 1994) was a senior Australian public servant and ambassador. He was a champion of women's rights and equal opportunity.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Peter Wilenski was born in [[Łódź]], [[Poland]] on 10 May 1939.<ref name="NAA CP 451">{{citation|title=CP 451: Dr Peter Stephen WILENSKI AC, AO|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CP+451|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=22 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Peter Wilenski; Former Ambassador, 55|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/14/obituaries/peter-wilenski-former-ambassador-55.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122122027/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/14/obituaries/peter-wilenski-former-ambassador-55.html|archivedate=22 January 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 November 1994}}</ref> He came to Australia in 1943 as a Jewish refugee, due to [[World War II]] conflict and persecution of Jewish people in his home country.<ref name=GarethEvans>{{cite speech|url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/archive/speeches_old/minfor/gewilens.html|date=22 June 1995|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610022719/http://www.dfat.gov.au/archive/speeches_old/minfor/gewilens.html|archivedate=10 June 2007|title=THE WORLD AFTER WILENSKI: AN AUSTRALIAN WHO MATTERED|location=Canberra|first=Gareth|last=Evans|author-link=Gareth Evans (politician)|event=Inaugural Peter Wilenski Memorial Lecture}}</ref> His family spent time in a Soviet internment camp before coming to Australia.<ref name=FollettHansard>{{cite hansard|jurisdiction=Australian Capital Territory|date=8 November 1994|speaker=[[Rosemary Follett]] and [[Kate Carnell]]|url=http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/HANSARD/1994/pdfs/19941108.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519045849/http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/1994/pdfs/19941108.pdf|archivedate=19 May 2013|page_start=3767|page_end=3770|title=Hansard}}</ref> For high school education, he attended [[Sydney Boys High School]].<ref name=FollettHansard/> He later studied at the [[University of Sydney]] where he met his first wife, Gail Radford, when both were student politicians.<ref>{{cite speech|url=http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/cmag/documents/WWMC_Floortalk7March-cmag.pdf|title=My life in Canberra|first=Gail|last=Radford|date=7 March 2013|location=Canberra Museum and Gallery|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122133447/http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/cmag/documents/WWMC_Floortalk7March-cmag.pdf|archivedate=22 January 2014}}</ref>
Peter Wilenski was born in [[Łódź]], [[Poland]] on 10 May 1939.<ref name="NAA CP 451">{{citation|title=CP 451: Dr Peter Stephen WILENSKI AC, AO|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CP+451|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=22 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Peter Wilenski; Former Ambassador, 55|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/14/obituaries/peter-wilenski-former-ambassador-55.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122122027/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/14/obituaries/peter-wilenski-former-ambassador-55.html|archivedate=22 January 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 November 1994}}</ref> He came to Australia in 1943 as a Jewish refugee, due to [[World War II]] conflict and persecution of Jewish people in his home country.<ref name=GarethEvans>{{cite speech|url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/archive/speeches_old/minfor/gewilens.html|date=22 June 1995|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610022719/http://www.dfat.gov.au/archive/speeches_old/minfor/gewilens.html|archivedate=10 June 2007|title=THE WORLD AFTER WILENSKI: AN AUSTRALIAN WHO MATTERED|location=Canberra|first=Gareth|last=Evans|author-link=Gareth Evans (politician)|event=Inaugural Peter Wilenski Memorial Lecture}}</ref> His family spent time in a Soviet internment camp before coming to Australia.<ref name=FollettHansard>{{cite hansard|jurisdiction=Australian Capital Territory|date=8 November 1994|speaker=[[Rosemary Follett]] and [[Kate Carnell]]|url=http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/HANSARD/1994/pdfs/19941108.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519045849/http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/1994/pdfs/19941108.pdf|archivedate=19 May 2013|page_start=3767|page_end=3770|title=Hansard}}</ref> For high school education, he attended [[Sydney Boys High School]].<ref name=FollettHansard/> He later studied at the [[University of Sydney]] where he met his first wife, Gail Radford, when both were student politicians.<ref>{{cite speech|url=http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/cmag/documents/WWMC_Floortalk7March-cmag.pdf|title=My life in Canberra|first=Gail|last=Radford|date=7 March 2013|location=Canberra Museum and Gallery|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122133447/http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/cmag/documents/WWMC_Floortalk7March-cmag.pdf|archivedate=22 January 2014}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Wilenski entered the [[Australian Public Service]] as a Foreign Affairs Officer (1967–71).<ref name="NAA CP 451"/>
Wilenski entered the [[Australian Public Service]] as a Foreign Affairs Officer (1967–71).<ref name="NAA CP 451"/>


Wilenski's first [[Departmental secretary|Secretary]] role was in the [[Department of Labor and Immigration]], appointed by the [[Whitlam Government]] in March 1975 fresh from a position as private secretary to Prime Minister [[Gough Whitlam]].<ref name="NAA CA 1769">{{citation|title=CA 1769: Department of Labor and Immigration, Central Office|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CA+1769|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> Just months after his appointment, the federal opposition were promising to sack Wilenski when they were back in power.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Opposition pledges to sack Wilenskis|date=4 September 1975|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19750904&id=sARkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1037,461373|page=2}}</ref>
Wilenski's first [[Departmental secretary|Secretary]] role was in the [[Department of Labor and Immigration]], appointed by the [[Whitlam government]] in March 1975 fresh from a position as private secretary to Prime Minister [[Gough Whitlam]].<ref name="NAA CA 1769">{{citation|title=CA 1769: Department of Labor and Immigration, Central Office|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CA+1769|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> Just months after his appointment, the federal opposition were promising to sack Wilenski when they were back in power.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Opposition pledges to sack Wilenskis|date=4 September 1975|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19750904&id=sARkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1037,461373|page=2}}</ref> During the 1970s Wilenski was working for the United States of America in what a historian has called "a discreet relationship".<ref>Coventry, C. J., "The Eloquence of Robert J Hawke: United States informer, 1973-79", [[Australian Journal of Politics and History]], 67:1 (2021), 69.</ref>


In March 1983 Wilenski was placed in his second Secretary role, this time as head of the [[Department of Education and Youth Affairs]]. His tenure at the department was a short seven months.<ref name="NAA CA 3494">{{citation|title=CA 3494: Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Central Office|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CA+3494|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref>
In March 1983 Wilenski was placed in his second Secretary role, this time as head of the [[Department of Education and Youth Affairs]]. His tenure at the department was seven months.<ref name="NAA CA 3494">{{citation|title=CA 3494: Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Central Office|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CA+3494|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref>


Wilenski was appointed Secretary of the [[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]] in 1992, but retired from the position in 1993 due to ill health.<ref name=FollettHansard/><ref>{{cite press release|first=Paul|last=Keating|title=Dr Peter Wilenski, AO|date=14 May 1993|author-link=Paul Keating|url=http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=8862|archivedate=10 November 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110154623/http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=8862}}</ref>
Wilenski was appointed Secretary of the [[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]] in 1992, but retired from the position in 1993 due to ill health.<ref name=FollettHansard/><ref>{{cite press release|first=Paul|last=Keating|title=Dr Peter Wilenski, AO|date=14 May 1993|author-link=Paul Keating|url=http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=8862|archivedate=10 November 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110154623/http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=8862}}</ref>
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==Death==
==Death==
Wilenski died on 3 November 1994 at his home in Sydney after battling lymphatic cancer for several years.<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19941114&id=zggwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xW8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636,5309476|title=Peter Wilenski, former envoy from Australia|date=14 November 1994|journal=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=18}}</ref>
Wilenski died on 3 November 1994 at his home in Sydney after battling lymphatic cancer for several years.<ref>{{citation|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19941114&id=zggwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xW8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636,5309476|title=Peter Wilenski, former envoy from Australia|date=14 November 1994|journal=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=18}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
{{refbegin}}
*Mitcham, Chad J., Wilenski, 'Peter Stephen (1939–1994)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilenski-peter-stephen-29978/text37160, published online 2020.
*{{cite news|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/130535444|first=Jack|last=Waterford|author-link=Jack Waterford|title=Obituary: Peter Wilenski- A Revolutionary in the Public Service|page=9|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=4 November 1994}}
*{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130535444|first=Jack|last=Waterford|author-link=Jack Waterford|title=Obituary: Peter Wilenski- A Revolutionary in the Public Service|page=9|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=4 November 1994}}
{{refend}}
{{refend}}


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilenski, Peter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilenski, Peter}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Australian public servants]]
[[Category:Australian Jews]]
[[Category:Australian diplomats]]
[[Category:People from Łódź]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New South Wales]]
[[Category:People from Łódź]]
[[Category:Polish emigrants to Australia]]
[[Category:Secretaries of the Australian Government Immigration Department]]
[[Category:Secretaries of the Australian Government Immigration Department]]
[[Category:Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department]]
[[Category:Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department]]
[[Category:Permanent Representatives of Australia to the United Nations]]
[[Category:Permanent Representatives of Australia to the United Nations]]
[[Category:People educated at Sydney Boys High School]]

Latest revision as of 07:24, 18 December 2024

Peter Wilenski
AC
Wilenski in 1975
Secretary of the Department of Labor and Immigration
In office
31 March 1975 – 22 December 1975
Secretary of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs
In office
25 March 1983 – 1 November 1983
Secretary of the Department of Transport and Communications
In office
24 Jul 1987 – 30 September 1988
Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
In office
15 February 1992 – 14 May 1993
Personal details
Born
Peter Stephen Wilenski

10 May 1939
Łódź, Poland
Died3 November 1994(1994-11-03) (aged 55)
Sydney, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Spouse(s)Gail Radford
Jill Hager
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
University of Oxford
OccupationPublic servant

Peter Stephen Wilenski, AC (10 May 1939 – 3 November 1994) was a senior Australian public servant and ambassador. He was a champion of women's rights and equal opportunity.

Early life

[edit]

Peter Wilenski was born in Łódź, Poland on 10 May 1939.[1][2] He came to Australia in 1943 as a Jewish refugee, due to World War II conflict and persecution of Jewish people in his home country.[3] His family spent time in a Soviet internment camp before coming to Australia.[4] For high school education, he attended Sydney Boys High School.[4] He later studied at the University of Sydney where he met his first wife, Gail Radford, when both were student politicians.[5]

Career

[edit]

Wilenski entered the Australian Public Service as a Foreign Affairs Officer (1967–71).[1]

Wilenski's first Secretary role was in the Department of Labor and Immigration, appointed by the Whitlam government in March 1975 fresh from a position as private secretary to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.[6] Just months after his appointment, the federal opposition were promising to sack Wilenski when they were back in power.[7] During the 1970s Wilenski was working for the United States of America in what a historian has called "a discreet relationship".[8]

In March 1983 Wilenski was placed in his second Secretary role, this time as head of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs. His tenure at the department was seven months.[9]

Wilenski was appointed Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1992, but retired from the position in 1993 due to ill health.[4][10]

Awards

[edit]

In 1994, Wilenski was named a Companion of the Order of Australia for service to international relations and to public sector reform, particularly through fostering the implementation of social justice and equity principles.

Death

[edit]

Wilenski died on 3 November 1994 at his home in Sydney after battling lymphatic cancer for several years.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b CP 451: Dr Peter Stephen WILENSKI AC, AO, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 22 January 2014
  2. ^ "Peter Wilenski; Former Ambassador, 55". The New York Times. 14 November 1994. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
  3. ^ Evans, Gareth (22 June 1995). THE WORLD AFTER WILENSKI: AN AUSTRALIAN WHO MATTERED (Speech). Inaugural Peter Wilenski Memorial Lecture. Canberra. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007.
  4. ^ a b c Rosemary Follett and Kate Carnell (8 November 1994). "Hansard" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Australian Capital Territory. pp. 3767–3770. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Radford, Gail (7 March 2013). My life in Canberra (PDF) (Speech). Canberra Museum and Gallery. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2014.
  6. ^ CA 1769: Department of Labor and Immigration, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 23 January 2014
  7. ^ "Opposition pledges to sack Wilenskis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 September 1975. p. 2.
  8. ^ Coventry, C. J., "The Eloquence of Robert J Hawke: United States informer, 1973-79", Australian Journal of Politics and History, 67:1 (2021), 69.
  9. ^ CA 3494: Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 23 January 2014
  10. ^ Keating, Paul (14 May 1993). "Dr Peter Wilenski, AO" (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Peter Wilenski, former envoy from Australia", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 18, 14 November 1994

Further reading

[edit]
Government offices
Preceded by Secretary of the Department of Labor and Immigration
1975 		Succeeded byas Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
Preceded by Secretary of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs
1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Public Service Board
1983–1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Secretary of the Department of Communications Secretary of the Department of Transport and Communications
1987–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Secretary of the Department of Transport
Preceded byas Secretary of the Department of Aviation
Preceded by Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
1992–1993 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
1989–1992 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Peter_Wilenski&oldid=1263723271"