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Papers of Peter Hastings
MSS 374

Collection Title

Papers of Peter Hastings

Collection Identifier

MSS 374

Inclusive date(s)

1950 to 1990

Extent and Medium

19 boxes + 1 oversize + 5 AV boxes

Category

Other

Subject: Terms(s)

Collection Description

Correspondence, newspaper articles, notes, collected reference material

Administrative / Biographical history

Peter Dunstan Hastings (1920-1990) was born on 1 October 1920 at Wahroonga in Sydney. In May 1941 he enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces and in 1942 transferred to the Australian Imperial Force. As a sergeant in intelligence, he served with the Central Bureau, a code-breaking signals unit and with the Far Eastern Liaison Office.

Having joined Consolidated Press Ltd after the war he was posted to New York from where he sent dispatches to the Daily Telegraph especially about the United Nations where his contact was Gordon Jockel, a member of the Australian delegation.

Hastings held several positions related to the press: editor of the Bulletin (1962-64), foreign affairs writer for the Australian (1966-70), and the Sydney Morning Herald (1970-74, 1976-90).

He was banned from Indonesia for reporting on its military preparation for the 1975 invasion of East Timor and in 1984 for reporting on the death of anthropologist Arnold Ap in Irian Jaya.

Hastings was the executive officer for the Council on New Guinea Affairs which he and Sir John Kerr had helped to found. From 1974 to 1976 he was senior research fellow at the strategic and defence centre, Australian National University.

References:
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: Hastings, Peter Dunstan (1920-1990) http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hastings-peter-dunstan-12607

Acquisition Details

The collection was acquired in 2017 from the wife of Peter Hastings.

Scope and Content

This collection relates to the journalist Peter Hastings and includes his collected papers donated by his wife Jolika Hastings.

Access Restrictions

Other

Access: Open Access

Copying

This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed below. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.

Copying of material authored by Peter Hastings for private study and research is approved

Existence and Location of Orginals

Special Collections, UNSW Canberra

Related and Separated Materials

Related Material

The papers of Michael Richardson (Journalist and Researcher on East Timor), MSS 190. Collection of his research materials on East Timor political history and conflicts from 1970 to 2009. Including Richardson's photographs of the Declaration of Independence by East Timor on 28 November 1975.

Disclaimer

This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed above. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.

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Items in Collection

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