Mungo Wentworth MacCallum

Mungo Wentworth MacCallum
Born	21 December 1941 Sydney
Occupation(s)	Political journalist and commentator
Spouse	Jenny Garrett

Mungo Wentworth MacCallum (born 21 December 1941) is an Australian political journalist and commentator.

Biography

He is the son of Mungo Ballardie MacCallum (1913–99), a journalist and pioneer of television in Australia, and Diana Wentworth, a great-granddaughter of the Australian explorer and politician William Charles Wentworth (1790–1872). MacCallum's father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather were also called Mungo MacCallum. He is a nephew of William Charles Wentworth IV (1907–2003), who was a Liberal member of the House of Representatives (1949–77) and a virulent anti-communist. MacCallum and his uncle, while agreeing on certain questions, were fundamentally of different political inclinations. He was once described by Gough Whitlam as a "tall, bearded descendant of lunatic aristocrats".

MacCallum was born in Sydney and educated at the elite Cranbrook School, a short walk from where he lived with his mother and father in his grandmother's house in Wentworth Street, Point Piper. After leaving school, he went to the University of Sydney, where he obtained a BA with third-class honours.

Writing career

MacCallum is also known for his strongly centre-left, pro-Australian Labor Party views, being critical both of the conservative Liberal and National Parties, and of the far left (e.g., communists) who attack Labor for its cautious reformism. From the 1970s to the 1990s he covered Australian federal politics from the Canberra Press Gallery for The Australian, The National Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nation Review and radio station 2JJ / Triple J. He currently writes political commentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) current affairs and news analysis program The Drum, frequently writes for the magazine The Monthly, and contributes political commentary to Australia's national Community Radio Network, columns for The Byron Shire Echo and The Northern Star, and a weekly cryptic crossword for The Saturday Paper.

He has also authored several books, including Run, Johnny, Run written after the Australian federal election, 2004. His autobiographical narrative of the Australian political scene, Mungo: the man who laughs – is currently in its fourth reprint. How To Be A Megalomaniac or, Advice to a Young Politician was published in 2002 and Political Anecdotes was published in 2003. In December 2004, Duffy & Snellgrove published War and Pieces: John Howard's last election.

On Monday 8 September 2014 a minor sensation was caused when the misinformation of his death was announced in a tweet on the social media site Twitter. The matter was clarified within the hour but, equally within the same hour, a trending hashtag #mungolives had sprung up on the same site.

MacCallum is a resident of Ocean Shores, on the north coast of New South Wales.

Further reading

• Pratt, Mel (1973) Interview with Mungo Wentworth MacCallum, Federal political correspondent Mel Pratt collection at the National Library of Australia

Bibliography

• Punch and Judy: The Double Disillusion Election Of 2010 Penguin Books ISBN 978-1-86395-511-9
• Australian Story: Kevin Rudd and the Lucky Country, Quarterly Essay 36 December 2009, ISBN 978-1-86395-457-0
• Poll Dancing, December 2007, Black Inc. books
• Evolution Baby, October 2005, The Monthly 6
• The Vanishing. It wasn't the time, but he was the leader Labor had to have, May 2005, The Monthly 4
• From Nation To Now, May 2005, The Monthly 1
• Girt By Sea: Australia, the Refugees and the Politics of Fear, March 2002, Quarterly Essay 5 ISBN 978-1-86395-123-4
• The Saturday Paper [1] Contributors: Mungo MacCallum

External links

• The Monthly. Articles by Mungo MacCallum for The Monthly
• In Conversation: Mungo MacCallum and Shane Maloney discuss the fall of John Howard and Mungo's account of the campaign, Poll Dancing published by Black Inc.