The Australian media has finally recognised the death of Gordon Barton, after ignoring it all last week – as reported in Crikey last Thursday. Trevor Sykes wheeled out a very modest piece in the Weekend Fin , Valerie Lawson did justice to Barton in Saturday’s SMH, and today The Australian(shown right) discovered Barton’s death by devoting almost a page, including a comprehensive obituary and a column by Phillip Adams which begins with the words:

Christopher Skase died in Majorca, the headlines were huge and the texts as triumphant as the lyrics for Ding Dong the Witch is Dead . Yet when a far worthier and more significant Australian businessman died in Spain a few days ago, there were no headlines at all.

Just passing mentions in the also-ran sections of our leading newspapers. Clearly a younger generation of journalists didn’t recognise the name. The name of Gordon Barton.