Talk:Robert Hughes (critic)

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[edit] Road accident

COMPERE: And what is the outline then of the prosecution's case?

DAVID WEBER: The outline is that Mr Hughes was on the wrong side of the road, thus driving dangerously causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Kelly and Mr Bennett, who were the most seriously injured in the other car. He was on the wrong side of the road and the other car had slowed down as Mr Hughes had not slowed down.

It was night, the conditions were dry in that there was no moisture on the road, but Mr Hughes was on the wrong side of the road and this is what caused the accident. That's what the prosecution is saying. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s124527.htm

JANA WENDT: Hughes came face to face with oblivion. Driving in the other direction, three young men saw Hughes' car heading straight for them on the wrong side of the road. They say they flashed their headlights and hit the horn, but it was too late. http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/cover_stories/transcript_1445.asp

Hughes was deeply unimpressed by the reaction to his accident. He later told The New York Times they could tow Australia "out to sea and sink it". Not only that, he found the Prime Minister an "ignoramus" and judged there was a conspiracy among "malignant little newspaper hacks". He also maintained that "Ozpress" hated expatriate writers, and "might as well be Serbians".

The criminal charges were not the end of the affair. Mr Cock and his deputy, Lloyd Rayney, also sued Mr Hughes for defamation in December 2000 for remarks he made about them after he was acquitted in Broome. Among their concerns was a remark allegedly made about Mr Rayney, whom Mr Hughes described as "an Indian gentleman". Hughes denied reports he called him a "a curry muncher". http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/14/1050172542343.html

[edit] Robert Hughes no longer Australian

Robert Hughes is no longer Australian. It seems that in 2003 he relinquished his AO and Australian passport, and became a US citizen.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/26/1067103267044.html

Nationality or culture is more than a matter of choice/citizenship. And there is an Australian culture which has nothing to do with citzenship. Germaine Greer and Jill Ker Conway are hardly ever in Australia. Rupert Murdoch is a U.S. citizen. I'm sure many people would argue that there is much about Hughes that remains Australian, including his decision to live overseas and become a U.S. citizen. :-) Grant65 | Talk 15:12, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


In fact Hughes denied the report completely:

ROBERT HUGHES: Somebody wrote this extraordinary piece in the Herald the other day, published in the Herald, saying, "Now it can be revealed that Robert Hughes is no longer a citizen of Australia. He has turned in his passport, he has returned his Order of Australia, he has done this, that". This was total and complete fabrication.

JANA WENDT: You have not turned in your passport?

ROBERT HUGHES: I have not turned in my passport, I still travel on it. I have not abandoned my Australian citizenship and, certainly, although I don't normally wear that little gold button that goes with the AO, mainly because everybody in America thinks it's just a lost earring. I mean, I don't know where they get this.

JANA WENDT: All right, so you haven't done it – how do you now feel about Australia?

ROBERT HUGHES: I feel nothing but love for Australia and 90 per cent of Australians. I feel nothing but contempt for the people who went after me as they did.

Elitism 13:49, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

If he became a U.S. citizen on or after 4 April 2002 he would not have lost his Australian citizenship automatically. In order to cease being Australian he would have needed to formally renounce his Australian citizenship under Australian law. Handing back an Australian passport in itself would not cause loss of citizenship. JAJ 23:49, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Large scale deletion of material

I am reverting the changes by Adam Carr and/or PDH, until there has been discussion of the deletion of a large amount of material from the article, including (e.g.) Hughes' current place of residence, mention of the defamation proceedings against him, the charge of racism, etc. I would like a point-by-point explanation of the deletions.

Please bear in mind that one person's "gossip and trivia" is another person's "vital details". Thanks, Grant | Talk 08:00, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

  • Many of those things need cites, which they don't have; which means that they can be removed per WP:CITE and BLP. In addition the previous version of the text was not written in an encyclopedic tone. We are writing an encyclopedia here after all.--Peta 08:12, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I did not delete the reference his current place of residence, I moved it. The rest was unsourced gossip. Adam 08:22, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I now see the place of residence, crammed into a pragraph about his first wife.
As for the rest, I don't agree that it is is "gossip" and it isn't "unsourced" at all; look at the sources listed in the article's "References" section. They can be converted into in-text references if need be. As I was living here in Perth when the various court proceedings were going on, and followed them closely, I can assure you that the details in the article are substantiated. If anything, this article's description of what transpired is overly cautious. Grant | Talk 08:46, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
This piece on Hughes reads like a over-sensationlized unauthorized biography instead of an encyclopedic entry. It is littered with irrelevant gossip and overlooks the major milestones in his life. Even one of the intro sentences "well-connected family, lawyers..." what has that got to do with what made the critic? His father was a war hero and that's not mentioned. Wiki"Hello Magazine"pedia is a bloody free-for-all. -From Perth with all good intentions...DownUndr 15:58, 6 September 2007 (UTC)DownUndr
well change it then. But is unlikely that deletions are the answer. Agreed that "well-connected family" is non-NPOV - but it is a pretty impressive family nonetheless, and is important to his origins and biography. Please please add the "major milestones" and the war hero references that are missing - without editors contributions this article will not improve. Reading his books RH over-sensationlises himself, putting much in the public domain that is usually kept private. But he is more than just a critic, he is a personality, a writer, etc... And yes, Wikip is a free-for-all ROxBo 08:05, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Personal Life

This is better presented in a chronological order of the three wives. Happy with other changes, just recommend to keep the order. ROxBo 14:43, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Autobiographies (Things I didn't know) are not considered 'citable' sources for information and discourages NPOV. Removed material about wife 1 as potentially libelous. Incorrect maiden name of wife 2, changed to Whistler. Deletion of material on current status, location, etc, unnecessary. History of ROxBo changes to Hughes article show little original research, are numerous and trivial. History shows random deletions to wife 3, Downes, marginalizing instead of expanding topics on Hughes and Downes wiki page. Referring topic to third party admin as (??) vandalism. Suggest using Wiki Sandbox before making changes!!DownUndr 00:17, 10 September 2007 (UTC)DownUndr

[edit] Isn't there an excess of dot points?

Surely his life does not need to have every event displayed as a list of dot points. Dot points should only be used where there is an actual list and not for blocks of text to separate paragraphs. Stellar 08:25, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Not rejected just discouraged. Have fun. Stellar 11:42, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Danton

His son's rather extraordinary life is relevant, IMHO ROxBo 04:09, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed!!!!!! If someone feels his (Danton) life is 'extra-ordinary' should a page not appear in the form of Danton Wiki- bio (Australia) and leave details of non-relatives out of RSFH page? DownUndr 14:18, 1 September 2007 (UTC)DownUndr

Yes, this page did exist but was recently deleted after merge discussion ROxBo 00:32, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Awards

If anyone can find the date for the award- NYPL Literary Lion, please add - have searched and it is not giving a date, but a reference to this achievement?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by DownUndr (talk • contribs) 19:27, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 07:40, 10 November 2007 (UTC)