Talk:David Tonkin

Not ruthless enough?
Does this ref - Jory, R. (2000) “Gentleman politician with music in his soul”, Adelaide Advertiser, p 18, 4 October 2000. - really say that Tonkin "lost the 1982 election because he lacked the ruthlessness required of successful politicians"?

(If so, I think it's codswallop. He was ruthless enough to attack (or let others attack) Peter Duncan in the 1979 election, and ruthless enough to remove Robin Millhouse by offering him a cushy job. I mean, it can't be that he lost the election because of a recession and a savvy opposition leader, could it?) Peter Ballard (talk) 06:50, 3 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes it does. From the article "Gentleman politician with music in his soul." By Rex JORY.

"Dr Tonkin was not a natural politician. He was, quite simply, too nice. He was jovial, pleasant, friendly, approachable and lacked that ruthless edge of politicians such as Paul Keating and Malcolm Fraser."

... "Not bad for a man who didn't enjoy the tough side of politics. There was also the infuriating Dr Tonkin. I worked with him in the final 18 months of his premiership and such projects as the Casino, the Australian Grand Prix and the Hyatt Hotel complex were all in the planning stages when he was defeated. He refused to release plans before the election.

"If we win we'll get them done, if we lose then someone else can tackle them," he argued."

Granted, the article was by a former Tonkin staffer but you cite what you can. The other articles following his death say much the same thing (as you would expect from obits). --Roisterer (talk) 00:25, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Citations needed
This page has almost no in-line citations. I have added the more citations needed tag; please do not remove until the citations issue has been resolved. --Quark1005 (talk) 20:54, 28 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Compare to Don Dunstan, which has very thorough citations. Quark1005 (talk) 20:57, 28 May 2021 (UTC)