Junie Morosi (b. 1933) was born in Shanghai. Educated at the International School in Manila and the University of East Philippines, by the age of 18 she had married, had 3 sons, and divorced. She came to Australia in 1962, working in marketing and public relations with Qantas. Morosi was central to one of several scandals that rocked the Whitlam government in 1974-5. Soon after she began work with Al Grassby in the incipient Commission for Community Relations, treasurer Jim Cairns poached her as his private secretary. The press implied that she was offered the job because of her looks, with her Eurasian background adding greatly to the public excitement over the 'Morosi affair'. Her book Sex, Prejudice and Politics (1975) with an introduction by Cairns, is a defiant account of her personal experience of ideological sexism and racism in 1970s Australia.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Lewis Morley Archive LLC
Accession number: 2003.60
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Lewis Morley (49 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.
Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun
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