I have been reading the Guardian for a very long time. When I was a teenage student living in Hobart, Tasmania, I’d often travel to Melbourne, because there was a lot more happening there. One thing I always did when I was there was to visit the state library and spend days reading The Guardian.
I was very interested in history and was politically, environmentally and socially aware, so the Guardian helped me greatly in increasing my understanding of the world, because it had the news and current affairs I couldn’t get elsewhere. I was radicalised by what was happening around the world, with the student revolt, youth protests and other changes sweeping the globe in the 60 and 70s, in Australia, France, Britain, the US and elsewhere. I became involved in campaigns against apartheid, the Vietnam war, racism, colonialism and for Aboriginal land rights, women’s rights and other liberation struggles.
At some stage, the late 1960s I think, I discovered the Guardian Weekly. I’ve been reading it ever since. If my recollections are correct I’ve read the Guardian for over 50 years. Thank you: it’s been a wonderful encounter.
