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John Stapleton was born in Bangalow on the New South Wales north coast on 21 June 1952. The first money he ever made out of writing was in 1974 when he was co-winner of a short story competition held by what was then Australia’s leading cultural celebration, the Adelaide Arts Festival.
He graduated from Macquarie University in 1975 with a double major in philosophy and anthropology and did post-graduate work with the Sociology Department at Flinders University.
As a freelance journalist in the 1970s and 1980s, while alternating between living in Sydney and London, his articles and fiction appeared in a wide range of magazines, newspapers and anthologies, including The Australian Financial Review and the now defunct Bulletin.
After a period as a casual, John Stapleton worked on The Sydney Morning Herald as a staff news reporter between 1986 and 1994. The paper was then listed as one of theTop 20 newspapers in the world.
He worked for the national newspaper The Australian from 1994 until the end of 2009.
His books include: Thailand: Deadly Destination, Terror in Australia: Workers’ Paradise Lost, Hideout in the Apocalypse, Dark Dark Policing, Unfolding Catastrophe: Australia and Australia Breaks Apart. His latest book, Failure: Family Law Reform Australia, coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Family Law Act. The book is the most detailed critique ever published of the country’s despised Family Court.
His memoir of a life in journalism, Hunting the Famous, will be published in 2026.
As a news reporter, Stapleton encountered and wrote literally thousands of stories about everyone from street alcoholics to Australian Prime Ministers; from the staple flood, drought, fire and natural disasters of the Australian bush to scenes of urban dysfunction.
In 2000 he became co-founder of the world’s longest running radio program on father’s issues, Dads on the Air, which he contributed to until 2010. He currently edits A Sense of Place Magazine.
He is the proud father of two professionally accomplished adult children.
Paul ConlonPAUL G CONLON: Digital ID’s Historical Shadow with Courage Is The Cure. Courage Is The Cure is joined by Paul G. Conlon, author of “Digital ID’s Historical Shadow” from The Light Australia. Paul’s article reveals how digital ID systems echo historical surveillance, threatening our autonomy. As an engineer and freedom advocate, he’ll unpack the past patterns that should concern us now.Follow Paul on X: https://x.com/paulgconlon
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