It is with great sadness that we at the Press pay tribute to the late Race Mathews (27 March 1935 – 5 May 2025), an MP, an academic and an author of great wisdom, interest and generosity.
Race began his career in the 1950s as a speech therapist in rural schools in Victoria, then graduated from degrees at Monash University, Melbourne University and the University of Divinity.
In 1960 he was elected Secretary of the Australian Fabian Society, joined the Australian Labor Party and became Principal Private Secretary to Gough Whitlam. He developed policies on education, health, gun control and more, was Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for the Arts, and developed the inaugural Spoleto International Festival of the Arts and the Melbourne Writers Festival.
While in parliament in the early 1990s, Mathews was part-time visiting fellow in the Public Sector Management Institute at Monash University. After leaving parliament he became senior research fellow in the Institute, then in the Graduate School of Government at Monash University, and a Senior Research Fellow in the International Centre for Management in Government at Monash.
The Co-operative Movement was one of Race’s passions, and in 2017 our press published his book Of Labour and Liberty: Distributism in Victoria, 1891–1966.
The author of many books, Race’s biography Race Mathews: A Life in Politics – begun by Race, then completed by his wife Iola in 2024, was launched by Monash University Publishing to acclaim.
Race was an avid reader, a collector of science-fiction books and a lover of classic movies. As Race’s good friend, the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC, said ‘If only we had more people in political and public life like Race Mathews: compassionate, hugely competent, intellectually and culturally curious, much more passionately committed to good policy than personal or factional political advantage, and indefatigable.’
Race will be sorely missed by us all, and we pass on our sorrow to Iola and family.
Read the Victorian Premier’s media statement here.
