Ross Gittins Explained

Ross Gittins
Birth Date:13 February 1948
Birth Place:Newcastle, New South Wales
Nationality:Australian
Alma Mater:University of Newcastle, Australia
Awards:Member of the Order of Australia (AM)

Ross Gittins (born 1948 in Newcastle, Australia) is an Australian political and economic journalist and author, known for "his ability to make dry, hard-to-understand economics and economic policy relevant".[1]

Early life and education

Ross Roderick Gittins was born 13 February 1948 in Newcastle, New South Wales where his family were living at New Lambton. His parents, Salvation Army officers[2] moved to Sydney and Ross started schooling at Fort Street High School. The family then moved to Bathurst before moving back to New Lambton. Ross completed his secondary schooling at Newcastle Boys High School (196264).[3]

Ross then matriculated to the University of Newcastle where he studied in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce being graduated in 1970 as a Bachelor of Commerce.[4] He had studied part-time for 2 years whilst working with a Newcastle chartered accountant before gaining a Commonwealth Scholarship which enabled him to finish his studies on a full-time basis.[3]

Upon completion of his degree, he moved to Sydney, where he worked for a large firm of chartered accountants.[3]

Finance journalist

Gittins regularly writes for former Fairfax publications The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and (previously) The Canberra Times, commentating on underlying economic issues and political economic policies. In 1993 he won the Citibank Pan Asia award for excellence in finance journalism.[5]

In 2003 Gittins wrote that then Prime Minister "Honest John Howard" had been "a tricky chap" on immigration, by appearing "tough" on illegal immigration to win support from the working class, while simultaneously winning support from employers with high legal immigration.[6]

He celebrated his 30th year as the Heralds economics editor in 2008, having assumed the position during the Fraser government in 1978.[7]

Ross Gittins lectures to year 11 and 12 high school students around Australia, in order to share his knowledge and understanding of the Australian economy.

Gittins published the first edition of the Gittins' Guide to Economics for secondary students in 1988.

On 7 February 2024, Nine Entertainment, the current publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age since 2018, published an opinion piece by Gittins in both papers celebrating 50 years since he began at the paper in 1974.[8]

Awards and recognition

Gittins was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to economic journalism in Australia[9] and made a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2008 for service to journalism as a commentator on economic theory, policy and behavioural economics, and to the accountancy profession.[10]

In 2011, Gittins was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from Macquarie University[1] and in 2012 an honorary Doctor of Science in Economics from the University of Sydney.

Gittins is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.[5] In 2015 he was appointed an eminent fellow in the practice of economics at the Research School of Economics, Australian National University. In 2017 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, being promulgated by His Excellency, the then Governor of New South Wales, General, the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC(Rtd) in the NSW Government Gazette February 2018;[11] and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.[12] In December 2018 the Australian National University awarded Gittins a Doctor of Letters honoris causa for his "exceptional contribution to journalism and economics in Australia".[13]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Phillips. Nicky. Honour for Ross Gittins. 28 April 2012. The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 September 2011.
  2. Web site: Gittins. Ross. Ross Gittins: A sally on the inside. The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. 8 June 2022.
  3. Give My Regrets to Waratah High . Ross Gittins . Newcastle Boys' High School Old Boys' Association annual dinner . Newcastle City Hall . 2009-08-08 . 2024-02-07 . The first high school I went to was Fort Street Boys', then my parents – who were Salvation Army officers – were moved to Bathurst for a year before being moved back to the suburb in which I’d been born, New Lambton. That means I was at Boys' High only for my last three years of high school, 1962, 63 and 64 – which was the second last year of the five-year leaving certificate before the introduction of the six-year HSC. The fact that two years after I left school no one left school in NSW proved particularly fortunate for me because, by then I’d finished my second part-time year of a commerce degree at Newcastle Uni. I wanted to switch to full-time, so I applied for a Commonwealth scholarship and, despite a checkered academic record, I got one – purely because they were going begging that year. ... A local chartered accountant, Ray Patrick, came to the school saying he needed to employ a junior audit clerk. Mr Kerr recommended me, I took the job with alacrity and worked for Ray Patrick for two years before going to uni full-time and then moving to Sydney to work for one of the big chartered accounting firms..
  4. News: Conferring of Degrees – 1970. The Gazette. The University of Newcastle, Australia. Newcastle, New South Wales. May 1970. 4. 1. 3.
  5. Web site: Cornerstones . A conference for public education . Public Education Alliance . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20060821163551/http://www.cornerstones.org.au/pages/speakers/ross-gittins.php . 21 August 2006 . 2024-02-07.
  6. News: Honest John's migrant twostep. Gittins. Ross. The Age. 20 August 2003. 25 February 2019.
  7. Web site: You've come a long way, baby . businessday.com.au . Fairfax Media . Ross . Gittins . 2008-06-04 . 2024-02-07.
  8. Web site: Fifty years ago, I found my dream job – and I’m not done yet . . Ross . Gittins . 2024-02-07 . 2024-02-07 .
  9. Web site: Australian Honours database. GITTINS, Ross Roderick. Centenary Medal. . Australian Government. . It's an honour . For service to economic journalism in Australia..
  10. Web site: Australian Honours database. GITTINS, Ross Roderick. Member of the Order of Australia. . Australian Government. . It's an honour . For service to journalism as a commentator on economic theory, policy and behavioural economics, and to the accountancy profession..
  11. Web site: Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales 529 NSW Government Gazette No 13 of 6 February 2018 Number 13, Tuesday, 6 February 2018 . 2018-02-06 . 2024-02-07.
  12. Web site: Mr Ross Gittins AM, FASSA, FRSN . 2023-10-22 . Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia . en-AU.
  13. Web site: Honorary degree: Mr Ross Gittins AM. 13 December 2018. ANU. 19 December 2018.

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