Neil McInnes (Australian journalist)

Neil Donald McInnes AM (6 September 1924 – 28 April 2017) was an Australian intellectual, journalist and senior public servant.

His career as a journalist spanned the mid-1940s to the late 1970s in Australia, India and France. His scholarly work focused on the theoretical underpinnings of Marxism as well as the communist parties of Western Europe. In the Australian public service, he occupied several high level posts in intelligence and security from the late 1970s to 2009.

Neil McInnes was born on 24 September 1924 in Sydney, the fifth of seven children. He was educated at Sydney Boys' High School where a number of awards, notably for debating. He studied medicine and physiology at The University of Sydney between 1942 and 1947, however did not graduate. McInnes also took Philosophy 1 with the Challis Professor of Philosophy John Anderson whose influence permeated several generations of students, known as the Andersonians. During World War 2, the intellectual life of Sydney was still centred on the university, but towards the end of the war, a small group of students began to meet in various houses to discuss a broad range of intellectual concerns. Along with McInnes, the informal membership of the group included leading students in English, French, German, History, Philosophy and Science such as Paul Foulkes, Ernest Foulkes, Henry Harris, Noel Hush, George Munster, Jim Baker and Bill Maidment. This undergraduate association went by various names, notably The Apostles, though Anderson reportedly coined the name ‘The Poseurs Push’ for the group. McInnes established lifelong friendships with many of these students, as well as others who were also influenced by Anderson, notably Eugene Kamenka. McInnes contributed to student publications, chiefly Hermes and Honi Soit, for a time edited by fellow student Murray Sayle, who soon left the university to start his long and distinguished career as a journalist. At this time McInnes also became close to Harry Hooton, who was drawn to intellectual circles around Sydney University and opposed the generally favoured realist philosophy of Anderson and its activist offshoot, the Libertarian Society. McInnes and Hooton carried on corresponding for many years.

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