Guide to the Papers of Sir Arthur Tange, 1929-2001
Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- MS 9847
- Creator:
- Sir Arthur Tange
- Extent:
- 5.6 metres and (35 boxes + 2 folios)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Arthur Tange, National Library of Australia, MS 9847, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Available for reference. Not for loan.
Background
- Content Summary:
-
The papers comprise family and official correspondence; sources on family history, including the life of E.O.G. Shann; papers relating to appointments, honours and various phases of Tange's career; appointment diaries and itineraries; diaries, speeches, lectures and articles, especially on defence organisation; and publications. Many of the papers date from Tange's retirement years and include correspondence with former ministers, departmental colleagues and academic researchers.
The correspondents include Lord and Lady Casey, Malcolm Fraser, Sir Garfield Barwick, Ian Sinclair, Sir James Plimsoll, Sir Walter Crocker, Sir Peter Heydon, Sir Keith Shann, Garry Woodard and Peter Edwards.
- Biographical Note:
-
Arthur Harold Tange was born on 18 August 1914 in Sydney. He was educated at Woy Woy Primary School and Gosford High School, completing his Leaving Certificate in 1930. He was employed by the Bank of New South Wales, first in Bathurst (1931-32) then in Perth (1933-38). In Perth, Tange attended the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1938 as Bachelor of Arts with first class honours in Economics. He then entered the Economic Department of the Bank in Sydney. In 1940 he married Marjorie Florence Shann, daughter of Professor E.O.G. Shann. In 1940-41 he worked in the Bank's office in Suva, Fiji.
In 1942 he entered the Reconstruction Division of the Department of Labour and National Service. The division was soon afterwards expanded to become the Department of Post-War Reconstruction. He served most of the war in that department, attending the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 as a member of the Australian delegation. His services were shared in 1944-45 with the Department of External Affairs and in 1946 he joined that department permanently. He attended a considerable number of international conferences in the mid-1940s, mostly in London, Geneva and Havana. From 1946 to 1948 he was First Secretary in the Australian Mission to the United Nations, New York. He returned to Canberra where he was promoted to Counsellor and then Assistant Secretary. In 1953 he served, with the diplomatic rank of Minister, as the deputy head of the Australian Embassy in Washington.
From 1954 to 1965 Tange was the Secretary and permanent head of the Department of External Affairs. Major events affecting Australian foreign policy during that period included the Petrov affair, the 1954 Geneva Conference, the creation of the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), the despatch of Australian troops to Malaya, the Suez crisis, crises in Laos, Indonesia's confrontation of Malaysia, and Australia's first military commitments in Vietnam. In 1965 Tange was appointed High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to Nepal.
From early 1970 until his retirement in August 1979 Tange was Secretary and permanent head of the Department of Defence. He was commissioned by the Whitlam government to write the Report on the Reorganisation of the Defence Group of Departments, generally known as the 'Tange report'. Following this report, in what were known as 'the Tange reforms', the former departments of Navy, Army, Air and Supply were merged into the Department of Defence and major changes were made in the command structure of the Australian Defence Force.
Tange was awarded the O.B.E. in 1953 and the C.B.E. in 1955. He was knighted in 1959 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia (A.C.) in 1977.
Tange conducted a Review of the Public Service Commission in Fiji in 1980. In his retirement he maintained an active interest in questions of defence policy and administration, foreign affairs, and public administration.
Sir Arthur Tange died on 10 May 2001. Lady (Marjorie) Tange died two months later. They were survived by their son Christopher (b. 1944), daughter Jennifer (b. 1947), and four grandchildren.
- Immediate Source of Acquisition:
-
The papers of Sir Arthur Tange were donated to the Library on 16 July 2004 under the terms of his will. Three further items were added by Dr Peter Edwards in 2006.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection has largely been left in the order in which it was arranged in the study of Sir Arthur Tange's home in Canberra, during the years immediately preceding his death in May 2001. Most of the material was in manila Files (of several colours) and ring-binders. Many of the Files and ring-binders were overfilled, and some papers were wrongly filed or loose. The subjects of the Files and ring-binders were described, often at some length, on the covers. At one time Sir Arthur began to create a file-numbering system of his own. He later abandoned this system, but it had the result that some Files were marked with numbers such as 'A6' or 'A12'.
For the most part, family/personal matters were kept separate from professional/career concerns, but there is some overlap. In some Files, material from one time period was mixed with later notes and drafts relating to memoirs or other writings by Sir Arthur, dealing with that period – principally notes and drafts created in the 1980s and 1990s on his service in External Affairs (1940s to 1960s) or Defence (1970s). Such material has been left in original order. A small amount of loose or misplaced material has been inserted in Files where it was clearly Sir Arthur's intention to collate it in this form.
Indexed terms
- Names:
- Sir Arthur Tange
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn3288048).
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Arthur Tange, National Library of Australia, MS 9847, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: