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2 unusual facts about Faceless men


Faceless men

It was first used in 1963 by Alan Reid, a journalist working for Sir Frank Packer's conservative Sydney Daily Telegraph, referring to the 36 members of the Australian Labor Party's Federal Conference, which at that time decided the party's election policy.

In the run-up to the campaign for the 1963 federal election, Reid commissioned a photograph of Labor Leader Arthur Calwell and his Deputy Leader Gough Whitlam standing outside the Kingston Hotel in Canberra, where the Conference was meeting, waiting to be told what policy they were to fight the election on.



see also

Australian Labor Party leadership spill, 2012

On 22 February 2012 Rudd, who had been on government business overseas, gave a press conference from the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. announcing his resignation as Minister for Foreign Affairs, citing the attacks on him by Crean and others he described as "faceless men" within the party, as well as Gillard's unwillingness to condemn the attacks when given the opportunity.