Don Watson

Don Watson is an Australian author, screenwriter, former political adviser, and speechwriter.

Watson was born in 1949 at Warragul in the Gippsland region of Victoria, and grew up on a farm in nearby Korumburra.

Watson studied for his undergraduate degree at La Trobe University and latterly completed PhD at Monash University before spending ten years working as an academic historian. He wrote three books on Australian history before turning his hand to TV and the stage. For several years he combined writing political satire for the actor Max Gillies with political speeches for the then Premier of Victoria, John Cain. In 1992, he became Prime Minister of Australia Paul Keating’s speech-writer and adviser