The idea for an Australian Music Centre began one Sunday morning in January 1973. It was a head-spinning time. Gough Whitlam had become Prime Minister only a few weeks earlier, and I was in Canberra visiting a composer friend.

I was staying with Don Banks and his family at their temporary home. Don was packing up as he prepared to return home to London after his Creative Arts Fellowship at the Australian National University. The phone rang. Don took it in the living room, close enough for me to hear the outline of the conversation.

Inside the Australian Music Centre offices in The Rocks, Sydney in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of the Australian Music Centre

“Yes, Mr Prime Minister . . . No sir, it’s perfectly OK . . . We’re just here packing up . . . What? You would like me to stay in Australia, Mr Prime Minister? . . . My goodness, I had best discuss this with my wife, but I think I can say that I would like to accept.”

He joined us on the back porch, beaming from ear to ear. “That was Gough Whitlam [slight pause]. He wants us to stay in Australia.”