Richard Laidlaw

Richard Laidlaw was a journalist and editor for many years, in Europe, Africa and then, from 1971, Australia, where he mostly lived in Queensland, working in succession on the Telegraph, The Sunday Mail and the state daily newspaper, The Courier-Mail.

He wrote editorials for The Courier-Mail until 1996, when he left journalism to become a policy adviser in state and federal politics. He was an Army Reserve officer from 1978-1999 and worked (as a journalist) in Papua New Guinea in 1980-1983.

In 2020, after 15 years dividing their time between Western Australia and Indonesia, he and his wife settled permanently at Vasse in the southwest of WA, from where he now fulminates and occasionally blogs. He can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, on Twitter @scratchings, and at 8degreesoflatitude.com.