The little-known political confidant who ‘helped steer’ Australia’s leaders is finally remembered

In recent years, Alf Stafford has been progressively written into history as the driver for Australian prime ministers from Joe Lyons through to Gough Whitlam. Photograph: AIATSIS

During the decades I lived in and wrote about Canberra, perhaps the most intriguing person I came across was Gamilaroi and Darug man Alfred – “Alf” – Stafford.

When I say I “came across” Alf, I mean that I encountered him archivally, thanks to his granddaughter, Michelle Flynn, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, which gave me access in 2015 to his extensive collection of correspondence, photographs, voice recordings and ephemera.