Paul Paech

Paul was a student at the University of Adelaide in May 1972 when its newly appointed law lecturer Dr George Ian Ogilvie Duncan was thrown into the River Torrens, and drowned. Hearing rumours of the involvement of police, Paul wrote the story that was published in the weekly Nation Review that put the spotlight onto members of the police vice squad, contributing to the serious unease the city felt at this shocking event.

Many people and organisations (including the University’s law school) came together in the subsequent campaign that asked “How many more Duncans?”, and resulted just three years later in the Dunstan Government’s world-leading decriminalisation legislation, gender-neutral, with the age of consent set at 17.

Paul thinks that it’s his multi-generational German/Lutheran heritage that imbued him with his strong sense of social justice, and with the ability to create a slew of public campaigns and up-beat advertising commercials.

His very first TV spot (Not-So-Squeezy sumo wrestlers for Mitsubishi) smashed the truck category open, and led into a successful career as an advertising creative both in Australia and later in Europe. He’s been the brains behind many memorable commercials, including intestinal worms (singing worms), haemorrhoids (music to your rear), period pain (what would it be like if men…), as well as several “safe sex” campaigns in the awful early days of HIV/Aids.

Paul has written regularly for magazines and newspapers about gay issues, media, movies, and other community topics, and has occasionally been involved directly in politics too. He ran as “Susie Creamcheese” in the 1973 SA elections, and worked with other activists on the successful campaign that saved Bondi’s iconic Pavilion.