Ainsley Gotto facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ainsley Gotto
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Gotto in 1969
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| Born | 14 February 1946 Annerley, Queensland, Australia
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| Died | 25 February 2018 (aged 72) Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia
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| Education | Canberra Technical College |
| Occupation | Public servant, secretary, stage actress, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Private secretary to Prime Minister John Gorton |
Ainsley Gotto (born 14 February 1946 – died 25 February 2018) was an Australian public servant and businesswoman. She was best known for being the private secretary to John Gorton, who was the Prime Minister of Australia in the late 1960s.
Ainsley Gotto's Early Life
Ainsley Gotto was born in Annerley, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, on 14 February 1946. Her father, Sidney Gotto, was a flight lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force. Her mother was Lesley Webster.
Ainsley lived in Melbourne and London before her family moved to Canberra in 1961. There, she studied a secretarial course at Canberra Technical College. She was very good at typing, achieving the fastest speed in her class. Ainsley also enjoyed acting and performed in plays for the Canberra Repertory Society. She played lead roles but later focused on her secretarial career.
Gotto started her career as a typist for the Department of Immigration. She then worked for a private company before returning to government work. In 1966, she became the secretary to William Aston, who was a government chief whip. She continued working for Dudley Erwin when he took over Aston's role.
Working for Prime Minister John Gorton
In January 1968, when Ainsley Gotto was 21 years old, she became the personal private secretary to the Prime Minister, John Gorton. This was a very important job.
Prime Minister Gorton trusted Ainsley Gotto a lot. He relied on her for advice on political matters. Some people in politics felt that Gotto had too much influence over the Prime Minister. This caused some discussion and disagreement among his senior colleagues.
When Gorton stopped being Prime Minister in March 1971, Ainsley Gotto continued to work for him. She left the public service in 1972. Later, she helped Gorton in his retirement and assisted his wife, Lady Nancy Gorton, after his death in 2002.
Later Career and Life
After leaving government work, Ainsley Gotto worked for a Canadian recruitment company called Drake International in Australia from 1972 to 1978. She then moved to Britain and worked for personnel agencies in London and Monaco. In the early 1980s, she also worked as a television presenter for Granada Television in Britain.
Ainsley Gotto was involved in many business projects. She had an interior design business and her own company, Ainsley Gotto International. She was also the National President of the Australian chapter of Women Chiefs of Enterprises International. This is a group for women who own businesses, and she led it from 2001 to 2003. In 2008, she returned to Parliament House to work for Senator Helen Coonan.
In July 1993, Ainsley Gotto married lawyer Nick Carson. They lived in Double Bay, Sydney. Their marriage ended in divorce in 2007.
In 2015, Gotto gave her official and personal papers to the National Library of Australia. These papers would be made public after her death or if she agreed to release them earlier.
Ainsley Gotto passed away on 25 February 2018, at the age of 72. She died in Sydney due to complications from cancer.
