Paul (later Sir Paul) Hasluck was born in 1905 and educated at Perth Modern School and, from 1927, the University of Western Australia. His working life began in 1922, when he joined the literary staff of 'The West Australian' newspaper. In 1939 he returned to the University of Western Australia as a part-time Lecturer in Australian History and in 1940 became a full-time Lecturer.
 
In 1941, Hasluck was seconded to the Commonwealth Department of External Affairs. He served in Canberra and overseas, including as Counsellor in Charge at the newly established Australian Mission to the United Nations in New York (1946-47). In 1947 he resigned from the Department to return to the University of Western Australia as a Reader in History. At the same time, he was also engaged by the Commonwealth Government to write the two political volumes of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1939-1945, although the second volume was not completed until many years later.

Hasluck entered federal Parliament following the December 1949 general elections, as Member for Curtin (WA) representing the Liberal Party. He retained the seat for nearly 20 years. In the Menzies Government, he was Minister for Territories (1951-63), Minister for Defence (1963-64) and Minister for External Affairs (1964-69), the latter portfolio being retained in the Holt and Gorton Governments.

As Minister for Territories, Hasluck made regular visits to the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. In the External Affairs portfolio, he travelled more extensively, including to New Zealand, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Burma, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, the Soviet Union, Canada, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. He also attended conferences and meetings of various international bodies including the United Nations, South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), ASPAC, Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) and Australia-NZ-US Treaty (ANZUS). 
 
Hasluck resigned from federal Parliament in February 1969 to take up a five-year term as Governor-General (1969-74). Appointed Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1966, Sir Paul was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1969, a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1970, and a Knight of the Garter (KG) in 1979. He was also created a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ). Other honours included appointment as a Fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society and of the Western Australian Royal Historical Society, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (FRAIA), a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He shared the Ernest Scott prize for History in 1972.

Sir Paul Hasluck died in Perth in 1993.
 
Publications:
 
1938: Our Southern Half-Castes
1939: Into the Desert
1942: Black Australians
1948: Workshop of Security
1952: The Government and the People 1939-1941 (Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4, Vol I)
1953: Native Welfare in Australia
1970: Collected Verse
1970: The Government and the People 1942-1945 (Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4, Vol II)
1972: The Office of Governor-General
1972: An Open Go
1973: On Learning
1975: The Poet in Australia
1976: A Time for Building, Australian Administration in Papua and New  Guinea 1951-1963
1977: Mucking About
1980: Diplomatic Witness
1984: Dark Cottage
1988: Shades of Darkness, Aboriginal Affairs
 
 
Sources:
 
Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 12A, 11 Feb 1969 p 949A; No 35B, 30 April 1969, p 2544B
Parliamentary Handbook 1968, p 118; 1975, pp 6-7
Paul Hasluck, The Government and the People 1939-1941. 2 vols (Canberra, 1952 and 1970)
Paul Hasluck, Mucking About (Melbourne University Press, 1977)
Paul Hasluck, Diplomatic Witness (Carlton, 1980)
Who's Who in Australia 1992, p 566