Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, a thread. I put it to you that a great rabble of opinion writers, especially on the right, in the interest of criticising Australia’s lockdown policies, have magically and mindlessly transformed Sir Peter Ustinov into Clive James.

On 12 September 1978, Peter Ustinov spoke at the National Press Club of Australia, where he told the following story. This is an extract from the 2014 book Stand and Deliver: Fifty Years of the National Press Club of Australia.