Peter Raymond Kocan ( born Peter Raymond Douglas , 4 May 1947 ) is an Australian author and poet , best known for his attempted assassination of Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell on 21 June 1966 . He fired a shot at point-blank range through a car window , but Calwell escaped with only minor facial injuries from broken glass . Kocan , 19 years old at the time , was sentenced to life imprisonment . He was transferred to the Morisset Mental Hospital and released in 1976 . He began writing in prison and has published several volumes
his attempted assassination
Attempted assassination of Arthur Calwell
Peter Kocan