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| Bob and Gareth’s throwback routine unleashes ghosts of good government past | Bob and Gareth’s throwback routine unleashes ghosts of good government past |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| For an hour or so on a sunny spring day in Canberra, the politics of the past imposed itself on the politics of the present. | For an hour or so on a sunny spring day in Canberra, the politics of the past imposed itself on the politics of the present. |
| The former prime minister Bob Hawke lifted his weathered face to the light like a seasoned supermodel and waved to his people at the National Press Club, fully determined to upstage his foreign minister, Gareth Evans, at the launch of Evans’s new memoir. | The former prime minister Bob Hawke lifted his weathered face to the light like a seasoned supermodel and waved to his people at the National Press Club, fully determined to upstage his foreign minister, Gareth Evans, at the launch of Evans’s new memoir. |
| Evans, with hardback editions of the book propped like sentries at the ends of the podium, blushed as he was alternatively praised and rebuked by Hawke during the obligatory warm-up act. | Evans, with hardback editions of the book propped like sentries at the ends of the podium, blushed as he was alternatively praised and rebuked by Hawke during the obligatory warm-up act. |
| Hawke reasoned that Evans was Australia’s “greatest internationalist”. Yet he was also capable of getting it wrong. Take page 332 of the new tome, where Evans had remarked that Hawke set the direction of the government, but “rarely generated any big new ideas subsequently”. | Hawke reasoned that Evans was Australia’s “greatest internationalist”. Yet he was also capable of getting it wrong. Take page 332 of the new tome, where Evans had remarked that Hawke set the direction of the government, but “rarely generated any big new ideas subsequently”. |
| “Gareth, this is simply not true,” counselled the support act. | “Gareth, this is simply not true,” counselled the support act. |
| In invoking his right of reply, Hawke told the room he had no intention of doing “a Gareth” – what that meant was left coyly to the collective imagination in a political capital where anecdotes about the volcanic Evans temper persist in high rotation. | In invoking his right of reply, Hawke told the room he had no intention of doing “a Gareth” – what that meant was left coyly to the collective imagination in a political capital where anecdotes about the volcanic Evans temper persist in high rotation. |
| Generous to a fault, Hawke said he would not seek to be “exhaustive” in his correction of the public record, but would share a couple of his better ideas. There was working to end apartheid. There was “saving the Antarctic”. Mothers still thanked him, Hawke said, for increasing assistance for children. | Generous to a fault, Hawke said he would not seek to be “exhaustive” in his correction of the public record, but would share a couple of his better ideas. There was working to end apartheid. There was “saving the Antarctic”. Mothers still thanked him, Hawke said, for increasing assistance for children. |
| Evans squirmed a little in his seat as the polite conventions of the event prevented a minor eruption from the chair. When he was permitted to speak, he acknowledged the note from Hawke was a fair cop. | Evans squirmed a little in his seat as the polite conventions of the event prevented a minor eruption from the chair. When he was permitted to speak, he acknowledged the note from Hawke was a fair cop. |
| Hawke, he said, was “absolutely as good as it gets for an Australian prime minister” – and during the period where the Labor government worked to transform the country, the prime minister gave as good as he got. | Hawke, he said, was “absolutely as good as it gets for an Australian prime minister” – and during the period where the Labor government worked to transform the country, the prime minister gave as good as he got. |
| To underscore the point, there were a couple of war stories about prime ministerial profanities lobbed across the cabinet table, and Hawke’s pithy summation of Evans’s period in the attorney general’s portfolio before he was dumped in 1984. Evans’s time as attorney general was his “two-handed wank phase”, according to the boss. | To underscore the point, there were a couple of war stories about prime ministerial profanities lobbed across the cabinet table, and Hawke’s pithy summation of Evans’s period in the attorney general’s portfolio before he was dumped in 1984. Evans’s time as attorney general was his “two-handed wank phase”, according to the boss. |
| Evans’s purpose on Wednesday, however, went beyond the transactional business of memoir flogging. | Evans’s purpose on Wednesday, however, went beyond the transactional business of memoir flogging. |
| Having curated and crafted the necessary sense of nostalgia, having lifted Canberra out of the present and given it a soft landing in a period when political life was less cluttered, contested, and crazy – Evans then sought to puncture his own nostalgia bubble with a homily crafted for contemporary consumption. | Having curated and crafted the necessary sense of nostalgia, having lifted Canberra out of the present and given it a soft landing in a period when political life was less cluttered, contested, and crazy – Evans then sought to puncture his own nostalgia bubble with a homily crafted for contemporary consumption. |
| The new Evans memoir is entitled Incorrigible Optimist – and hope is a very tough gig in politics right now. | The new Evans memoir is entitled Incorrigible Optimist – and hope is a very tough gig in politics right now. |
| Hawke readily confessed he wasn’t that optimistic, what with global warming getting worse and with the possibility that terrorists could get their hands on nuclear devices. | Hawke readily confessed he wasn’t that optimistic, what with global warming getting worse and with the possibility that terrorists could get their hands on nuclear devices. |
| Evans acknowledged it was hard to be upbeat during the Trumpocalypse, ringside at the Washington “horror show”, with geopolitical tensions running high, and with the Australian political debate “more shallow and superficial”. | Evans acknowledged it was hard to be upbeat during the Trumpocalypse, ringside at the Washington “horror show”, with geopolitical tensions running high, and with the Australian political debate “more shallow and superficial”. |
| The former cabinet minister acknowledged optimism was a fraught business; taken to extremes it was the stuff of Monty Python parody. | The former cabinet minister acknowledged optimism was a fraught business; taken to extremes it was the stuff of Monty Python parody. |
| But he contended it was a necessary precondition for public life, if you were a political character who wants to build things, and change things. | But he contended it was a necessary precondition for public life, if you were a political character who wants to build things, and change things. |
| In explaining his otherwise inexplicable optimism, and its resilience in challenging times, Evans said: “If you believe that an enterprise is bound to fail, you won’t even begin trying to push the envelope. | In explaining his otherwise inexplicable optimism, and its resilience in challenging times, Evans said: “If you believe that an enterprise is bound to fail, you won’t even begin trying to push the envelope. |
| “Achieving almost anything in public life is difficult enough but it is almost impossible without believing that what seems out of reach is actually achievable.” | “Achieving almost anything in public life is difficult enough but it is almost impossible without believing that what seems out of reach is actually achievable.” |
| Australian politics was at a grim little pass, little better than “second-rate vaudeville”. This could change, Evans thought, if politics took itself more seriously, and projected the sense that public contributions, in public office, still change the world. | Australian politics was at a grim little pass, little better than “second-rate vaudeville”. This could change, Evans thought, if politics took itself more seriously, and projected the sense that public contributions, in public office, still change the world. |
| Seriousness and steadiness could come from some structural things, like four-year terms or reforms to clear the “Star Wars bar” characters out of the Senate, but mainly it would come from stowing some of the grim hyperpartisanship. | Seriousness and steadiness could come from some structural things, like four-year terms or reforms to clear the “Star Wars bar” characters out of the Senate, but mainly it would come from stowing some of the grim hyperpartisanship. |
| Evans noted governments didn’t make good decisions in a nails-down-chalkboard environment where kicking the hell out of political opponents was the daily priority. | Evans noted governments didn’t make good decisions in a nails-down-chalkboard environment where kicking the hell out of political opponents was the daily priority. |
| Perhaps politics could actually rediscover the courage to cooperate across party lines. “People might be surprised if there was decency and that kind of cooperative spirit came back into the show,” he said. | Perhaps politics could actually rediscover the courage to cooperate across party lines. “People might be surprised if there was decency and that kind of cooperative spirit came back into the show,” he said. |
| Rather than complaining about the impossibility of governing, major parties needed to adopt a “new willingness … to really listen to the electorate’s concerns which are real, to think hard in addressing the concerns, and to win genuine respect”. | Rather than complaining about the impossibility of governing, major parties needed to adopt a “new willingness … to really listen to the electorate’s concerns which are real, to think hard in addressing the concerns, and to win genuine respect”. |
| Politics needed a new storyline, Evans thought, and in his mind, the new storyline, at least for the centre left, was a little like the old storyline – economic policy that was pro competition, pro productivity, combined with a liberal internationalist foreign policy and a “very warm, very moist, very compassionate, highly compensatory social policy”. | Politics needed a new storyline, Evans thought, and in his mind, the new storyline, at least for the centre left, was a little like the old storyline – economic policy that was pro competition, pro productivity, combined with a liberal internationalist foreign policy and a “very warm, very moist, very compassionate, highly compensatory social policy”. |
| The ghost of good government past said tricks weren’t the answer, caving into populism wasn’t the answer – the answer was credible storytellers and credible stories. “It’s got to be based on substantive, decent, well communicated, attractively communicated policy.” | The ghost of good government past said tricks weren’t the answer, caving into populism wasn’t the answer – the answer was credible storytellers and credible stories. “It’s got to be based on substantive, decent, well communicated, attractively communicated policy.” |
| “I suspect that might be a winning combination,” Evans said, with a chuffed sort of twinkle. | “I suspect that might be a winning combination,” Evans said, with a chuffed sort of twinkle. |
| “But I would say that, wouldn’t I?” | “But I would say that, wouldn’t I?” |
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