Finally bought the book, I was getting sick of being told what was in it by people who obviously hadn't read it. It's a pretty good read, I've decided to to try and excerpt the interesting bits, the insights into the political minds of Labor party leaders, not the junk that's been washing over the news. Here's the first one, feel free to bang on about it in the comments.
Monday, 27 May -1996
Beazley tells the Shadow Ministry that 'Opposition is all about pissing on them and pissing off'-a hit and run style of politics. He sees our political recovery hinging on the exploitation of the Government's failings and public discontent, issue by issue. I've got that sinking feeling that, for all his rhetoric, Kim is not going to deliver a new, modern Labor agenda. That's his philosophy: piss on them and then piss off.
It will never suffice. Even in Opposition, a political party needs a philisophy of government, a set of ideas that inspires our supporters and gives the show some purpose beyond an opportunistic grab for power. At the end of the day, on the big things really count. It's the cause, comrades, it's the cause that matters.
If you listen to the debates and amendments in Federal Parliament, all they are doing is tinkering at the edges with the trademarks established by Keating on economic policy, and by Whitlam and Howe on social policy. The only people who make a difference in this place are the agenda-setters.
Prescient words. Ten years after they were written, the interaction between Beazley and Howard hasn't changed. Howard tinkers with a policy he inherited, Beazley roars in outrage and spews bombast, hoping to capitalise on public discontent. Neither of them have any plans beyond remaining in power or snatching that power from the other. Beazley's like a dog chasing cars, no idea what to do if he ever catches one.
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