Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 6 weeks ago

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00I will not be issuing a challenge to Bill Hayden.
00:14I believe that a Dravis Dial could lead the Labour Party to victory.
00:18You will feel a little embarrassed tonight at the blood that's on your hands.
00:23The election will be on the 5th of March.
00:25It really surprises me that some people in this party think we owe Westpac something,
00:31or the ANZ Bank, or the National.
00:34I tell you what, any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up the day is a bug.
00:38December 20th, 1991.
00:58Paul Keating, Prime Minister at last,
01:00takes possession of the office he has always coveted.
01:03He gives Labour's most successful ever leader a day's notice to quit.
01:10A lot of people believed I was weak
01:13and in not asserting authority more often over Keating.
01:19One of the greatest partnerships in Australia's political history
01:22ended as destiny demanded,
01:25secret agreements broken, power brutally snatched.
01:28I'd been happy to work with Bob
01:29and had a lot of engaging and, in times, thrilling times with him,
01:33and we'd done a lot together as a pair.
01:37But I'd taken, in my view,
01:39too many of his responsibilities over
01:41too early in the peace.
01:44And by 1991,
01:45I'd had the better part
01:46of a large part
01:48of what I thought were the prerogatives of the leader
01:51for seven years.
01:53It was too long a thing.
01:54It went on for too long.
01:56And it was becoming a joke.
01:57He was brusque.
01:59There were whole lots of things about his approach
02:00which used to grate with me.
02:03But I used to swallow
02:04because the importance of change was paramount.
02:10And it could be argued, in hindsight,
02:14that perhaps I was too accommodating,
02:18that I should have seen him
02:19as a greater danger to my own position
02:22that was going to ultimately spill over
02:25in the way that it, in fact, did.
02:26Perhaps in the end,
02:35I paid the personal price
02:36for the way in which I handled that.
02:40But if I look at it
02:43in terms of the good of the country,
02:44it was probably the price
02:46that had to be paid.
02:47The man born to be Prime Minister
02:57left the stage with Australia Transformed,
03:00but he was forced to bow to Keating.
03:03No longer was Bob Hawke seen as the Messiah,
03:06as he had been when the people swept him to power
03:09adoringly nine years before.
03:11I think Bob Hawke, in my personal opinion,
03:23will end up Prime Minister.
03:25As far as Oakland said, I think he's number one.
03:27I think Bob Hawke is the man that they really need in the position
03:31and I sincerely hope that he will be there for many long years to come.
03:35He'd been president of the ACTU.
03:38He'd been their industrial advocate.
03:39He'd been the one that would be able to settle strikes
03:42and industrial disputes in Australia.
03:44They knew where he was coming from.
03:46He was straight.
03:46What you saw was what you got.
03:49He wasn't another plastic, glossy, insincere leader.
03:54There you go.
03:56He was a real Australian
03:57and he had a warm and emotional side as well.
04:02And he endeared himself greatly to the Australian population.
04:07It was manna from heaven.
04:08It was the elixir of life.
04:11Bob really loves adulation, appreciation.
04:19He's the embodiment of the Oscar Wildeism.
04:26The flatterer is seldom interrupted.
04:29Mr Hawke, how much credence do you place in public opinion polls?
04:34Well, I suppose they are, like many things in human affairs,
04:37they are an indicator.
04:38I don't think they can ever be absolutely accurate,
04:40but you can't discard them.
04:42How do you react to the fact that this morning's
04:44indicates that your popularity has risen beyond all expectations?
04:48That's not a bad public opinion, Paul.
04:50The wonder of the down-on-the-dog letter.
04:52Let's all bring two bob on.
04:54Come on, come on.
04:55All right?
04:58I wouldn't have put two bob on him
05:00when he was really on the grog
05:03to become the Prime Minister of Australia.
05:04He was not a pretty sight when he was really on a bender,
05:11and that was not an infrequent occurrence.
05:13It really began in earnest
05:15when Bob stopped drinking, in earnest.
05:20And then I knew that his ambition to be Prime Minister
05:25and the hopes for many people around him
05:28could be materialised then.
05:32It was a really extraordinary change in a man
05:37to go off the grog altogether
05:41and to start living with the rigours of a Capuchin monk, practically.
05:47And he did all that.
05:50And that certainly demonstrated the depth of his ambition
05:55and his dedication to achieving his goal,
06:01which was always to be the Prime Minister of Australia.
06:05To achieve his ambition,
06:07Hawke had first to get rid of Labor's leader since 1977, Bill Hayden.
06:13That wasn't Hawke's only problem.
06:16Another ambitious Labor frontbencher
06:18had his eye on the same prize.
06:21Another day, another dollar.
06:24Keating always considered himself Bill Hayden's natural successor.
06:28As a result, he was very ambivalent
06:30about Bob Hawke's entry into Parliament
06:32because he saw Bob as a possible barrier to those ambitions.
06:36Well, I had meetings with him at the request of,
06:40in the first case, his colleagues in the ACTU from New South Wales.
06:45And I met him.
06:47I had not, other than, exchanged pleasantries with him before that.
06:51I'd never had a meal with him, for instance.
06:53I'd never sat down with him.
06:56I was then the President of the Labor Party in New South Wales.
06:59I think he understood what is an old,
07:04at least New South Wales, political adage,
07:07in Labor Party terms,
07:09where goes New South Wales, so goes Australia,
07:12that he thought, together, we could be a great team
07:16and that we could beat the Coalition,
07:17and he wouldn't want to stay around forever.
07:20You know, a couple of terms, and that'd be the end of it, sort of thing.
07:22It was here at Sydney's Boulevard Hotel
07:26that Paul Keating claims a deal was done
07:28on the leadership of the Labor Party
07:30when he and Hawke met in 1980,
07:33eight years before the celebrated transition arrangements
07:36at Kirribilli House.
07:38I think it's fair to say that he proposed that he should lead,
07:46he should be given priority in leadership,
07:50and the fact he would be there a couple of terms
07:54was to give me some interest in seeing him
07:58take the leadership before me.
08:00I think at one point I made the observation about two terms
08:04that I would hope that in two terms
08:07we would have done the substantial work
08:11of laying the basis of Labor reform,
08:13but at no point was there any unequivocal undertaking
08:21to Paul or to anyone else,
08:23not that anyone else was seeking it,
08:25that two terms was written,
08:27then I would hand over to him.
08:34Hawke and Keating now differ
08:36on the details of the 1980 negotiations,
08:39but Keating's staff confirm
08:40he was absolutely convinced a deal did exist.
08:44Paul certainly had an understanding
08:46that if Hawke became Prime Minister,
08:48he would step aside for Keating
08:50some time subsequent to that.
08:54That was in a period before Bob became Prime Minister.
08:57Following that,
08:58it seemed to increasingly reach new heights.
09:01From the first days of government,
09:02Paul always believed he'd be the successor,
09:06and as time went by,
09:07he believed he'd be the successor
09:08probably earlier rather than later.
09:10What he meant was he wasn't staying forever,
09:13there'd be something in it for me,
09:15and five or six years would see him out,
09:17that sort of thing.
09:18I thought that was fine, you know.
09:22Good evening from Hugh Evans,
09:23and for Mr Hayden, Mr Hawke,
09:25and no doubt for Mr Fraser,
09:26this week in politics is turning out
09:28to be a very long one indeed.
09:29The critical meeting to establish the numbers
09:33for Hawke's push against Hayden
09:34happened again at the boulevard,
09:36this time in 1982.
09:39In spite of Keating's claim
09:40of a deal involving succession,
09:42he was the last of Hawke's faction
09:44to switch from Hayden.
09:47Leading another life,
09:48then dashing in,
09:50later on in life,
09:51in his case in 1980,
09:53I did regard as a low entry price,
09:56which entitled to you
09:58to a modest but reasonable run.
10:06And I said as much, you know.
10:10And the idea that we were saddled with leaders
10:12because of their innate glory
10:14and capacities forever
10:15was not a concept he would try to,
10:20I don't think, weary me with.
10:24I think deep down he felt Hawke
10:26had a better chance of winning the election
10:27but at the same time
10:29he wanted to give Hayden his just rewards
10:31but probably overriding all of that,
10:33he was more concerned about
10:34what it did to his own personal ambitions
10:37to become Prime Minister.
10:39Finally, Keating made the leap.
10:42He backed Hawke.
10:43I believe, however,
10:44that the New South Wales members
10:45will take the view
10:46that the best interests of the Labour Party
10:48and the millions of Australians
10:50who deserve and need a Labour victory
10:51and the end of Fraserism
10:53will be best served
10:54by Bob Hawke now becoming leader.
11:03Here is a newsflash from the ABC.
11:06There is mounting speculation
11:07that the Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser,
11:09is about to call an early election.
11:11The Labour Party's federal parliamentary executive
11:15meets in Brisbane today
11:17against a background of mounting speculation
11:19about the future of its leader, Mr Hayden.
11:22The Labour Party's parliamentary front bench
11:24began arriving here in Brisbane last night.
11:27Could the ACTU work better
11:29with Hawke as leader of the ALP than Hayden?
11:32I'm not going to discuss the question
11:33of leadership of the ALP.
11:35That's a matter for the ALP.
11:37Are you still a strong supporter of Mr Hayden?
11:41I don't answer those questions.
11:43Mr Bowen's actions
11:44have put the Labour leadership on the line.
11:47Well, it was a day of extraordinary drama
11:49full of highs and lows
11:51and light and shade.
11:52We went there
11:53in a very acute mood
11:57of expectation, anticipation.
11:59It was pretty well known
12:01by the time we got to the meeting
12:03that Bill had made the decision to resign.
12:06It was only a matter of
12:07that being announced
12:08and falling into place.
12:09When I arrived,
12:10Bill Hayden said to me,
12:11look, I'm going to make the announcement
12:14about my resignation at morning tea.
12:17Bill Hayden is upstairs on the 12th floor,
12:19apparently conferring with his advisers.
12:23We went upstairs and discussion.
12:26Started about issues that he wanted.
12:28In the despair of the time,
12:34he wanted out
12:36and he wanted an undertaking
12:39that we would appoint him
12:40High Commissioner to London.
12:43And we gave him that undertaking.
12:47And he wanted immediately
12:50the Shadow Foreign Ministry.
12:55The debate between he and I
12:58got personal
12:59and somewhat acrimonious.
13:02I was objecting to the fact
13:04that he was taking
13:05the foreign affairs policy from me.
13:08He wanted undertakings
13:10given about his future,
13:12which I wouldn't think
13:13should have been given.
13:15So these things were discussed
13:18in an atmosphere of
13:21high drama and emotion.
13:23Whilst we were having that discussion,
13:28a knock came to the door,
13:31a messenger saying,
13:32look, a gentleman,
13:33I've just been told to tell you
13:34that the Prime Minister
13:36has gone out to see
13:37the Governor-General.
13:39And it brought a new atmosphere
13:41to the room.
13:41We all laughed and said,
13:43well, Malcolm really doesn't
13:44know what he's about.
13:46So it was a mixture of euphoria
13:47and of challenge
13:49because I knew the election
13:50was going to be immediately upon us.
13:51And I can say sincerely
13:53that there was also
13:55a feeling of human sadness.
14:00There's so much agony involved
14:02in these leadership changes
14:03for anyone who's close to them,
14:05for anyone who just isn't
14:07unequivocally one-eyed,
14:09blind supporter of either side.
14:11It's always a matter of balance,
14:12even for those of us like me
14:15who was as close as I was to Bob
14:16and as involved as I was
14:18in the business of getting him there.
14:20I had a lot of respect
14:21and a lot of affection for Hayden
14:22and it was just terribly sad
14:25to see, in a sense,
14:27the end of that chapter
14:29of his career being played out.
14:30Well, today I advise the shadow cabinet
14:34of the Labour Party,
14:35the Parliamentary Labour Party,
14:36that I would be resigning
14:38as leader of the opposition.
14:41I will be a candidate
14:42for the leadership
14:45of the Labour Party
14:45and, as I understand
14:48at this stage,
14:49I would not be opposed.
14:52I believe that a Draver's dog
14:54could lead the Labour Party
14:55to victory,
14:56the way the country is
14:56and the way the opinion polls
14:58are showing up
14:58for the Labour Party.
15:00Bill Hayden has done
15:01a remarkably courageous thing,
15:03an extraordinarily difficult thing to do.
15:07It's not a decision
15:07that I would have preferred.
15:10In fact, as recently as Sunday,
15:14I was still determined
15:15to fight the matter out,
15:16but it was increasingly clear to me
15:18that if I did that,
15:19I would be guaranteeing
15:20great damage to my own party
15:22and a return of the Fraser government
15:25at the cost of my own.
15:26personal interests
15:28and I'm afraid my motivation
15:29goes beyond that.
15:31So thank you.
15:35This is News Voice
15:37and we take you to Canberra
15:38for the Prime Minister's
15:39press conference.
15:40I've recommended to His Excellency
15:41that there should be
15:42a double dissolution
15:43of the Parliament.
15:44That has been agreed.
15:46The election will be
15:46on the 5th of March.
15:48Mr. Fraser,
15:49did you have any second thoughts
15:50this afternoon
15:51when you found out
15:52if you would like to face
15:53Mr. Hawke and not Mr. Hayden?
15:55On the contrary,
15:55I had a little more relish.
15:57It'll be the first election
15:58in which two Labour leaders
16:00have been knocked off
16:00in one go.
16:01It's a total and absolute
16:25set-up to the Union moon.
16:27The basic problem
16:32confronting Australia
16:33as we went up
16:35to the 1983 election
16:36is that we had an Australia
16:37that was bitterly divided.
16:40So reconciliation
16:40was the basis
16:41of everything.
16:44On the basis
16:44of reconciliation
16:45we had to have recovery
16:46because we were then
16:47in a serious recession.
16:49High unemployment,
16:50double-digit unemployment,
16:52double-digit inflation
16:52and out of that
16:53we had to have
16:54a reconstruction
16:55of the Australian economy.
16:57So there it was
16:58in three R's.
17:01Reconciliation,
17:02recovery,
17:02reconstruction.
17:03Well, under Labour,
17:14savings will be safer
17:16under your bed
17:16than at what
17:17in the banks.
17:18The task
17:27and the challenge
17:29remain the same
17:30to bring Australians
17:33together
17:33in a united effort
17:35until victory
17:37is won.
17:38He was the great conciliator
17:45going to bring Australia
17:47together,
17:48heal the divisions
17:49and introduce consensus
17:53into political leadership
17:55and that's the way
17:56he campaigned.
18:02Good evening,
18:03this is Richard Moorcroft
18:04welcoming you to
18:05the National Tally Room
18:06in Canberra.
18:07We had a hotel suite
18:08in Canberra
18:09because the
18:10the tally room
18:12in Canberra
18:12was where the result
18:14would be announced.
18:19Before the
18:20the television
18:21had started
18:22to show any votes
18:24it was his father's
18:26birthday.
18:27I remember being
18:28very surprised
18:28I was asked
18:29would I propose
18:31a toast to his father
18:32on his birthday.
18:33I'd never met his father
18:34until that night
18:35and
18:36anyhow we did it.
18:38Bob
18:39sat in his chair
18:40and joined in
18:41the toasting
18:42the dad
18:43with his soft drink
18:44but he was a very
18:45restrained
18:46man
18:47he knew
18:49it was his destiny
18:49to be prime minister
18:50and so he was very calm
18:52about everything.
18:53I felt a bit eerie
18:54just how calm he was.
18:56Your mind immediately
18:57was concentrating
18:59upon
18:59the enormous
19:01challenge
19:02and responsibility
19:03that you had.
19:04So it was
19:04very much a feeling
19:07of
19:07this is
19:08big deal
19:10this is a big
19:11responsibility
19:11this is going
19:12to affect us all.
19:13It was explosive
19:18there
19:19when Hazel
19:20and I walked
19:21around the
19:22corner
19:23we were seeing
19:24the place
19:25did explode
19:25and
19:27well
19:30then
19:31in that context
19:32euphoria
19:33was the dominant
19:34part.
19:35Waving
19:36looking
19:37very pleased
19:39and happy
19:39understandably
19:40with
19:40the degree
19:41of enthusiasm
19:42the enthusiastic
19:44applause
19:45which he is
19:45receiving
19:46from the crowd
19:46below.
19:48I therefore
19:49take total
19:50responsibility
19:51for the defeat
19:53of the government
19:53and I would like
19:55to thank
19:55all my colleagues
19:57and the Liberal
19:58Party
19:58right around
20:00the country
20:00for the support
20:02they've given
20:03not just
20:04over recent weeks
20:05but over the
20:06last seven years.
20:11a lot of us felt
20:12the bastard
20:13has been beaten
20:13Fraser
20:14at long last
20:16after seven years
20:17in the wilderness
20:18we were hoping
20:20for the seven years
20:22of plenitude
20:22of good harvests
20:25as it were
20:25we were aware
20:29seriously aware
20:30of the enormous
20:31problems of the
20:32economy and the
20:33country.
20:34I was determined
20:35if I could
20:36to avoid
20:36the pattern
20:38of the past
20:38where Labor
20:40seemed to have
20:42just been called
20:43in or
20:44had been able
20:45to scrape in
20:45and been a government
20:47for a brief period
20:48and then it was
20:50dissipated
20:50and so I was
20:52determined to try
20:53and make this
20:53a long-term
20:54government.
20:56This was the prize
20:57Hawke had always
20:58believed would be
20:59his.
21:01Now his
21:01overriding ambition
21:03was to keep it.
21:04Paul John Keating
21:05I've approved
21:06your appointment
21:06as Treasurer.
21:07Keating,
21:09the young
21:09inexperienced
21:10new Treasurer
21:11shared Hawke's
21:12view.
21:13This was not
21:13going to be
21:14a government
21:14of disarray
21:15like the
21:16previous Labor
21:17government
21:17of Gough Whitlam
21:181972 to 75.
21:23Memories
21:24Memories
21:29They were economically
21:48inept to a degree
21:49which is almost
21:50beyond description.
21:51I had said to him
21:53specifically
21:54whatever you do
21:55in the field
21:56of social reform
21:57or in the
21:57international field
21:58will be as nothing
22:00will count for nothing
22:02if the economy
22:04is not right
22:05and you'll live
22:07or die
22:07as a government
22:08in the economic field.
22:10It became
22:11almost a fad
22:14among some
22:15of the ministers
22:15to attack anything
22:17that smacked
22:17of Whitlamism
22:18and it was
22:19one of the many
22:21colourful terms
22:23of abuse
22:23that a minister
22:24such as myself
22:26might attract
22:26when arguing
22:27for more money
22:28for disadvantaged
22:28schools
22:29or something
22:29of that kind
22:30that you were
22:31just an unreconstructed
22:32Whitlamite.
22:33This is AM
22:36Good Morning
22:37There seem to be
22:38few real comparisons
22:39with the style
22:40and euphoria
22:41of the Whitlam
22:41Labour government.
22:43On the Sunday
22:44following the election
22:45I received a telephone
22:46call from I think
22:47the Prime Minister's
22:49then personal assistant
22:51Mrs Sinclair
22:52asking me
22:54if I would go
22:55and come and see
22:57the Prime Minister
22:57and I said
22:59of course I would.
23:00And that's when
23:01I was
23:02called out
23:04of a celebration
23:05for my wife's
23:07victory
23:08in the election
23:08of the electorate
23:09of Canberra
23:10to draft
23:12for Stone's signature
23:13a paper
23:14to Hawke
23:15on the fiscal outlook.
23:17I was at that
23:17stage in charge
23:18of fiscal policy
23:20and treasury
23:20and that was
23:22the famous
23:22$9.6 billion
23:24minute
23:25that was used
23:26by Hawke
23:27and Keating
23:29later that week.
23:30I mean it is
23:32just unbelievable
23:33that what the
23:34Australian people
23:35and we as the
23:36alternative government
23:37have been faced
23:37with is a proposition
23:38of being told
23:39that the deficit
23:40on existing policies
23:42in 83-84
23:43would be $6 billion
23:44when in fact
23:45they knew it was
23:45$9.6 billion.
23:47Now no responsible
23:49incoming government
23:49can say oh well
23:50there's another
23:50$3.6 billion
23:52that have been
23:52thrown at us
23:53so that doesn't
23:53make any difference.
23:54Of course it makes
23:55a difference.
23:56The massive projected
23:57deficit of $9.6 billion
23:59was cleverly used
24:00by Hawke and Keating
24:01to undermine
24:02the credibility
24:03of the Liberal Party
24:04for years to come.
24:06They also used it
24:07to cut back
24:08their own big
24:09spending economic policy
24:11trampling over
24:12opposition from
24:13within the government.
24:14There was very much
24:15a move within the
24:16party
24:16to not be concerned
24:18about the $9.6 billion
24:19deficit
24:20and if necessary
24:21have $11 billion
24:22$13 billion
24:23to satisfy
24:24the commitments
24:25given during
24:26the election campaign.
24:27It's always easy
24:29to say
24:31okay let's
24:33spend, spend, spend
24:34and try and
24:37spend your way
24:38into recovery
24:39but I knew
24:40that there were limits
24:41to how far
24:42you could do that.
24:43Very quickly
24:44I felt
24:45that all the work
24:48that we'd been doing
24:49over the previous
24:49seven years
24:50was being discarded
24:52and that
24:53no longer
24:54was growth
24:55of employment
24:56going to be
24:56the central
24:57goal
24:58but
24:59cutting the deficit
25:01was going to be
25:02the budget deficit
25:03was going to be
25:04the central goal
25:05and that
25:07all sorts of
25:08policy initiatives
25:09which
25:10we'd
25:11articulated
25:13during the campaign
25:14which had won
25:15approval
25:15during the election
25:17were not going
25:18to be implemented
25:19and it was a shatteringly
25:22disillusioning experience.
25:25Well John was
25:27a true believer
25:30of the sort of
25:34mixed up
25:35orthodoxy
25:36of the Labour Party
25:37of the 50s and 60s.
25:38He used to say to me
25:39in these sort of
25:40simplistic terms
25:41a government can decide
25:42the level of growth
25:43at once
25:44you just turn up
25:44the wick
25:45you just turn up
25:46the fiscal wick.
25:48The bureaucrats
25:49of the powerful
25:50Treasury
25:51leapt in to help
25:52Hawken Keating
25:53rewrite Labour's
25:54economic policy.
25:56They were enthusiastic
25:57supporters of slashing
25:58government spending.
26:00Within weeks
26:01a budget deficit
26:02about $1 billion
26:03less than Fraser's
26:04was locked in.
26:06Treasury's always
26:07had its own agenda
26:09always will have
26:10the important thing
26:12is that Treasury
26:13has the discipline
26:15to the maximum extent
26:17practicable
26:18make that agenda
26:20consistent
26:22with the agenda
26:23of the government
26:24of the day
26:24and I think there was
26:26much greater preparedness
26:27on the part of Treasury
26:28to do that
26:29than in earlier times
26:33with earlier governments.
26:34The result was
26:36Treasury got
26:37infinitely more
26:38of its agenda
26:39up under the Keating
26:40government.
26:40It got more
26:41of its agenda
26:41up in the decade
26:43of the Hawke-Keating
26:44government
26:45than for the rest
26:47of the post-war period
26:48combined easily.
26:49Ladies and gentlemen
26:59on behalf of the
27:00Australian government
27:01I have the greatest
27:03pleasure
27:03in welcoming
27:05all participants
27:06and observers
27:07to this historic
27:08National Economic
27:09Summit conference.
27:10We meet here today
27:11as the representatives
27:13of the Australian people.
27:15The Economic Summit
27:16April 1983
27:17the fulfilment
27:19of Hawke's
27:19great election theme
27:21of bringing Australia
27:22together.
27:24I thought
27:25the whole notion
27:27of consensus
27:29was fanciful
27:30and I did use
27:31a colourful expression
27:32once that
27:33if the public
27:36wanted spiritualism
27:38they could join
27:39the Hare Krishna.
27:41I think I said it
27:41somewhat more forcibly
27:42than that
27:43but
27:44the fact is
27:46they were ready
27:48for a bit
27:48of spiritualism
27:49and
27:50it was Hawke's
27:52special magic
27:53that
27:53wove that
27:55spiritualism
27:56that they embraced.
27:57I have much
27:59pleasure
27:59on your behalf
28:00in calling upon
28:00the Honourable
28:01Paul Keating
28:01the Treasurer
28:02of Australia
28:02to speak
28:03to the conference.
28:09Our government's
28:11principal economic
28:12objectives are
28:13a resumption of
28:16growth and activity
28:16in employment
28:17and a consequent
28:19reduction in
28:19unemployment.
28:21The Paul Keating
28:21of the Economic Summit
28:22was an anxious
28:23novice Treasurer
28:24still finding his feet.
28:26When he became
28:28Treasurer
28:28he was terribly
28:29apprehensive
28:30about being
28:30Treasurer.
28:33Our immediate
28:34policy efforts
28:35must be directed
28:36towards securing
28:37a recovery
28:38with durability.
28:39He did have
28:40an overwhelming
28:42reliance
28:42more than
28:43most ministers
28:44upon
28:46the experts.
28:50He was a great
28:51user
28:52of ideas
28:54from others.
28:56It took me
28:57a while
28:57to find my
28:58position.
28:59I mean,
28:59I never
29:01was able
29:02to conjure
29:03the trick
29:03of looking
29:04beamingly
29:05confident
29:05when I wasn't.
29:08I mean,
29:08if I look
29:09confident,
29:09you know
29:10I am confident
29:10because when
29:12I'm not,
29:12I can't get
29:13the look.
29:14Through most
29:15of 1983
29:16it's fair
29:17to say
29:17that it was
29:17Hawke
29:18who was
29:19running
29:19economic
29:20policy.
29:23Keating
29:23didn't
29:24really
29:24come
29:24into
29:25the game
29:26until,
29:27in a powerful
29:29way,
29:30until later
29:30in the year.
29:32The summit
29:32also served
29:33the purpose
29:34of endorsing
29:34the government's
29:35accord with
29:36the trade union
29:36movement.
29:38This was one
29:38of the cornerstones
29:39of economic
29:40policy for the
29:41next 10 years.
29:43It started
29:44to develop
29:44the accord
29:45out of
29:46a sense
29:48of concern
29:49that when
29:51labour was
29:51last in
29:52government
29:52that basically
29:53we made
29:54a bit
29:54of a mess
29:54of it
29:55in terms
29:55of
29:55industrial
29:55relations
29:56and also
29:58particularly
29:59in terms
30:00of the way
30:00wage rates
30:01related to
30:02the economy.
30:03I don't think
30:04we could look
30:04back with any
30:05sense of pride
30:05that what we
30:08wanted was a
30:09long-term
30:09labour government
30:10a long-term
30:11labour government
30:12with a
30:13long-term
30:13strategy.
30:15I now call
30:15on Bill
30:16Kelty,
30:17the secretary
30:18of the
30:18Australian
30:18Council of
30:19Trade Unions,
30:21Mr.
30:21Prime Minister
30:21and participants
30:22of this
30:23conference.
30:24What the
30:25summit did
30:25was to give
30:26the accord
30:26a legitimacy
30:27to say
30:28this is what
30:30the accord
30:30is about.
30:32It also
30:33forced the
30:34unions
30:34to come to
30:36terms with
30:37the process
30:37of government
30:38very early.
30:39Mr.
30:39Hawke was
30:39elected on
30:40a promise
30:40of bringing
30:41Australians
30:41together.
30:42Well,
30:42after just
30:43five weeks,
30:45there they
30:45are.
30:48The captains
30:48of industry,
30:49the union
30:50bosses,
30:50the politicians,
30:51a cross-section
30:51of Australian
30:52society had
30:53spent four
30:53days grappling
30:54with ways
30:54to achieve
30:55a common
30:55goal,
30:56get the
30:56economy
30:56moving.
30:57And there
30:58were many
30:58who considered
30:58the conference
30:59an unparalleled
31:00success.
31:01What we
31:02had to do
31:02at the
31:02summit,
31:03amongst other
31:04things,
31:04was to get
31:06an understanding
31:07amongst all
31:09the participants
31:10in the
31:10economic and
31:11social play
31:12that what
31:14the economic
31:15parameters were,
31:16what the
31:16realities were,
31:18what the limits
31:19to government
31:20deficits were.
31:22I understood,
31:24perhaps better
31:25than some
31:25of our
31:26colleagues,
31:27that if
31:29the world
31:30decided
31:31that they
31:32were going
31:32to take
31:34a set
31:35on Australia
31:36in these
31:36circumstances,
31:37if there
31:37was a
31:38perception
31:38both of
31:40this blown
31:41out budget
31:41deficit
31:42and then
31:42no sense
31:43of responsibility
31:44on the part
31:45of the
31:45incoming
31:45government,
31:47then where
31:49were we?
31:50No
31:50Australian
31:50government,
31:52even one
31:53as well-led
31:54and as well
31:54manned as
31:55the Hawke
31:55government
31:55was in
31:561983-84,
31:59can simply
32:00say that
32:01to the
32:01world.
32:03If the world
32:04decides it
32:04doesn't trust
32:05you,
32:06then it can
32:07ruin you.
32:08the world's
32:24financial markets
32:25were initially
32:26distrustful of the
32:27new Labour
32:28government.
32:29They had forced
32:30a 10% devaluation
32:31of the Australian
32:32dollar two days
32:33after Hawke came
32:34to power.
32:36But by the
32:36end of 1983,
32:38the market's
32:39little machines
32:39were spewing
32:40out the biggest
32:41test the Hawke
32:42government was
32:43to face.
32:44Australia was
32:45being flooded
32:45with overseas
32:46money.
32:48Let's kick
32:49off this merry
32:50rage with one
32:51of the hottest
32:51hits of 83.
32:53It's the
32:53Bop Girl,
32:54Pat Wilson.
32:55It was the
32:55last day of
32:56Parliament,
32:57which traditionally
32:58is almost like
32:59school break-up.
33:01Nobody's focusing
33:01on policy issues,
33:03everybody wants
33:03to go off and
33:04party and
33:04have a good
33:05time.
33:16On the
33:16Thursday night
33:17before the
33:18decision to
33:19float, we'd
33:20already had a
33:21lot of foreign
33:21currency flowing
33:22into the
33:23country.
33:24And our
33:25understanding
33:25from the
33:26various banks
33:26and other
33:27dealers was
33:28that there was
33:28a lot more
33:29poised to
33:30come in from
33:31Europe, from
33:32the USA and
33:33from Japan.
33:34We became
33:36quite concerned
33:36about what the
33:37effects of that
33:38would be on
33:38the domestic
33:39economy.
33:40The Reserve
33:40Bank had been
33:41on the telephone
33:41all day saying
33:42something had to
33:43be done.
33:44The big issue
33:45that had to be
33:45addressed by
33:46Keating and the
33:47Treasury and the
33:48Reserve Bank
33:48was not, I
33:49believe, whether
33:50the currency
33:50would be floated
33:51or not, it was
33:52whether they
33:52would allow the
33:54markets to open
33:55on the Friday.
33:55Eventually, on
33:57that Thursday
33:57night, December
33:58the 8th, 1983, the
34:00decision was made.
34:01The Reserve Bank
34:02was to close the
34:03markets.
34:04This was to allow
34:05two of the most
34:06far-reaching decisions
34:07in Australia's
34:08political and
34:09economic history.
34:11The float of the
34:12dollar so that
34:12market forces and
34:13not the government
34:14set the value of
34:15the dollar, and
34:16the lifting of
34:17exchange controls,
34:18enabling Australians
34:19to freely invest,
34:21lend or borrow
34:21abroad.
34:23Drastic steps,
34:24especially for a
34:25Labor government,
34:26which caught the
34:26markets by surprise.
34:28The estimate is
34:29that about $900
34:30billion a day flow
34:33around and cross
34:34the foreign
34:34exchanges of the
34:35world.
34:36I mean, it would
34:37have been an
34:38exercise in futility
34:39to believe that
34:41little Australia,
34:41I mean, I say
34:42little in terms of
34:43the size of its
34:44economic clout,
34:45could have said
34:46well, we're going
34:47to tell you that
34:47this is going to
34:48be our exchange
34:50rate and
34:51you'll just
34:52honour that and
34:54recognise it and
34:55work within the
34:55framework that we
34:56set down.
34:57Reserve bank
34:58officers rushed to
34:59Canberra to take
35:00part in the
35:01discussions between
35:02government leaders
35:03and officials in
35:04the Cabinet Room.
35:05I was sitting
35:06where I normally
35:07sat at the Prime
35:08Minister's chair,
35:09the head of
35:09things.
35:11Paul Keating
35:12was sitting over
35:13on the left
35:14where he normally
35:16sat as Treasurer.
35:17Stone was sitting
35:18along from me,
35:20a couple, and
35:21you had other
35:22Treasury officials
35:23along next to
35:23Keating and then
35:24you had the
35:24Reserve Bank
35:25people down at
35:26the inn side.
35:29It was a
35:30fascinating discussion.
35:34The Prime Minister
35:35tested out with
35:36practically everybody
35:37in the room what
35:38their feeling was
35:39on the subject
35:40and the overwhelming
35:44view was that we
35:46really had no
35:47practical alternative
35:48but deflate the
35:49exchange rate.
35:51And I said,
35:51well, that's
35:53enough.
35:53I said, I want
35:54you to now go
35:55away and deal
35:57with the mechanics
35:57of it as to how
35:58we handle this in
36:00terms of announcement
36:01and come back.
36:04And that was it.
36:05When they were
36:06going off, John
36:08Oswald Stone, who
36:09was just too
36:09along for me, in
36:11a rather melodramatic
36:14fashion, said to
36:14me, Prime Minister,
36:16you'll regret this
36:17decision.
36:18I can't comment
36:19on anything.
36:20I mean, it was
36:21up in the Cabinet
36:22room, I can't
36:22comment on that.
36:23You had the
36:23strange paradoxes
36:24that here was this
36:25man who, in
36:26political terms, was
36:27way out in the
36:28Genghis Khan
36:30territory of the
36:30right, being in the
36:32same position as
36:33the sceptics of
36:34the opponents of
36:35the left.
36:36And at the end
36:37of it, the Prime
36:39Minister Hawke said
36:41something like this.
36:42He said, you know
36:43that I have a great
36:45affection for the
36:46left of my party,
36:48and you know that
36:49they regard you as
36:50Stone, as Olga
36:51number one.
36:53However, it's only a
36:54few weeks away from
36:55Christmas, and I
36:57can't in all good
36:58conscience take their
36:59favourite bogeyman
37:00away from them by
37:01telling them what
37:02you've been saying
37:03here today.
37:04I can't comment
37:04again.
37:05I mean, these were
37:06things happening to
37:07the extent they were
37:07happening in the
37:08Cabinet room.
37:09I can't, a public
37:10servant can't comment
37:12on what happened in
37:12the Cabinet room.
37:13Ministers may feel
37:14able to, or give
37:16some version of it.
37:17After it became
37:18clear that the
37:19currency was going
37:20to be floated,
37:20irrespective of
37:21John's views, John
37:23Stone and the
37:23Treasury officials with
37:24him stood up and
37:26left the meeting,
37:27basically taking the
37:28attitude on your head,
37:29be it.
37:30At a news conference
37:31this evening, Federal
37:32Treasurer Paul Keating
37:34announced Cabinet's
37:35decision to float the
37:36dollar and abolish a
37:37major part of existing
37:39exchange controls.
37:40The decision to float
37:42means that the
37:43speculators will now be
37:44speculating against
37:45themselves rather than
37:46against the Australian
37:47Government via the
37:49Reserve Bank.
37:50I think there was a
37:50sense of exhilaration
37:51about it because many
37:54people had plugged away
37:55for years, pressing the
37:57system, pressing us to
37:59float, and the great
38:01day had arrived.
38:03After the Cabinet
38:04meeting which decided to
38:05float the dollar, a
38:09meeting in which I must
38:10say I felt not
38:12particularly well
38:12informed or expert, I
38:16came back to Melbourne
38:16and I listened to the
38:18announcement of the
38:19Cabinet decision on PM
38:20and the car radio.
38:21And I must say I
38:24nearly freaked out
38:25because it seemed to me
38:26a huge decision to have
38:28made when all the
38:29commentators started to
38:30talk about it.
38:31I didn't realise, I
38:33think, the largeness of
38:35that decision at the
38:36time of the Cabinet
38:37discussion.
38:40Financial markets and
38:41commentators were wildly
38:43enthusiastic about the
38:44float, so much so that
38:46both Hawke and Keating
38:47now claim major credit.
38:49The initiative for the
38:53float of the dollar came
38:54from within my office.
38:56I had pretty well
38:57decided that the float
38:59was the order of the day
39:00about May of 1983.
39:05Paul Keating had to be
39:06brought along on it.
39:08There was, of course, in
39:11Treasury, at the level of
39:12the Secretary of Treasurer,
39:13total opposition to the
39:14concept.
39:15Stone totally opposed it.
39:17And this had its impact
39:20upon Paul.
39:22I thought it was
39:23important that the
39:25Secretary of the Treasury
39:26be heard, that he come to
39:27the Cabinet meeting and be
39:28able to put his view.
39:31Now, by that stage, Bob's
39:33saying, look, we've
39:34decided, let's get it over
39:35and done with, let's get
39:36it over and done with.
39:37But this was not mature.
39:39This was not wise.
39:39And Hawke slowly began to
39:44be persuaded by people.
39:46I think Paul Keating was
39:48certainly not in the
39:50vanguard of this.
39:51He was pulled along.
39:55Meanwhile, even opponents
39:56of the time have been
39:58persuaded of the merit of
39:59floating the dollar.
40:00I think that those were the
40:02most important decisions of
40:04an economic kind, that is to
40:05say, taken into Australia
40:07since the war.
40:08And I think I said, and
40:10in many ways, the best.
40:11Because the Wales is here
40:13to help you through.
40:14Yeah, the Wales is here
40:16to talk with you.
40:18So why don't you come
40:19right in?
40:20Come on.
40:20So come right in and let
40:23the Wales play a part in
40:24your life.
40:26The next move to change
40:27Australia by opening it to
40:28the world was just as big a
40:30shock.
40:31This was the introduction of
40:32foreign banks to add
40:34competition to the
40:35financial sector.
40:45By early 1984, a number
40:47of things have come
40:48together to lift Paul Keating's
40:49confidence enormously.
40:51He believed himself to be
40:52more in control of events.
40:53He was indeed more in
40:55control of events.
40:56And that, I think,
40:57emboldened him to take
40:58additional measures.
40:59And one major product in
41:011984 was the extra bank
41:05licences for the foreign
41:06banks.
41:07The issue of foreign bank
41:09entry was a very difficult
41:10one for the Labor Party.
41:12At the same time, it was one
41:13Keating was determined to
41:15succeed with.
41:16It really surprises me that
41:18some people in this party
41:19think we owe Westpac
41:20something, or the ANZ Bank,
41:22or the National.
41:23That really surprises me.
41:24The argument came to a head
41:33at Labor's July 1984
41:35national conference.
41:37Keating tackled head-on the
41:38Labor Party's traditional
41:39opposition to the entry of
41:41foreign banks.
41:43Keating has never lacked
41:44courage.
41:45And to change the platform
41:49of the Labor Party is an
41:54enormously difficult, time
41:58consuming, and divisive task.
42:01And he's been successful.
42:04Now, prior to the Hawke
42:07government, to do that was
42:11the equivalent of stealing
42:12the holy water from the
42:14church, there would have
42:16been excommunication, I can
42:22smell the faggots burning
42:24to burn the culprits now.
42:27But they got away with it.
42:31When the initial debate
42:32arose, it was sort of, well,
42:34that'll go away.
42:35You couldn't imagine that
42:36we'd go on with it.
42:38And that simply recounting a
42:42few of the givens in our
42:44philosophy was enough to drive
42:46it off.
42:47And it was a bit late in the
42:48day when some of us realised,
42:49well, we'd better come to
42:50grips with this argument
42:51seriously because it isn't
42:53going to go away.
42:55It has every likelihood of
42:56becoming fact.
42:58And in that case, the
43:00intellectual underpinning has
43:01to be addressed rather than
43:02simply debating it through
43:03party certitudes.
43:04If you want to start talking
43:06about equity and fairness,
43:07you'd better start with
43:08unemployment.
43:09But you can't do it with a
43:10sick economy.
43:12Banking is the artery of the
43:13economy.
43:14And we've had hardening of the
43:15arteries for too long in this
43:16country.
43:17He was very good in then
43:19getting people to come to an
43:21acceptance of changed
43:23positions.
43:24He was very good at this.
43:26And I knew that the job we had
43:29in government was to change the
43:31party in many ways, to change
43:34the community, to change
43:35Australia.
43:36And he could harness the forces
43:39of Treasury and the people he
43:43had around him, as well as his
43:45own capacities.
43:47He could harness these in a way
43:48which was very, very useful and
43:51important in what I wanted to
43:53achieve.
43:54Today saw a union of the right
43:56and centre-left factions, a
43:58union which defeated all
43:59attempts by the left wing to
44:00change the government's basic
44:01economic platform.
44:03He was so certain about what he
44:09said.
44:11He was charming.
44:14He was humorous.
44:17He was absolutely devastating and
44:20derisory of anyone that argued
44:22against him.
44:23The government won on foreign
44:25banks and on everything else
44:27contentious.
44:28Uranium, the United States bases
44:30and Indonesia's annexation of
44:33East Timor.
44:34The result of the government
44:37prevailing on those issues at the
44:401984 conference really meant the
44:46almost, not complete, but to a
44:49degree, a large annihilation of the
44:53left wing of the Labor Party as a voting
44:56force at the party's conferences and it
45:03gave the government itself, that's Hawke,
45:07Keating and their ministers, a newfound
45:10sense of power, probably, and that led to a maintenance of their agenda for change.
45:22And there's no doubt about it, whether you like it or not, Hawke and Keating revolutionised the
45:33financial and fiscal system.
45:35By now, Hawke and Keating were riding high.
45:38The recession was over, jobs were being created and they were the darlings of the financial
45:43markets.
45:45His measures have been bold, brilliant and above all, brave.
45:51In 1984, Keating was named by Euromoney magazine as, I think technically, Finance Minister of the
45:59Year, which became known very quickly as the world's greatest treasurer.
46:05Paul was over the moon at this announcement. Paul considered at the time the greatest accolade ever.
46:10Through 83, 84, the two offices got on extremely well, as did in fact Keating and Hawke.
46:19Keating was forever disappearing upstairs and talking to the Prime Minister in his office,
46:26immediately upstairs from the treasurer's office in the old parliament house. They spent very long hours
46:30together and everything worked very nicely.
46:36I was passionately interested in sport in its many manifestations.
46:42Paul essentially has no interest in sport at all.
46:48And he had this absolute fascination with empire clocks, and he on a couple of occasions had me
46:57over to explain the esoterics of his clocks, and they were handsome objects. But I must say,
47:05I sort of didn't have intellectual orgasms about them.
47:08I regard a good day off as getting around in pyjamas at about three in the afternoon, no shame.
47:14The public image was of a successful, durable team. Hawke was leading the way as the most popular
47:20political leader in Australian history. His unprecedented approval rating was hovering around 70%.
47:26The polls showed that support for the government was far ahead of that for the opposition.
47:32Pressure for an election was intense.
47:34All of the polls, not Labor's private pressurists, but all the published polls, had us a mile in front,
47:40had him in the preferred Prime Minister stakes two miles in front. I mean, it was just obvious that you had to go. So we went.
47:50Today he gave 53 days notice of the next election, inviting the electorate to renew the mandate.
47:56There was a sense that in 1984, that we could have increased our majority from, I think it was 25, through into the 40s.
48:05Certainly the more you build up in terms of seats, it gives you fat at the next election,
48:09it gives you resources in which to fight it, deprives the other side of resources.
48:13Hooray for Bob Hawke! Hooray!
48:17The strategy seemed perfect, but failed completely because Hawke's life and his Prime Ministership were undermined by family tragedy.
48:26You don't cease to be a husband. You don't cease to be a father.
48:33And my children and my wife have a right to be protected in this matter.
48:42But I trust it will not be necessary.
48:45Hawke's daughter Roslyn had a drug problem.
48:48At the birth of her second child, the desperate nature of her heroin addiction became clear to Roslyn's mother.
48:55Hazel immediately had to contact the Prime Minister to tell him their daughter was near death.
49:02Bob was very busy at the time, to the point that when I determined that it was time to intervene,
49:10I mean really in social, in welfare terms, it was time for intervention.
49:17And so I rang Bob from Melbourne.
49:22I rang his PPS, his Principal Private Secretary.
49:25He made an appointment and said that I wanted to see him as soon as I came from the airport.
49:31I had known that I had sacrificed my children to a considerable degree in the development of my career.
49:41I had not spent time with them to the extent that one normally would.
49:46And so there was this mixture of anguish for her and guilt and regard to myself.
49:53Congratulations. How does it feel to be Father of the Year?
49:56Oh, it's an honour.
49:59The one who really should have the title is my wife.
50:02She has to be Father as well as Mother most of the time.
50:05I understood the travel and in fact I'd quite come to terms with him being necessarily away.
50:13But in addition to that was the unnecessary time away.
50:19And the time away that could have been spent with the family had he chosen to.
50:26But his life took on such an overload, such a spin, such a public persona,
50:32which included a lot of socialising and a lot of drinking.
50:41It was the distorted Bob that was a big problem.
50:45And unfortunately the children saw, I think, more of the distorted Bob
50:52than they saw of the real Bob that I knew was there.
50:56And that made me both very sad and very angry.
51:02It was like as if he gave so much publicly that...
51:11..that it was just what was left that the family got.
51:20What was left over, as it were, from the main game.
51:23That's how it seemed very often.
51:25Paralysed by guilt, the Messiah of 1983 was almost destroyed.
51:31Like any father, I love my daughter. I trust her.
51:39I remember one night I was thinking about it and I thought,
51:44my God, what's the point of it all?
51:47Give it up and then concentrate on the family.
51:53And it was something that I thought quite a deal about,
51:58but then I tried to put things in perspective and said,
52:01well, you've got wider obligations than just your family.
52:05And so I thought I'd battle on.
52:09A nation in which all can share fairly in the abundance
52:14and all the opportunities offered by this great country of ours
52:19in the great years now within our grasp.
52:23As the tears for Roslyn fell during Hawke's 1984 campaign speech,
52:31the dreams of a landslide victory evaporated.
52:34The election campaign was a fiasco.
52:38He had very severe family problems with one of his children
52:43and he is such an emotional character, as we all know,
52:48that that impacted upon him in a way in which it was like carrying
52:54a huge cross on his bare back for every waking moment of every day.
53:00And that affected his psyche enormously.
53:03He was, at times, moribund, sad within himself
53:10to the point of almost not being in control.
53:14It was only, I think, as the campaign got underway
53:16that we realised those who were close to him,
53:20those who were close to him, how much he'd been affected.
53:24And, again, we, as a group, his office, my office,
53:30a couple of us who were ministers, you know, put in a larger effort
53:36to, you know, buttress him in the course of the campaign.
53:41Well, we just sort of meandered around Australia
53:43about eight weeks trying to work out why we were having it
53:45and what to do with it once we realised why we were having it, you know.
53:49It was not good.
53:51And the nation teeters tonight on the cusp of tedium.
53:55The election campaign ended its 400th year
53:58with all parties now on heavy medication
54:00and most of the livestock and vehicles
54:02already moved to higher ground.
54:04The frontrunners, Tweedledum and Tweedled even Dumber,
54:08are now addressing audiences of beach balls
54:11and household appliances in a pitiful attempt
54:13to stay awake until December the 1st.
54:16As we've been saying all night, Labour is being threatened
54:22in anywhere between 10 and 12 seats.
54:25The number now is down to nine.
54:27We let what was essentially a weak opponent, you know,
54:32take votes and seats from us at a time when,
54:36given the government's economic success
54:38and the vast changes we'd been making,
54:40it should have seen for Labour its greatest ever federal victory.
54:45That's what was in prospect.
54:47The calling of the 1984 election was a great mistake,
54:52probably Hawke's greatest political mistake.
54:55He was still a popular figure,
55:00but a politician would kill to have that other ingredient in his image,
55:07that one of being somewhat above politics.
55:10That's a very rare commodity
55:12and Hawke lost it in one fell swoop
55:15after calling the 1984 election.
55:17It seems Hawke must have known.
55:20He and Keating addressed a business function
55:22at the Regent Hotel in Sydney during the 1984 campaign.
55:27According to Keating,
55:28the Prime Minister was not pleased
55:30with his treasurer's performance.
55:32It was too good.
55:34I got up and gave an extemporaneous performance.
55:37But at that stage, not long after the float,
55:39not long after deregulation,
55:40the economy was picking up,
55:41we had a good story to tell,
55:42so I told it enthusiastically, colourfully,
55:45and got a big reception, a big ovation for it.
55:48But I'd mentioned him appropriately
55:52and graciously on the way through.
55:55But as we left, we walked out the door,
55:59and I said, well, it didn't go bad.
56:01He said, look, my friend, I'll tell you this.
56:03He said, you can have this job, he said,
56:06when I'm good and ready to give it to you.
56:08He said, that'll be about, he said, at the earliest about 1990.
56:11I thought, God, what have I said?
56:14You know, what have I done deserve this sort of rebuke?
56:17You know?
56:19Keating claims Hawke was so devastated by his family problems
56:23that his leadership barely recovered.
56:25Of course I'm upset.
56:27Hawke rejects this.
56:28He acknowledges his performance suffered,
56:30but only from August 1984 to mid-1985.
56:35Probably my judgements weren't so good
56:37as to what I should do or what I shouldn't do.
56:40So my judgement, I think, was impaired.
56:43And the vivacity, if you like, with which I did things
56:46was significantly diminished.
56:48A leader's job is to nourish his party with ideas, zest, leadership, zing,
56:54call it what you like.
56:56All that happened in 83 and through 84.
56:59So what I say is he stopped nourishing us.
57:05You can't be a leader and stop doing that.
57:07But he lived to tell the story.
57:09But that's Bob.
57:11He's a very lucky guy.
57:13He always ends up with a group of people
57:15who will look after him when he's in strife.
57:17Of course it was a nonsense that in any sense
57:20I stopped being Prime Minister.
57:22It may have been that he made a decision then
57:26of proceeding to deceive me.
57:34That may be so, I don't know.
57:36But the fact that I was in a very depressed emotional state
57:42because of my daughter,
57:44and to go from that and that I showed it,
57:47that that was when I ceased to being Prime Minister,
57:49is, I would suggest, a comment not upon me but upon him.
57:56From this time on, Keating's confidence grew immensely.
58:00Increasingly he would see himself as the one running the country.
58:04Soon he would throw the government
58:06into a period of political and economic turmoil
58:09that would change Australia forever.
58:14the state would change建材,
58:18and the continent would marry as a timeline.
58:20And if we access it,
58:22we will survive too often.
58:24But talk to everybody and we have remembered
58:25and we'll come together.
58:26Now in the
58:34dwaOUGHT
58:35this is the last teleport.
58:37we're trying to walk after the��uiten
Comments