What year is it?

I just finished reading Labor's Forgotten People: The Triumph of Identity Politics, by Michael Thompson. According to the blurb, Thompson argues that "the influence of identity politics on modern Labor's political agenda – assisted by a political class whose sole concern is power – poses an "existential threat to Labor. the warning signs are clear. Popular disaffection with the political class is increasing, and the Party's embrace of left-wing, progressive issues is sidelining core working class aspirations and grievances that used to be the focus of Labor politics." Labor's unexpected loss of the May 2019 federal election, not even anticipated in this book, arguably supports this thesis.

This book was very dry and academic, so I found it hard to engage with. Other reviewers have pointed out the number of typographical errors in it. Here, the author writes that Whitlam suffered a "crushing defeat as Opposition Leader in 1997." This actually happened in 1977, when in that year's federal election, when the Fraser government maintained its strong majority in the House of Representatives. The Liberal Party won 67 seats to the Labor Party’s 38, with 19 seats going to the National Country Party. This was Whitlam’s last election, as he resigned from his seat in Parliament on 31 July 1978.