Charge a yard glass

Paul Kelly wrote a fitting tribute to former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who yesterday was officially farewelled with a state memorial service at the Sydney Opera House.

Without a doubt, he was one of Australia's greatest Prime Ministers, and definitely one of the best Labor Prime Ministers. I was proud to have him represent us on the world stage.

He was an educated man, but unlike many current generation politicians, he was not elitist. He had the rare ability to connect with people of all backgrounds, and had a genuine affection for them. It would be great if Australia had another leader like him, but I don't like the chances of that happening.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/hawke-loved-australia-and-a-nation-reciprocated/news-story/aac2a2d233c9e188b64a7f5dc1d1905a

Do you know why I have credibility? Because I don't exude morality

As I prepare to vote in the Australian federal election this weekend, I cannot help but reflect on the careers of previous Prime Ministers that I liked and respected. Bob Hawke, who passed away last night at the age of 89, was one of them. Not only that, but almost every political commentator I have read or listened to ranks him as one of the best leaders in Australian history.

Malcolm Farr is one of the elder statesmen of the Canberra press gallery. In this tribute to Hawke, it's a pity his work is let down by shoddy proof reading. What does "layer served" mean? We also read that in 1979, Hawke was "presidency" of the ALP. There is also a sentence that ends without a full stop. 

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/hes-going-to-be-prime-minister-of-australia/news-story/b53f47bb3e45dae888c10dbd2d0f88ee

By Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website – www.dfat.gov.au, CC BY 3.0 au, Link

Sweet victory

With his government languishing far behind the opposition in opinion polls, it seems almost certain that Labor will win the next federal election, due to be held in 2019. Labor's controversial plan to remove tax rebates for share dividends will reduce the incomes of self-funded retirees. The unwinnable election that Andrew Bolt mentions here was in March 1993, just over 25 years ago, and not in 1991.

In 1991, the Labor Party was mostly preoccupied with the recession, and leadership tensions between Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and his rival, Paul Keating. Keating successfully challenged Hawke on his second attempt, becoming Labor leader, and Prime Minister, in December 1991.

Labor won the 1993 election by relentlessly hammering the Liberals over their proposed Goods and Services Tax. Could Malcolm Turnbull use the same tactics against Bill Shorten's tax plan, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat? Politics never ceases to fascinate.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/can-turnbull-be-a-keating/news-story/7ce59e70b65c6b0e51478ad94b0ba1b5

Still Trumped off

As I write this, I'm watching a time shifted recording of Thursday night's (American time) Republican presidential candidate debate. Donald Trump repeatedly mocked one of his opponents, Senator Marco Rubio, calling him "little Marco."

Like other things Trump says, it needs to be fact checked. The truth is that Rubio, at 5'10 is only slightly shorter than Trump, who stands at 6'3. 

It reminds me of former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke (1983-1991), who mocked then Opposition Leader John Howard as "little Johnny Howard," even though Hawke was actually shorter than Howard.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/09/17/republican-candidates-heights-were-among-most-googled-questions-during-cnn-debate

On bended knee

Last week The Australian reprinted an article from Gerard Baker of The Times which was in my view a very incisive analysis of the current American Presidential election campaign. As Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fight it out to secure the Democratic nomination, a cult of personality seems to have developed around Obama, where the mostly favourable news media coverage he has received has become almost idolatrous, with him becoming a pseudo-Messianic figure. If this article is to be believed, this is not a new phenonemon, stretching back to the days of Robert Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, and in more recent years, to Bill Clinton. Had Kennedy not been assassinated in June 1968, he may well have become President, and probably would have served two terms. For their part, Presidents Carter (1977-1981) and Clinton (1993-2001) turned out to be flawed and human after all, which would have come as a disappointment to those journalists who canonised them at the time.

Despite our mistrust of authority figures and the tall poppy sydrome, we in Australia have often fallen into the same trap. Despite leading one of the most bold and progressive, but also inept governments in Australian history, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (1971-1975) remains a hero to many from the non-conservative side of politics, as is Bob Hawke (1983-1991). As a Christian, I need to heed Scriptural counsel about respecting our political leaders and praying for them, but not to the extent of hero worshipping them, which would be sinful. In the end, we voters need to be objective and informed about politics and politicians. We need to see through the lofty rhetoric of election campaigns and not allow ourselves to be carried away by the grand promises we often hear at these times.

Son of a preacher man

inCite, the ALIA members' magazine, recently featured an article about the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, based at the University of South Australia, which incorporates the Hawke Research Centre for Sustainable Societies, and the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library. As for the library, according to its website, it aims to identify, collect, conserve and make available for research and public access the Prime Minister's papers and memorabilia, those of his colleagues in public life, and related material from his times. It also seeks to foster the research and public programs of The Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies by collecting in appropriate areas and providing information services. The Library provides a website for the Prime Ministerial Centre and facilitates its electronic and other publishing.

As a former Prime Minister of Australia, and Oxford University beer drinking record holder, Bob Hawke deserves to be accorded at least some respect, and his considerable contribution to Australian public life recognised and commemorated. The only other former Prime Ministers to be recognised in a similar way are Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (1903-4, 1905-8, 1909-10) and John Curtin (1941-1945), who led the nation during the darkest days of the Second World War. Should the opinion polls be accurate, and the Howard Government voted out of office on November 24th, will John Howard also be honoured with his own Prime Ministerial Library?