The Hawke legacy
July 19th 2010 01:22
Hawke's latest champion, Blanche D'alpuget, is busily trying to rewrite the Hawke narrative as a love story. Well, this would suit her but those of us who would rather he had his mind on the job of running the country are not so impressed.
In the end, the Hawke-Keating years were not what Oz needed and simply set up Howard to do his worst. He stripped away the constraints on markets and turned Oz into a less fair and ultimately less viable society.
Hawke was never anything like a good economic manager and left that to big business and big unions with his famous consultative style. Once the unions fell away, as they were always going to once globalisation took hold, this left big business and their flunky Howard in the driver's seat.
The amazing thing about Hawke was how much he got away with. A vicious drunk, a womaniser, self-interested and incredibly self-regarding, Hawke nonethless was always surrounded by people who looked after and cleaned up after him.
It all began with his mother, who famously told him from the beginning he would be PM. The damage mothers can do...
In the end, the Hawke-Keating years were not what Oz needed and simply set up Howard to do his worst. He stripped away the constraints on markets and turned Oz into a less fair and ultimately less viable society.
Hawke was never anything like a good economic manager and left that to big business and big unions with his famous consultative style. Once the unions fell away, as they were always going to once globalisation took hold, this left big business and their flunky Howard in the driver's seat.
It all began with his mother, who famously told him from the beginning he would be PM. The damage mothers can do...
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