tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post3234930753185756227..comments2023-12-06T00:23:28.790+11:00Comments on Press gallery reform: What sort of nationAndrew Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-43310225129632307232014-10-31T06:25:04.933+11:002014-10-31T06:25:04.933+11:00He did start the single mother pension, and no-fau...He did start the single mother pension, and no-fault divorce (which disproportionately affected women).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-41237594821210367992014-10-31T06:22:19.751+11:002014-10-31T06:22:19.751+11:00Do you think Turnbull has been 'tainted' b...Do you think Turnbull has been 'tainted' by the rest of the bunch? For a period his master seemed only to be himself; you are right he now works for Murdoch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-26208785712880557412014-10-28T06:46:51.803+11:002014-10-28T06:46:51.803+11:00Agree Andrew but I wasn't referring to Gough w...Agree Andrew but I wasn't referring to Gough who would have been appalled at being relegated to second rank of sainthood when he walked on water.<br /><br />Clearly Gough only bound some of us, and many of those after his death. No I mean a Real Leader who puts the country first instead of sectional interests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-63450312431160645082014-10-28T06:32:24.330+11:002014-10-28T06:32:24.330+11:00Thanks very much for that.Thanks very much for that.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-45229714457986885732014-10-28T06:31:27.015+11:002014-10-28T06:31:27.015+11:00Women aren't left out of all the narratives. A...Women aren't left out of all the narratives. All of that stuff above affects women; they bore the brunt of thousands of cases of PSTD, for example. <br /><br />Because I'm not a journalist, I won't dismiss your criticism out of hand. Can you link to pieces that particularly reference women and Whitlam's legacy for them?Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-43694196470714005392014-10-28T06:19:18.533+11:002014-10-28T06:19:18.533+11:00It is fair to say that Whitlam was a generous spir...It is fair to say that Whitlam was a generous spirit, but the final sentence in your first par makes him sound like St Francis of Assisi which, allowing for generosity to the man in his passing, he wasn't.<br /><br />Turnbull began his career in service to Kerry Packer and ends it in service to Murdoch. He has been a disappointment but perhaps we were mistaken to have expected too much. This government is a waste of time and only reinforces the importance of much of what it disdains.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-18029665440684821372014-10-25T20:13:02.375+11:002014-10-25T20:13:02.375+11:00Enjoyable read as always, Andrew. I think we are o...Enjoyable read as always, Andrew. I think we are only now coming to realise, and appreciate, the Whitlam years, short as they were.<br /><br />He dragged this country kicking and screaming into a modern world and gave all its citizens the right to affordable, accessible healthcare and the opportunity, no matter our circumstances, to an education that would lift so many out of institutionalised poverty and lack of job opportunities.<br /><br />They are really his greatest legacies which the current government is desperately trying to remove and return us to the dust bowl of poor health, education and complete lack of vision so beloved by the conservative elite.<br /><br />The Rudd/Gillard governments were also visionary, if less eloquent than Whitlam. NBN, Gonski, NDIS, RET, carbon pricing etc were all policies designed to drag us kicking and screaming into the 21st century and beyond, while the current government's only "policies" are soley designed to drag us back to the intellectual wasteland that was the 1950s.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-76627304532047080962014-10-24T23:17:16.989+11:002014-10-24T23:17:16.989+11:00Whitlam was a God for many migrant groups especial...Whitlam was a God for many migrant groups especially The Greeks.<br /><br />The Neos Kosmos paper has him plastered on their front page this week as a comrade.<br /><br />Malcolm Turnballs speech was extremely poignant ending with the special relationship he had with Margaret and their special meeting place at Mt Olympus.<br /><br />I've never shed a tear for anyone in politics but with Whitlam he was one of a kind....<br /><br />May his spirit live on in another generation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-33043602261009185492014-10-23T16:55:19.022+11:002014-10-23T16:55:19.022+11:00George Orwell believed that speech shrivels though...George Orwell believed that speech shrivels thought.David Irving (no relation)https://www.blogger.com/profile/05728918405973140125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-82508274103986343682014-10-23T07:45:11.706+11:002014-10-23T07:45:11.706+11:00Your last para has got me thinking Andrew. I could...Your last para has got me thinking Andrew. I could go on and on but rest assured I will not.<br /><br />I wonder sometimes if all the managerial speak has turned our politicians into automatons. Does thought inform speech or does speech shrivel thought.<br /><br />Our politicians conduct their daily business with a grab bag of tired slogans and banal utterances which conceal and/or confuse meaning.<br /><br />They are always 'moving forward', conducting 'dialogues' or even 'dialoguing'' with somebody. We all live in an economy and are consumers.<br /><br />Our leader talks about Stopping (insert relevant word), 'shirt-fronting', Team Australia and repeats every second word. He appears to be totally inarticulate despite being a university debater.<br /><br />Is he as tongue-tied as he presents himself or does he appear that way because he is afraid of saying anything?<br /><br />It does not leave a lot of room for The Vision Thing?<br /><br />Why are our leaders so frightened? Why are they spooked by the people they lead? Most of them appear to be completely ill-at-ease. Some of them don't seem to like their countrymen and women very much at all. We seem to be hectored an awful lot.<br /><br />God knows what we will become.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-5384983663977947842014-10-22T22:35:01.339+11:002014-10-22T22:35:01.339+11:00Thank you for this Mr Elder.
The final paragraph ...Thank you for this Mr Elder.<br /><br />The final paragraph in partcular jumped out and punched me right in the face.<br /><br />Maybe now is as good a time as any for Whitlam to leave.<br /><br />Perhaps, his passing might help remind us of all that we have, and shine that light upon those who now seek to destroy much of his legacy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-63076935294428415592014-10-22T20:53:08.232+11:002014-10-22T20:53:08.232+11:00Post war immigration initiated by Calwell and Chif...Post war immigration initiated by Calwell and Chifley and followed by Holt under Menzies could have been mentioned as something bigger than the Snowy Scheme as post war reconstruction achievements. Highgate Johnnynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-17053596099638932462014-10-22T17:03:17.635+11:002014-10-22T17:03:17.635+11:00The introduction of the single parent benefit is a...The introduction of the single parent benefit is an aspect of the Whitlam legacy that has not been given the prominence it deserves, from my point of view anyway. It one of the most important things Gough did for women, for freedom and to make our country great.<br /><br />The benefit came in just before I became a single mother in my teens and I am sure it is a good thing for both of us that I got to raise that baby myself. Perhaps one positive outcome of the numbers of single mothers is the increased understanding and respect that some young men raised by single women have for the women. But these young men would be the girlie men and not the boy men? <br /><br />The only jobs available to bad girls in such a situation were as housekeepers to some kind person. Of course the kind old men who were keen to give a fallen women a job and a bed would never think of insisting on other services as well as cleaning and cooking. <br /><br />Conservatives had no intention of giving fallen women a way of keeping their children as they thought that it was natural and a good thing for them to be able to adopt, to take the children of the poor, well the ones that lived up to their notions of genetic suitability. This way, the bad girls who foolishly got themselves pregnant would have a second chance at life so it was so much better off if they gave the baby up and got on with their lives. <br /><br />From their point of view, it is a great arrangement; the good people get a baby that God is denying them, and the bad woman gets a second chance at life, well, as long as she could keep it all secret. <br /><br />But of course secret keeping fits in with the Conservative need for privacy. They cloak this need to keep things secret from the ordinary people by saying that privacy is a right that everyone should have, but this is rubbish. <br /><br />Conservatives do not evah support rights for everyone. <br /><br />Clearly the real reason – the motivation behind their emphasis on privacy as a right - is because they or their ilk, do things that they know the ordinary people would not like. And it seems that these self-nominated superior people do have a need for the approval or tacit support of the ordinary people. <br /><br />Hence Barry Spurr and his desperate attempts to hide his naughtiness. <br /><br />Gough, I think coped with his real 'superiority' - intellectual and moral - by maintaining a superior manner that was very funny and was essentially, self-deprecating.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-67027590764738154982014-10-22T17:00:40.847+11:002014-10-22T17:00:40.847+11:00You couldn't really have a bigger contrast tha...You couldn't really have a bigger contrast than the one between between Whitlam and Abbott.They are both perfect examples , benchmarks if you will , one for intelligence the other for stupidity. I doubt Abbott will make 98 , he just doesn't have the heart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-359878423524551852014-10-22T14:37:39.116+11:002014-10-22T14:37:39.116+11:00I suppose Andrew didn't discuss women much in ...I suppose Andrew didn't discuss women much in his article; nor did he discuss First Nations people. I don't think he discussed people much at all.<br /><br />It's a little dry for that reason, and it does tend to focus on policies, but I don't think it is reasonable to expect everything be covered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-90474421575222783302014-10-22T13:03:36.851+11:002014-10-22T13:03:36.851+11:00I notice that the policy and legislative reforms h...I notice that the policy and legislative reforms he implemented that in particular had great significance for the lives of women, are being largely ignored in the mainstream media tributes. Here too. Is it important to leave women out of all the narratives?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-27804256900715097322014-10-22T12:48:55.181+11:002014-10-22T12:48:55.181+11:00Andrew, I don't agree with your statement that...Andrew, I don't agree with your statement that people being thankful for a free tertiary education are gushing and see it as a gift. Those of us who were afforded this right are just thankful that it came our way when it did, as it has transformed personal lives and our nation. We should always be thankful to people who deliver things that improve the lot of all.<br /><br />Compare the Whitlam vision of ensuring dignity to all by providing free universal health care and a complete education available to all of ability to Andrew Bolt's twisted, mean spirited sense of what he wants Australia to become - to quote from his article "... The Abbott Government is even today dealing with the costly consequences and culture of entitlement bequeathed by Whitlam’s decisions to give free universal medical care and university education.." (And this is what Pyne & Abbott are working to achieve - shame on them all)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-81937315792941635162014-10-22T12:24:52.937+11:002014-10-22T12:24:52.937+11:00I don't know why I was shocked by watching Pyn...I don't know why I was shocked by watching Pynes performance in Parliament yesterday, but I was...and shouldn't have been. What a juvenile, nasty little tosser he is. <br /><br />In terms of legacy, many are now saying that we have never seen the likes of Whitlam, since the 70's. I think this is untrue, and that the Keating and Gillard governments were also great reformers.<br /><br /> Keatings legacy is already established in this regard. The legacy of the Gillard government will also be, in time. And just like with the Whitlam govt, reforms repealed by the conservatives will come back into legislation.<br /><br />It is interesting that the conservatives record of reform is SO POOR. The only thing I can think of is gun control (for which the Howard govt should be thanked). Oh, and I guess that govt tweaked financial market regulatory environment in a minor way (but the credit for a strong regulatory and prudential regime remains to the credit of the Keating government).<br /><br /> I am sure there is more, but not much. Then again, conservative does tend to mean : maintain the status quo, so I get failure to reform goes with the territory. Not good enough.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07751752866267313598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-38283298381767638202014-10-22T11:17:29.466+11:002014-10-22T11:17:29.466+11:00Predictably the Lilliputians have swarmed around i...Predictably the Lilliputians have swarmed around in the giant's shadow.<br /><br />Boy-men indeed.<br /><br />Thoughtful writing, as usual.chrispydognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-57568670751796529852014-10-22T10:02:19.434+11:002014-10-22T10:02:19.434+11:00The Herald-Sun was thrown over my fence this morni...The Herald-Sun was thrown over my fence this morning rather than The Age, so I had the (dubious) pleasure of reading Terry McCrann's opinion that Whitlam "was also Australia’s worst-ever prime minister — until Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard came along". He needs to get out more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-45839562522444087812014-10-22T09:34:01.817+11:002014-10-22T09:34:01.817+11:00Thank you Andrew for another reminder of what a pr...Thank you Andrew for another reminder of what a prat Christopher Pyne really is. Here's a simple test; who will be remembred in 100 years - Pyne or Whitlam? As for Sheridan writing in today's Oz that Whitlam was "the worst Prime Minister in our history", does he not remember Billy McMahon or Stanley Melbourne Bruce or even Kevin Rudd?Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-62322900233006055602014-10-22T09:08:22.716+11:002014-10-22T09:08:22.716+11:00The gulf between Whitlam and Abbott shows the diff...The gulf between Whitlam and Abbott shows the difference between the Nation state at its best, and the Market state at its worse. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-7418714992739939252014-10-22T08:03:13.927+11:002014-10-22T08:03:13.927+11:00What sort of nation are we and what do we want to ...What sort of nation are we and what do we want to become? Maybe yesterday's eulogies will serve a wider purpose if those in the ALP can begin to express their answers to these questions coherently and convincingly. From today's perspective the striking thing about the stories of Whitlam's progress was how he persistently articulated his vision – the Program – and brought people along with him.<br /><br /><br />Well balanced piece Andrew, thank you.PeterHhttp://hillarchitects.com.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-42109482538444619452014-10-22T06:31:20.797+11:002014-10-22T06:31:20.797+11:00Thankyou Andrew for an interesting read although I...Thankyou Andrew for an interesting read although I disagree that Whitlam was 'arrogant'. Arrogant people are self-absorbed. Whitlam had a generous spirit and was interested in humanity in all its pursuits, great and small.<br /><br />As far as I am concerned he was the last politician in this country to speak compellingly about the National Good and act accordingly. The present day political obsession with individualism has shriveled national discourse to crude name-calling (girly-man) and cheap sloganeering (Stop the Boats).<br />I once thought Malcolm Turnbull had the capacity to be another Whitlam and, indeed, he spoke compellingly about the man and his legacy yesterday.<br />In more recent times I have been disappointed. Whitlam would have seen the NBN as essential nation bulding, a big, bold project for our future. Turnbull's 'vision' is a great deal less. And despite honeyed words to the contrary, Turnbull seems to support government moves to castrate the ABC. <br />I firmly believe that this country is yearning to hear someone talk about The Country in ways which bind us. Team Australia is by its nature exclusionary. If you are not with us, you do not belong. Nasty and brutish.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com