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A well-known Labor Prime Minister died yesterday: Bob Hawke, whose government did quite a bit back in the 80s to stop Australia from becoming America.
- sex discrimination act
- affirmative action
- reinstated medicare system
- offered residency for the survivors of the Tianamin Square massacre in the mid-80s without first consulting his cabinet/party (and then pushed it through)
- pushed for the end to apartheid in South Africa (I believe he actually boycotted the Springboks game that was played in Australia during the period where they were contemplating dismantling apartheid)
- pushed to make Antarctica a no-drill zone, including getting Jacques Cousteau involved
There are other sides of the coin that are less salutory - the removal of wholly free tertiary education in exchange for the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (like a US college loan, but from the government, where you only have to pay it back once you're earning over a particular threshold: in recent years the loan has become bigger due to inflation, and the threshold at which you have to pay it back has become smaller). he cheated on his wife with his biographer, then divorced his wife to marry her.
Still, thanks Bob, for your contribution to the Australia I grew up in, the opportunities I had whose elimination your actions helped defer for at least a couple of decades. Here's hoping the Labor Party you ferociously served win this weekend and remember the things you did that changed the course of Australian socioeconomics, and take note.
I don't have much hope, but I have a little, and in the state of the world right now, a little is enough. I'll despair on Sunday if necessary.
- sex discrimination act
- affirmative action
- reinstated medicare system
- offered residency for the survivors of the Tianamin Square massacre in the mid-80s without first consulting his cabinet/party (and then pushed it through)
- pushed for the end to apartheid in South Africa (I believe he actually boycotted the Springboks game that was played in Australia during the period where they were contemplating dismantling apartheid)
- pushed to make Antarctica a no-drill zone, including getting Jacques Cousteau involved
There are other sides of the coin that are less salutory - the removal of wholly free tertiary education in exchange for the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (like a US college loan, but from the government, where you only have to pay it back once you're earning over a particular threshold: in recent years the loan has become bigger due to inflation, and the threshold at which you have to pay it back has become smaller). he cheated on his wife with his biographer, then divorced his wife to marry her.
Still, thanks Bob, for your contribution to the Australia I grew up in, the opportunities I had whose elimination your actions helped defer for at least a couple of decades. Here's hoping the Labor Party you ferociously served win this weekend and remember the things you did that changed the course of Australian socioeconomics, and take note.
I don't have much hope, but I have a little, and in the state of the world right now, a little is enough. I'll despair on Sunday if necessary.
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(Although the current Labor leader has the chance and possibly the ability to do good; the question is whether he'll win tomorrow, and where he takes the party if he does.)