Speaking for Australia: Parliamentary speeches that shaped our nation.
Edited by Rod Kemp and Marian Stanton. Allen & Unwin, 2004. ISBN 1 741 14430 2, RRP $35
Most of the time Australian politics resembles the Lilliputians arguing over whether it is better to crack an egg at the big end or the little end. Speaking for Australia, edited by Liberal Senator Rod Kemp and Marian Stanton, is a collection that records the more significant moments.
Speaking for Australia covers many of Australia’s more dramatic periods from Federation and the White Australia Policy to the Bali bombings and the invasion of Iraq. The choice of speeches raises questions at times. For example, Amanda Vanstone illuminates the stem-cell research debate by saying that ‘the views … to this bill depend on just what it is that comes out of the freezer’. And you have to wonder why Kemp included Simon Crean’s bland and diplomatic welcome speech to George W. Bush in 2003. I am sure that these two speeches shaped no one, let alone the nation. Speaking for Australia can be dry, but this probably says more about recent Australian political history than anything else. That said, there are examples of speech-making eloquence, such as Gough Whitlam’s post-dismissal speech: ‘Well may we say “God Save the Queen”, because nothing will save the Governor-General.’
By far the most sobering reading was Pauline Hanson’s maiden speech. I wonder how controversial the words ‘Wake up, Australia, before it is too late …’ would have been if uttered in 2005? This collection is worth having, if only as a useful reference.
Godfrey Moase
Direct action and democracy today
April Carter. Blackwell Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0 745 6236 9, RRP$56.95
I expected that this book would solely reflect Australia’s experience in political life. I was wrong. April Carter explores different countries’ experiences in the presence or absence of democracy.
Carter’s book addresses complex political issues that may benefit academics and students of politics as a valuable research text. She thoroughly analyses some countries’ journey towards democracy (sometimes involving direct action) and reveals how those in power have responded to these actions.
The book is divided into chapters with subheadings, which allowed me to read sections that sounded interesting (and abandon them if they didn’t hold my attention). I was interested in Carter’s recognition that technological developments have exposed and aided those suffering under repressive regimes. For example, television coverage has raised the