Party profiles
John Button reviews Liberalism and the Australian Federation and True Believers. (extract)
Liberalism and the Australian Federation, J.R. Nethercote (ed.), Federation Press, 2001. ISBN 1 86287 402 6, RRP $45
True Believers: The Story of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, John Faulkner & Stuart Macintyre (eds), Allen & Unwin, 2001. ISBN 1 86508 527 8, RRP $35
Prime Minister Paul Keating, the prestidigitator, in parliament.
'True Believers gives a lot of attention to the relationship between caucus and cabinet and not much to the relationship between caucus and the party organisation. Though understandable, this is a pity. It's a relationship which should lie at the heart of a democratic party. True Believers reflects great pride in the ALP's long history but there is a dangerous assumption that past longevity assures eternal political life. By implication, other parties come and go, change their names and spots, but Labor goes on forever. Other parties have to reinvent themselves but the Labor Party transcends all this. At the beginning of a new century it is in fact Labor which is in most desperate need of reinventing itself.
The philosophies and prejudices that have served both political parties well in the past will not necessarily serve them well in the future. After all, these books are both about the last century. This one will be even more demanding.'
- For John Button's full review, please see Eureka Street January-February 2002 print edition, available by subscription and at bookshops and newsagents.
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