It was fascinating and touching to see and hear how many lives the Whitlam government touched with it policies, how much opportunity it created, how it brought Australian society into modern times, and the forces which were working for and against it.
While watching this wonderful 2-part series, what also struck me was that there are a lot of parallels between that story, and the story of the current Labor government.
Whitlam enacted legislation which led to greater access to higher education and health care, equal opportunity and anti-discrimination measures, supported the arts, opened up more bilateral international relations, and progressed indigenous issues such as land rights. Whitlam also tried (but failed) to ensure that the profits from mining benefited the Australian people rather than foreign interests.
While the Gilliard and Rudd governments were operating in different times, they have both moved to build important infrastructure such as the NBN (which will lead to greater access to health and education), established Disability Care (a Medibank/Medicare like scheme for a neglected part of the population), are trying to implement Gonski, implemented the MRRT (which attempts to ensure more of the proceeds of mining flow back to Australians), and have implemented the 'Closing the Gap' initiatives.
The parallels are striking. When we look at the headwinds facing the two governments, there is also a striking similarity.
In the early 1970's Rupert Murdoch imagined himself as a 'King Maker'. What he was good at was gauging the public sentiment and the tides of change, and then throwing the full force of his media empire behind a particular candidate. If you saw the recent SBS documentary Murdoch, you'd know that this was a pattern he repeated many times, including the New York mayoral elections, the election of Thatcher and Blair, and the election that brought the Rudd government to power.
Prior to his ultimate election Whitlam met Rupert and found him 'Boring... Really Boring.' to quote John Menadue (a man who worked for both Whitlam and Murdoch). Whitlam was a man of ideas, while Rupert was a man primarily interested in exercising power.
I suspect that in 2013 Rupert is still really Boring, and still interested in exercising his power. I also suspect that he has a kindred spirit in Tony Abbott... a boring man, intent on gaining power, but with no useful ideas of his own.
Whitlam faced stagflation driven by US debt racked up during the Vietnam war. The current government faces equally challenging economic times driven by US war debt and the debt ratcheted up to bail out the US financial sector.
Whiltam faced a ruthless political opponent in Fraser who blocked supply in the Senate to create a sense of mayhem and force an election. Fraser went on to support a number of initiatives begun during the Whitlam years, and do little else. Abbott has been a ruthless opponent who has from day 1 tried to paint a picture of a government in disarray (in spite of the facts). Abbott has been pushed into supporting Disability Care, the NBN (which he initially wanted to demolish), and time will tell if Gonski will be implemented in any meaningful form. Should Abbott form government, he may model his approach on Fraser. So far there is no sign that he has any ideas of his own other than ridiculous policies like his Gold Plated PPL scheme and the completely dysfunctional Direct Action plan.. which has no support outside the Coalition party room.
In Whitlam's time, Murdoch predicted an election before Christmas 1975, and he got it in part through the constant agitation of his newspapers. What is different in 2013 is that Murdoch's papers have been pushing for another election since he couldn't engineer the winner of the 2010 poll... and he hasn't succeeded.
I think the Whitlam and Rudd/Gilliard Labor governments have made important policy changes which will serve us well for decades to come. I think the alternative has no ideas other than to turn back the clock. I think Murdoch is largely a spent force.
I hope that into the future we'll continue to reap the benefits from visionary Labor governments.
We have one now, and we'll have them long after 'boring' individuals like Murdoch and his acolytes are distant memories.