Australians don’t get sentimental about political leaders
OPINION: Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten may think a win on July 2 will transform them into immortals. But they should ask themselves this question: “Who remembers Artie Fadden?’’
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MALCOLM Turnbull and Bill Shorten may believe that a win on July 2 will transform them into immortals but prime ministerial aspirants should ask themselves this question: “Who remembers Artie Fadden?’’
Or, for that matter, who remembers Chris Watson, or Joseph Cook, or Earle Page?
How many Australians remember Joe Lyons, who served as Australia’s prime minister for seven years from 1932 to 1939 and had a wife named Enid who became the first woman elected to federal Parliament.
We might all be forgiven for forgetting Arthur Fadden, who held the top job for a brief two months more than 70 years ago.
But the truth is Australians, collectively, have a far more vivid memory of Les Darcy the boxer than Billy Hughes the prime minister who was in office when Darcy died in 1917 in Memphis Tennessee.
Australians don’t routinely get sentimental about our political leaders, preferring instead to eulogise the country’s sporting greats.
This is why Don Bradman statues adorn sporting grounds and the man is a more enduring historical figure than an all-but-forgotten Stanley Bruce.
It may be one of our better traits – a reassuring reflection of the fact that Australia is one of the few nations on Earth where politics has never been a life or death struggle.
But, as we watch politicians clambering for the prizes of power, we might like to reconsider how we treat their memory once they have left the public spotlight.
The cerebral Rex Patterson was minister for northern development in the Whitlam government and oversaw the reconstruction of Darwin following the tragedy of Cyclone Tracey in 1974.
Born in Bundaberg, he studied at the University of Chicago as a Fulbright scholar, earned multiple degrees, represented the Queensland seat of Dawson, accompanied Gough Whitlam on a historic trip to China and championed a range of social causes from uranium mining to animal welfare.
He died last month in Mackay aged 89.
Most Queenslanders however remain oblivious not merely of his death, but also of his life.
Originally published as Australians don’t get sentimental about political leaders
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