THE world began a new era of reform in 1980. Margaret Thatcher was demolishing the neo-socialist state that had turned Britain into the sick man of Europe, while in the US Ronald Reagan was elected promising similar economic policies, vowing to deliver greater freedom and smaller government.
1980
Azaria Chamberlain goes missing
In Australia the government of Malcolm Fraser faced the voters offering tax cuts and conservative economic policies. Fraser was returned, but with a smaller majority. And The Australian got a new boss who was, by mid-decade, to preside over its move to profitability, 21 years after its inception.
Economic rationalism
By the late 70s Western democracies were in the thrall of a theory known as economic rationalism. It was a coherent reworking of classic laissez-faire theory that called for markets, not states, to respond to economic and social needs. Thatcher ended the post-war era of social paternalism and collectivism in Britain by privatising public utilities, cutting taxes, fostering home and share ownership and putting trade unionism to the sword. It was a social revolution.
Thatcher’s conviction that “the least government is the best government” was shared across the Atlantic by Reagan, a former actor and governor of California, who campaigned as a freedom warrior in the 1980 presidential election.
Reagan promoted economic rationalism as “supply-side economics” or “trickle-down economics”, based on tax cuts for the rich. He argued that the funds freed by the cuts would be reinvested in businesses that would provide jobs and better living standards for everyone.
He was right — up to a point. Revenue lost from tax cuts had to be borrowed, and Reagan left office with his nation $US3 trillion in debt.
Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke, after a stellar career as a union advocate and head of the ACTU, entered parliament after the October, 1980 election.
Reagan also branded the Soviet Union “the Evil Empire” and set in train the economic and strategic moves that would bring communism to its knees. This included the Star Wars project to provide the US with a shield against missile attack.
Fraser cautious
In Australia the influence of economic rationalism was felt through the Liberal Party’s conservative wing, the “dries”. But Malcolm Fraser was a “wet” who chose to modify the push for reforms, agreeing to lower tariffs, deregulate industry and expand the private sector while resisting calls to reduce welfare and other social services.
Fraser’s caution meant he was to leave the big-ticket items like the floating of the dollar and the sale of state-owned enterprises such as Telecom to the reforming Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.
Hawke, after a stellar career as a union advocate and head of the ACTU, entered parliament in the October 1980 election, in which Labor, under Bill Hayden, won back many of the seats it had lost in the final Whitlam rout of 1977.
I still recognised that he [Murdoch] was the boss – always. He had the final decision even when I thought he was wrong, and there were those occasions.
Ken Cowley
Leadership of News Limited (now News Corp Australia), publisher of The Australian, changed in 1980 when Ken Cowley took over as chief executive.
He held the job for 16 years and was at the helm when the paper moved into profit.
Cowley started his working life as an apprentice printer moonlighting as a theatre usher in Bankstown in Sydney’s southwest. He was also recruited to play rugby league for a Canberra team, so took a job as a compositor on the Canberra Times.
“Canberra was growing very fast,” Cowley recalls. “There was a new suburb just about every day. I could sense there was a big space out there with no magazines and no television — just radio and Times, which had become a bit slack because of its monopoly.
“There was virtually no reporting of parliament in the Times — people relied more on the SMH and The Age for that, while the Times did the small parish pump stuff without recognition of it being the national capital.”
When Cowley asked Times owner Arthur Shakespeare for a better job because he had technical qualifications and management experience, Shakespeare “looked up from the book he was reading and thanked me for letting him know. And so that was that — I decided to start my own newspaper.”
Cowley launched The Territorial in Canberra with Eric Walsh as editor and saw it grow into a profitable weekly. He says he dreamed of being able to grow his business into a national newspaper, but lacked the resources.
Cowley and Murdoch
When he took over as managing director he convinced Murdoch that he had to be allowed to manage the company without Murdoch dealing directly with each of his Australian editors and managers. He set out to bring teamwork to the local managements involved in producing The Australian, overcoming years of resentment and opposition because its losses were shared around the group.
When he heard that Rupert Murdoch was planning a Canberra paper he suggested a joint publishing enterprise but, unable to match the finances required, agreed to sell his business, which became the platform for The Australian’s launch. Murdoch offered him an editorial role, but he preferred to stay on the technical side so was hired as production manager on three months’ probation.
Cowley constantly battled with first editor Max Newton because of his shambolic approach to production processes, but oversaw the purchase and installation of facsimile equipment and computer systems that were to answer the problems involved in producing a national paper from multiple print centres.
In 1976 he was one of four group general managers and in 1978, deputy managing director. He was very close to Murdoch, share-farming and managing Murdoch’s Yass property, Cavan.
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen at the Premiers’ Conference in Melbourne. Picture: Mike Arthur.
When he took over as managing director he convinced Murdoch that he had to be allowed to manage the company without Murdoch dealing directly with each of his Australian editors and managers. He set out to bring teamwork to the local managements involved in producing The Australian, overcoming years of resentment and opposition because its losses were shared around the group.
“Rupert and I used to have vigorous debates,” Cowley says. “They weren’t shouting matches but mutual respect allowed me to forcefully put a point of view. I was a bit pushy about things I was worried about and, having formed my views, I put them strongly.
“I still recognised that he was the boss — always. He had the final decision even when I thought he was wrong, and there were those occasions.”
After he stepped down as News Limited chief executive, Cowley turned his attention to his great second love — the Australian bush. He was a mate of the legendary bootmaker and bush outfitter RM Williams and acquired the business in 1993. Its products sold in 15 countries before Cowley sold 49.9 per cent to the French luxury goods maker LVMH last year for $50 million.
Cowley’s first editorial appointment at News was to elevate Les Hollings to managing editor of The Australian, replaced by Bryan Boswell.
The former London-based reporter, with a keen eye for stories on Israeli spies, was closely associated with Bruce Rothwell, the former editor-in- chief, but he lasted just seven months in the job before resigning for personal reasons.
In November 1980, deputy editor Warren Beeby took over and was longest serving of the five editors who worked under Hollings from 1980 to 1983.
The Chamberlains
Also in 1980, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from a camp site near Uluru in central Australia, setting in train a national controversy that raged for decades.
Australian athletes defied calls for them to boycott the Moscow Olympics but managed to pick up just two gold medals.
And John Lennon was gunned down outside his apartment building in New York.
In 1980 the first State of Origin rugby league game was held, with Queensland winning and beginning a dominance over NSW that continues today.
1980: Baldwin bashing0:39
Former politician Peter Baldwin begins his ABC interview by answering the question: how do you know your bashing was politically motivated?
Not a pretty sight
Labor MP Peter Baldwin incurred the wrath of someone when he asked too many questions about the workings of the right-wing-run Enmore ALP branch. He received a severe bashing in a Marrickville street. Photos of his face, widely published, drew attention to his reform crusade, although no one was ever charged.
First IVF success
Back then they were called test-tube babies; today the IVF procedure is so common as to be unremarkable. Australia’s first IVF birth, coming two years after the first in the world, was Candice Reed, born on June 23 to Linda Reed, pictured. Turning 30, Candice said: “The best thing about being an IVF baby was knowing that I was loved and wanted well before I was even conceived.”
A fair stab at it
After 50 years of making movies about murder and mystery, the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, died on April 29. Spellbound, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Birds and yes, the shower scene in Pscyho ... few have summoned up fear more skilfully on the screen.
Understanding business and education
The Financial Australian (now called Business) broke out as a paper within the paper on June 17. “Announcing the Financial Australian, as a separate paper, a paper that cares about business and the business community,” it vowed on day one – a pledge kept to this day. On February 13 the first Higher Education section was published – cementing the paper’s interest in education and research since its earliest days.
Welcome, SBS
The Special Broadcasting Service began TV transmission on channel 0-28 in Sydney and Melbourne on October 24.
The Chamberlain story: in the beginning
It was the night of August 17. Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, on a camping trip to Ayers Rock, report that baby Azaria has been snatched from their tent by a dingo. So begins one of the longest legal sagas – and miscarriages of justice – in Australian history.
The journey begins...
CONCEIVED as a newspaper ‘of intelligence, of broad outlook’, the national daily was born into a revolution.
Come the revolution
AS BABY boomers came of age, the Menzies government made a fateful error that galvanised youthful dissent.
The road to innovation
NEW technology helped the Canberra-based national daily overcome some major challenges.
The road to recovery
IN A turbulent year, the national newspaper’s relocation to Sydney brought immediate results.
Year of wonder and despair
A HEAD-SPINNING series of events changed our lives forever – and sent correspondents on a magic carpet ride.
The greatest show on Earth
ARGUABLY the biggest story of last century, the moon landing also marked the beginning of a new era for print journalism.
Turning up the heat
AS THE cry for social reform grew louder The Australian developed its own strong voice.
Leadership ping-pong
AS ITS cartoonists and writers lampooned PM John Gorton and his successor William McMahon, The Australian’s editor found himself in a difficult position.
Time for a change
LABOR’S campaign jingle reflected a true seismic shift in public opinion, and Rupert Murdoch heard the call.
All the world’s a stage
THE arts enjoyed a renaissance in both the nation and The Australian, which boasted an A-team of journalists.
Spinning out of control
THE Australian supported Whitlam’s Labor, but signs were emerging the government was losing its grip.
On a slippery path to the cliff
THE Australian nailed its colours to the mast in 1975.
Post-Dismissal blues
THE Australian bled in 1976 amid accusations of bias, but there was plenty to report at home and abroad.
A tyro makes his mark
WHEN The Australian celebrates its 50th anniversary at a function next month, the guest of honour will be Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Heeding the front page
IN his third year as editor, Les Hollings’s campaign influenced the Fraser government’s tax policies.
Bye to a decade of tumult
BY 1979 Australia’s great post-war decade of change was coming to a close.
Rationalism takes hold
THE world began a new era of reform in 1980.
Shots ring out from afar
INTERNATIONAL assassination attempts and royal nuptials grabbed the headlines while Australia waited for reforms.
A near-death experience
DISAGREEMENTS between management and staff almost killed off the paper then edited by Larry Lamb.
Afloat in a sea of change
DECISIONS made in 1983 put the nation on the road to globalisation, rebuilt its economic foundations and redefined the way we lived and worked.
Power to the individual
GLOBAL trends turned out to be rather different from those envisaged in Orwell’s dystopian novel.
Older, wiser, and no longer out of pocket
THE Australian was in black for the first time as it turned 21, and a period of prosperity lay ahead.
Farewell to Fleet Street
KEN Cowley was a key strategist in the landmark relocation of Rupert Murdoch’s London operations to Wapping.
Joh aims high, falls low
THE market crashed amid political upheaval.
Bicentennial and beyond
IT WAS a time for fun but also introspection.
A new epoch takes shape
SOVIET communism became a thing of the past as the decade ended.
Hold the front page ...
WOMEN take the reins of power in two states and political prisoner Nelson Mandela walks free.
The Kirribilli showdown
BOB Hawke and Paul Keating jostled for power, while Iraq’s Saddam Hussein invited the wrath of the world.
The landscape diversifies
EDDIE Mabo took the fight for Aboriginal land rights to the High Court and won.
No cakewalk for Hewson
JOHN Hewson flubs his chances in the ‘unlosable’ election, but Shane Warne doesn’t miss any in the Ashes.
Death of a campaigner
JOHN Newman’s assassination rang a bell, and Henry Kissinger pulled no punches in his Nixon obituary.
An end and a beginning
AS the last of the political old guard passed on, the Liberals prepared for a return to power after 12 years.
Rebirth in deadly times
THE Port Arthur massacre prompted new prime minister John Howard to launch a crackdown on guns.
Bougainville showdown
THERE were mercenaries in PNG, a sex scandal in parliament, and the accidental death of a princess in Paris.
Status quo under threat
WHILE we debated monarchism, industrial relations and the GST, unrest in Indonesia spurred Suharto’s exit.
The republic can wait
AUSTRALIANS didn’t want a president they couldn’t vote for, while Y2K loomed as an impending catastrophe.
Sorry before the Games
RECONCILIATION got short shrift from a scandalised PM but the Sydney Olympics lifted everyone’s mood.
World struck by tragedy
GEORGE W. Bush took over, Osama bin Laden unleashed terror, and the Don proved to be mortal after all.
Blood and tears in Bali
ISLAMIST terror left a deep scar in Australia’s neighbourhood, and we bade farewell to the Queen Mother.
Where there is smoke…
THE year began with the federal capital in flames, then the war on Iraq began. And a governor-general quit.
Playing their last innings
STEVE Waugh retired, David Hookes died and Mark Latham exposed his wickets in the year of the tsunami.
Not what they seemed
TONY Abbott almost found a son, the ALP lost another leader, and an old foe gave Sir Joh a state funeral.
He shall not be moved
THE AWB scandal and Peter Costello’s dummy-spit leave John Howard standing, but Kim Beazley bows out.
Scene set for a knockout
KEVIN07 proved too hot for John Howard, and a ‘terror suspect’ turned out to be just a doctor on a 457 visa.
Balm for a nation’s soul
THERE was practical and symbolic progress on the indigenous front in the year we lost Hillary and Utzon.
Shock, horror, disbelief
TWO searing tragedies marked the start of the year; by the end of it, Tony Abbott headed the shadow cabinet.
Suddenly, Julia steps in
KEVIN Rudd’s demise at his deputy’s hands was brutal and swift, but it was preceded by a string of Labor woes.
The nastiest deluge of all
NATURE and the Wivenhoe Dam were exceptionally unkind to Queensland the year we hosted Barack Obama.
It’s the whole dam truth
QUEENSLAND’S political landscape is transformed, and we farewell two doughty Australian women.
Clash course in politics
THREE PMs starred in our longest election year.
The next half century beckons
WHATEVER the future of curated news, The Australian is determined to build on its achievements.
