Bill Shorten makes appeal to Gough’s faithful

Riffing on Whitlam’s “It’s Time” theme, the Opposition Leader asked for a vote for change.

Bill Shorten delivers a speech during the 'Vote for Change Rally' at Bowman Hall in Blacktown, Sydney today. Picture: AAP

COMMENTARY

Bill Shorten has sought to re-energise Labor’s election campaign with all the razzmatazz and emotional appeal to the ALP faithful spectacularly linking to Gough Whitlam and reinforcing his “big target and crash or crash through” agenda.

Riffing on Whitlam’s historically successful “It’s Time” theme the Opposition Leader reached back 47 years to 1972 and asked “the women and men of Australia to vote for change”.

Then Opposition leader Gough Whitlam delivers the ALP election policy speech at Blacktown Civic Centre in 1972. Picture: National Archives.

Facing tightening polls in key marginal seats and concessions from Labor frontbenchers that there could be a hung parliament Shorten needed to reinvigorate the ALP campaign and chose a rousing speech to the Labor faithful in a highly orchestrated, controlled atmosphere with lots of applause, cheering and standing ovations.

This was an event for the Labor base and designed to capture the evening television news as the political advertising blackout hits.

Shorten said: “On May the 18th, we ask you to vote for new ideas, for new equality of opportunity. We ask you to vote for new purpose and new energy in a new decade”.

“And we ask you to vote for the new vision, the new stability and the new determination of a new Labor Government,” he said.

Reflecting the tightening electoral contest and the fears of a hung parliament Shorten said: “Never before has your decision and your vote been more important. Never has the case for change been more clear or more urgent”.

This was a rousing and colourful event typically full of emotion and understandably without any new initiatives.

Shorten happily identified with Whitlam’s vision for huge change and sought to engender the same enthusiasm for an Opposition Leader as was the case in 1972 for Whitlam making his second attempt at being voted into Government.

The downside is that Whitlam’s vision and crash through approach led to a crash which will worry older Australians and lively as it was Shorten’s speech lacked the spontaneity and genuine life of Whitlam’s speech.

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