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Things had quickly gone pear-shaped. Runaway inflation was making life unbearable for everyday Australians. Unemployment was creeping ever upwards. And motorists were paying prices at the petrol pump which seemed like a dystopian fantasy just a couple of years beforehand.
The gloss has worn off the new government, which was spending like a drunken sailor to enact its reform agenda in health, welfare and education. And the new prime minister, still emboldened by his own landslide victory just 23 months earlier, was ignoring all the signs that his government was on the nose and headed for electoral oblivion.
Despite all this, he insisted the next overseas tour - one of a dozen in just 24 months - was the right thing to do. He ignored the protesters at the airport who told him not to come back. He ignored his own Labor Party president, who warned the trip would antagonise voters at an election the following year.
The prime minister was Gough Whitlam, the Labor president Bob Hawke. If inflation at the time was running at 18 per cent, hubris was running even higher and it would cost Labor dearly. Despite all the noise about the 1975 dismissal, the ALP was thrown from office by voters in December of that year.
Defined as excessive self-confidence and pride, hubris has been the undoing of successive prime ministers and governments. Keating, Howard, Rudd, Abbott and Morrison all fell victim to it.
Which is why it's something to which our current PM Anthony Albanese seems to be attuned lest it surface within his own ranks. He made that apparent at his victory speech in May last year, when he testily called for quiet from the adoring crowd of Labor true believers. This would be a disciplined government, he told supporters.
Amid the triumphalism around the Aston by-election victory, he again warned against hubris, saying despite the historic win - the first time in a century the government had taken a seat from the opposition in a by-election - Labor would not get ahead of itself and keep its feet on the ground. His MPs would do well to take heed.
Most of the commentary around the Aston by-election was naturally focused on the Liberal Party and what it meant for its direction and leadership. Peter Dutton had said the vote would be a test of leadership and conceded it was a failure for the Liberal Party. But scant attention was paid to the hubris warning light as it momentarily flashed amber on the Labor dashboard. And the irony of Bill Shorten assessing Dutton's shortcomings as opposition leader was lost in the hullabaloo.
Ordinary Australians are facing challenges on multiple fronts: cost of living, housing, out of control rents set to be made worse by a huge increase in migration, ongoing supply chain woes and bubbling resentment over the costly AUKUS deal. They want a government ready to address those challenges. And, just as important, they want an opposition to present alternative policies - not just negativity - to meet them.
It might be tempting for Labor to wallow in the sweet treacle of the Aston victory but it would be folly to linger there. As Gough Whitlam - and recent popular leaders like Jacinda Ardern and Finland's Sanna Marin - have discovered, voters can turn like the weather if they feel their concerns are not being taken seriously enough.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Is there a danger hubris will infect the Labor government? Is hubris an inevitable byproduct of power? What's the best way politicians can stay in touch with the concerns of voters? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Australia's national security laws watchdog has labelled actions by the Home Affairs Department to keep hidden a sensitive terrorist risk report as "shocking" and "of very great concern". Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Grant Donaldson delivered his scathing report into laws that allow terrorists to be detained after serving their sentences, calling for the unnecessary rules to be scrapped and describing the department's actions as inexcusable.
- The Albanese government has declared it is a "step closer" to ending the budget cuts and culture wars against the national cultural institutions, announcing a $33 million lifeline over the next four years to the National Library of Australia's beloved free digital platform, Trove.
- Indigenous leader Yunupingu is being remembered as a great Australian whose legacy, kindness and wisdom will live on for generations to come. The Yothu Yindi Foundation confirmed Yunupingu died peacefully at his home aged 74, surrounded by his family and ceremonial adornments in northeast Arnhem Land on Monday.
THEY SAID IT: "Hubris is one of the great renewable resources." - PJ O'Rourke
YOU SAID IT: The Easter holiday rush so often ruined by traffic.
Diane says: "Well, we hibernate here - small village, lots of autumn colouring, lots of visitors (who don't read the 'park rear to kerb' signs in tiny spaces and reverse at will). Most don't seem to actually see much, just the local cafes and shops, which they have at home, but they are out in the countryside - they think. They miss so much of the beauty and the bush and wonderful birdlife. But, hey, maybe they see that driving here and back!"
"I took my family away for Easter once," says Garry. "We played cricket with other families on the highway. Never again. Everything at Port Macquarie was packed with queues everywhere. After the kids grew up we went away for Easter just two hours away in Sydney. Stayed at a nice hotel by the harbour and enjoyed the ambience. Paid top dollar but it was worth it away from the mayhem at home. Once was enough. We would not go away by plane, any ambience is taken away by the lengthy stays each way at the airport."
Alan and his wife used to travel at Easter time: "But not any more. We moved to Tasmania from NSW. I don't see the sense in driving hours on end at Easter time. There are too many idiots on the road."
Arthur says: "One of the advantages of being retired is being able to choose not to go away over Easter, Christmas and school holidays. A welcome escape from the rat race."
Erik's home town is often overrun by holiday-makers: "We live in the Upper Blue Mountains and have to deal with day trippers every day, standing five abreast on the footpaths with no thought for others, dogs on long leads set for tripping over. But it keeps people employed and churns cash through the local economy. There are up-sides."
"Stupid, aren't we?" muses Wayne. "Humans are by far the most destructive creatures in this planet and the most selfish. Hard to efficiently go anywhere these days. But over the holiday period, it's five times worse. Very stressful traffic jams, and this is how we spend our holidays!"
Graham says: "It's definitely staycation for me. Now I'm retired, if I go away during public holiday periods, I always leave at least a day earlier and return at least day later, using secondary roads, which are much quieter."
"Been living in a tourist destination for nearly two years now," says Bob. "And like the long-term locals, dread the influx of tourists. They're known as 'terrorists' here. They might be good for the local businesses and economy, but the shopkeepers class them as rude, arrogant and litterers. The increase in the number of cars on the roads is linear, but the increase in the number of idiots is exponential. Therefore, we tend not to travel too far at all during holiday periods. It's one of our survival tactics. Other survival tactics include shopping early and keeping a low profile. The light at the end of the tunnel is that they'll all be gone again by this time next week."