Australia’s Hundred Days

That remarkable flurry of activity in Canberra is the Whitlam cabinet certifying to one and all that Australia has elected not merely a new government, but, as it were, a new regime. Its features are still inchoate, hovering as it does between what is desirable and what is possible at the moment.

But let us begin with the commanding political reality—Labor’s seizure of political initiative from the Liberal-Country Party coalition. The previous government had grown sluggish, timid, and leaderless after 23 years in power. Unable to grasp the flow of public opinion and the substance of various changes, it tended to adopt a low-profile, defensive posture of compromise on issues lest they disturb its precarious parliamentary majority. In short, the Liberals were progressively less able to keep pace with the liberal tendencies they had introduced into Australian politics. This is due partly to the willingness of the Liberals to define their position in relation to the somewhat radical and fragmented Labor Party. They might have continued to benefit from this state of affairs, except that two years ago Labor found, in Mr. Whitlam, a leader to unify the party and bring its policies and pronouncements in line with majority opinion. He deftly rejuvenated his party by coopting liberalism from the Liberals.

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Hiram Caton

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That remarkable flurry of activity in Canberra is the Whitlam cabinet certifying to one and all that Australia has elected not merely a new government, but, as it were, a new regime. Its features are still inchoate, hovering as it does between what is desirable and what is possible at the moment.

But let us begin with the commanding political reality—Labor’s seizure of political initiative from the Liberal-Country Party coalition. The previous government had grown sluggish, timid, and leaderless after 23 years in power. Unable to grasp the flow of public opinion and the substance of various changes, it tended to adopt a low-profile, defensive posture of compromise on issues lest they disturb its precarious parliamentary majority. In short, the Liberals were progressively less able to keep pace with the liberal tendencies they had introduced into Australian politics. This is due partly to the willingness of the Liberals to define their position in relation to the somewhat radical and fragmented Labor Party. They might have continued to benefit from this state of affairs, except that two years ago Labor found, in Mr. Whitlam, a leader to unify the party and bring its policies and pronouncements in line with majority opinion. He deftly rejuvenated his party by coopting liberalism from the Liberals.