| Review of: | The Longest Decade by George Megalogenis |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Rae Wear |
| Reviewed in: | Australian Journal of Politics and History |
| Date accepted online: | 14/01/2008 |
| Published in print: | Volume 53, Issue 03, Pages 465-504 |
Book Reviews
George Megalogenis refers to the years between 1990 and the present day as the longest decade for much the same reason that Eric Hobsbawm christened the period from the end of the French Revolution to the First World War as the long nineteenth century: there is a unity of experience in the era that ignores calendar markers. Just as the twentieth century did not really end till after the changes wrought by the great war, the 1990's in Australia are, in Megalogenis' words "still going strong". This is because Paul Keating and John Howard, despite differences in style and national vision, are the joint architects of economic changes that have changed Australia irrevocably.
Megalogenis gives a highly readable account of the way materialism and fear have gone hand in hand during the politics of this long decade. He chronicles in detail the way in which Keating and Howard's deregulatory policies have shattered the old, relatively egalitarian, Australia. He suggests that the GST debates around the 1993 election taught voters to see their relationship with government in strictly commercial terms, although Keith Hancock, writing more than six decades ago, observed a similar connection. Nevertheless the materialism of this earlier era seems modest, even innocent, compared with the fixation of modern Australia with getting and spending that the author chronicles. He also provides some revealing insights into the Canberra Press Gallery's proneness to groupthink in their assessments of political leaders and policies.
The book is arranged in chapters followed by snapshots, small illustrative vignettes of the Keating-Howard era. This makes for easy reading, but works against deep exploration of changes that have crept up on us, that distinguish the longest decade from its predecessors. This is unfortunate because Megalogenis is an acute observer and many of his insights beg further consideration. One such is the cult of Anzac, its back-packer pilgrimages to Gallipoli, young people lining the streets on 25 April and attending dawn services. Having raised the issue Megalogenis offers only a couple of sentences of not very satisfactory explanation before turning to something else. Similarly his insights regarding the rise of Brisbane as a parochial white-immigrant city countering the multiculturalism of Sydney and Melbourne receive little space.
To avid followers of Australian politics, much of