The Power of One

On The Record:  Politics, Politicians and Power
By Laurie Oakes
(Hatchette Australia, 2010, 400 pages)

The Canberra press gallery has over 150 journalists.  All of them are very competitive, seeking to break that story that will propel them to national fame, or add the suffix ''-gate'' to some scandal they have uncovered.  Australians would struggle to name a handful of these journalists, just as they would probably struggle to name more than a handful of politicians.

But there is one political journalist most Australians could most likely name -- Laurie Oakes.  He has been reporting politics from Canberra for over four decades.  He has broken the stories that have dominated national headlines -- from the 1980 Federal Budget that he obtained before its release, revealing the secret Kirribilli agreement between Hawke and Keating and the impending challenge;  and, most recently, the cabinet leaks before and during the 2010 federal election campaign.

When national politics is the centre of attention, it is Laurie to whom people turn their television dials.  Even more interestingly Laurie has over 19,000 followers on Twitter -- illustrating that in the age of competing and new media, reputation and credibility remain important attributes when people want news.

It is also Laurie to whom journalists and politicians turn, as his coverage inevitably sets the tone of the next media cycle.  It is Laurie to whom leaders turn when they want to ''get out a message'' or lance a political boil through his regular Sunday morning interview, for they know it can set the media agenda for the day and coming week.  It doesn't always work out that way, though -- as more than one political leader has seen an interview with Laurie represent the end of their aspirations.

Laurie's longevity in the press gallery is extraordinary, as far as I can tell second only to the legendary Alan Reid (who served in rhe gallery for just under 50 years) in the mainstream media.  The first prime minister Laurie covered was John Gorton.  Gough Whitlam had recently been elected leader of the opposition.

I emphasise this point as it is important to understand this length of time when considering this book.  The longest serving current MP is Philip Ruddock, first elected in 1973, by which time Laurie had already seen several election campaigns.  There is virtually nothing that Laurie hasn't seen.  Whether it be political coups (he has seen 11 leaders toppled), struggling governments, scandals, debates over Australia going to war or relations with the United States and China (both of them!) Laurie has seen these debates evolve over more than anyone currently in Canberra.

But this book is also different to the others so often released about politics.  It is not a retrospective analysis of an era or series of events.  It is a collation of pieces written and published at the time, along with an analytical introduction, covering major events over more than forty years.

To students of politics this is of real value.  While books such as Kelly's The End of Certainty are valuable studies of a period, they are not primary sources -- whereas this book is just that.  To read the article on the Iraqi Loans Affair is to read what was published in the now-defunct Sun News-Pictorial at the time, and to gain a better understanding of the political frame and mindset ot that period.

What this book does is illustrate how some challenges in politics are constant -- a handy lesson for new politicians, journalists and commentators who might think they have discovered something new or profound.  For example, the following passage could have been written at many times over the past four decades.

It seems especially middle-class Australians who make up the bulk of the population, are feeling remarkably insecure and vulnerable.  They're alarmed at the rapid pace of social and political change, bewildered by it and deeply pessimistic about the future.

And while in recent months there has been a great deal of discussion about the role and impact of new media on political debate, why do we think these concerns are new?

The handlers of all the candidates fear gaffes and awkward questions.  They prefer their candidates to be seen on evening news shows making public appearances they can more closely control, and to spend millions of dollars on TV commercials, where without challenge they can hammer home simplistic themes.

The first excerpt was written in 1988, the second a quote from a Time article that Laurie wrote about in 1984.

Another excerpt, written in 1992, is particularly predictive about the impact of the ''town hall'' style of community forum debates we saw for the first time during the 2010 campaign.  Writing about the impending 1993 election between Keating and Hewson:

It would be instructive to watch Keating and Hewson dealing with questions from people outside the political club -- either a cross section of Australians or a group of undecided voters ... this format would not only result in more substance in the debate, but also reduce name-calling and personal attacks because community disapproval of that kind of behavior would quickly become apparent in a town-meeting context.

The new element of this book, apart from the introductory sections to each chapter, is the new material about the extraordinary political execution of Kevin Rudd in June 2010.  Laurie is able to outline just how extraordinary this coup was, having seen leadership ''transitions'' on both sides.

When Laurie attended Julia Gillard's address to the National Press Club just prior to her calling the 2010 election, those who knew Laurie also knew to stay tuned.  As he outlines, Laurie rarely attends the Press Club.  When he does, something is brewing, and it is not usually good news for the speaker.

On this occasion Laurie simply asked Julia a question about that topic she was so keen to avoid, her role in the execution of Rudd.  The look on the new Prime Minister's face said it all -- shock, bewilderment and a little fear.  It set the scene for further revelations during the campaign that did so much damage to the Labor campaign.

It also illustrated the value of journalism in its most pure form.  In a Lateline interview with Leigh Sales upon the release of this book, Laurie was passionate about this most basic element of journalism, and this undoubtedly explains his longevity in this role as well as his standing:

... I think my job as a journalist is to try and find out what's happening, get as much information as I can.  But what I learn I should make public, it's what I'm paid for, what the public trusts me to do ... I don't think we can't keep secrets because we think that we know better than the voter.  We can't protect the voter from information.  That's anti-journalism.

In politics, too often we think we have discovered something new.  Staffers, politicians and journalists who think there is a new way to do things would do well to read this book.  The truth is that in reality very little is genuinely new in politics, and a lack of knowledge of history can be a very dangerous thing.