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Book Review
| Michael Hogan and David Clune, The People's Choice: Electoral Politics in Twentieth Century New South Wales, Parliament of NSW and University of Sydney, Sydney, 2001. 3 Volumes, Vol. 1 pp. xiv + 391, Vol. 2 pp. xiv + 493, Vol. 3 pp. xiv + 446, $93.50 paper.
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| This is a well-presented three volume set, with each volume covering approximately 30 years. It has, in part, been funded by a grant, having been nominated by the NSW Parliament, as a Federation Centenary Project. All general elections in NSW from 1901 to 1999, a total of 34, are covered by an individual chapter. There are some nineteen contributors with many of the chapters based on earlier monographs. While the present edition is not footnoted the original monographs were. One author, Michael Hogan, wrote most of Volume 1 covering the first nine elections. Each of the volumes has an epilogue by the editors which summarises what they see as the salient features of the period. This provides continuity for the publication. However there is a considerable variation between the approaches taken by individual contributors. |
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For students of political history in twentieth century New South Wales these volumes are a mine of useful information. Contained within each chapter are summary tables of voting statistics for each election. The last chapters have additional statistics, such as information for party electoral spending and pre-election opinion surveys relating to the most recent elections. |
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There are short biographical sketches, together with black and white photographs, for many of the more important politicians and party officials. Electoral maps have been included for each redistribution of parliamentary seats, but unfortunately Newcastle and Illawarra electorates have not been shown for most of the first half of the set. The bibliography is extensive and suggestive of considerable extra research material for interested students. All three volumes are profusely illustrated with an excellent collection of cartoons and they provide a detailed picture of the changing parliamentary electoral process over the century. |
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The comprehensive nature of this publication is a strong point. Readers who seek an introduction to the politics of each period will find considerable information on the leading political identities. As an example the complex infighting that took place between Lang and his opponents within the Labor Party of the late 1930s is well discussed. Another example, the politics of the Newcastle region during the early 1950s, provided ample references to district politicians such as independent MLAs, Frank Purdue and Tom Armstrong. These examples could easily be multiplied many times. Although the emphasis is on the unusual, several long-serving Newcastle area Labor MLAs, such as Jack Stewart and Arthur Wade receive no mention. |
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The list of social issues covered is again comprehensive. However in the main these issues are presented from the vantage of the major political figures and parties. Perhaps this is inevitable in a publication sponsored by the Parliament of NSW. It is certainly accentuated by each chapter having as its focus one particular election. The extra parliamentary oppositional movements are largely missing. Ian Campbell, in his study of the 1962 election, discusses this relationship with the concept of 'nationalisation of politics' by centralised political parties. Robert Dempsey in his chapter on the 1968 election discusses Nick Origlass in the context of local initiatives. But these are too few. No doubt there are those that would argue that my assessment is questionable, however within this context it is interesting to note that only one of the contributors is female and the only detailed statistics on female participation in the electoral process are given for the 1995 election. |
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While separate chapters on each election by individual contributors make it difficult to follow themes of social change, or continuity, this is not the case for the first volume which is largely the work of one author. Michael Hogan has used his study to correctly identify the importance of sectarianism as an open electoral issue for the first quarter of the twentieth century. In his presentation Hogan continuously identifies British Protestant loyalist and wowser values with the non Labor parties. As a sweeping generalisation this is true. However it ignores large numbers of Labor voters and trade union activists who did not cease to be staunch Protestants merely by voting Labor. Those who believed in arbitration, decent legislated working conditions, well funded public education for their children, adequate ambulances and public hospitals, cheap building society finance for home ownership, restrictions on gambling and alcohol together with loyalty to the Empire (later the US alliance) and suspicion of Roman Catholics in politics made up a significant number in many Labor electorates and country centres in marginal seats. |
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As an example, I would cite industrial Newcastle which in a local referendum held in December 1944, reaffirmed existing bans on Sunday sport. Earlier in 1941 the same issue was decisive in giving the State Labor Party victory over the Official ALP in local government elections in Cessnock. Methodist lay preacher Frank Purdue, MLA for Waratah, won what the text describes elsewhere as an industrial seat, on three occasions stretching into the 1960s, by appealing to Labor voters on just such issues. Jack Stewart held nearby Kahibah for the ALP by embodying the same values. As a teenager, during the late 1960s, I was a member of Kahibah ALP branch. It did not contain a single catholic. The mention of B.A. Santamaria would not fail to produce hissing for a variety of reasons. These areas are not in what the text refers to as the Bible Belt; they should be. |
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David Clune, in discussing the 1959 election, acknowledges the existence of a protestant and masonic subgroup inside the ALP. Otherwise nowhere in the overall work is the relationship between these protestants and the Labor Party explored. Writing protestants and wowsers out of the Labor Party is too common a theme in Australian political history. |
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Despite these reservations that the original research material should have been read differently, the authors have not been negligent. The social issues are in the text. There are many examples of the inter-relationship between religion and politics even if sectarianism appears to be viewed from a narrow angle. This work is a valuable introduction to its topic. Its individual chapters provide detailed research into 34 elections. It would be a worthwhile acquisition for your own or your local public library. |
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| Mt Royal via Singleton |
TONY LAFFAN | |
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