Malcolm Farr: Long-time Australian Politician. Kim Beazley, Still Trying To Find Identity
Kim Beazley today marks a quarter of a century in Parliament with celebrations marred by opponents insisting no one knows what he stands for.
It's a remarkable record of political service, that makes the Liberal attacks on Beazley particularly extraordinary.
The suggestion is that, after 25 years, the Labor Leader has managed a profile which contains little other than the fact he is a nice bloke.
Mark Latham's rancid recollections gave that profile a jolt by accusing Beazley of being a dedicated smear merchant. Like much in the Latham book, the charge was unsustainable, but for a brief moment we had another dimension to the Beazley presentation.
John Howard isn't convinced there's much to see in Beazley, and for roughly 10 years he has delivered two personal, and effective, jibes.
One is the "no ticker" claim which emerged as a political weapon in the 1998 election campaign and which Labor has had difficulty demolishing.
Even Bob Hawke, Beazley's mate, said in a recent book: "He wasn't a good leader of the Opposition because he didn't have that tough nasty streak."
Imagine what John Howard says.
The second line of attack is the claim Beazley stands for nothing.
What makes the charge so remarkable -- and so damaging if accepted -- is that he has been around for so long.
There are 59 members of Parliament older than Kim Beazley, who by comparison will be a puppy-ish 57 this December. However, there are only four MPs who have served in Parliament longer than he has, and they are all Liberals.
It's a remarkable record of political service, that makes the Liberal attacks on Beazley particularly extraordinary.
The suggestion is that, after 25 years, the Labor Leader has managed a profile which contains little other than the fact he is a nice bloke.
Mark Latham's rancid recollections gave that profile a jolt by accusing Beazley of being a dedicated smear merchant. Like much in the Latham book, the charge was unsustainable, but for a brief moment we had another dimension to the Beazley presentation.
John Howard isn't convinced there's much to see in Beazley, and for roughly 10 years he has delivered two personal, and effective, jibes.
One is the "no ticker" claim which emerged as a political weapon in the 1998 election campaign and which Labor has had difficulty demolishing.
Even Bob Hawke, Beazley's mate, said in a recent book: "He wasn't a good leader of the Opposition because he didn't have that tough nasty streak."
Imagine what John Howard says.
The second line of attack is the claim Beazley stands for nothing.
What makes the charge so remarkable -- and so damaging if accepted -- is that he has been around for so long.
There are 59 members of Parliament older than Kim Beazley, who by comparison will be a puppy-ish 57 this December. However, there are only four MPs who have served in Parliament longer than he has, and they are all Liberals.