And Latham wants to address the big issues in town (ie: the soft, social issues) and considers the economic issues to be over-stated, over-rated and over-hyped. No wonder, Treasurer Costello yesterday said words to the effect of "try telling that to anyone who's got a job, or has a mortgage".
No wonder "It's Time". It's time for a new beginning, It's time for a new start. It's time for all the excesses of the Whitlam era to be repeated. It's time for Tirath Khemlani (the money lender from out Pakistan way) to reappear. It's tidme for Rex Connor to have his pipeline dream. It's time for Al Grassby to stalk the Parliament in all his flashy ties and flared suits. It's time for Jim Cairns and Juni Morossi to strut their stuff. It's time for Labor to buy their way into controlling the Senate by offering Vince Gair the ambassordorship to Ireland. It's time. It's time. It's time.
Why is it that the prodigal son is already sounding very much like the "return of Lizurus" (as minor as that can get). Even the Beazley and Crean references are the same, 30 years later. It's time. It's time. It's time.
All the soft decisions, the in-decision, the reflection, and the distortions are the same. But in the end, Labor sent the country crashing to recession in late 1974, and repeated the exercise again in 1990 (going into 1991).
Now with the soft issues very much back on the agenda (and the hard issues very much bereft of any detail), I have this over-whelming sense of de ja vu. It's time. It's time. It's time.
Even Little Patti is being lured back out of retirement. Now, I have seen it all. It's time for a change. A change for the better. It's time for Latham to go and find a new career because change will require much more than reminiscing about the past, a past which will immediately become relevant for the present.
By going with the It's Time fundraising theme, Latham risks re-opening all of the wounds generated by the 3 years dominated by Labor from 1972 to 1975 and all the excesses of power, abuse, and contempt of Parliament, of the people, and of the processes of Goavernment (the Khemlani money raising proposal was designed to by-pass the scrutiny of Government altogether). So whilst it may be time for some, It's Not Time for a change.
