March2015 No.514 VolumeLix,Number3 , Mervyn Kimm, Graham Bradley, Christopher Rule, Michael O’Connor Letters 3 Damien Cremean, Hal G.P. Colebatch, Peter McCloy, L. Peter Ryan John O’Sullivan Chronicle 7  Peter Coleman quodlibet 9 Peter Murphy Economy Post-Creative America’s in Conflicts Class New Society 12  Daryl McCann Freedom of War the or, War, Long The politics 18  Anthony O’Hear Life Public in Religion religion 24  George Jonas Chronology A Spies: and Traitors history 34  Anne Henderson London Wartime in Menzies about Day-Dreaming 44   Hal G.P. Colebatch Election 1977 the and People” “Boat The 50   Michael Connor Musicals Other and Frocks in Rocks Redback theatre 58  Constitution Shimon Cowen Australian the and Tradition Religious God, theconstitution 62  Painter Douglas Hassall Constant The Auerbach: Frank art 70  Commodity Ian Callinan a as Art 76   B.J. Coman Birdlore culture 80  John Whitworth Muse Poetic the and Cope Wendy Malley, Ern poetry 86  Patriotism Chris Walder about Thought Really Johnson Dr What literature 88  Alan Gould XVII Takes Short firstperson 90  David Fulton Radio of Days Golden The 94   Iain Bamforth Avenues and Forests Trees, environment 96  Neil McDonald Iraq in Even-Handed film 99  Daniel Hart Bay Milne After story 101  Pomerantsev Derek Parker Peter by Nothing is True and Everything is Possible books 104  Peter Costello Coleman Peter by Memoirs of a Slow Learner 106   Patrick Morgan Wilding Michael Wild Bleak Bohemia by 107   ryan 111 The Kiap’s Retort Peter Ryan Type Uncharitable The Les Murray; Clippers Nail with Grooming 11: Poetry  Trevor Bailey; Ornithology; Gleision Gwyneth Lewis; 17: The Haircut; His Voice; One Hundred Times; The Chigaree Suzanne Edgar; 23: Sabbath Poem Victoria Field; 31: Three poems in praise of Forest Trees of Australia Russell Erwin; 42: From Inside the Window Knute Skinner; 43: Burning Jennifer Compton; Water Boots Nana Ollerenshaw; 49: The Sans Souci Reserve Les Wicks; 61: Tail-bones; Briny Ashlley Morgan-Shae; Two poems Rod Moran; 68: The Last Bus Knute Skinner; 69: Bad Man Dreaming; Moonset 6 a.m. Suzanne Edgar; 75: The Clearing Victoria Field; 79: Water for Worship Andrew Lansdown; 85: Her Brother is Dead; Your Own Words John Foulcher; 89: Tension Victoria Field; 95: Petals Scattering Andrew Lansdown; 98: I Never Found Those Lips Again Joe Dolce; 110: Reflections on the subject ... Dan Guenther; 112: The Man with the Gun Andrew Lansdown John O’Sullivan to edit Quadrant in 2015 and 2016 Editor KEith WindsChuttle John O’Sullivan [email protected] I am pleased to announce that the distinguished British journalist LitEr ary Editor John O’Sullivan will be editor of Quadrant for the next two years. Les Murray John is one of international journalism’s most experienced editors, having spent nearly a decade in New York as editor of National dEput y Editor George Thomas Review, and in Washington DC with the Nixon Center where he edited National Interest and the Heritage Foundation where he edited Contributing Editors Policy Review. Most recently he lived in Budapest as director of the Books: Peter Coleman Danube Institute and associate editor of the Hungarian Review. Film: Neil McDonald From 2001 to 2003 he was editor-in-chief of United Press Theatre: Michael Connor International and from 2008 to 2011 executive editor of Radio Free CoLumnists Europe and Radio Liberty in Prague. He remains editor-at-large and Peter Coleman a frequent contributor to National Review. From 1998 to 2001 he was Peter Ryan an editorial consultant to Hollinger International Inc and a lead- Editor, Qua dr ant onLinE ing member of the journalistic team that created the National Post, Roger Franklin Canada’s first national newspaper. In the 1980s he was editorial page [email protected] and op-ed editor of both the New York Post and the London Times. John’s book The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister (2006) Editor-in-ChiEf on the central roles played by Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and Keith Windschuttle Margaret Thatcher in the collapse of communism and the revival of Western market democracies, has been published in English, Subscriptions Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, Polish, Italian and Hungarian. Phone: (03) 8317 8147 In 1987–88 he served as a Special Adviser to Prime Minister Fax: (03) 9320 9065 Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street. During this period and after Post: Quadrant Magazine, he left Downing Street, he served informally as a regular speech-writer Locked Bag 1235, for the Prime Minister. Later he was one of the small team that assisted North Melbourne VIC 3051 Lady Thatcher in the writing of her two volumes of memoirs. E-mail: quadrantmagazine@ In 1996 he was the founder and co-chairman of the New Atlantic data.com.au Initiative, an international bipartisan effort dedicated to reinvig- orating and expanding the Atlantic community of democracies. Publisher Launched by Czech President Vaclav Havel and Lady Thatcher, the NAI played a major role in bringing the countries of central and Quadrant (ISSN 0033-5002) is eastern Europe into NATO. published ten times a year by Quadrant Magazine Limited, During John’s tenure as editor, I am stepping down as editor of Suite 2/5 Rosebery Place, Quadrant magazine but taking up two new positions, one as chair of Balmain NSW 2041, Australia the board of Quadrant Magazine Ltd, the other as editor-in-chief, ACN 133 708 424 with a general oversight of the magazine and of Quadrant Online and Quadrant Books. Production Elizabeth Prior Jonson, who has been chair of the board of Quadrant Magazine Ltd for the past seventeen years, has stepped Design Consultant: Reno Design down from that position. I want to take this opportunity to publicly Art Director: Graham Rendoth acknowledge how valuable has been her service to the organisation. Printer: Ligare Pty Ltd She became chair at a precarious moment in the magazine’s life in 138–152 Bonds Road, late 1997, when former editor Robert Manne had abruptly resigned Riverwood NSW 2210 and new editor Paddy McGuinness was picking up the pieces and Cover: Colours of Australia arranging to move the office from Melbourne back to Sydney. Since “Hamersley” then, under her chairmanship, the publication has not only survived but gone from strength to strength. During my seven years as editor, www.quadrant.org.au her support was unfaltering and her counsel invaluable. Fortunately for the organisation, she will stay on as a member of the board. 2 Quadrant March 2015 Let ters elections. Aborigines were given was: “Do you approve the pro- the vote in West Australian state posed law for the alteration of the elections in 1962 and in Queensland Constitution entitled—‘An Act state elections in 1965. to alter the Constitution so as to Aboriginal Voting Myth Further, in 1962 the omit certain words relating to the Commonwealth passed legislation People of the Aboriginal Race in SIR: Wolfgang Kasper is wrong giving all Aboriginal adults the any State and so that Aboriginals when he states that Aborigines vote for Commonwealth elections are to be counted in reckoning the “had been denied the vote at federal with the proviso that an Aboriginal Population’?” The successful refer- elections before 1967” (January- person had the option whether or endum resulted in the deletion of February 2015). It is regrettable that not to have his or her name on the the words “other than the aborigi- a man of his erudition should add electoral roll. nal race in any State” in S. 51 xxvi his support to perpetuating that Thus, Aboriginal people had and the deletion of the whole of S. myth. the federal vote well before the 1967 127 from the Constitution. The first Commonwealth referendum. No doubt the myth that Parliament passed the Franchise As to citizenship, the sub- Aborigines gained the federal vote Act 1902 which provided: “No ject of another common myth, because of the 1967 referendum will aboriginal native of Australia, the Nationality and Citizenship continue, helped along by asser- Asia, Africa or the islands of the Act 1948 made everyone born in tions like that by Wolfgang Kasper. Pacific, except New Zealand, Australia an Australian citizen: Mervyn Kimm shall be entitled to have his name before that we were all, including Mallacoota, Vic placed on the electoral roll, unless Aborigines, British subjects. so entitled under Section 41 of the The purpose of the 1967 refer- Constitution.” endum concerned two provisions of SIR: It is hard to dispute Wolfgang S. 41 stated: “No adult person the Constitution, namely S. 51 xxvi Kasper’s central contention that who has or acquires a right to vote and S. 127. S. 51 xxvi stated: “The constitutionally entrenched dis- at elections for the more numer- Parliament shall, subject to the crimination in favour of one ethnic ous Houses of the Parliament of Constitution, have power to make group leads to social disharmony a State shall, while the right con- laws for the peace, order and good and is self-defeating. But he is in tinues, be prevented by any law of government of the Commonwealth error to characterise the likely ref- the Commonwealth from voting with respect to: ... (xxvi) The peo- erendum on indigenous recogni- at elections for either House of ple of any race, other than the abo- tion as seeking to entrench positive Parliament of the Commonwealth.” riginal race in any State, for whom discrimination. Before Federation there had it is deemed necessary to make spe- On the contrary, the most likely been significant acquisition of cial laws.” S. 127 stated: “In reck- referendum proposals will seek to Aboriginal voting rights in the colo- oning the numbers of people of the remove two race-based clauses.