I first met Tony Abbott back in 1994. He was being introduced to the Liberal Party as the new boy on the block. Alexander Downer, sans stockings, was there to welcome him to the fold. It wasn’t a big event, more of a surreptitious meeting of the Liberal hierarchy. This was back in the early 90s, when the Dark Prince ruled Oz.
After years of the flamboyant Hawke leading the country, celebrating the Australia’s Cup win, gloating over everything except the fact that he had to give up the drink to get it, we suddenly were stultified by the Spectre from Bankstown. This usurper presided over interest rate rises unheard of before or since. We were subject to his claims that ‘this was the recession we had to have’ and that Australia was headed towards being a ‘banana republic’ unless we signed over our sovereignty to Asia.
It was indeed a dark time, and the Liberals felt it keenly. Such that this gathering was almost a clandestine affair. Held in a small North Shore venue that doubled as a restaurant on weekends, the Libs decided against splashing out on anything but Crown Lager and taxis. They barely had enough left over for the music, so myself and the piano player were grateful for the gig.
Keeping with the spirit, we played such tunes as ‘High Hopes’, ‘The Grass is Greener on the Other Side’, and ‘If I Ruled The World’. Thanks to such repertoire, our musical talents were requested often during those dark days.
I don’t remember seeing John Howard at any of these functions. He had recently been passed over for the leadership in favour of Downer. Yet a year later he held the baton again, and a year after that was PM.
As he said prior to winning, ‘it would be like Lazarus with a triple by-pass’.
Whether Tony can effect such a miracle is doubtfull, whereas the new boy on the block, Turnbull, has plenty of time to prove his mettle. Mark my words.
