Political commentator Robert Godden returns to scrutinise the Australian Labor Party’s position ahead of the March 2026 South Australian election, exploring whether the modern political machine still beats with the heart of the original labour movement, while the Musical Pilgrimage features Steve Davis’s original song “Australia Day” reflecting on community cohesion and national identity.
As the March 21st, 2026 South Australian state election approaches, the Malinauskas Labor government maintains polling numbers that would make most incumbents envious. Yet beneath this apparent stability, questions linger about whether today’s ALP still embodies the values of the workers’ movement from which it emerged, or whether it has become something else entirely.
** The image for this episode features Gemini’s best effort of imagining Steve Davis and Robert Godden as modern day Don Dunstans.
This episode features no SA Drink of the Week, a decision that tips its hat to both Robert Godden’s teetotalling preferences and to King O’Malley, the flamboyant insurance salesman who permanently removed the ‘u’ from ‘Labor’ while dodging questions about his own birthplace.
The Musical Pilgrimage presents Australia Day by Steve Davis and The Virtualosos, a song that addresses social cohesion and community connection in contemporary Australia, themes that connect directly to the political fragmentation discussed throughout the episode.
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Running Sheet: Is The ALP Guaranteed Victory In The 2026 South Australian Election?
00:00:00 Intro
Introduction
00:00:00 SA Drink Of The Week
There is no SA Drink Of The Week this week.
00:02:37 Robert Godden
The Adelaide Show: Special Briefing — The Labor Machine
This conversation serves as the companion piece to episode 423’s examination of the South Australian Liberal Party. Where that episode explored the Liberal Party’s challenges, this discussion has our political commentator, Robert Godden, apply the same analytical rigour to the South Australia Labor Party‘s position heading into the 2026 state election.
The conversation begins with King O’Malley, that peculiar figure in Australian political history who was, in Robert’s memorable description, “50% staunch Australian politician, 50% carnival worker.” O’Malley’s legacy includes both Canberra and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, institutions that prompted Robert to reflect: “Most of us Australians can just give thanks to the days, you know, before you go to bed, you think, I’m glad I live in a country that has a bank with an appalling logo and a capital city in the middle of nowhere.”
The historical roots of the labour movement trace back to the Industrial Revolution, when workers were, as Robert puts it, “really the AI of the day, you know, come and get this. It’s cheap, it’ll do your work for you and you’ll make a huge profit.” This parallel between 19th century industrialisation and contemporary technological disruption threads through the conversation, particularly when Robert shares the story of a logistics company owner whose business is failing because “the work he used to do in working stuff out for people is now done by AI.”
The discussion explores how guilds differed from unions, with Robert explaining that guilds “were designed to move their members toward the ruling class. They weren’t, guilds didn’t really exist to lift all boats. They were a highly specific rising tide.” This distinction becomes relevant when examining modern Labor’s approach to worker representation.
Robert traces the evolution of Australian labor politics from its foundation in the shearers’ strikes of the 1890s through to contemporary challenges. The ALP emerged as the world’s first labour party to form government, a fact that speaks to Australia’s democratic traditions. Yet the party has undergone significant transformation, moving from representing primarily blue-collar workers to a broader base that includes professional and service sector employees.
The conversation examines whether modern Labor still serves its founding principles or has become absorbed into the political establishment it once challenged. Robert notes the irony that many Labor MPs now come from professional backgrounds rather than the shop floor, raising questions about whether they truly understand the working-class experience they claim to represent.
On the Malinauskas government specifically, the analysis reveals a pragmatic administration that has maintained stability during challenging economic conditions. However, Robert questions whether this stability comes at the cost of bold vision. “Is it enough to simply manage well, or should a labor government be pushing for more substantial change?” he asks.
The discussion touches on the tensions within modern Labor between traditional unionised workers and newer constituencies, between economic management and social justice, between South Australian interests and national party directions. Robert suggests that while Malinauskas has successfully navigated these tensions so far, the test will come when difficult choices force the government to reveal which interests truly take priority.
When examining Labor’s electoral prospects for 2026, Robert notes the Liberals’ current disarray creates favourable conditions, but warns against complacency. “Oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them,” he observes. The question becomes whether Labor can maintain discipline and avoid the kinds of missteps that have undone seemingly secure governments in the past.
The conversation concludes with broader reflections on the state of South Australian politics. Robert suggests that both major parties face a fundamental challenge: reconnecting with an electorate that increasingly feels disconnected from traditional political structures. This alienation creates opportunities for minor parties and independents to claim territory that major parties once dominated.
Throughout the discussion, the historical parallels between past industrial disruption and contemporary technological change illuminate present challenges. Just as workers in the 1800s faced displacement by machinery, today’s workforce confronts automation and artificial intelligence. The question of how a modern Labor party responds to these challenges reveals much about whether it remains true to its founding mission of protecting workers’ interests.
01:24:41 Musical Pilgrimage
In the Musical Pilgrimage, we feature Australia Day by Steve Davis & The Virtualosos.
The Musical Pilgrimage connects directly to the episode’s themes of social cohesion and political fragmentation. Steve introduces his original composition “Australia Day” by reflecting on how disconnection fuels the rise of fringe political movements.
The song addresses the transformation of Australian community life, opening with the observation that “The Australia which I was born had lots of backyards and lots of lawn, and we knew our neighbours down the street.” This nostalgia isn’t mere sentimentality but recognition of something lost: the neighbourhood connections that once helped integrate newcomers and build social cohesion.
Steve explains how two factors exacerbate contemporary division. First, physical disconnection: “My dad used to know everyone in our neighbourhood, and therefore we did too. Now most of us hardly know anybody. We’ve got our houses closed off.” Second, algorithmic isolation: “The communication we do have externally is very filtered. Algorithm-focused content that feeds more of what the big American corporations like Meta and Google think is going to pander to our vulnerabilities.”
Drawing on his own experience living in Hungary, Steve reflects on the immigrant perspective: “When you’ve moved somewhere new… you look for compatriots to connect with, so you’ve got something to hold onto.” This understanding shapes the song’s call for empathy and connection rather than fear and division.
The song’s chorus captures the core message: “Who’s here is here now let’s make it work. It starts with learning. We share this dirt, we share the same song, we share the flies, and there’s a vibe here beneath our skies. Just tone it down, be laid back, bend a little, and cut some slack.”
Steve positions the song as a counterpoint to political and social fragmentation, a reminder of Australian values that have, imperfectly but meaningfully, helped diverse groups find common ground. “Part of that is not blowing a fuse at the smallest thing. It’s actually calming the farm and being a little bit laid back, holding things a little bit loosely, drawing a line in the sand when it needs to happen, but not making that a knee-jerk reaction.”
The song is available on all streaming platforms, and Steve extends an invitation to performers who might want to bring their own interpretation to the material.
Here’s this week’s preview video
There is no video this week.
SFX: Throughout the podcast we use free SFX from freesfx.co.uk for the harp, the visa stamp, the silent movie music, the stylus, the radio signal SFX, the wine pouring and cork pulling SFX, and the swooshes around Siri.
An AI generated transcript – there will be errors. Check quotes against the actual audio (if you would like to volunteer as an editor, let Steve know)
426-The Adelaide Show
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Steve Davis: [00:00:00] Hello, Steve Davis here and welcome to episode 426 of the Adelaide Show. We are making this a pigeon pair with episode 4 23. What do I mean by that? Episode 4 23, our political commentator, Robert Godin, joined me to reflect on the woes and the triumphs and the future of the Liberal party in South Australia.
And to be fair, we had always planned to do this. Uh, we are now returning to give the same blowtorch treatment to the Australian Labor Party in South Australia. So that’s what’s in store in this discussion. There is no essay drink of the week and that perhaps we can put down as a a a a hat tip to our commentator, uh, Robert, who himself is a Tea total, and also, uh, king O’Malley, who will feature in this discussion coming up.
And in the musical pilgrimage, we’re going to have a listen to a si wrote called Australia Day. That taps [00:01:00] in to, I hope you’ll agree, uh, the current mood reading and the, the, the status of thought within Australia about being Australians and interacting with each other. Because I think some of the themes there, I.
Are the themes that leave the door open to fringe parties to come in and claim territory.
Theme: Lydia, the refugees. Lydia Lady who?
Lydia
Lady. Lady
Caitlin Davis: in the spirit of reconciliation. The Adelaide Show [00:02:00] Podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout South Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Theme: That lady, lady.
Lady Lady.
Steve Davis: As we look toward the South Australian state election on March the 21st, 2026, the political landscape feels strangely settled. Despite the biting pressures of cost of living and a healthcare system under constant strain, the malus labor government maintains a polling lead that would make most incumbents.
Envious [00:03:00] Today though, we’re gonna peel back the branding of the modern A LP to ask whether the current political machine still beats with the heart of the original labor movement. We’ll also explore a bit of curious history about how a flamboyant t totaling insurance salesman named King O’Malley managed to permanently delete the letter U from the party’s name to make it look in modern all while dodging a few questions about his own birthplace.
With that introduction, let me welcome our political commentator, Robert Godden. Robert, welcome to the Adelaide Show.
Robert Godden: Nice to be here. Steven. You can certainly see my birth certificate if you need to. I was born in Wales, south Australia.
Steve Davis: Okay. King O’Malley, of course, many people believed he was born in America, but he said he was born in Canada so that he could be a part of the British crown and therefore run for Parliament.
So you don’t have any of that, although why? Uh,
Robert Godden: no, no. Look, I think that King’s, uh, uh, [00:04:00] the, the idea that King O’Malley, uh, might be untruthful, um, it’s, you know, something that, that it leave to listen. It’s a judge. But, um, uh, he was sort of, um, the best description I’ve ever heard of him is he was 50% staunch Australian politician, 50% carnival worker.
And I think, you know, it depends on which 50% you were asking. Uh, he, he does leave us with a fabulous legacy Canberra. Mm-hmm. Was one of his ideas. Yes. And, uh, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. That’s right. And both, both things. I guess most of us Australians can, can just give thanks to the days, you know, before you go to bed, you think, I’m glad I live in a country that has a, a bank with an appalling logo and a, a capital city in the middle of nowhere.
Steve Davis: He, he also lived a long life, if I recall, I think, if I’m remembering [00:05:00] correctly, he lived to 99 and when he died in the fifties, was his last remaining early member of the early federation.
Robert Godden: May
Steve Davis: maybe just said he did. Yeah, well maybe said he. What can you believe? Alright, so the, the, the A LP, the Australian Labor Party.
Now with the liberals, we touched on liberalism and where it came from. And I’d like just to start before we get into Mali and what’s going on now? Oh, that isn’t that interesting. King O’Malley. And now we’ve got Premier Malley. I don’t wanna read too much into that.
Robert Godden: Well, I mean, uh, king O’Malley took the U out of labor.
Maybe, uh, maybe Mali will put it back in. That’d be a nice bit of circularity.
Steve Davis: Now, the labor movement itself, um, now you’ll correct me of course, but it hearkens back to the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the UK where the contract, if you like, between master and servant was brutally [00:06:00] lopsided. And it was trying to restore that balance with the workers who were considered as a great way to make money.
They were slightly more expensive than coal itself, and it was a way to just basically bleed everything for lots of profit. And at some point workers said, enough is enough. Our craft is being eroded. Uh, our value has gone through the floor. Something needs to change. You can take it up from there. But that is really the birthplace, is it not?
Robert Godden: Yeah. I mean, workers in the 18 hundreds, uh, were really the, the AI of the day, you know, come and get this. It’s cheap, it’ll do your work for you and you’ll make a huge profit. Um, and yeah, so the workers started to unionize. Uh, it, it, it is genuinely suppose that the, um, the cotton mills is sort of really, really took off.
But, uh, you also gotta consider the mining sector, uh, became very [00:07:00] strongly unionized, uh, and manufacturing generally. And, um, that’s certainly the roots of the party worldwide, and that’s certainly the roots in Australia. It, it was definitely, um, you know, the, the common working class man to use the, uh, popular terminology at the time you really did have these, um, strangely enough, at the time you had people who had a lot of money and people who had not much money.
We, of course, live in much more enlightened times now.
Steve Davis: Of course, yes. And also interesting when you made that throwaway comment before about King O’Malley, 50% staunch Australian and 50% circus entertainer. In some ways that hasn’t changed. It seems to be the leaders that rise to the top at the moment have that sort of formula.
But maybe we’ll come back to that later.
Robert Godden: Yeah. And, and it’s worth noting that Mark Lathan was only 10% professional in 90% clown. Yeah.
Steve Davis: There we go. Uh, wow. Uh, we’re just like four and a half minutes in, [00:08:00] um, back on the, the birth of this movement, the British Trade Union Act legalized unions in 1871. And the lead up to that, ’cause they had all their, um, their guilds, didn’t they?
That were, uh, where you had to work hard to prove yourself to become a member of the guild and then you were allowed to do certain things and this was. Well, heading towards the professionalism of this banding together.
Robert Godden: Yeah, I mean, we still say that we’re at sixes and sevens these days, which is a direct, uh, result of two guilds permanently swapping which one was number six and which one was number seven in importance in London.
You know, guilds were a huge thing. Um, and there was sort of one step up from a union because, um, the, you had to demonstrate a level of skill and they were aimed at the artisans. Whereas a union was always, you know, are you a downtrodden worker? Then come on in. Perhaps, we’ll, actually [00:09:00] was the money, perhaps we won’t, but, but on you go.
So the, the difference, I, I think a guild was halfway between halfway between the working class and the ruling class. Um. And, and it really, they were designed to move their members toward the ruling class. They weren’t, guilds didn’t really exist to lift all boats. They were a highly specific rising tide.
Steve Davis: And isn’t that because in the era of guilds, there wasn’t really a burning need to do that because we hadn’t necessarily had the onslaught of industrialization and so they were masters of their own domain to some degree.
Robert Godden: Yeah. In indeed. You know, and we see that today where people, um, have got lovely, lucrative jobs and AI’s come along and wiped it out.
I was talking to a guy, I had a logistics company that’s just about finished simply because the work he used to do in working stuff out for people is now done by ai. Um, and, and this is, you know, AI [00:10:00] is, is the new industrial revolution. So it’s a really good, uh, metaphor similarly for, for, for those times.
And it makes it easier for us to understand. But look, it, it was. It, it, it was an attempt to go from no power. Mm-hmm. To some power. Let, let’s not overstate it. The people who started the first unions didn’t wanna rule the world. They didn’t even want to get into parliament. They just wanted to get a fair go.
They just wanted be able to eat, feed their children, close their children,
Steve Davis: and maintaining the South Australian anchoring to this story, I only just discovered in prepping for this program that we had our very first taste of industrial disputation In what year? Robert Godard. When did South Australia, which was, as we know, proclaimed in 1836.
In what year did we have our first industrial dispute?
Robert Godden: Um, you’ve called me out Steve, but I’m gonna take a guess. And my guess is 1836.
Steve Davis: That is spot on. It was called the [00:11:00] Emma Protest. Uh, the crew of the Emma, uh, ship stage, their dispute for higher wages. First taste of it here in sa. Yeah.
Robert Godden: It, it’s, uh, it’s.
It’s a, uh, a common, a common theme in, in the last 200 years. You know what, what I’ve got, I’d like a bit more. Someone else has got a lot, lot more.
Steve Davis: And then the other thing, which has been a theme for our podcast since we began in 2013, is how we are a state of firsts often. And although unions were legalized in, in the British Trade Union Act in 1871, in 1876, we became the first territory in the British Empire outside of Britain to legalize trade unions.
And do you think, I mean, does that make sense? I guess we were supposedly convict free. We were landed gentry and earnest workers. Maybe that makes sense that we [00:12:00] rise to that level of exchange sooner than the rest of Australia.
Robert Godden: Look, it does make sense if you look at the founding in South Australia and the way it was.
Yes. Siphoning off the, a bit like India did, siphoning off the, you know, got one son to go to the priesthood and one son to go to the military. And what we’re gonna do with the third one sent in India, sent to Australia. Um, and, um, and Australia was started by some fairly radical ideas. And I think it was, it was definitely a place that was gonna go one of two ways.
It was gonna be new and innovative, or it was gonna be, um, you know, here’s a 750 page memo of what I think could happen. And, and, and luckily for us, uh, the, um, pioneers in South Australia were robust types, um, and, and pushed forward a lot of very progressive, uh, agendas. And I think, uh, we should specifically mention the women of South Australia, uh, given the, uh, the role South Australia had in giving women the vote, um, and giving women the right to stand for parliament.
And, [00:13:00] um, we find ourselves all these years later with a female opposition leader. And, um, it’s still sadly. Something where you go, oh
Steve Davis: yeah, it’s still a novelty. That’s novel. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And look, so 1876, we had that, uh, interestingly it was 1884 where that was Union, the United Trades and Labor Council was formed at a place called the Bristol Tavern in Adelaide.
Do you have any recollection of the Bristol Tavern? I, it sounds familiar, but I don’t think it either exists anymore. Yeah. Um,
Robert Godden: or I, I, I was under 18 in 1874, so I wasn’t actually able to go and drink at the Bristol T Tavern, but I had good things about it. And, um, uh, I, I, I think it, it’s lost in the midst of time.
That’s where that was. Um, and, uh, but it would’ve been an exciting thing, but maybe also a scary thing. Yeah. If you’re going along to the first [00:14:00] meeting of this, this, you know, fairly revolutionary idea, um, do, do you feel the thrill that you’re trying to improve the lot of your fellow man, or do you feel the fear that you’re trying to, you know, stand up to your betters?
Steve Davis: I, I feel that many of us forget the stakes that were at play, especially in the 18 hundreds and also in the, the first part of the 19 hundreds. Particularly if you were trying to think philosophically about grand ways of understanding life and organizing humanity. I mean, I, I just finished, uh, listening to Dostoevsky’s the brothers, Kara Ov and I, I had forgotten Dostoevsky himself was imprisoned, uh, because he was part of a group that were dared.
To be thinking about how things might change. And when we say, [00:15:00] we say, look, we gave women the vote. It’s almost like the, the vote for women was rested from the hands. I mean, there were some enlightened people around, but there was a lot of pushback, uh, and walking the streets at night back from these meetings when it would’ve been very scary to be known as an advocate of women’s suffrage, et cetera.
Robert Godden: Well, that was, that was everything socially. I mean, go back to King O’Malley and his, his championing of the Commonwealth Bank. Um, the Commonwealth Bank was a grassroots bank that, that was designed to help, um, you know, ev everyday Australians, um, newly Australians, given that federation had just happened.
And, um, you know, the, the conservatives were very against it. We don’t need a, a government run bank to help people. We need to keep our money and yours in our bank. Thanks very much. So, um, it doesn’t matter what you do to try to, uh, improve people’s lot. [00:16:00] If other people see that as regressive for them, they’re gonna find it.
Steve Davis: And it’s like we’ve come through a lovely golden era the last 20 or 30 years. I guess it depends on what topics you talk about, where we have felt safer to be more outspoken. But I feel like that is shifting again, especially if you look at what’s happening in America, try and make any statements against the ruling crazies and there’s real world, um, consequences at play.
But that’s for another, that’s for another discussion where I think this takes us as we edge closer to South Australia proper and moving from the labor movement to the Australian Labor Party is the thing that happened in the 1890s. Um. The a LP actually emerged after the maritime and shearers strikes because workers realized that they couldn’t win just with picket lines.
They actually had to change laws in the [00:17:00] house. And that’s my reading of it, that that’s when we get the Australian Labor Party.
Robert Godden: Yeah. It, it was a move from how can we influence parliament to, hey, we can be in parliament. Mm. You know? And, um, and there’s a lot more of us than there are of people who are necessarily, um, uh, opposed to us, uh, being there.
So yeah, it was a, look, it’s, it, it was an explicitly working class movement at the time and it was an explicitly working class movement for much of its history. Um, and, and. It is interesting that we, we go forward, you know, a hundred odd, a hundred and a bit years, and suddenly they’re a technocratic centrist party.
Um, uh, big infrastructure, economic stability, partnerships with business is their thing [00:18:00] and their, their argument to the working classes. Well, we’ve always had your back and we, we are the best option you’ve got, considering all the others, you know, not, not we your party, but you might as well stick with us in that the, you know, the, the liberals hate you and the one nation hates you even more, and the greens are lunatics.
Um, you don’t wanna be a communist, so you, you’re pretty well stuck with us. That’s, that’s the, the marketing push, uh, you know, better the devil, you know, I think should be their slogan.
Steve Davis: Yes. And, and just before I really bring us into looking at a LP South Australia, let’s just reflect on the different ways the labor movement manifested itself around the place in Britain.
We had those first moves here in the 1890s. It’s deemed that we can’t just be on the edge, we’ve gotta be in the middle America, slightly different. It seems like the unions [00:19:00] just state at the fisticuffs of fighting for better wages. Very much business focused at the, I I don’t wanna say the, the lower end, but the, where the rubber hits the road is.
Is that your reading as well?
Robert Godden: Look, America’s a funny place. America’s one of the first places to say we don’t need a king. And then proceeded to elect one. Yes. Yeah. Uh, and they’ve, they’ve had, they’ve had one ever since. Um, and, um. Yeah. I, I mean, you know the saying history repeats. Mm-hmm. People don’t pay enough attention to that.
Theme: Yeah.
Robert Godden: Like, it literally repeats. In 1933, a Norway, Norwegian, Nobel Prize laureate gave his medal to Bels in order to get a audience with Hitler to sec to protest about the way Norway, his home country was being treated. Like literally, you could not script this. Um, you, you could not script it. And, and, and the descent of America into fascism, uh, which is, you know, well and truly [00:20:00] a done deal, it’s not a theory, um, uh, is, has really made us look at America and say, were they, were they ever what they pretended to be?
And I don’t think they were. And, and it’s the suppression of the working class in America. Um, I once read someone say that the greatest con the American, uh, establishment ever did was to convince people with no money in America that they are temporarily embarrassed millionaires. You know, all you’ve gotta do is work hard.
You’ll be a millionaire tomorrow or maybe the next day or maybe the next day. And it’s never been true. And, um, you know, there are people who can’t feed themselves that are out there fighting against food for the poor because the poor are obviously lazy. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a, a con job. I mean, we might have imported one, uh, carnival Barker from uh, America, but they kept most of them to themselves.
Steve Davis: And I would’ve pushed a few years ago, I would’ve pushed back on that. But I’ve been reading some beautiful, [00:21:00] um, critiques over the last, what, 10, 15 years or so where all these self-made millionaire stories conveniently overstep, uh, or skip the bit where it was daddy’s or mommy’s money that they had bankrolling them in the first place.
That doesn’t get any credit. And of course, you can afford to make mistakes and try things when you never have the fear of hunger.
Robert Godden: Yeah, I indeed, um, uh, Jack Res now trout, or maybe that’s the other way around. Um, wrote a book in about 1985 called Horse Sense and it was, um, it was about how people get ahead in America.
It was, you know, historically and now and the overwhelming conclusion sheet and conclusion that they came to was be born with money. It’s the only way. Wow.
Steve Davis: Alright. Let’s shift gears and come and look at the way the a LP has had its highs and [00:22:00] lows here in South Australia. And it’s interesting ’cause you mentioned you are from Whyalla and the first ever labor majority government in South Australia.
1910. Uh, John Verin was a Cornish miner, not far from you up at Wallaroo. Um, the world’s first stable Labor Party government at any level. Pretty amazing.
Robert Godden: Um, yeah, I mean, stable’s an interesting, stable is a, it has degrees, you know, I mean, the stable member for Whyalla at the moment, once punched a policeman.
Um, but, um, yeah, look, I think, I think what’s really interesting is, um, if, if you take, say 1910 to, to the late fifties, early sixties, you, you’ve got this sort of very uniform movement of labor. Like they, they, they surprisingly win some elections. [00:23:00] They start forming a bureaucracy based, uh, you know, method and they, they start becoming more professional.
They go from being professional agitators to professional politicians to professional governors. And the Labor Party built up an awful lot of, um, skillset between 1910 and. The fifties. Uh, and, and, and to the point where at, at that point you can pretty well say that the idea that the conservatives were the natural party of government has sort of gone out the window.
Both sides have got runs on the board. Both sides have made dreadful mistakes. Both sides have had big, big hits. Um, and I think it is at that point that South Australia starts to diverge because we had two incredible politicians in this state, and one’s Thomas Playford and one’s Don Dunton.
Theme: Mm-hmm.
Robert Godden: So we, we had this [00:24:00] liberal, uh, politician and, and steel hall, I guess you’d throw in the mix too.
Um, who, who, who very much was build, build, build strangely enough like the Labor Party are today. And, and that actually got a lot of working people on site because hey, there are jobs. Uh, and, and then you had. The, the glorious era of bathing in that which we’ve been doing ever since. So, uh, I mean, six 12 of the last 16 state governments have been a LP in South Australia.
We, we we’re pretty committ to these guys, and I think it was really Dawn Dunston that captured the imagination and said, Hey, we’ve got this prosperity, now let’s concentrate on the things that make life worth living. Let’s concentrate on, you know, he, he, he’s, you can look at him as the sort of the arts, uh, premier, or you can look at him as a social justice premier.
But [00:25:00] either way, those things are sometimes considered, um, luxuries shouldn’t be luxury that people get treated properly, but it, it is a luxury for. Better times and, and better times had arrived by the seventies. Uh, petrol crisis, not withstanding,
Steve Davis: I, I do wanna come back to the seventies and get our teeth stuck in there.
I will make one observation with the connection of Dunston and the art, et cetera. I saw a, a story in just a few days before the time of this episode going to air in which the liberal party in the upcoming election is pledging to rebuild the arts, admittedly in the eastern suburbs by revamping a theater there.
Uh, but I thought that was an interesting, um, connection to make. We might come back to that, but I feel like there’s a couple of really important fundamental bits from the birthing phase of the a LP in South Australia. To note that government I mentioned in 1910 lasted a couple of years. So yes, what, what stable, [00:26:00] but what they found.
Was the upper house was blocking everything. ’cause that would’ve been very much conservative. And you have this in the early DNA of the a LP, this understanding that you’re gonna have these lofty ideas and they’re going to be thwarted. How that must surely bake in to everything that follows.
Robert Godden: Well, I I think probably the biggest manifestation of that is a 17 five, 5%, um, holiday loading in wards.
Clyde Cameron was so expecting pushback that he added a few completely fanciful things in, um, when they were playing. I go, oh, let, let’s make this stupidly ambit claim. No one’s gonna pay us more money to not be at work. That’s just ridiculous. They wanna pay us less money to not be at work. So let’s start, let’s start by asking for a lot more and hopefully get back to, you know, not losing anything.
And, um. That was one that slipped through the crack. So yeah, I [00:27:00] think, I think they do sometimes, sometimes default to that position. I, I remember there’s a story that Wayne Swan, on his first day on as treasurer, uh, got told, oh, you got a meeting at three o’clock with the Reserve Bank. And his first question to his advisor was, will anyone from the government be there?
And they said, yes. You, you know, the A OPD sometimes have that. We, we are the opposition. And, and look federally, professionally, they have been more of an opposition than they have been a, a government. Uh, they had some, some lofty successes. Um, what do you mean? I, I do consider the Hawk Government to be one of the finest governments of my lifetime.
Um, you know, I think that they’ve had some great governments, but, but e even, I mean, if you look at p people preferred Tony Abbott to the Labor Party. People referred Scott Morrison to the Labor Party. I think you see where I’m getting at here. The Labor Party weren’t able [00:28:00] to, to beat too easily beatable, um, candidates, be they, they they’ve, it’s sort of like a political cringe in the way we have a cultural cringe.
I think sometimes the a LP are a bit worried about seeming too, um, too confident and, uh, yeah, it, it, it convince Of course, we all know what happens when they get too confident. The, um, the Rudd debacle, uh, mark Latham. Um, so I think that, uh, you know, I, I, I think there is sometimes an attitudinal, um, thing.
There’s also, interestingly enough, I think in the labor movement, there are people who earnestly believe that if they do the right thing, they’ll get elected. And I think there’s people who earnestly believe it doesn’t matter what they do, get elected and then they can do the right thing. You know, and, and I think that covers all political strikes, but I think, I think there’s, there’s definitely a, there’s definitely a, to me, a feeling in, in [00:29:00] the labor side of things that we, we, we, some sometimes things like the, the small target, uh, strategy of Bill Shorten that was, that was aimed around, God, let’s not stuff up.
We’ve got this covered. Let’s just, let’s just quietly sit here and, and we’ll, we’ll get it because the other side is so bad. Um, but
Steve Davis: that’s only when you feel like you’ve got something to lose.
Robert Godden: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It’s really interesting. I mean, if I, I, I am got some thoughts on, on the liberal party, obviously, given that we did predict, yeah.
So about what, two weeks before it actually happened?
Theme: Mm-hmm.
Robert Godden: That there’d be a change of, um, bleeder. Now, to be fair, I wasn’t expecting the change till after the election, but nevertheless, um, I. Uh, Vincent Tarsia really did the right thing. And, and you’ve got a really interesting leader in Ashton Hearn because she’s now in that position.
You know, has she really got what it takes to, to win this? No. Um, [00:30:00] so what does she do? Does she go big or does she have a small target now? I think she’s gonna go big. Alright. But, um, and, and you know, there’s probably more than the region theater up for grabs here. Uh, but, but it’s interesting ’cause she could also take the tack and say, look, you might look at me and think I’m a first time parliamentarian.
I’m young, I’m female. And you might think that’s not what I expect my premier to look like. And you might therefore wanna vote the other way. Now, I’d rather you didn’t because I do think I am the right person. But if you decide to vote for the other side because you don’t think I’m experienced, well believe me.
After four years of being the opposition leader and holding this government to account, um, you can vote for me in 2023 and set up to actually take the credit for anything 2026, that party. Do you know, we, the, the reason that we’ve had, the reason it’s gone well is [00:31:00] ’cause we held into account. The reason it didn’t go well is ’cause they’re bad people.
Um, so yeah, look, but she’s not, she’s going out and saying, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna open a theater. I’m gonna, we’ll have roads, we’ll have all sorts of stuff and she’s gonna run a traditional campaign. She’s gonna lose. Um, but, but you do, you, you do have government mindset and opposition mindset.
Theme: And
Robert Godden: at the moment, what we’ve got in South Australia is the exact opposite of what it’s traditionally been.
Steve Davis: Right. Where the, where you’re saying the liberal party is now gonna have that big build playbook and the ALP is gonna be small target.
Robert Godden: Yeah, I think so. And I think, um, you know, it really depends. Um. The, the liberals will become a small target because if the polls go the way I expect them to, they’ll be small.
Yeah.
Steve Davis: Uh, look, I mentioned there were a couple of things about the foundational elements of the a LP in South Australia. We mentioned one of them, and that was the resistance of the upper house. The second one is gerrymandering or [00:32:00] play maning, as I’ve heard it referred to, um, where it wasn’t one vote, one value with the way the borders were divided up.
The electorates were, were divided up, uh, until about 1970, I believe is a, a turning point where we got that sorted and labor’s had better goes at the, um, at the ballot box. Since, what’s your reading on that? Have we got that right? And was that a big factor?
Robert Godden: Um, look, it’s generally considered that around about 19.
68, we sorted it. You know, we probably went for 30 years. Um, the liberal country league, as it was, um, stayed in power even, but when they lost the vote, they lost a popular vote. You know, labor could win 55% of the vote and not get in. Um, and, um, rural seats often had less than half the number of votes that, uh, uh, city seats did.
[00:33:00] Um, so Steel Hall really was behind the, the cleanup though, to be fair. To be fair, it was a, it was a liberal plot, um, but it was a liberal who fixed it. Um, and, um, uh, or he started it, it is probably, you you would probably credit it to, um, steel Hall starting after then passing the, uh, ball to Don Dunston.
Um, and, uh, and you know, I think we’ve got a great system here. I think the fact that our electorate change after every election to try to make them fair, I mean, never seems to work out that way. Um, but I, I, myself. Um, and in an electorate that gets one street closer to Nat Cook every redistribution. So Katrina Hillyard is my, uh, mp, but uh, every time they redistribute it, Nat cook’s creeping closer.
Um, and I get a well with both of ’em, so that’s not an issue. But, uh, it, it does make me laugh, uh, and I often get, uh, electoral, uh, stuff for both because the people who pound the pavements aren’t sure where the book, uh, boundary is. Yeah. Um, but I do [00:34:00] like that. I love the, um, I love the, the fact we distribu, I mean, all we do is tinker at the margins, but when you consider 30 years of blatant, blatant political, um, manipulation, look, he, Tom Playford is admirable for the things he managed to get done.
And, and he was an example of as long as we can get in, no matter how we’ll do what we think is the right thing. So I’m a lover of conviction. Politicians like Tony Abbott, right. Tony Abbott is a hundred percent convinced everything he ever did was right. And to be honest, I want that in a politician. I want a politician that’s gonna do the right thing no matter, um, what the stress is no matter what the circumstances.
Now, it may be that this is a politician whose idea of the right thing is not my idea of the right thing. Um, and, you know, I certainly don’t advocate things like munching onions. Um, but I think that, uh, I think that we, we missed that and [00:35:00] still hall a conviction. Politician. He absolutely knew that if he cheated his way over the other rabble and got to run the place, uh, sorry, Tom Claver, if he, if he cheated his way to power and um, and got to run the place, he would absolutely do a better job.
So therefore, it was, it was justified, you know, and, and you’ve gotta love a good conviction, politician. We’ve got one now. We’ve got a premier who, who a hundred percent believes in his own judgment.
Steve Davis: Wow. Well, let’s, well, let’s come to Peter Malus and the current Labor Party, uh, although actually no one thing I do need to get off my chest.
The dropping of the Letter U from Labor for when talking about the Australian Labor Party, one last mention to King O’Malley goes according to what I’ve discovered, it was about 1912 where he made the argument that it looked more modern and American and distinguished the party from the broader labor with a [00:36:00] u, um, coverage of general issues.
Do you think was a good move? Did you think that had to happen?
Robert Godden: Um, not if you’re trying to pretend you’re not American.
Steve Davis: Yeah.
Robert Godden: You know, I mean, you know, that’s, um, that’s the issue there. But yeah, look, I think it, it was, it was definitely down to him or definitely a part of him.
Theme: Yeah.
Robert Godden: Um, you know, I mean, we’re all, we all know why there’s no, you in Victor Harbour, it was American.
So, um, you know, I think that the same thing probably holds here. So yeah, I would, if, if we’re gonna give him credit for Canberra and the Commonwealth Bank, um, we might as well give him credit for the, the missing you as well, or, well, you say credit, but it is linguistic vandalism.
Steve Davis: Yes. Well, exactly. Uh, and just for you, um, just to remind, he was a staunch tea toler, and I loved, um, the, the phrase he used, he called alcohol stagger juice.
Isn’t that interesting?
Robert Godden: Stagger juice. I must add that to my lexicon along with things like, uh, stale grape [00:37:00] juice, eh?
Steve Davis: Yes. Anyway, so there we are. Let’s have a look at this party and its immediate four base, because we’ve touched on the era of Don Dunston. It seemed to energize. Most people in South Australia, there are people who, uh, were not happy, but generally speaking, we got dragged kicking and screaming into a modern, uh, enlightenment.
Then John Bannon took the bat on, and then of course the state bank fiasco happened. I don’t think we can get to the current government without just touching on that because it is a permanent, it’s like a birthmark that keeps getting, um, attention. Is it still a relevant point? Is it a moot point? Where does that sit as you reflect on the political landscape?
Robert Godden: Well, I think in the seventies there, there’s, there’s no doubt that labor federally and in South Australia [00:38:00] were, um. Susceptible to, um, con men with money, or in fact con men without money as in the Kimm loans affair. Um, and, and I think I, I think they’ve moved to a more professional footing now. Um, you know, they, they, they’ve, they’re not, they’ve got, you know, just as many lawyers and accountants as, as the liberals have as opposed to, you know, being a room full of, um, shop stewards.
So I think that they, um, I think those times are behind them, and I think it, it was a, a real kick in the guts. You know, if you, if you can’t attend the parliamentary cricket, annual cricket match, which you haven’t got enough members, it’s, uh, it’s a fairly big message from the electorate. And incidentally, I think, uh, liberals will be hoping it’s fireside soccer next time.
Um, but the, it was a terrible, terrible thing. You know, it really put the, um. Stayed right back [00:39:00] on its backside. It, it was an awful thing. And we all remember it, and we all hate the name Tim Marcus Clark. Mm-hmm. We will remember it forever. Um, but John Bannon was an earnest sort of guy. I mean, the, as a personal story, I, I have met Lynn Arnold several times and, and I think he’s one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met.
And, uh, while I obviously have very, very different views with him on religion, um, every time I see him, I think how cruel it was that they promoted him to be premier. Uh, this was not a man who was destined. He, he was a man who was destined to lead by his actions. He wasn’t a man destined to lead by his fist.
He wasn’t a man who should have power over anyone, and he’s a man who earns power over anyone. And so labor really did. They, they, they burned him. They, they decided they [00:40:00] won’t put anyone, we won’t replace Bannon with anyone that’s got a chance. Um, we’ll, we’ll just take our medicine. And I, and I feel that that really set them back.
Um, and um, and it really did, I think, narrow the base because at that time we see the SDA just starting to be the one stop shop for premiers and, um, uh, all things labor.
Steve Davis: And of course that’s the shop distributive and Allied Employees Association.
Robert Godden: Yeah.
Steve Davis: Uh, of which Peter Melinis Yeah. From which emerged.
Robert Godden: Yeah. One of the least militant unions, like the strength of the SDA is they take a few bucks from everyone that works at a shop and they’ve got tremendous war shoot. They, they, you, you don’t see them marching in the street very often. Um, you know, and, and so they’re the nice acceptable face of unionism.
Steve Davis: In getting ready for this. I did notice there’s quite a few people who claim that the [00:41:00] SDA, uh, they prioritize membership numbers and friendly deals with, you know, the Coles and the Woolies to maintain voting power with the A LP, which I think is what you were just saying.
Robert Godden: Yeah. And, and people like United Voice and other unions that are trying to come in on their, um, turf are saying, you know, well, you know, we could get in there and we could throw a few punches and, you know, you could suddenly, you know, you could work in a shop, but you could have the power of the C-E-F-M-E-U and, um, it’s a terrible idea.
And most people think that’s a terrible idea. You know, Hey, so I, I’ve got a reasonable life now, but hey, if I change unions, um, I might get a few more dollars, but I’ve also gotta march in the street, be arrested, and, you know, be run by thugs. Uh, I don’t think it’s, and I’m not suggesting United Voice of that, but I think if you draw the parallel to, um, to the C-F-M-E-U.
And that’s what happened when you have unfettered, um, movement in that direction. So look, I think the SDA will continue to be our overlords in South Australia for [00:42:00] the foreseeable future. Um, you know, I, I think the current, I said on our last session, um, Josh Peak, the current head, uh, will, is doing a good job and will remain there till the end of probably the second cus decade where it’ll take over.
Um, and I think we are, um, we, we just have to sort of settle back and we’re all comfortable with it. And at the end of the day, if you look at some of the people that run, some of the places in the world, sit there and go, okay, so we’re more or less being run by people who work in shops. Yeah, I can live with that.
Steve Davis: I think it’s a bad deal. So how do we get to Peter Malka as premier now? Because we had the, the dark shadow, it sounds like something from Lord of the rings of the state bank collapse, and then eventually Mike ran emerges and then we got ran and co that move on. Yeah. We, we have a brief, uh, interval with the liberal [00:43:00] party.
What’s, can we track
Robert Godden: ly? Yeah. So I, I think what we, what we go into then is the era of labor being clever, but not too clever. Okay. Um, and what they start doing is they start weaponizing things the other side say against them and turning myth into fact. Uh, you know what, what, what, what did Malcolm Fraser say famously?
Steve Davis: He said many things.
Robert Godden: The, the thing he’s most remembered for is life wasn’t meant to be easy.
Steve Davis: Mm-hmm.
Robert Godden: Now that was a sarcastic report, re remark, and he quoted. George Bernard Sure. In saying life wasn’t meant to be easy, but take heart child, it could be delightful. Now that is what he said it was. Uh, it was as a result of, uh, a member of Parliament complaining their job is too hard.
And, um, the Labor Party relentlessly cut that back. You know, um, the, uh, privatization of Edsa was completed when two labor members crossed [00:44:00] the floor. ’cause it was the right thing to do. But yet the, the, there’s barely a person in South Australia that don’t think the, the liberals did that all on their own.
Um, labor became very good at, at painting the liberals as cartoon villains throughout the eighties and nineties. And the liberals, of course, when I’m not a cartoon villain, ha ha ha ha ha. Which didn’t help, you know, and, um, you know, we had some pretty competent, um, premiers on the liberal side without anyone being really, you know, I mean, John Olson’s a nice guy and he’s big at the crows, but.
You wouldn’t go to battle with him. You know, he is like, I mean, I remember his ads. I’m a young man who grew up in business in the country, and then I listened to Ashton Hearn’s ad I have a country girl from the Bross Valley, I think, oh my God. In fact, it’s pretty well, the same seat. Um, and it’s, uh, they, yeah, uh, uh, the, for, for 30 years liberals have gone, Hey, we’re nice people trust us.
And labor have [00:45:00] gone, Hey, you said this, you said this, you said this. And even when laborers said something, you know, outrageous. I mean, don’t forget the last election. There were ambulance drivers lining up saying, people are gonna continue to die unless you vote labor. They’re on our tellies. And, uh, they’re very quiet now.
You know, they’re chalk all over every Amen. Every labor politician was posting photos of ambulances with prolab slogans written all over them. Um, and that’s been a fundamental embarrassment Now. But, um, but like America, you know, we, we voted in a dictator and uh, now we’re stuck with it. Um, and, and, and, uh, you know, I very much see, um, Peter Malus as a Trump-like figure.
Right. Can you explain that a bit more? Okay. So, so Trump has the absolute courage of his convictions. If he thinks this, it’s a good idea and therefore it’s gonna happen. Peter Malus is exactly the same type. Now, the only difference [00:46:00] between the two and, well, one of the only difference, the big one, is that Trump’s ideas are barking mad.
And Peter Malus is nearly always on the money. I mean, a couple of examples, um, labor were very committed to the co-location of the women and Children’s Hospital, despite the fact that the, all the best thinking now says there should be two different hospitals, but no labor. Were absolutely committed to smashing down the old police barracks and doing that.
Um, and the merging of the universities. Nobody wanted it except Peter Malki. So it’s happening, right. Um, so, uh, we barely see any other members, right? Um, if we need to be rude, we bring out Tom, Kurt, and Thomas, right? ’cause Malley’s never gonna be rude. He’s, he’s a lovely family man. Um, but you rarely see other members.
And when you do see ’em, they’re standing behind the premier and the premier will say, oh, this is what the minister’s gonna announce. Go on all [00:47:00] they can do, all they can do to stop from patting ’em on the head. And, and look, we’ve got some great ministers. We have some really, really good ministers in state.
We’ve also got some that are, uh, time service party hacks. Um, we see some interesting things where the Premier, um, gets involved. Um, the, the writer’s Wink Week controversy has a, a lot of. Questions, and maybe we could discuss that. But the first question is, why wasn’t the arts minister writing to him?
Steve Davis: Mm-hmm.
Robert Godden: And the reason is ’cause no one can remember who it is. That
Steve Davis: is a little bit
Robert Godden: unfair. Um, I mean, when Diana LeBel was asking minister, you knew, um, so, uh, but I think, I think he’s, he knows right from wrong and he’s a decent bloke, right? And I think no matter what your side of Pol politics is, I thought it was tragic that Stephen Marshall got the boot after one.
I thought the Marshall government was [00:48:00] 16 days short of being a brilliant government. I mean, literally the last couple of weeks, or two weeks in November leading up to the election where he made some terrible mistakes. But I, I, I thought, I, I didn’t believe a lot of what was being said about ramping turns out to be true.
Um, and I think that Stephen Marshall did a great job of getting us through COVID and, uh, and deserved another chance. Um, but that being said, um. Mel Naus got in and he knows right from wrong. He exercises his strong judgment. Um, he will jump in and just smash down anything that’s wrong. Um, he’s, um, he’s a, a, a cult and a personality without ever making you feel like that.
You know, he, he doesn’t have to tweet. Thank you for your attention in this matter. ’cause he knows he’s got it.
Steve Davis: Um, what’s interesting, so he, he’s a really interesting character. Look, he is, I’ve had a chance to chat with him twice. I’m sure he won’t remember either of them. But on both [00:49:00] occasions you get the sense of an intense engagement.
He looks you in the eye and he thinks there is. There’s stuff going on behind there. This, this is a man who weighs things up and, and wrestles with them. So I think that differentiates him from Trump.
Robert Godden: Yeah.
Steve Davis: Like you,
Robert Godden: I, I mean, WLA loves him because they have a sense that this is a guy that is busting his backside to get a better deal for Whyalla.
And it hasn’t necessarily worked, but Wla absolutely loves him.
Steve Davis: So is, does this then wipe away any sins of bad ideas? This, this, uh, way of operating that is my way or the highway is, is if we didn’t have that, would the government mean around drift around the road, man, without making decisions? Or would we possibly get better decisions?
[00:50:00] Because, uh, the research does tell us that a diversity of voices around the table. Lead to something good. And, and I’ve heard Andrea Michaels arts minister, but also small business, family business, um, I’ve heard her talk and she lands deeply about, um, thinking through what happens at the rubber hits the road at the small business, and especially from a female perspective.
And, but then you’ve got people like that are, are you suggesting they live in fear of not wanting to cross Peter Malanca or they defer to his success and Well, yes, he’s got us this far, so why would I sabotage the movement?
Robert Godden: Yeah. They’re all on the malley train and, and fair enough, there’s no real dissent.
Um, sometimes, uh, makes a few appointments that seem more personal than political [00:51:00] or, or professional. Um. Look, he’s really interesting. But, um, look, the, the difference between Trump and Malus too is their political setting. So, you know, the, the amount of power American president has compared to what State Premier has in Austral or an Australian politician.
But I think Kevin Rudd’s probably a, a better example in the Australian context. Kevin Rudd, again, a man with very much the strength of his own convictions, um, which as I said, I normally admire except when you go, you know, yelling at stewards.
Steve Davis: Yeah.
Robert Godden: Uh, and I think Kevin Rudd is the example of what happens when the, the Malka thing goes off the rails and people plot against you.
As far as I know, no one’s plotting against Peter Malus apart from the liberals. And they’re usually, I mean, they’re experienced ’cause they’re plotting against themselves all the time, but it’s hard for them to focus, you know? Um, but look, I, you know, Madeline ask us hasn’t made too many missteps. Um, so look at writer’s week.
’cause I think that’s a really interesting thing because we are looking for that thing. So in, in [00:52:00] Canada. Uh, it was expected to be a landslide for the conservatives, and then Trump got elected and the brand new leader of the, um, or the experienced leader of the conservatives said, look, it’ll be fine. We’ll work it out.
It’ll all be fine. And the brand new leader of the liberals there said, this man’s an idiot, and we have to fight him. And, and he went from, they went from being something like 15% behind in the pulse to 15% ahead in about two weeks. So yeah, we, we do have a situation where you can’t see, um, the labor getting rolled at all, but something like that could happen.
So then we have this writer’s week. Is this the big thing that makes the difference? Is this the thing that really, um, really, uh. [00:53:00] Swings the power around. And the answer to that is no. Um, the premier, as I believe this is right, wrote to a independent board and told them the government’s view on things, the independent board, uh, exploded.
Like one of Wiley Coyotes, Acme gun power barrels. They made a decision. The premier backed their decision. The board decided they didn’t have the courage of the conviction of their decision. Half resigned, another half resigned. Some people may have left, joined, left again, moved to South America and started to commune.
I don’t really know. Um, but the Premier was saying, this looks bad because we, if I’ve read the whole letter several times and, and, and, and really his point seems to be if you banned someone last time. And they’re on the opposite [00:54:00] side of the, um, the spectrum Israel Palestine conflict to the person you’ve invited this time.
And this person has made statements that many people would consider inflammatory, and we’ve just had this massacre. So it’s in people’s minds. I mean, he wasn’t relating the, the writer to the event he was saying, it’s in people’s minds because of this event. Then maybe you should reconsider. I actually don’t think there’s anything wrong with this letter.
I think it’s, I, I, I think should come from the arts minister, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong fundamentally with the letter. Um, was it the wording of the, it had questions, it had questions for the board. However, it’s an independent board who should have said, thank you for your input. We will go away and we will.
Make, we will consider. Right. But what they instead did was five minutes, they’d gone, yes, sir. No sir. Three bags full, sir. And then half the board said, well, I don’t like that idea. It just, it, [00:55:00] it was a mess. My personal feeling on the Israeli Palestine conflict is this, I’m not smart enough to understand it.
There is, I mean, there are really simple elements to it. You shouldn’t be dropping bombs on children. You shouldn’t be firing rockets. You shouldn’t be killing people at music festival. They’re the really simple elements, right? Really simple. I don’t think anyone can argue with those. I don’t see how, I don’t have the intelligence to take a side, and I very much feel that most of the people who have taken a side think they are smart enough to take a side.
And I think I, I think. You know, and you can, I mean, I understand the politics of it and the history of it, and I can certainly blame Britain and France and, and all the protagonists back then, but I think that it, it is a no, it is an absolutely the ultimate no win situation. Nobody’s hands are clean in [00:56:00] this, and the premier was kind of suggesting equal treatment or tit for tat, whichever way you look at it.
Um, and people have, have made a decision that, you know, people are talking about it being about free speech. Well, nonsense free speech means free speech, but there are consequences. And what is happening now are consequences of what this individual has said. Now, whether you think those things they said should have these consequences, I don’t know.
I’m not smart enough. But the, the biggest thing to me about this whole incident was just the. The way the board, and, you know, I think maybe the premier as a professional politician was expecting a professional board to add professionally. They just completely went to water. I mean, from day to day, we didn’t know who was on the board or if the war war even existed.
And then we had the organization, the festival coming out and saying, uh, you know, different parts of it was saying different things. That was crazy stuff. Will it affect him? You might wanna ask me a question on that. Steve, you look like it. [00:57:00]
Steve Davis: I, I do. Because there were two things. One, it has turned out in some of the discourse that in the previous year there wasn’t a ban put on some, someone there was talk of it, but then, um, situations conspired that he wasn’t able to attend, which makes that a moot point.
But maybe the decision, the, the motion. Yeah. But I
Robert Godden: think the premier genuinely believed it was true. Wouldn’t put in his letter, but,
Steve Davis: but, uh, here’s, here’s the thing though, that comes down to political savvy. You don’t have to be very much into your first year. PR to learn about the Streisand effect, where if you’ve got someone who you think is gonna be saying something horrid, let them come sit in the sunshine.
Talk to a lot of lovely caring gray head people who will, you know, talk back and forth, have a lovely child, and then talk about it afterwards over canapes, et [00:58:00] cetera. And hardly anyone knows about it versus everyone now knows about this author book, sales are through the roof. It just doesn’t smack of political savvy.
What am I missing?
Robert Godden: Yeah, look, I think it’s what the premier missed. The Premier believed it was a political process end to end. So the Premier has gone, I’m gonna start this political process. I’m gonna send this letter. The board’s gonna react professionally and diligently. That’s where it fell apart. Um, the, um.
The, and the, and the board is very much disparate individuals, I think. Um, but I think at the end of the day, from the purpose of that discussion today, it’s was this a was sending this letter and, and then doubling down on it. ’cause he’s doubled down on it several times since. Um, is that going to affect his popularity?
And, and what was he trying to avoid? Was he trying to [00:59:00] avoid the taint of antisemitism? And would that have been a worse result for him if, if people after, you know, had been able to point and say, look, here’s, here’s evidence, um, that the, the South Australian government soft on this and we look, look what happened when the New South Wales government was soft on this.
Right? So, so, you know, and, and the liberals are always pushing crime and fear of terrorism, things like that. So it would’ve been an easy goal for them. So, but the real question is, does this incident affect his standing? And I’d say no. Um. Some numbers have us on track right now to have the liberals down to five seats, and that assumes they win back the ones from the criminals that were previously in their party that would being arrested and, and, and or, uh, convicted.
Um, so assuming they get, um, really all three [01:00:00] nominal, so the, the Nick McBride’s seat, um, ’cause he’s become an independent and, um, and the, the two, um, the two people generally refer to as, you know, the defendant down in the southeast. Um, assuming they get those back. Um, and assuming, you know, if Ashton Hearn retains Schubert, that’s at 11.9%, you’d think she’s a fair chance.
Um, you know, that is, they’ve probably got six seats they can count on. Right. And anything else is, um, you know, the o the other 10 seats they’ve got are up for grabs. So d does this swing the pendulum? Well, if it swings the pendulum one seat, um, then, then you’re looking at numbers. Something like, you know, maybe the difference between labor having 35 and 37 seats.
That’s pretty well all of ’em, let’s face it. Alright. Um, and uh, so I, I think, I think the controversy is interesting in the, in terms of our [01:01:00] discussion. Um, I, I think it, it wasn’t damaging enough for the premier. Um, and, um, and it remains to be seen and, and anyone that it pushes away from the premier is probably more likely to be pushed towards the greens and that end of politics and the, and the votes will come back anyway,
Steve Davis: so.
Uh, as we draw towards a close in getting our thoughts about, right, about how the labor party’s sitting and what it all means in terms of the next election, I wanna draw a couple of strands together. Yeah, I, I agree that right. I mean, if it was just pure writers week, you would consider it sadly, really marginal because we do not have a culture of reading and reflecting deeply in South Australia, uh, in, in Australia.
I mean, um, Harry Moffitt, the former SAS operator, whose work I love deeply, who [01:02:00] vehemently looks you in the eye and says, we need to read philosophy. We need to read literature and talk about it, because that’s how you get grounded in this life. It’s not for the Fruit Loops or the 1%, we should all do it. We don’t.
We don’t have that literacy, but it’s because it’s tapping into heart led positions on a universal issue. It might have bigger sway than we think because it’s deeper and it goes underneath the radar to a degree. The other one is ramping. And yes, the ambos, by and large have been quiet and I’m surprised that despite it having potential to be an easy knock ’em down point, Hey, you said this, you raised our expectation.
It hasn’t happened. I’m hearing from people, ’cause I, I mingle in circles of five AA a bit with some of my work where you expect them to just jump on that. They say, well, here’s the thing. We have got an aging [01:03:00] population. We need beds or home care for aged people to be sorted. And, and with mental illness as well and people requiring, um, hospitalization and care, we need that sorted.
Until that happened, there is nothing you can do to soak up the demand for hospital bed places. I want a quick reflection on that from you, because then I wanna finish on what I think is the real wild card.
Robert Godden: Yeah, look, I think, I think that, yeah, it, what should be electoral poison for them? Ramping. I mean, transforming health was electoral poison.
I remember being in hospital in, in, uh, when, when that had been introduced and there was a, um, a poster about transforming, uh, health and someone had written on top of it, revenge next March. Um, so I think that, you know, transforming health was shocking and a lot of the problems that do go back to that, but it wasn.
It wasn’t [01:04:00] fixed under Weatherall, it wasn’t fixed under Marshall, though he put a lot of things in place that, you know, take more than four years. And so consequently this government has reaped the benefit of them, but they weren’t enough. And now they’ve put things in that will gradually, you know, get better.
Um, but, uh, yeah, look, it, it is a really difficult thing, but I think at the end of the day, because it’s been through three successive governments now, and because it’s also in every other state in Australia, people are just going, well, to be honest, the, the, the government we have in any given time doesn’t make any difference for ramping.
I mean, the idea is when we had four years ago that Chris Pickton and, um, Peter Malus was gonna fix it, I think has evaporated, but we haven’t replaced it with maybe Ashton Hern and her health minister, um, can fix it.
Steve Davis: All right, here’s the last stop on this train trip that I’d love you to talk to. You mentioned earlier about the Canadian situation where Mark Carney [01:05:00] came out of nowhere.
Um, the conservatives were gonna romp it in. Trump gets elected. The conservatives go, okay, we’ll play nicely. Carnie goes, my, are you kidding? This is a major crisis. And people were smart enough to know that it is. We have an orange skinned, loopy head, uh, dangerous with fangs and the ability to sink poison anywhere in the world.
Uh, we gotta take action here. I don’t think that wild card is ramping. Certainly. Isn’t the Writer’s Week Festival, is it One Nation? Because. Pauline Hansen is getting a very gentle ride in the media, generally speaking, and someone I know from my five mu roots posted a picture of her through the week saying how, you know, she just says what everyone thinks.
And there is that vein [01:06:00] again, possibly under the radar, lurking in the water. Discuss.
Robert Godden: Um,
I think South Australia’s a little bit. I immune from that. Um, in the, you know, we’ve always seen, um, uh.
You know, they were pretty modest, 6.1% in the last federal election from memory. Um, I think, uh, the last poll that was done here, they were looking at about 11.5%, which looks, sounds significant, but that’s not significant in any seat. I mean, if you want 11.5%, you want that to be, you know, 50% in a quarter of the seats.
You don’t want it to be 11% in every seat. Um, yeah, there’s, there’s theories that, you know, next time they’re gonna take 10 a dozen federal seats, but I don’t think [01:07:00] they’re gonna remain a player in South Australia. There’s also a lot nibbling at ’em here. Sarah Games party has just, uh, announced that Chris McDermott, the former crow’s captain, is going to, uh, contest.
It’s an interesting idea. Certainly I think, uh, we can be thankful. There’s no call flute anymore. Because the man has quite the visage. Um, but, uh, look.
Yeah, and, and I think even if people, even if South Australians stray into one nation territory, federally, even if we give them, I don’t know, even if it goes from 6.1 to to 12 13% here, ’cause I think it’ll be less than, you know, places like Queensland where it’s clearly gonna be higher. Um, I think, you know, I mean we’re a state that’s got no federal liberal vote at all, let alone one.
Like the vote here is very solidly labor. And I think, um, I think the more we [01:08:00] see Pauline hamstring’s, his strokes, the more we see the nationals who have just caused so much damage. Um, complete failure of leadership, uh, from little proud, um. He, he, he’s letting the nuggets in his party run the place. And, uh, you know, if there’s one thing the National Party has never been short of, it’s bozos, it shouldn’t hold office.
Uh, and it likes to reward them by asking ’em to hold office. Um, you know, the National Party is just a, it is almost like people in rural areas have got a tremendous sense of humor. Yeah. How, how else could Barnaby Choice be continually reelected? They think, oh, this is hilarious, let’s say this guy. But that is the Trump vote
Steve Davis: in, in part, that is the Trump vote Defy.
Robert Godden: Yeah, it is the Trump vote. But, um, yeah, let, let’s, um, this guy’s a complete nugget, but let’s send him in to see what damage you can do and that’ll teach him. Um, it’s almost a revenge vote. And, and so one Nation could get a bit of that, but I don’t think they’re [01:09:00] gonna get that here. I think there’s probably as many people.
That, that are alarmed by one Nation and will drift maybe even further leftward. Um, and, uh, yes, I, I, I don’t see it. I’m gonna put, you may play this back to me after the election and uh, and you may say, Robert, you’re wrong. But I don’t see one nation being significant in this state election and I don’t think them being significant federally in South Australia, though I do see them gaining a little.
Steve Davis: Alright, well I hope I don’t have to play that back to you. Uh, I was staggered by the hypocrisy of Hansen statement, getting stuck into the A LP saying you’ve led all these people in and you’re just in the pocket of big business who wants cheap labor, and yet she flies around the world on Gina Reinhardt’s private jet that.
I, is she unaware or is she playing us for fools? I don’t know. Anyway, that’s a different topic. I think
Robert Godden: she has learned from Trump that it doesn’t matter what you say. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what you do.
Steve Davis: The, the thing that keeps me awake at night is the gradual [01:10:00] erosion of institutions.
So I’m particularly worried that as people have a thinner and thinner and more vacuous, um, engagement with the world, they just don’t care. If it’s not a TikTok trend or it’s not something blurting noise in talk back, uh, it doesn’t get the oil. Uh, that worries me because that puts at risk something like preferential voting, as frustrating as it can sometimes be.
I feel like it is the fairest way to balance and measure the depth of sentiment in an electorate. Uh, much better than first pass the post where the noisy gong might just win. Yeah. But, but miss, and the other thing is. We don’t know each other as much as we used to. Um, we drive around in these two story high vehicles.
Not all of us, but more of us. We disappear. We, my dad knew everyone in our street, [01:11:00] in our suburb, all around our block growing up. We don’t do that. So people move in who look different, who are different. We’re not bonding. We’re not into interacting with them. And I think there’s something here that leaves the door open.
For the people who are trying to scoop in Lucky Paul in Hansen’s and like, you know, getting those crunchy bits of chips from the end of a, uh, a frying session and just getting that crunchy, easy, salty, fatty goodness, uh, there is a risk that she’s got that to, to soak up. It’s preferential voting under threats.
It’s the breakdown of those norms that although frustrating at times keep us from lurching back and forth like we are seeing with the US and its worldwide ramifications.
Robert Godden: Yeah, I mean, preferential is not perfect. Uh, Senator Ralph, uh, Babbitt and Victoria, who is, you know, Trump light is a good example.
Malcolm Roberts in Queensland’s, another example of the [01:12:00] appalling thing preferential voting’s given us. Um, but yeah, look, they actually measure trust in public institutions. There’s an index of it and I think it peaked under Howard.
Steve Davis: Interesting.
Robert Godden: Just towards the end of the Howard era and I, and here Howard did himself have a tremendous respect for public institutions, even as he was dismantling some of ’em.
And, um, and, and you know, so we we’re 20 years into this decline. It’s not, not happened overnight. Um, I think there’s a disconnect between citizens and government. We, we we’re much more us and them than we used to, you know? Um, and I think that brings up the, the minor parties that brings up the independence.
Um, I think people in Australia are less engaged with the civic process. I think we used to all know it ’cause we weren’t taught it in school, but we found out and now we’ve moved to a situation where it is maybe more taught in schools, but nobody’s listening. Um, I think integrity too. I mean, the anti-corruption oversight in this state is weak.[01:13:00]
Uh, we’ve seen in other states where pretty awful things have happened. Um, and, uh, you know, I mean. And misinformation. Misinformation is the big one. There is just so much nonsense. I mean, I read something the other day that I thought was either a hundred percent true or a hundred percent fake, and it was Trump’s letter to Norway.
And my feeling was, if he has done this is just further proof that he’s the worst person in the world. And if he didn’t do it, but I believed it, then that’s also a reflection of him because I would believe that of him. And it turned out to be true unbelievably. Um, and um, you know, it used to be obvious what was fake.
Uh, but uh, welcome to the post-truth era. Yeah, so look, I think, I think, I don’t think it’s gonna happen this week, but yeah. In 50 years time, are we still gonna have a [01:14:00] democracy? I don’t know. Hmm. I think there’s reason to be fearful. To not quite quote Ian jury. And um, yeah, maybe that’s a discussion for another time.
But I think, you know, historically this era will be viewed as either a wobble or the beginning of the end.
Steve Davis: And I think what happens is, I think what is sadly making us more vulnerable to that is, as Harry Moffitt points out our lack of depth in thought. What happens is people get together with tantrum parties mouthing out simple the door, um, slogans, and that makes them feel good.
’cause it helps, you know, ameliorate their fear and their frustration. They get it off their chest, but it leaves the door open for those sinister people behind the scenes who are gonna mop up. Uh, and that, that worries me greatly. And I, I will keep thinking about what I can be doing personally and. [01:15:00] I mean, one, one last thing to finish on, I don’t, and this is a tangent, but I just finished that Dostoevsky novel.
I shared something on LinkedIn that I was coming to an end. There was this great debate with the devil that happened and there was this really snarky comment about Tol story that Dostoevsky dropped in. I got a comment on LinkedIn that someone, a head of a marketing company in India thought they’d be clever to try and get in on my world and have conversation.
They just got chatty BT to write a reply, which just said, yeah, that part of the book really lands, doesn’t it? And oh, and a lovely hat tip to Tol story. Well, it wasn’t, it was actually a really snarky thing. And who’s your favorite brother? And I was staggered at the plasticity of that comment, the fakeness, it was just the cynical use of an AI tool to try and muscle into a conversation.
And when I replied saying, look, this is actually really annoying because it’s suggesting you’ve read it, you clearly haven’t. If you had, the question you’d ask you is, was the [01:16:00] devil real? Or in, um, Ivan’s imagination? And within a few moments, he had deleted his comment because I called out his bullshit, his shallow bullshit.
And this is what we’re up against. And I, you know, I, I wish we had more deep, heartfelt ability to sit down in a cafe or a pub, uh, with staggered juice, uh, or without and robustly think things through out loud and not end up in fisticuffs. I’m not, I’m gonna be idolized and I idealistic too much and say that never happened, but.
I do lament that the shallow shell we’ve got is very vulnerable and that’s what makes your prophecy sadly on the cards. And I think we all bear a responsibility to do that. I think our school systems could find cleverer ways of teaching history and enthus us. There are podcasters doing fantastic [01:17:00] work and we just need to be more, um, engaged and creative in the pedagogy and get, get real.
There is real stuff at stake here. This is turned into a rant at the end, Robert. Uh, um, but you have, you’ve ripped off the bandaid and I luckily I don’t have to call an ambulance. I can deal with this one myself. So, last thing, and I know Peter will hate me asking this question, but, or getting you to confirm this ’cause he was on the news recently saying, I get really angry.
And people say, we’re going to be a shoe in. You think he’s gonna be a s shoe in, don’t you?
Robert Godden: Yes. Um, I, I think there’s every chance that it will. I, I don’t think there’s any doubt it will be a record, um, victory for labor in South Australia. And there’s a very good chance it will nudge the Australian record set recently in Western Australia.
Um, [01:18:00] because there is definitely a, um, uh, the, the liberals are just so far on the nose that, um, that it’s, I mean, it’s interesting. The small target strategy would’ve worked for Malus. Instead, he’s gone the big target. Um, you know, I, I remember, uh, Gerardo Ra the, um, American commentator once said, think about the people you hated at school.
The brown noses, the glad handers, the bullies, the liars. He said They’re the people who grow up and go into politics. Um, wow. Malinowski kind of doesn’t fit that mold. He, he really doesn’t come across as anyone who’s ever bullied anyone in any real sense, who’s ever, um, taken dollars to do something questionable who’s ever done a backroom deal.
He, he comes across as absolutely straightforward and honest and, um, and that’s definitely his brand. Don’t put a lot of work into that. Um, but I think it’s a brand that people buy.
Theme: Mm.
Robert Godden: And, and, and the malinow, well, look without [01:19:00] Malinowski label would probably win. The liberals are that much of a shower of clowns at the moment.
Um, well-meaning clowns in some cases. Mm. And then there’s Alexan. Um, but they will absolutely smash it. So if, if I, I, I’m absolutely confident predicting it will be record labor victory in South Australia. I think there’s no doubt that you can play that back in eight weeks time, and that will be a hundred percent true whether we get to record for across Australia.
Uh, I, I concede that it’s possible.
Steve Davis: Robert Godin. I have been alluding to this being the last question. Last question, but this is definitely the last one because I think it’s symbolic that it had escaped my memory until right now. We’ve talked about some things lurking in the water, the one nation essay first, all that sort of stuff.
Uh, the ambos and ramping, um, the writer’s festival. What about the algal bloom? Because for [01:20:00] many of us, there’s a sense that the policy was, let’s just hope and pray that it goes away. And I was with someone operating a commercial, a tour fishing vessel. They take a few people out at a time, do a bit of catch.
Uh, obviously they’ve been decimated, although they’re getting some nice government payouts at the moment. Um, desal plants stuff from the river. There’s, there is simmering frustration beneath the surface. Is that something to be mindful of or just like I. Did it, is it going to slip the collective consciousness?
Robert Godden: Well, there’s certainly people out there, conspiracy theorists that are absolutely raising hell about this. Um, and, um, it is an interesting topic. Um, I think that maybe the consensus view in South Australia is that this is a feature of climate change, and there’s also the very definite feeling that the Feds were very late to this party, [01:21:00] you know, and, and, uh, Maui managed to, um, paint himself as the guy who was knocking down the fed’s door to get help.
Um, so I, I don’t, I, I think there’s probably some small isolated pockets in what are probably, uh, liberal seats anyway, um, where they might do a little bit better. Although, um, the couple of independents I’ve run golf might be an interesting one, but yeah, it hasn’t really, um, people have just gone, I’ll have chicken, not fish, and moved on in
Steve Davis: the city.
Hmm. Wow. And yet there is a legacy of toxicity at the, oh, it’s huge at the bottom of the water there.
Robert Godden: It, it, it is, it is huge. And it’s, and it’s, you know, um, for 20, 30 years people have been saying our world is gonna break down and degrade because of what we are doing. And now it’s starting to happen. And, um, there’s a bunch of people that are saying, see, I told you so, but it’s not really reflecting.
And to be fair to labor, they have pretty well backed that anyway. Um, but [01:22:00] it’s, um, and there’s probably also the, um, realization that there’s not much the liberals could do about the algal bloom if they were in,
Steve Davis: and, and one thing that the gentleman threw up, he said, we need recreational fishing licenses in South Australia like they’ve got in Victoria.
There was Grizzle at the time. He said, but now you can catch prawns and fish. It’s a really healthy ecosystem. There are lineups of people still going fishing. They can pay for monitoring properly. Does someone like a Peter Melinis actually have the political capital to deal with the shooters and hunters pushback on that front?
Robert Godden: It’s interesting ’cause I, I like to fish and I fish very occasionally and I’ve been in places, uh, such as Victoria, such as Canada, where you do need a license and I’ve gone, you know, I’d like to go down, go fishing for a couple of hours, but I, you know, I’m just not going to ’cause I’m not as license. Um, so it’s, [01:23:00] it’s the deter it, it basically, you, you put a barrier in front of any behavior and it deters that behavior.
You then say, this barrier’s easily insurmountable for a few bucks. You don’t get a lot of criticism. So look, you probably could put it in. Um, I think that if you did it now though, the criticism would be, we’ve got the alga bloom and now you’re making it even more difficult for us to enjoy the coast. Mm.
Like the coastal communities would scream right now because they don’t need any more, um, di diminishing of their, their trade. So I, I don’t think he would, I think he’s got the political capital to do it. I don’t think now would be a good time to do it. Once, uh, you know, let’s say, so what are we now? 2026.
By the time he gets to about 1930, uh, sorry, 2032. 2033. He’s, you been in for more than a decade. He’s, um, the album Blue is [01:24:00] a, a distant memory. Um, and, uh, then by then he can sort of, yeah, throw that in for fun.
Steve Davis: The person told me, said actually the real people against it, the commercial fisheries, because at the moment they’ve got a ragtag bunch of, um, recreational Fisher they don’t have to deal with.
But if they started having money and power and clout, we might lose access to things. So. It’s murky waters.
Robert Godden: Uh, the, the waters are definitely murky. That is the issue. Yeah.
Steve Davis: Robert Godin, thank you as always for being our enduring political commentator who always beats Anthony Green in calling elections, uh, on the Adelaide Show podcast.
Robert Godden: Thanks Steve.
Theme: And now it’s time for the musical pilgrimage.
Steve Davis: In the musical pilgrimage, we’re gonna play a song called Australia Day by Steve Davis and the Virtual [01:25:00] Osos. So these are lyrics that I wrote and I used my virtual session band to bring them to life. As I am on a quest to find local performers who wanna take these songs and make them their own.
But I thought the message in this song, especially given this episode’s coming out on the Australia Day, long weekend, is pertinent in light of our political conversation. Because when our conversation, me and Robert, uh, veered from liberal and labor to some of the other fringe parties like, uh, one Nation, et cetera, it really shone a light on a vulnerability in our society where people who are feeling frustrated, angry, hard, done by not to voice their frustrations.
And the kicking bag is, uh, often, uh, immigrants. And there certainly are question marks over the way immigration has been managed, uh, in line with. [01:26:00] Uh, societal cohesion and resourcing and infrastructure. I think that’s, we should be brave enough and solid enough to have a, a good discussion about that. But at the same time, unlike waves of immigration in previous eras, uh, seventies in particular, a lot of, uh, Vietnamese people came.
And then you’ve got the Italians and Greeks and the CO in the regions. Before that, we were much more cohesive as a nation. We would be doing more things that were based in our neighborhoods and therefore we got to mix with people. Yes. As Nina Colta in, uh, there a weird mob, uh, pointed out. The new arrivals still got grief.
You know, our blessed casual racism, blessed at inverted commas was still there, but bit by bit Nino [01:27:00] learned the ways and brought his influence into what it was to be Australian. The same with a lot of, uh, Vietnamese arrivals because we were within arm’s length of each other. I think what exacerbates things now is two things.
One, we have shrunk. My dad used to know everyone in our neighborhood, and therefore we did too. Now most of us hardly know anybody. We’ve got our houses closed off. Maybe some fences, maybe not. We hop in the cars and they’re increasingly big two story vehicles that drive around so that the world is locked out.
I think that’s happening. That’s sad. And the communication we do have externally is very filtered. Algorithm focused content that feeds more of what the big American corporations like Meta and Google think is going to [01:28:00] pander to our vulnerabilities because that will keep us glued. We want more. We want to feel the pain.
We want to get angry. We wanna stay tethered to the feeding lot of discontent, and therefore someone moves in that we casually see down the road who’s dressed differently. Suspicion is there doubt? Oh, fear what’s gonna happen? And then. Of course when you’ve moved somewhere new, and I lived in Hungary for a couple of years, so I’ve experienced what it’s like to be someone who’s moved in.
You look for compatriots to connect with, so you’ve got something to hold onto that is unchecked by and large, except for some great work. I’m thinking of the, uh, the Parika Farm Community Center. They do amazing work in being the bridge between cultures because at its heart, I think one thing that we’ve stumbled our way [01:29:00] forward in doing in uh, Australia post settlement is we have somehow let a bit of influence from newcomers come in and it didn’t dilute what we had.
It just added a little bit of ancy and it’s gradually evolved over time to something that until recent times it’s been fairly stable as what it is to be Australian and. Part of that is not blowing a fuse at the smallest thing. It’s actually calming the farm and being a little bit laid back, holding things a little bit loosely, drawing a line in the sand when it needs to happen, but not making that a knee, knee-jerk reaction, you know?
And we haven’t been perfect. But we’ve been bloody good. And so this is what I’m trying to capture in this song. I hope it’s a nice way to balance out this longer [01:30:00] episode that’s taken us through some political and social reflection. Here is Steve Davis and the virtual Osos with Australia Day.
Steve Davis & The Virtualosos: The Australian, which I was born, had lots of backyards and lots of lawn, and we knew our neighbors down the street and we’d smile at everyone.
We meet now, we drive around two stories high from our trucks. We can’t see eye to eye,
so when neighbors come with different dress. It leads to doubt and fear and stress with Ozzy flags. We march and make the news [01:31:00] like a mom of angry kangaroos. We borrow slogans from around the world
to give ourselves some things to yell. This should not be how our story goes. We need to before it. We only hurt ourselves if we betrayed
the right of everyone to have their saying, who’s here is here now let’s make it work. It starts with.
We share the same, we share. There’s a vibe here [01:32:00] beneath. Just tone it down. Tone it down. Be laid back. Laid back, bend a little, bend a little, and cut some slack. Cut some slack. Take a breath. Take breath. Find a way, a way to be one. Be one on this.
We’ve had two years and 60,000 more to welcome strangers to the ses, the UN refugees.
There is no better place to be. There are lessons you listen to [01:33:00] to survive. We need to understand when you head to it,
you know we’re done for if we drift apart, who’s here is here now let’s make it work. It starts with learning. We share this. We share the same song. We share the flowers, and there’s a vibe here beneath our skies. Just tone it down. Tone it down, and be laid back. Be laid back, bend a little.
Take a breath, find a way to be[01:34:00]
on this.
If we fix our gaze around the world, we could drift into eternal health. We’d better keep our eye upon the ball and live the virtues that let us stand tall.
We haven’t always done our best, but we’ve had a share of great success.
We’ve faced the battles and fall through. What it means to be,[01:35:00]
takes more than a snappy song to help different cultures get along
yourself into our,
you’ll change, but you
who’s see.
It starts with, we share this dirt, we share the same, we share the fly, [01:36:00] and there’s a vibe here beneath the Just down. Be laid back, be laid back, bend a little, bend a little. Cut some slack. Cut some slack. Take a breath. Take a breath. Find a way. Find way to be as one. To be as one. On this.
Let’s make it work.
We share. We share the same. We share, and.
Just tone down. Be laid back, laid back, bend a[01:37:00]
take a find a be.
Steve Davis: There you go. That’s my take on Australia Day, Steve Davis and the virtual, so is that song’s available everywhere, all the streaming network services as well. I hope there was something in it for you, and I hope if you’re a singer, a performer, um, you found something in it that you’d like to take on. Talk to me because I want these songs out there and I want them breathed humanly with real oxygen by real people to take these words and give them their own life.
So until our next episode. It’s goodnight for me, Steve Davis and goodnight Dawn.
AJ Davis: The Adelaide Show Podcast is produced by my dad, Steve [01:38:00] Davis. If you want to start a podcast or get some help producing creative content. Talk to him. Visit steve davis.com au. Thanks, aj. I’m Caitlin Davis and I agree with everything my sister said, but there’s one more thing to say.
If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please leave a rating or a review ’cause that will make my dad really happy. Oh, and one more thing. If you really, really liked it, please help a friend put the Adelaide Show on their phone. Thanks for listening.
Buzz Buzz. I,
Theme: lady Who? Lady. Lady.
That lady.
Other lady who?