Playing by Aussie rules

This bitter in-fighting is, in an Australian context, nothing new. Two
previous Labour leaders, Paul Keating and Bob Hawke, fought a very public
and acrimonious personal battle that lasted for years. It ended up
destroying one of Australia’s most successful governments and ushered in a
lengthy period of rule by the Right-wing Liberals. On the eve of the Second
World War, Robert Menzies, who went on to become Australia’s longest-serving
prime minister, was accused of cowardice and disloyalty by a colleague,
Earle Page. Still, at least the Australians are open about their
antagonisms. Here, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were animated by a bitter
rivalry that was dysfunctional in the extreme, yet they pretended to be the
best of friends. The Aussie approach may be brutal, but at least it is
honest.

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