The Rotary Club of Anstruther meeting of October 18th began with the induction of new member Graham Meacher who was introduced by club member Alastair Graham with immediate past president Bill Henderson presiding.
There followed a fascinating talk by club member Jim Braid on politics in Australia where Jim lived for many years. Arguably Australians do politics more honestly, but seemingly with less civility, than here in Britain. In Australian politics they call a spade a spade rather than an ‘honourable gentleman’. As Jim emphasised, you need a ‘thick skin’ to be a successful politician in Australia and, perhaps as a result, Australian politics has thrown up more than its fair share of interesting ‘characters’.
To prove the point Jim proceeded to give a resume of all recent Australian prime ministers. He began with Sir Robert Menzies, an ardent monarchist who was the longest serving Australian prime minister of all time, holding the job between 1939-41 and 1949-66. Succeeding Menzies was Harold Holt. Holt was in power until December 1967 when, out swimming in the ocean, he disappeared. The body was never found, and Holt’s fate has occupied conspiracy theorists ever since, some suggesting that he ‘did a Reggie Perrin’ and others that the Chinese picked him up in a submarine. More likely he drowned in the rough waters!
Another prime minister, Gough Whitlam, incumbent between 1972 and 1975, was sacked by the Queen’s representative in Australia (the Governor- General) following a budget deadlock against a background of financial scandal. Then there was Bob Hawke, a popular prime minister (1983-91) famous for his tearful performances on TV. And, bringing things up to date, 2010 saw the swearing in of Australia’s first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard. Jim then rounded things off with a frankly hilarious resume of a few other Australian politicians, famous (or perhaps infamous) for their less than appropriate behaviour or remarks. Club member Roderick Skinner proposed the vote of thanks.
