Paul Keating: ‘My view of the country was bigger than the country’s view of itself, but the vision will never deteriorate.’ This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Queen Elizabeth II met Paul Keating “alone, to her credit” in what the prime minister was informed was her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria’s, favourite room at Balmoral Castle. Keating recalls, “And I took some pleasure in explaining the furniture to her.” He notes the furniture was made of Karelian, Russian Karelian birchwood, and that she had kept all the green-and-blue tartan carpets, though worn. But, he says, the room had no relativity to Australia.
Keating was in the UK to deliver his monarch a message that Australia did not need her anymore. He believed Australia should become a republic. The Queen responded, “My family and I do our best for Australia.” In a file note written after the meeting, Keating described the hereditary nature of the Queen’s position and its remoteness from any contemporary mandate as “so banal, even sad.”
Keating, Australia’s 24th prime minister, was in conversation Wednesday night with Sydney University professor of modern history, James Curran, author of “Grand Ambition: Paul Keating’s Global Vision for Australia.” It is an adroitly drawn portrait of a past leader who lost power 30 years ago but remains convinced his vision is still the country’s future: an Australia that finds security in Asia, becomes a republic, and walks the path to reconciliation with its indigenous history.
“My view of the country was bigger than the country’s view of itself, but the vision will never deteriorate,” Keating says. Curran reminds him he is no longer a young man: born in 1944, he entered parliament in 1969 at age 25. He cut his political teeth during the Cold War, and his time as leader coincided with its end.
Keating’s first remarkable month as prime minister included the fall of the Soviet Union; the arrival of a US president (George HW Bush, whom Keating wanted to “put in a headlock” to get something from him — the result was Apec); and a visit from Her Majesty. The voice is weaker, pauses longer, but the killer lines still penetrate.
“Timidity,” he tells Curran, “is like a virus in the bloodstream.” Curran writes: “Keating’s central theme over the years is that the country has become afraid, and that its leaders have refrained from articulating a bigger idea of the place. Instead of long-term strategic thinking, he sees frenzied activity. His retort? ‘Busyness is not substance.’”
Australia suffers no shortage of political autobiography, but Keating has never written in his own defence. The memoir by his speechwriter, Don Watson, “Recollections of a Bleeding Heart,” was said to have wounded him. He saw it as a betrayal. In response to another Hawke biography, Keating delivered a veiled threat: “If I get around to writing a book, I will be telling the truth; the whole truth.”
Throughout the conversation, it is apparent Keating has always kept an eye on legacy and grand ambition. Curran writes that Keating keeps meticulous records of policies he considers signal markers of his time in office. These files contain relevant cabinet documents, diplomatic cables, briefings, opinions of other ministers, and carefully selected newspaper articles. They are all stamped “PJ KEATING PERSONAL COLLECTION.”
To end the evening, Keating was asked for his message for young Australians. He spoke of a republic, indigenous reconciliation, and a fairer Australia: “Making housing more affordable is a great thing.”