Consent of the People

Consent of the People

A$60.00

The fifth and final volume of David Kemp’s landmark Australian Liberalism series explores how Australia's founding Enlightenment ideals were shaped into a unique national liberalism, embodied in liberal democratic institutions, political parties and shared values. Despite intense partisan loyalties, conservative and radical resistance, and a politics of unequal power and influence, inequality was addressed and personal freedom strengthened. The book examines the place of liberal ideas in governments from Harold Holt to Scott Morrison. It shows how reform urgency led to the nation's greatest political crisis in 1975, how prime ministers Fraser and Hawke struggled to manage an economy dominated by powerful union, business and global interests, how during twenty-four crucial years Hawke, Keating and Howard led one of the nation's greatest reform eras, and how social reform continued despite the leadership instability of the post-Howard era.

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