Nicholas Gruen says Bob Hawke provides the template for successful government on either side of politics, because he managed to drive an agenda by consulting extensively with opinion formers from the unions and business. These Accord partners met regularly to determine how to resolve their own issues and the future of the nation.
It’s a sharp contrast to the approach taken by Kevin Rudd with the Mining Tax. Gruen says Rudd suffered the consequences of “political heroics”.
Now we have a leader who seems to be pursuing a more populist agenda. Does Julia Gillard really have to answer to the narrow gripes of talkback radio and tabloid newspapers, or can she follow the Hawke approach to deliver real reform?
Nicholas Gruen is the CEO of Lateral Economics.
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