The following letter to the editor was sent to The Australian today:
In his hyperbole, prejudice and partiality, Greg Sheridan shows himself to be not so much a commentator as a barracker, in this case for political memories.
It is impossible to fully refute his emotional allegations in yesterday’s Australian in a short space such as this.
If readers are seriously interested in knowing the facts, we urge them to read our book, and also read the Howard memoir. Readers should compare the manner, style, and degree of archival research, and make their own assessment. The judges of the NSW Premier’s Awards clearly made such an assessment.
Sheridan’s main point of substance is Fraser’s record as Minister for Defence during the Vietnam War — the things he knew, should have known and claims to have known. Yet the point of that part of the memoirs is largely to lay out exactly those matters. Fraser admits that he made errors. That record is there for the reader to judge.
It would have been easy to come up with some convincing post hoc justification. Fraser shunned that path.
There is one error that Sheridan identifies, one slip. The book says in one sentence that Fraser won four elections. Of course, he contested four and won three.
Sheridan fails to mention one of the most important aspects of our book — the rebuttal, backed by rigorously footnoted archival documents, of the frequently repeated claim that Fraser resisted economic reform, and that Howard was a reforming spirit frustrated by Fraser.
Our book establishes that it was in fact Fraser’s office that initiated and backed the key moves on economic reform and that Howard, then treasurer, was comparatively inactive. Sheridan has nothing to say about this.
Sheridan also quotes other commentators approvingly, even though they have been shown to be simply wrong, including in an article we wrote for The Australian more than a year ago, on March 20 2010. It is still available online for those who wish to read more.
But the nature of Sheridan’s style of commentary is not evidence, but emotion. Sheridan’s disgust at Fraser’s present political opinions is such that he cannot fairly assess our book. His own prose makes this clear.
But really, to be fair, what good are “facts” when (and to one) selling “pups and political perception” – with the intent of influencing voters – they just get in the way. Contaminate the intent – all that work “undone”.
After all, Fraser is now “the Opposition”!
As a reluctant reader of the Australian, anything that Greg Sheridan disagrees with I naturally support. Purchased the semi-autobiography. Amazon charges just over $15 for the eBook (it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Australia or America). Apple charges just under $30, so it’s true that Apple sometimes rips off Australian customers (if you want, you can take this as irony …)
Not long after the 1975 “coup” in which Fraser played an inglorious part, I left Australia. Not exactly in disgust, but I was pretty disillusioned with the place, as where a lot of idealistic left wing people. Everyone I knew hated Fraser and everything he represented, they were consumed with anger about what he had done. I sort of forgot about it all while I was gone, but when I returned four years later, I found all my old political mates still raging, still bitter, still fuelled by a passionate, implacable hatred for this horrible man…
I didn’t care much anymore. Though I was thrilled to see that tear in the corner of his eye when he finally lost… Yes!!
I don’t know what happened to all my old friends, I moved on. But I rather suspect they are like all like Margaret Simons. Or they’re Crikey subscribers, still politically active though armchair warriors now, sitting behind their computers, firing off missives into space, defending the integrity this admirable man.
Rather a “barracker for political memories” than a “practitioner of biographical botox.”
I think Sherdidan is spot on. Simons does herself no credit in artfully reinventing Fraser as some sort of cross between Gough and Lowitja O”Donoghue rather than the duplicitous, timorous patrician bully some of us remember.
It is sad that he had to wait til he got away from politics to vent that humanity of his – and his government did “gift” us “Howard”, who begot “Abbott”, who begot “Cousin Jethro”!