Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Lech Blaine, Black Inc./Quarterly Essay, $24.99.
It’s a legit question: what makes a top bloke? The figure of the larrikin goes deep in Australian culture, so who can be a larrikin, and what are its political uses?
In The Larrikin Myth, Class and Power, Blaine produces an insightful essay of how image conquered politics, just as globalisation engulfed the Australian economy. ‘While many got rich and entertained, look where we ended up.’
This skillful essay looks at Australian politics through the prisms of class, egalitarianism and masculinity. Blaine cuts apart some top blokes, with particular focus on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. It also stretches back to Bob Hawke and Kerry Packer.
The author shows how first John Howard, then Morrison, brought a cohort of voters over to the Coalition side, “flipping” what was once working-class Labor culture.
Blaine weaves his own experiences through the essay as he explores the persona of the Aussie larrikin. There are the hidden contradictions and how it has been transformed by an age of affluence and image. He makes the case that the time has come to bury a myth, and for the nation to seize a new reality.
Quarterly Essay 83 is often hilarious.
As Blaine states: “Anti-authoritarianism doesn’t need the vocabulary of the bush poets, the accent of Mick Dundee or the imprimatur of the shock jocks and media tycoons to inspire social change. It sounds like Grace Tame, and acts like Behrouz Boochani, and looks like Adam Goodes.”
