Rhythm
by
John Terry Moore
CHAPTER 40
There was a loud and sustained roar as the Australian Air Force helicopter flew directly over the homestead, rattling the cups and saucers on the old oak dresser in the kitchen. Jack, at fourteen years old, still had enough fight in him to object to the interruption to his comfortable lifestyle. Patrick had deliberately shut him inside with the children; including two of Jack’s progeny; all of them objecting to the temporary imprisonment until the chopper landed. Outside, the horses had been stabled, and the stock moved to paddocks away from the homestead. Adam was waiting for their visitors as it landed. The very latest in Indian technology from Hindustan Aeronautics; a twelve passenger plus crew machine designed for both civil and military duties. It looked very purposeful as it was, Adam decided; the military version, he knew was a wicked looking thing with guns everywhere!. Just the thing for boys who loved their toys! But he thought how sensible was their choice of transport, and how this machine showed perfect commonsense for a country approaching 30 million people. It helped keep the country’s leader and his family safe yet wasn’t an expression of wealth. Australia’s had become more focussed on Asia more than ever before and displays of wealth were counterproductive to some of their Asian neighbours. Particularly if you had better gear than they did! The engines finally shut down; the sliding door opened and an Air Force officer ran down the steps, checking the footing. A short distance away, under the trees, the security contingent watched, happy that no risk presented itself and unwilling to intrude on their charges. The President of Australia moved down the steps and Praveen followed. Tim held out his hand; helping him down the steps. Although Praveen was as trim and fit as ever, Tim had retained his sense of chivalry towards him which had been apparent all their life together. It had charmed legions of Australian women over the years who noticed their old-fashioned manners and concern for each other. As a consequence, hetero Australian men in particular were constantly reminded that attention to one’s spouse in public was not only advisable, it was expected! Now in their early sixties, Tim and Praveen remained strikingly handsome. They shook hands with the crew members and walked over to the security men, thanking them for being there. They had always done this; they made no excuses for the fact that they enjoyed people and that everyone had a story to tell and everyone was important. Particularly if you worked for them. ‘And Praveen had all their names committed to memory, so no wonder people love them,’ Adam thought, as he watched them in action. Laughing, they walked over to Adam, drawing him into a hug; this part of the weekend they were definitely ‘off duty’ as they wanted to catch up with the Benson-Church clan before the remainder of the visitors arrived. “I see you’ve already been recruiting for the cricket team,” President O’Brien grinned. “Snipped the good players out of the security blokes, how devious can you get!”
*****
It had been a momentous year for Australian politics and for Australia as a nation. After 241 years, Australia had become a republic, severing its legal ties with Britain and replacing the English monarch as head of state. For many years there had been no tangible reason to change; a high percentage of the population were Anglo Saxon and the tie with Mother England had been a harmonious fit. But similar to the United States, Australia’s racial mix had been altered forever by waves of immigrants over the years. In the days of the Gold Rush there were many Chinese who provided much of the hard manual labour around the diggings, then established themselves in the business sector over time. After the Second World War, many Europeans arrived, the Italians, Greeks, Eastern Europeans and quite a few more English.
But since the beginning of the twenty first century, people from all over Asia, many of them children of wealthy families, saw Australia as a desirable location to educate their children, firstly because the Australian education system was a great credential in finding a well paid career back home, and secondly, it gave them an improved chance of Australian citizenship at a later date.
The O’Brien government, having first secured the environmental footprint, had actively set about recruiting high quality immigrants to add an extra million people to the population within a five year period. Because immigration was good business if you had the infrastructure to cope with them. It fired up the Australian economy again, but despite an advertising campaign all over the world, most interest came from Australia’s closest neighbours in Asia. Particularly India. But Australia was seen as the last bastion of British colonialism in Asia; no matter how hard she tried as a nation, Australia had difficulty being accepted as part of Asia. Violence towards Indian immigrants that had erupted some years earlier had largely been neutralised, thanks to Praveen Nayar’s position as the partner of the Prime Minister, yet there was still work to be done. It was obviously time to make a symbolic gesture; to appeal to Asia and Asians that Australia was prepared to dispense with the ties of the past and become a more independent entity, embracing those who moved there to live, as well as her closest neighbours.
The O’Brien government instigated research; polls and focus groups to gauge public opinion of the subject of a republic; a subject not visited for around twenty years or so. The results were extraordinary. The Australian public would vote ‘Yes’ for a republic as long as the first President was Timothy O’Brien, their current Prime Minister!
There had been a low-key referendum campaign and the electorate not only voted for a republic, but they voted for a model where the President was directly elected by the people, not by parliament, a not unexpected result.
The parliament ratified the referendum result, and the new constitution, and the country prepared for a general election; to be held concurrently with the first ever Presidential election.
The Hon. Timothy O’Brien resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party because the constitution now required those standing in the Presidential election could not hold any other public office at the time of their nomination.
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Instability had continued to plague the Liberal Party; now in opposition for nearly twelve years; coinciding with an unprecedented period in office for the Labour Party. The friendship between Christopher Chen, the Leader of the Opposition and Tim O’Brien was well known, and whilst there had been a spirit of cooperative government between the two leaders, it was a double edged sword for Chris. He faithfully followed through on Liberal Party policy, and took the Opposition to within a few points of the Government on a few occasions. But there were deep cracks appearing within the ranks of the Liberal Party.
Because Chris Chen wasn’t trusted by the right wing of his party anymore! An avowed republican; Chris was hated by many monarchists on the right wing and the issue of the republic referendum brought it all to a head. They were poor losers, threatening to form a far right breakaway independent group. In addition, the deep resentment harboured over years of opposition was like a festering sore as the general election drew closer. A leadership spill was called, but Chris had made up his mind. He not only stood down as leader, but he resigned from the Liberal Party! The vote was delayed as anxious officials worked hard to get him to reconsider, but to no avail.
*****
A week later at a joint press conference, Chris Chen, with Tim O’Brien by his side, announced that he had joined the Labour Party! On the same day that Tim O’Brien resigned the Labour Party leadership to contest the Presidential election, Christopher Chen was elected unanimously as the Leader of the Labour Party and Acting Prime Minister. There was pandemonium of course. There were screams of outrage from the right wing of the Liberal Party, but importantly the Australian people were presented with a likely outcome similar to the past twelve years; of stability and harmony seldom seen in government.
Although there were fifteen candidates for President, it was obvious Tim O’Brien would win by a country mile. And if Chris Chen could win the general election as leader of the Labour Party and therefore become Prime Minister in his own right, then the status quo that had been so positive for Australia as a nation in the past would be maintained. It worked. Praveen’s hand was everywhere; politicians and the public understood his influence, his planning and negotiating skills, the brilliant mind at work. But above all, everyone interested in this piece of history understood the partnership between Tim and Praveen.
*****
In his acceptance speech as Australia’s first President, Tim O’Brien acknowledged that whilst it was his name was on the ballot paper, it was obvious that he and Praveen as a partnership had been endorsed by the electorate. “That the wisdom of the Australian people caused he and Praveen to feel humble in the extreme.” Because the office of President needed to be at arm’s length from ordinary politics, the speech was broadcast from their little suburban home in Melbourne. In Sydney, at the Continental Hotel, Christopher and Grace Chen stood proudly together, and claimed victory for the Labour Party. With a slightly increased majority! He had retained his own seat of Forest Downs with a comfortable majority, ‘which was extraordinary,’ he admitted, because it was considered a safe blue ribbon Liberal seat. “So instead of punishing him for deserting the Liberal Party; many Liberal voters had defected with him and punished the Liberal Party for the entrenched, right wing philosophy which had dominated their policy and ideas for generations. He laughingly admitted that his wife had been a Labour voter all her life. “Finally,” he smiled, “some harmony in our home at last!” He went on to thank the Labour Party for their faith and support in him, but he said he understood the mindset of the nation at this time. That as history was being made with the creation of the Republic of Australia, the public couldn’t care less about party structure and party loyalties. What they obviously cared about were electing people they could trust to get the job done. People they could be proud of as leaders at home and overseas. Chris Chen was smart enough not to stress the deep friendship that existed between himself and the new President; lest he impugn the integrity of the office. But it was obvious the general public saw it as a bonus, and the overriding reason he was to be the nation’s next Prime Minister. But Chris Chen won many more voters and probably several more elections when he continued. “Ladies and gentlemen, I simply want to mention that as an Australian, how proud I am, at this historic moment, to serve under the first President of Australia. The people of this country have chosen carefully and wisely, because the successful candidate, as you well know has a tried and proven track record unsurpassed in Australian political history. Never has there been a leader with such universal appeal and such an obvious choice for this important position. A person with who will fulfil his duties as President with compassion, fairness and integrity, ably supported by Mr Nayar. History will judge them well; because they are much loved by all.”
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Mr Timothy O’Brien SC had been sworn in by Chief Justice Samesh Banerjee; his presence alone demonstrating the progressive integration of Australia into the Asian landscape. An early fifties, Australian born Chief Justice from an Indian family, he had simply been the logical choice for the position of Chief Justice. An experienced, articulate legal practitioner and a socially progressive person with a deep understanding of the law. Who had de-mystified the position of Chief Justice with a series of well written articles so ordinary people felt inclusive of the legal process. Whose office and responsibilities were linked to that of the new President; sitting ethereally above the day-to-day rough and tumble of politics in the parliament.