LEGISLATORS NEED THE COURAGE OF THEIR CONVICTIONS

When Senator John Kennedy was bedridden with back pain for months in 1955 he wrote a book paying tribute to eight US senators who risked their political careers to argue for matters of principle. Profiles In Courage is a powerful book, readable and inspirational more than 50 years on. Kennedy's analysis of the pressures on a lawmaker and his definition of courage and conviction should be compulsory reading for legislators.

It inspired an annual award to a politician who has taken the hard road, rejecting the populist approach and arguing a difficult case to constituents. If there was an Australian Profiles In Courage Award who would make the cut from the annals of Australian political history? Here are a few nominations:

Bob Hawke and Paul Keating

Now that the economic reforms of the 1980s and '90s are well accepted, it's easy to forget just how controversial they were at the time. Keating set the tone for the government by rejecting Treasury advice not to float the dollar in 1983. Hawke and Keating showed courage and risked electoral backlash to implement reforms that have been responsible in no small measure for Australia's prosperity over the past 20 years.

Barrie Unsworth

Ten years before the Port Arthur massacre Unsworth introduced tough anti-gun laws. Unlike John Howard 10 years later, Unsworth faced an Opposition happy to make political mileage by pandering to the gun lobby. As a result, Labor lost every rural seat at the 1988 election. Unsworth knew the political risks but took the view that the reforms were necessary to protect innocent lives. The changes were wound back by the Greiner government.

Don Dunstan

On his ascension to the premiership in 1967, Dunstan described South Australia as one of the world's most conservative jurisdictions. Over the next 12 years he vigorously pursued liberal reforms promoting anti-discrimination, homosexual law reform and equal rights, leading the way for other Labor state governments and creating considerable controversy along the way. This showed courage.

Jeff Kennett

He showed considerable fortitude in reigning in spending, pushing through overdue local government amalgamations and engineering other reforms in the 1990s. I don't argue all of his reforms were right; some were and some were not. He deserves marks for putting the best interests of the state ahead of his own popularity.

Further back in time, John Curtin deserves praise for introducing conscription for World War II against the wishes of the Labor Party base as well as making it clear that Australia looked to the US as its key ally, a statement met with dismay by loyal servants of the empire. H. V. Evatt, although his failings were many, courageously argued, at the height of the Cold War, that Australians should have the right to join any political party, including the Communist Party. Menzies' Communist Party dissolution referendum had the support of 70 per cent of the Australian population when it was proposed. After Evatt's brave campaign the proposal was narrowly rejected.

Compromise is, of course, an important part of politics. Give and take is an important part of being a successful reforming politician. As Kennedy eloquently argued: "Compromise need not mean cowardice. Indeed it is frequently the compromisers and conciliators who are faced with the severest tests of political courage as they oppose the extremist views of their constituents."

Representing the views of constituents while standing up for deeply held beliefs will always be a challenge for elected representatives.

We are richer because we have had legislators willing to remember the words of Edmund Burke: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."

Chris Bowen is the federal Assistant Treasurer and the member for Prospect.

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