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Australian Books

The way it was

30 November 2013

9:00 AM

30 November 2013

9:00 AM

Remarkable Times: Australian Politics 2010-13: What Really Happened Laurie Oakes

Hachette Australia, pp.352, $32.99, ISBN: 9780733631979

There is a test in Canberra which applies to the quality of political commentary. It is called the ‘Blue Poles’ test. People may recall the uproar which greeted the Whitlam government’s support for the Australian National Gallery’s purchase of this extraordinary work by Jackson Pollock 40 years ago.

According to the tabloids and schlock jocks of 1973, the purchase was an absolute waste of public money.

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Stephen Loosley is a former ALP national president and senator.

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