[ Clean cut Pete Steedman , left, eager to do battle , entered a new phase in his varied and hectic life in l983 as the Labor MHR for Casey, one of the largest suburban seats in Victoria, 80,000 voters , covering six cities and shires .]
When he contested the election he was described as aged 40- at times jocularly claiming to be 28- married, with two children, a former journalist , marketing consultant and advisor to the ALP Senate Leader, John Button, and recently a research officer with the Municipal Employees’ Union.
The Melbourne Herald, like other papers, made a point of the fact that Steedman , out to change the structure of Australian society, had adopted three-piece suit conservatism as his public image for the Federal election. Steedman said the media was the reason why he was not campaigning in a T-shirt. It[media] always portrayed politicians as wearing suits and it confused people if you were not so attired. He was also critical of the simplistic approach the media adopted reporting politics , presenting it as a gladiatorial clash , without much coverage of policies and the reason behind them.
A National Times lengthy article about Steedman said the seat of Casey could be the pad from which an Evel Knievel ( the American death- defying stuntman ) may launch himself into national prominence. It said Steedman was not a conventional Labor candidate ; for the election campaign he had bought a three piece grey suit and had garaged his 1962 push-button convertible red Ford Galaxie until after the poll. This “enfant terrible of Monash and Melbourne universities” had trimmed his sideburns, shelved his shades , got about the electorate in a tweed jacket, moleskin and boots.
It mentioned his involvement in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy [ previously covered in depth in Little Darwin] , as did the many local papers in the electorate which repeatedly called the disaster Cyclone Tracey .
Near the end of the article it speculated about how Steedman would perform in parliament if he were elected ... Many believe he has within him the dedication, outreach and gravitas to make him an astute parliamentarian who may yet astonish the nation . Steedman was quoted as saying : "All my life I’ve walked a tightrope. It gets my adrenalin going . I either succeed brilliantly or bomb out with a bang."This was to prove a prophetic statement in respect of his political career.
During his campaign Steedman backed the NO DAMS on the Franklin River in Tasmania , there being a rally in the electorate. The Dutch community , numbering 4000 , supported him after the Federal Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Minister , John Hodges, cut off funds shortly before the election. Steedman promised to lobby for the Dutch if elected.[Three months later, after "ruffling bureaucratic feathers ," Steedman was able to keep his promise and not be "a liar, " money allocated to the Dutch community. ]
FABULOUS FABULA RECALLED
Canberra braced itself for the arrival of this person , the subject of many dinner party stories, variously described as a lefty , a larrikin , the Black Knight, a cross between James Dean and Elvis , a rowdy , of the Socialist Left. Steedman said the many publications in the Leader Group of papers in the electorate made a Socialist Left member sound like a "child molester." A woman who had worked with Steedman in his boisterious university days had predicted that, if he kept out of gaol, he would go into politics and become Leader of the Opposition
When he had been editor of the national publication , Broadside, it lampooned Australian politics , Canberra in particular, through a saucy and controversial comic strip , drawn by Gerald Carr , in which Fabula, a curvy, skimpily clad , patriotic gal , repeatedly put her body on the line to save the nation or unscramble government cock ups . The story line was inspired by inside information Steedman received from political contacts about goings on in the capital . Whip wielding Fabula , see below , had been plucked out of the typists pool, and became the personal secretary to Sir John Grey , Prime Minister of a great southern country which sounded suspiciously like Australia... soon after , the strong influence of Ainsley Gotto , the highly intelligent, principal private secretary of PM John Gorton , became a major story. When Minister for Air , Dudley Erwin , was left out of Gorton’s second ministry, he blamed his dismissal thus : "It wiggles, it’s shapely and its name is Ainsley Gotto."
In any case , avid readers and the nervous Melbourne Age proprietors of Broadside felt they could identify the key characters in the comic strip , two editions pulped, one because of Fabula , the other for supporting Labor in an election ; the US president , Tricky Dicky Nixon, received a metaphorical lashing from Fabula. During Steedman’s editorship of Broadside all shades of politics in Federal politics were given a chance to air their views through regular columns - the then ALP leader, Arthur “Cocky” Calwell, the Liberal " Colt from Kooyong " Andrew Peacock , who turned in bland copy, and Don "Keep the bastards honest" Chipp of the Democrats.
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PETE'S PARLIAMENT PULLED NO PUNCHES
Because there were so many new faces elected to parliament in l983 , 23 , in the Bob Hawke landslide, it took a long time , six months , before Steedman got the nod to make his maiden speech. This did not stop him from being written up by the Canberra press gallery and he had other outlets through regular, forthright columns he wrote for the Victorian Labor Star , which he had edited for years, his contributions run under the heading PETE’S PARLIAMENT, and in the Municipal Employees' Union publication The Counsellor , which he also had edited .
In his Star article about the opening of parliament he deplored the pomp and ceremony, the wigs , which he said had no function or purpose in modern day government. He spoke of being sworn in with an oath of allegiance to Betty Windsor , called the former Liberal Speaker , Billie Mackie Snedden, a supreme hypocrite , said "the bods " from Tasmania did their best to gain national headlines by being thrown out of the House. Speaker, Harry Jenkins, he said, had kept his cool under the stream of abuse of the Tasmanians , and although it may have been tactically wrong, he should have "given the bastards what they wanted." The Opposition were still "arrogant bullies", and the born to rule syndrome was reflected in their every word. It would not accept the legitimacy of the Hawke Government , and once again they were doing their best to destabilise in any way they could. [Nothing had changed , he said recently, commenting on the present Opposition stance in Canberra .]
In a July piece he wrote he did not pull any punches about the early performance of the Labor Government. MEU members who read the newspapers , he wrote, could be forgiven for thinking that the government was going in all directions at all times. Mistakes made by some senior Ministers, from the Prime Minister down , had allowed the media to put the boot into Labor good and proper. He attributed this to a lack of consultation with the Caucus. He had fought for the MEU in respect of superannuation for lower paid blue collar workers.
When Parliament sat again in August and Caucus met again, he believed the government would have to reconsider its superannuation policies to make sure that Labor supporters and workers were not disadvantaged.
Later on, he touched on the fact that people had become very cynical of politicians ; he shared the cynicism. "It is quite remarkable up there in Parliament House, Canberra, to see the way a lot of our great Labor stalwarts can quite easily succumb to the surroundings and the gravy train that they are now part of . Those of you that know me during my time with the MEU will know that I am not a person to spend a lot of time on bullshit ."
SHEEPISH NATIONALS TAKE THE BAIT
Even though waiting in line to make his maiden speech , it did not stop him from making his presence very evident within the house and precincts , his interjections and verbal jousts caused conservatives , especially Nationals , seated near him in the chamber , to fume .
When the National Party Member for Maranoa, Ian Cameron, strongly attacked PM Hawke , Steedman suddenly shouted : “Heel!”- as if addressing a sheepdog, and Cameron, a farmer, immediately sat down, causing laughter. Back from a trip to Africa, Cameron presented Steedman with a necklace made from beads which he had bought in Kenya for $2. In doing so he said the necklace had magical powers , and within six months Mr Steedman would join the National Party . Cameron was not a bad fellow , said Steedman, but the act of presenting the necklace reflected his understanding of society. “Ever since Ian heard about the deal Batman did for Melbourne, and the purchases some early missionaries made in Africa, he considers anybody can be bought for a bundle of beads.”
Parliament never quite knew what to expect when Steedman interjected or responded to hecklers within and without the chamber . Representatives of rural seats liked to scoff at Steedman, this" city slicker" who lived in a two storey house on a 10 acre property which had formerly belonged to Australian playwright David Williamson. He responded to their raucous comments about the Hawke Government by telling them that they should not be so critical of the Labor government as it was going to bring in retrospective legislation making it okay for them having had sex with their sheep. Uproar ensued, none of which seemed to make it into Hansard.
In July, before he was able to make his maiden speech, Steedman launched a book DOWN UNDERGROUND COMIX , for Penguin, compiled by Phil Pinder, featuring the works of about 25 cartoonists , at the Last Laugh Restaurant, Collingwood. In covering the event , the Age said Mr Steedman modestly credited himself with discovering or fostering most of the cartoonists-Martin Sharp, Michael Leunig, Jenny Cooper,Rick Amor and others - during his earlier career as perpetual enfant terrible of the university and underground Press. Covering the same launch, Ron Saw in the Sydney Bulletin magazine , near an item about Dallas star Larry Hagman, said Steedman , revolutionary , editor, contributor and all purpose stirrer of more publications than "the stiffbacks liked to think existed," had become the Member for Casey in the " March cataclysm", almost certainly qualifying for a phone–tap with a complimentary autographed picture of Harvey Barnett, the ASIO Director-General. [ Broadside had run a two-page Leunig cartoon headed WHO WATCHES ASIO WHILE ASIO WATCHES YOU... which showed agents reporting to the head spy, Scorpion, the telegraphic address for ASIO . In it a spy who used his initiative to have a look at Pine Gap and North West Cape was shot by Scorpion, working for the CIA. ]
In his maiden speech, Steedman highlighted the part played by unions in obtaining better conditions for Australian workers. It was the union movement which had obtained annual holidays, wage loadings, pay increases and health and safety provisions. Considering the short time Labor had been in government in this country, the unions had effectively been the Opposition to conservative governments.
A major concern of his was unemployment, especially youth unemployment . At the time , he said, the economy was being continually squeezed by monetarist policies and unemployment was spiralling upwards while business got worse. Children had to be given greater skills and this meant keeping them at school, teaching them things which would enable them to cope with modern times, which he had stressed when his expertise and drive made the Caulfield Institute for Technology the leading education centre in Victoria. Management, he told parliament , was lacking in many basic skills , leading to businesses closing down and job losses. Much industrial disputation was due to plain bad management, he declared.
STEEDMAN HOOKS GOODLUCK
During a grievance debate on October 20,l983, Tasmanian Liberal, Bruce Goodluck , criticised people who regarded the Vietnam War and uranium as " dirty" words and also objected to American ships visiting Australian ports. He had addressed a peace rally which had objected to an American ship entering Hobart, and had received " a bit of boo and a bit of a hoo." This opposition to Americans doing anything in Australia was sheer hypocrisy as the United States had saved us on many occasions .
He predicted that Joh Bjelke-Petersen would get back into power in Queensland and there would be other right wing wins in other states , resulting in free enterprise governments . Free people would be ruling in Australia , and it would be a better place in which to live. As an aside, Goodluck then mentioned that "my friend "- the Honourable Member for Casey-Steedman- had entered the chamber.
Goodluck went on to say Tasmania had lost "the wonderful hook" of being known as the Apple Isle because NSW now produced more . Hansard recorded, Mr Steedman: " The last time I saw a mouth like yours it was on a hook.”
As the grievance debate continued, Steedman rose to highlight poor occupation and safety in the nation . Typically, he had thoroughly researched the subject, and presented facts and figures . In Australia under the rule of Liberal and Nationals there had been a lack of concern about the safety of workers, he charged. If you wanted to stop high workers compensation premiums, to help small business , steps should be taken to stop workers being run over, crushed , killed or made work in dangerous environments .
The union for which he worked up until the election consisted of blue collar workers who , he said , were constantly put under threat and into hazardous situations by local councils, especially rural councils. The "cockies" felt that they were a superior type of being and the workers " were serfs," put into contact with carcinogenic substances , conditions leading to sun cancer , working with tar. Opposition members objected , one facetiously wanting to know how you grew tar. Steedman asked the interjector to explain himself. Andrew Peacock, who once described Steedman as a loquacious socialist , responded thus : "He wants to know where you grow tar."
Steedman said the comment showed the level of intelligence of the interjector, and went on to say that the Hawke Government would bring in legislation to make the workplace safer in Australia, workers compensation premiums would go down and workers would not be crippled . In doing so, he made a provocative statement about "mental cripples " like the parliamentary members from Tasmania. Bruce Goodluck took a point of order and, in the absence of fellow Tasmanians , asked for Steedman to retract the remark. Steedman said he was happy to retract because he realised that inbreeding caused that sort of thing. Goodluck again protested , but the Deputy Speaker said there was no point of order.
FILIPINO OPPRESSION HIGHLIGHTED
In an adjournment debate the next month , Steedman raised the plight of Filipino people under the Marcos regime following representations to him from The Philippines Action Support Group , an organisation supported by the Australian Catholic Relief , the Australian Council of Churches , the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace , Community Aid Abroad and Action for World Development. Filipino people were living in desperate and growing poverty , while a small elite lived lives of extravagance .
He said that since President Marcos had declared martial law in 1972 the living standard of the poorest 80 per cent had been slashed. As the poverty increased , so did dissent. This dissent had not been met by much needed social and economic reforms. It had been met by increased militarisation and increased repression. Armed forces had increased from 60,000 to more than 300,000 regulars. If reserves and paramilitary forces were included , the figure rose to more than 900,000, two per cent of the population. Steedman detailed the large number of political prisoners, torture, extrajudicial killings by the military, death squads , people forced off their land to make way for palm oil plantations , limited freedom of the Press, corruption of the legal system, the high rate of malnutrition.
Describing the grim picture as a "very brief summary" of the human rights abuses taking place in the Philippines, Steedman ended by saying : "I believe that Australia’s defence and security should not be built on the oppression of others. In the long term, we should be more secure were we to support the majority who seek justice, rather than the minority who rule by force."
Intent on changing things , Steedman wanted to examine the nuts and bolts of government and so became a member of a wide range of government and Caucus committees dealing with defence support, economic policy , employment, industrial relations and foreign affairs.
TREASURER KEATING DENIES BEING SNOWED
Giving a written account of his involvement in the Economic Policy Committee,Steedman said he felt that in the upcoming Budget the government should be a bit more creative with it policies because of its obligations to the Australian people , more particularly the unemployed. Using the Keynesian approach , he could see no reason why the deficit could not be increased. This view did not accord with that of the Treasurer, Paul Keating , who was at pains on several occasions at a recent meeting to say he was "not being snowed by John Stone"-the head of Treasury .
To illustrate that parliament is theatre, Tasmanian Liberal members were reported as wearing "mourning armbands" to protest about government treatment of the island state. A reporter described Goodluck as " not the least xenophobic of the ultra xenophobic Tasmanian members. "
NEXT : Spy stories , James Bond imitators , President Reagan calls Steedman’s office, Henry Kissinger giggles and Pete works hard for his electorate , pausing at times to tinker with the restoration of a 1942 Chevrolet (which he still has) and a Vincent Rapide motorbike, which he would dearly like to still possess as they are worth a king’s ransome .
