My Right Hand Man

Bob Hawke: Let’s go back to 1990; it’s not so far away¹Robert James Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, making him the longest-serving Prime Minister to come from the ranks of the Australian Labor Party (and third longest serving overall).
Where with each misty morning dawns a more exciting day
Peace and love are everywhere defeating hate and greed
And Thatcher is resigning²Margaret Thatcher, fiscally and socially conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1979. By Thatcher’s own account, she and Hawke mutually disliked each other.
And Germans are uniting³West Germany and East Germany were finally re-combined into a single Germany after a separation that began in 1945 and endured for 45 years of Cold War.
And even that Mandela fella’s freed⁴Nelson Mandela, an opponent of apartheid in South Africa, spent 27 years in prison for his opposition. His release marked the end of apartheid.
There’s never been a better time to lead.

Here in 1990, Australia’s doing well.
No child lives in poverty as far as we can tell⁵In the 1987 election, Hawke promised that “by 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty” – a promise that was quietly swept under the rug when that year arrived.
And all I hear across the land’s a chorus of content
Band: Hey!
And positive appraisal
And love for Bob and Hazel⁶Hazel Hawke was the wife of Bob from 1956 until 1995, when she divorced him.
Yes, I’m a hit with each constituent
And unemployment’s only *cough* percent⁷The unemployment rate of Australia averaged 6.66% across 1990, increasing in every month except March.

It’s a comfy bloody country, comfy and relaxed,⁸“Relaxed and comfortable” was a catchphrase of the Howard government dating from the 2004 election. It has rarely been used without irony since then.
Not too bloody up itself or too highly taxed.
It’s a lovely bloody system, that I try to understand –⁹There was a widespread perception that Keating was the ideas man, and Hawke the salesman – a perception shared by Keating himself.
But I don’t really get it, I give much of the credit –
I’m indebted to my right-hand man;
My right hand man.

My right-hand man’s a charmer, the smoothest of the smooth
He’s got a nut for every bolt, a tongue for every groove,
A pleasurer as Treasurer, creating harmony.¹⁰Keating became Treasurer upon the election of the Hawke government in 1983, and presided over some of the most far-reaching reforms to the Australian economy ever seen.
Also, the band sing the word ‘harmony’ in, well, harmony.

On the economic levers
And he loves all you true believers¹¹“True Believers” is a traditional term used by the ALP to describe its faithful supporters.
He’s the linchpin in my winning dynasty:
With him around, there’s not much use for me!

Of course, he’s quite peculiar, if that’s for me to say,
A little unAustralian in his own endearing way
I take him to the footy and his eyes aren’t on the ball¹²Hawke is a noted fan of all kinds of sport, while Keating generally prefers more high culture pasttimes.
And in his private parlour, he plays the works of Mahler¹³Gustav Mahler was a composer of the late romantic era, noted for his symphonies.
The strangest sound’s cascading down the hall –
It doesn’t sound like Billy Thorpe at all.¹⁴Billy Thorpe is an Australian rock singer, best known for his song “Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy)”.

Oh it’s a comfy bloody country, ‘cos we know what’s in our hearts,
It’s beer and boots, not wine and suits: Cricket – not art!¹⁵Bob Hawke notably once held a record for beer drinking, and as Prime Minister, revived the concept of the Prime Minister’s First XI: more or less a command performance first class cricket game.
It’s a lovely bloody system,
And I’ll lead it while I can.
Just a bloke and his mates,
But if you wanna talk rates –
Look for the midnight tan
On my right-hand man.