Author: thecentrecannothold_dvfkiw

Scrutineer: The ’96 election is still hanging by a thread.¹The 1996 Federal Election was held on March 2. Keating’s ALP government was swept from power, losing 31 seats. At no point was the result in much doubt.
One tiny booth on Cleveland Street has not returned its choice.²In each performance of “Keating!”, the location of the booth is that of the theatre in which that night’s show is running.
Is it Keating, is it Howard? Let your verdict find its voice.

Band: (whisper) Keating, Keating, Keating!
Scrutineer: The same name just keeps repeating
Band: (louder) Keating, Keating, Keating!
Keating: I can feel my heart start beating
Band: (louder still) Keating, Keating, Keating!
Howard: No way! That’s wrong! That’s cheating!
Band: (Loudest) Keating, Keating, Keating, Keating, Keating, Keating, Keating!

Keating: I thought no victory could be sweeter
I thought no day could dawn so bright
I thank my lovely wife Annita
She’s been out the back all night.

Don’t need no glorious procession
Don’t need no streamers to be tossed
I just want to hear this man’s concession
Howard: Well I’m sorry… that I lost.³Historically, John Howard never apologizes for anything, something that caused him some embarrassment in 2008 when he made remarks that could be construed as an apology.
Keating: And I’m the boss…

‘Cos I am, I am the ruler of the land
They tell me I’m the man
Band: who da man?
Keating: who da man?
Band: you da man!
Keating: – yes I am.
I am the ruler of the land
They tell me I’m the man
Band: who da man?
Keating: who da man?
Band: you da man!
Keating: I am, I am, I am!
All: KEATING!
[PARTY POPPERS!]

Keating: They’re counting up the votes across Australia¹The 1996 Federal Election was held on March 2. Keating’s ALP government was swept from power, losing 31 seats.
And counting down the seconds of my years
I’ve seen quite a few elections
I know how to read projections
I can recognise a change when it appears
The people make the ultimate decisions
The system says they always get it right
Though it seems like half an hour
Since I stumbled into power
Now it’s time for me to say goodnight

But still I dream
of a country rich and clever
with compassion and endeavour
reaching out towards forever, and I’m still
dreaming of the light on the hill²‘The Light on the Hill‘ is the term used by the ALP to describe its ideals and intent: that of government as a guide and a shelter for those who need it. It was first used by Prime Minister Ben Chifley of the ALP in a speech in 1949.

You start off in your local council chambers
You fight and dream until you reach your prime
And if you should succeed
By the time you get to lead
You’re pretty much exhausted from the climb³When he first became Prime Minister, Keating was tired and worn out. He frequently commented that the opportunity had come too late for him during his first year at the top. But the fight against Hewson reinvigorated him.
You only get a moment in the penthouse
Before you find you’re standing on the sill
If you’re sunk in ham and gammon
When it turns from feast to famine
Then you’re lucky if you’ve had your fill

But still I dream
heads are high and hearts are heady
eyes are bright and clear and steady
full of promise that we’re ready to fulfil
I’m dreaming of the light on the hill

They’re counting up the votes across Australia
And this time it seems the verdict is severe
Swan, McEwen, Fadden, Dickson,
Bass and Paterson and Kingston⁴All of these names are those of electorates lost by the ALP in the 1996 election.
But it’s Oxley with the message loud and clear:⁵Oxley is another electorate lost by the ALP, in this case to independent Pauline Hanson. Hanson was infamous for her outspokenly racist views. She was not returned at the subsequent election.
Bring us back our comfy bloody country⁶This line refers back to the first song in the show, “My Right Hand-Man”, only now used with greater bitterness. It’s a play on “relaxed and comfortable” was a catchphrase of the Howard government dating from the 2004 election, which has rarely been used without irony since then.
Take us back to simple days of yore
Nothing alien or scary,⁷Both Pauline Hanson and John Howard would engage in a considerable amount of racist scare-mongering during Howard’s years in power, completely reversing Keating’s policy of engagement with Asia.
La-di-da or airy-fairy⁸In the words of Rodney Cavalier (historian, ALP politician and former NSW state minister:
“His ideas agenda based on the republic, native title, engagement with Asia and multiculturalism cut no ice with the electorate at large, especially core Labor voters. In various ways, these items were seen as being away with the fairies…“
Just put it back the way it was before

But still I dream
that the stars will be aligning
as our fates are intertwining
until every heart is shining with goodwill
shining like the light on the hill,
shining like the light on the hill.

Keating: And now
We’re living in a great creative nation
Yet we wait somehow
The battle for the country can’t be won
Until we understand
How well we know our land
How much we hide our shame
Or dare to speak its name
Band: Redfern…

Keating: And here
We wander through the midst of this
And wish that it would disappear
As if it’s only locally created
Insulated pain
A shadow and a stain
A hurt we can’t reveal
A cut too deep to heal
Band: Redfern…

Keating: But oh, I know we can succeed
We can’t afford to fail
And justice must prevail
And oh, I’m sure it will indeed
With everything we share
We know it’s only fair

To begin
I think we oughta show contrition.
Recognition of our sin
And wonder how we had the gall
To think it was all OK
And never thought to say
“How angry would I be
If this were done to me?”
Band: Redfern…

Keating: But oh, I know we can succeed
We can’t afford to fail
And justice must prevail
And oh, I’m sure it will indeed
With everything we share
We know it’s only fair…
Oh yeah!
RRAAH !!!!

Kerry O’Brien is one of Australia’s most respected journalists – a six time Walkley Award winner, long time host of The 7:30 Report and for years ABC’s host of each election night special. After his retirement, he wrote a biography of Keating.

Robert Ray was an ALP Senator for Victoria from 1981 through to 2008. Notably, at the time of the 1993 election – and throughout the entire Keating Prime Ministership – he was Minister for Defence.
Not coincidentally, he is positioned to the left of O’Brien (from the audience’s perspective).

Michael Kroger is a long time power-broker in the Liberal Party, who served as President of the Victorian division of the party from 1987 to 1992 and has remained active in the party ever since. He expected a victory for his party in 1993, which is illustrated in the musical by his expression after the election results are called.
Also not coincidentally, he is positioned to the right of O’Brien (from the audience’s perspective).

Antony Green is the most trusted man in Australian politics, and the reason why anyone in Australia knows what a psephologist is. Widely regarded as a national treasure, he was the staff psephologist at the ABC from 1991 until his retirement in 2025. The 1993 election was the first Federal Election of his career, and he treated it with would be become widely known and respected as his trademark caution and non-partisanship in calling election results.

Keating: Canberra’s never lonelier or colder
Than when you feel the heartbreak of defeat¹Keating challenged Hawke for the leadership on June 3, 1991 – he lost, with 44 votes to Hawke’s 66.
You’ll never find a sympathetic shoulder
On any bureaucratic street
So when I must forgive or be forgiven
When all my best-laid plans have gone astray
I head down to the shores of Burley Griffin²Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in Canberra created by and named for Walter Burley Griffin, the designer of Canberra.
And try to wash the pain away

In wintertime, the water cuts you chilly
Walter dug it oh so deep
And I remember Kirribilli³Kirribilli House is an official residence of the Prime Minister in Sydney, located harbourside in the suburb of the same name, near the northern landing of the Harbour Bridge.
The promise that he did not keep

He looked me in the eye across the table
He looked at me and swore he’d step aside⁴Hawke and Keating made a private agreement in 1988 that Hawke would yield the leadership of the ALP (and thus, the Prime Ministership) to Keating after the 1990 election, but then reneged on the deal.
I gave him my support and kept him stable
He looked me in the eye and lied
I dreamed that I was Placido Domingo⁵At the Christmas 1991 Press Dinner, Keating described himself as the Placido Domingo of Australian politics: “sometimes great, and sometimes not great, but always good.”
Ready for the spotlight and applause
But maybe I’ll end up like Ernie Dingo
And vanish in ‘The Great Outdoors’.⁶Ernie Dingo is a sometimes controversial celebrity of Aboriginal descent, best know for having hosted travel and lifestyle show “The Great Outdoors” since 1993.

In wintertime, the water cuts you chilly,
And I swear I see a lady with a blade⁷The Lady of the Lake famously gave King Arthur the sword Excalibur, signifying by divine right that he should be king. However, it should be recalled that strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, supreme executive power deriving instead from a mandate from the masses.
And I remember Kirribilli
The promise that a friend once made

I want to rule, I want to lead, I know just what the people need
I thought I had it guaranteed, but then
He threw me down in the stenches of the dank back benches,⁸After Keating’s failed first challenge for the leadership, Hawke removed his portfolio as Treasurer, and Keating spent the next several months as a backbencher.
And I never want to go back there again! Again!

Time again for daring and defiance
Time to charge the throne and take the crown
And I won’t need no iron-clad alliance
To go for gold and bring Old Silver down…⁹‘Old Silver’ was Keating’s private nickname for Hawke.

“I’m gonna bring him down”

In wintertime, the water cuts you chilly
It purifies my soul anew
“yes it does people!”
And I, I remember Kirribilli
And I know now what I have to do,
I know now what I have to do.
Dooooo…