Australian Story: Correspondence

Reading Mungo MacCallum's 'Quarterly Essay' of last year for a second time in January, I wondered whether he might have changed anything had he written it after Tony Abbott claimed the Liberal Party leadership. The motif of MacCallum's essay is, of course, the Australian Story. His thesis: that a great deal of Rudd's political success has been bound up in his judicious appropriation of Australian cultural myths. How, then, might MacCallum respond to the suggestion that the emergence of Abbott as Liberal leader neutralises such an advantage of Rudd's? In terms of cultural authenticity, Abbott undoubtedly poses a more formidable challenge to Rudd than Brendan Nelson or Malcolm Turnbull ever could. Commentators, particularly those who lean to the Right, have certainly been excited by Abbott's leadership. After all, not since the days of Robert James Lee Hawke has a national politician paraded so proudly before cameras in budgie-smugglers. Authenticity is that rarest of political assets these days, although, of course, it can never on its own guarantee electoral success.