THE UNCERTAIN SMILE OF AUSTRALIA
SIR,—One of the troubles with compressing a book- length subject into an article is the case with which one can be misunderstood. I did not mean to imply that all State Labour politicians were 'tired old hacks'; I was merely trying to show that the traditional belief of some Labour MPs in the class war is no longer accepted by the young affluent generation. Labour remains the party of crisis, and it was the economic crisis which swung votes to the Left in the recent series of elections. I agree with Mr. Barnard's impressions of student politics; the New Left and other radical groups to which I re- ferred exist mainly outside the universities.
Mr. Williams spends most of his time arguing with himself. 'Social mobility' does not imply egalitarianism, as even he half-understands by say- ing, 'the gap between richest and poorest has never been greater.' He seems quite muddled about the difference between class and status distinctions: I would have thought it clear prosperity has lessened the first while multiplying the second. Clothes have a purely symbolic importance: they reveal a new awareness, a new desire to be modern and fashion images. Australia has had ;food poets and painters since the Nineties; only recently have we had good dramatists, architects, potters and novelists at the same time. The traditional English proletariat 'has never existed, as I was careful to point out; a vigor- ous working class has, but only Mr. Williams can believe it has throttled creative activity: I certainly don't.
But all these are quibbles. It seems to me, and practically every other observer of the Australian scene (from the Mackenzies to J. M. D. Pringle to Alan Seymour) that profound social changes have occurred in Australia since the war—changes which have gathered pace in the last few years. An analysis of these movements is essential if the community is to have some sense of direction, some realisation of what it is gaining and what it risks losing. The thesis that there has been a swing in emphasis from
egalitarian to middle-class values and attitudes, modified in part by the character of the people and their traditions, deserves serious discussion—not - cheap abuse.
77b Southwark Bridge Road, SEI CRAIG MCGREGOR
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