Origins of the Present Crisis?: Fabianism, Intellectuals and the Making of the Whitlam Government

Abstract

In the television mini-series Waterfront (1983), set during the1928 strike, two wharfies arrive at a lively party. They encountera young man wearing a pale blue jersey and bow tie. He iscarrying a plate of sandwiches:...We can be fairly certain that this episode is a figment of thescript-writer's imagination, for there was no Fabian Society atMelbourne University in 1928. The message, however, could not be clearer. The labour movement belongs to manly tradeunionists who are after a 'decent feed'. Nerdy middle-class eggheadsspout irrelevant socialist jargon and have no place inlabour's struggle against injustice.