The future Prime Minister (he would defeat Mr. Fraser in 1983) was at this time

not even a member of Parliament, although he was, Mr. Buckley tells us, "frequently designated as the most influential figure in Australian public life." This rousing session on the place of trade unions and the power of the press never slows down. One sample, on whether generous union settlements and rises in the minimum wage hurt the workers at the lowest end of the scale: RH: "No, I don't think it's true in America, and it's certainly not true in this country. It's a nonsense theory as far as Australia is concerned. ... Because under the way in which our arbitration system operates, when the trade-union movement goes in and conducts cases to improve wages or working conditions, the results don't flow simply to members of trade unions. They go to all people who are employed ..." WFB: "You have a remarkable facility for simply co-opting all idealistic objectives and saying that they are served by your policies. Now, is this simply a polemical habit, or are you willing to give an objective basis for it? In point of fact, every time in America there has been a raise in the minimum wage there has been a huge increase in black unemployment. Now what's nonsensical about that?" RH: "Well, I wish you'd really listen to what I was saying ..."