Although a keen student of labour history himself, Mr Combet said he had resisted overtures to write a book while he was in public life, believing it was inappropriate to do so, and has never been the type to keep a diary.
His attitude has always been to look forward to the next task or challenge.
But writing the book has allowed him the time to reflect on the meaning of some of the great fights of his time in the labour movement.
“One of the things I’ve realised over the years is there’s very little of our history written by people who’ve been involved in things and that was a key reason I decided ultimately to do the book,” he says.
“There was a personal element, a cathartic thing to get it out after I’d finished a long period as a union official and a labour politician but mainly I wanted some of the things I’ve been privileged to be involved in, I want them to be known and recorded and for people to be proud of what they’ve done.”
The overarching message that Mr Combet hopes to get across through his book: “nothing is achieved without fighting for it and defending it. And you’ve got to fight for it again and again.”
It is a message that has strong resonance at a time when the union movement is fighting numerous battles to protect jobs, oppose the dismantling of the social wage, defend the minimum wage, penalty rates and other conditions, and even preserve their role as independent representatives of working people.
Mr Combet says he regrets he is no longer able to take a frontline role in these fights, but he wants to help those who do in whatever way he can.
He says the union movement should be very proud of what it has contributed to Australia, but the battle to protect those gains is never-ending.
“It’s very important in our democracy, the labour movement. It is a mass movement of a couple of million people . . . It’s helped shape this country and its values.
“But it doesn’t happen by magic. It’s not sprinkled from above somehow, it’s built by grassroots activism, and around a set of values: fairness, justice, equality of opportunity, democracy, individual and collective rights, all these things are critical to having a decent society.”
Abbott ‘more dangerous than Howard’
Mr Combet has spent many years observing Tony Abbott at close quarters and says the current Prime Minister is potentially more dangerous to working people than John Howard was.
“He’s extremely tough and very intelligent,” he says.
“This is a battle of values and he’s a very tough, seasoned campaigner. He has won the leadership of the country by fighting for it.
“His book’s called Battlelines remember, and he’s on the other side of those lines from the labour movement and he’s a hard fighter, and if you don’t fight him, he’ll win, he will impose his values and his vision on this country.
“And much of that will be antithetical to the interests of ordinary people and there is no alternative but to fight it.”
Mr Combet says he has no doubt that unions must take the fight up to Tony Abbott to protect the labour movement’s vision for Australian society.
“If the labour movement is not fighting and giving people a democratic say and embracing and upholding democratic values, who is?” he says.
While he outlines some ideas for union and Labor Party reform in his book he has little time for those who say unions are no longer relevant or that the ALP should sever all connections with the union movement.
After all, says Greg Combet, unions are still the most powerful organised force for progressive change in our society.
WHEN
July 29, 2014 at 10am - 1pm
WHERE
The Atrium, Sydney Trades Hall
CONTACT
MUP
rsvp-mup@unimelb.edu.au
Confirm your attendance by contacting MUP (03) 9342 0322
Confirm your attendance by contacting MUP (03) 9342 0322
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