The recipe for success

Sitting in my Brisbane home recently, reading about current events in Canberra, I began to contemplate the circumstances in federal politics more than 30 years ago.
It was a time when a long-serving Coalition government was facing a Labor Party whose leader had suffered challenges to his own authority.
Yet Gough Whitlam went on to defeat Prime Minister William McMahon in December 1972.
Without being immodest, I should add that I witnessed at close quarters many of the key events preceding that victory.
It all started in March 1971 when Liberal PM John Gorton used his deciding vote to defeat himself in a party-room ballot. Mr McMahon then became our nation's leader.
I had been on Mr Gorton's staff as a senior adviser, but Mr McMahon decided to make some changes - as was his right.
Mr Whitlam had been complaining for some time that he needed more staff. So, shortly after becoming PM, Mr McMahon had me seconded to the Opposition Leader's staff.
I did not mind, as I have always prided myself on being able to serve any government regardless of its political colouring.
Working in Opposition was something I had not done before so I regarded the move as a great adventure. And so it turned out to be.
I soon learned that the Labor Party people did things very differently from their conservative counterparts.
The very first engagement I attended with Mr Whitlam was a lunchtime meeting to discuss the ALP's marketing strategy for the forthcoming election.
There was some suggestion that the new PM would call a snap poll, so the pressure was on the Labor Party to devise a winning campaign.
The meeting was held at the well-known Doyle's Seafood Restaurant at Watsons Bay in Sydney. At the table were me, Mr Whitlam, the Labor Party's then national secretary Mr Mick Young and two chaps from the party's advertising agency which at that time was an outfit called Hansen Rubensohn-McCann Erickson. I forget their surnames but somewhat coincidentally their Christian names were both Comrade.
I must admit I was at a bit of a loss for most of the lunch, not previously having had much experience in the nitty-gritty of party political campaigning.
However, a welcome distraction was the meal itself. It was superb, and to this day I can still recall it. Mr Whitlam and Mr Young were in the mood for some plain fish and chips, although that label doesn't do justice to the meals they received.
The two advertising chaps ordered a special seafood platter between them.
I decided to be a bit adventurous and asked for one of the chef's specialties: salmon cutlets with a fresh herb sauce.
It sounded good on the menu and tasted even better when it arrived. I was transfixed and, although it shouldn't have happened, I somewhat lost the thread of the conversation at the table.
The others were chatting away, trying to decide on a slogan for the Labor Party for the coming campaign.
I'm afraid I wasn't any help, being so focused on my beautiful salmon dish and its tantalising herb sauce.
For the life of me I couldn't make out what the dominant ingredient in the sauce could be.
I asked Mr Young to try a portion to see if he knew. He didn't seem to hear me. Mr Whitlam dismissed my offer of a taste test with a wave of his hand, and so I remained puzzled.
The others at the table continued to toss around ideas for slogans, none of which seemed to be acceptable. One of the Comrades came up with "Australia - in need of a little Gough medicine" which I didn't mind personally. The other Comrade's suggestion was "Labor - it probably won't be as bad as you think".
I finished my meal and excused myself to go to the gentlemen's lavatory. As I returned, and still puzzled by the sensational taste of my meal, I popped into the kitchen and asked the chef if he could part with that particular secret.
When I got back to the table, Mr Whitlam and Mr Young had gone - called away urgently, I was told by the two advertising agency staffers.
Then one of them asked me: "Any ideas Rufus?"
I'm still not sure why, but their eyes lit up when I announced: "It's thyme."

Rufus Badinage MBE, now retired, is one of Australia's leading experts on politics and public administration having worked as a senior bureaucrat for various state and federal governments.