Fifty years after Neville Wran’s rise to power, his leadership offers enduring lessons in political strategy, discipline and understanding the electorate.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Wran government’s historic election in NSW, we are provided with an opportunity to reflect on the lessons Labor learned during a volatile period in Australian politics. And how they have influenced future governments.

Neville Wran led Labor to power in NSW barely six months after The Dismissal – which had seen the Whitlam government ingloriously despatched by the voters after a tumultuous three years in office.

The ALP had briefly emerged from 23 years in the political wilderness federally. Paralleled by a decade in opposition in NSW.

The party’s resurrection, so soon, was largely unexpected. Wran not only restored its fortunes, he laid the foundations on which subsequent successful federal and state governments across the country have been built.

Wran demonstrated the key strengths of political leadership. The ability to read the public mood – politics being ‘the art of the possible’. A likeable persona. A willingness to accept that which was achievable and that which was not. Along with the insight to know what was really needed, and how to get things done.

So, what changed the course of Labor history in NSW 50 years ago? An inspired deal between the leaders of its then warring factions.

John Ducker was the boss of what is now Unions NSW and a hard man from Labor’s right wing. Jack Ferguson, an equally tough former unionist, was the leader of the left wing in the NSW parliament. Wran was a leading barrister and a member of what was then a part-time upper house, the Legislative Council.

Who approached whom? I suspect it was Wran who first floated the idea with Ducker and Ferguson, perhaps characteristically dismissing the “knuckleheads” currently in the Legislative Assembly, where governments are formed. Others may be able to provide a definitive answer.

When Wran became opposition leader, people immediately took notice. He was the sort of bloke who just looked like he should be running the place. ‘Nifty Nev’, he was called.

His most celebrated victory was in the 1978 general election – dubbed by the media as a ‘Wranslide’. Labor secured a 23-seat swing, with 58 per cent of the primary vote and 61 per cent two-party preferred. The campaign slogan was ‘Wran’s Our Man’.

But it was winning a by-election for the seat of Earlwood earlier that year which had turned a corner for Wran and demonstrated his growing electoral appeal.

The former Liberal premier had hung around, unlike today’s vanquished leaders who grab their parliamentary super and head off looking for a corporate gig.

The Liberal Party had held Earlwood for more than 30 years. It was therefore thought unwinnable by the party’s power brokers.

Wran wasn’t optimistic either. His response was typically robust. “I don’t expect to win. I just don’t want to be clobbered”, he........

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