Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 165
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Above all, "Nifty" Neville Wran was seen as a winner.
His image was seen everywhere: on national and commercial television, in the metropolitan press, even in the Manly Daily. Stories were written about the "Wran Machine", a propaganda apparatus which seemed invincible.
Peter Coleman did his best. An intellectual and former libertarian, he was pushed out of the political middle ground by Wran, and compelled to follow the "Law and Order" moralistic line of the conservative wing of the Liberal Party. His stoic acceptance of this task was shown in his wooden image on television.
The Festival of Light had imported Mary Whitehouse from England to condemn pornography and moral decay. Her meetings in Sydney, coinciding with the election campaign, were attended by large crowds, and attracted a few demonstrators. The media duly reported the resulting scuffles.
Cardinal Freeman, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, asked the party leaders to publicly state their attitude to religion: Coleman was equivocal; Wran simply admitted that he was an agnostic.
Some disturbing headlines continued to appear: The new pope died mysteriously; the left-wing Teachers Federation called a strike on all the state schools; service stations ran short of fuel because of an