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a pub where my staff presented me with a memento -- a small statue of a golden kangaroo. They knew my interests.

That night it began to rain. I had been persuaded to spend the last night of the campaign on a pub crawl with Brian Green -- visiting publicans who supported the ALP, and meeting their patrons. This had worked well in Coombsie's campaign, and good relations had been established with the local branch of the Australian Hotel Association. But it was not the right scene for me, and the night grew wetter and more dismal. We followed a planned circuit. Each of the publicans assured us of their support, although we suspected that they were doing the same for Hay and his mates. Someone said that the enemy party was following half an hour behind us.

I went to bed at midnight, listening to the rain lashing at the windows. By 6 am the deluge was causing minor flooding. Gutters were overflowing and sheets of water were covering low parts of the roads. There was chaos at the polling booths. The workers and their materials were sodden. In some places the voting started late because the authorized rolls had not arrived. Urgent calls went out to the returning officer to send spares, but his office was temporarily cut off by the water in the middle of Manly. It was mid morning before the rain had stopped.

The day started badly, but our troops were

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