Lives in Cricket No 12 - Ric Charlesworth

teachers. Believing that ‘redistribution of resources to provide core services in health, education, housing and income support, should be fundamental aims’ of good government, his decision to pursue a political career ‘was not made suddenly’. But, he would write much later, ‘my experiences in medicine were part of my motivation.’ 25 It would of course be easy for any aspiring politician to give lip service to noble sentiments. And there can be no doubt that Charlesworth was eager to be more than a humble backbencher attending to the needs of his local constituents. How could a young man who had achieved notable success, both academically and in two sports, be anything other than ambitious? But his idealism rings true because of the frustrations that lay ahead, not only with his own failure to advance to the front bench but with a politics focused on short-term electoral advantage rather than social reform. He finally joined the Labor party in 1980, soon discussing a possible parliamentary career with Michael Beahan, successor as state secretary to McMullan, who was heading east to become federal secretary. He might have sought a seat in the state parliament, avoiding the rigours of travel that are always worse for Western Australians than any other members of federal parliament. But, given his social concerns, a decision to enter state politics would have been even more disillusioning than his years in Canberra eventually proved to be. In a manner far removed from the traditional ideals of the left, the Western Australian Labor government, elected a month before the federal one in early 1983, reached out to a new breed of extravagantly rich businessmen, mostly from backgrounds very different from Perth’s traditionally influential networks. Sport became a major playground for both businessmen and politicians in an unholy alliance that became known as ‘WA Inc.’ Alan Bond bankrolled Western Australia’s capture of the America’s Cup in 1983; Kevin Parry did the same for 1981-1993 53 On call. Ric at the start of his medical career. 25 The Coach , pp 38-40.