My Take | A tale of two octogenarian politicians

Most press conferences are about as fun as going to the dentist. But watching online the performance of former Labor prime minister Paul Keating at the National Press Club of Australia last week, it was a blast.

Keating was there to discuss the controversial Aukus nuclear submarine deal, which he has openly opposed, between his country, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their target is China. A pack of Aussie warmongering hacks were ready to pounce. But in the colourful language of one observer, Keating “ripped several members of the press gallery a new one, and he wasn’t administering anaesthetic”.

Something else caught my eye. Because my wife and I have had to watch the slow deterioration of ageing parents, we have become cued not only to mental decline but also alertness and vigour among elderly people. Watching the 79-year-old not only holding his own for more than an hour but treating some of the best specimens of Australia’s notoriously insolent journalists like dumb children was a sight to behold.

It’s difficult not to notice the contrast with US President Joe Biden, the oldest person to occupy the White House. At about the same age, it’s almost impossible to imagine the 80-year-old holding court for an hour, even with the most sycophantic of reporters.

I am not even talking about tripping over on the stairs of Air Force One or falling off a bicycle. We all trip and fall sometimes. However, whether it’s wandering on stage in a state of confusion or clutching cheat sheets with instructions on when to speak and where to exit, Biden’s cognitive decline is obvious.

In September, for example, Biden shouted for the late Representative Jackie Walorski to identify herself in a crowd at a Washington function, forgetting that the Republican from Indiana died in a car crash the previous month. He had written a condolence letter to her family, or his aides did but he still had to sign it.