There was no need now for the fire that once sparked between them in the theatre of Parliament or on the hustings. They came from a time when political opponents shared not only regard - regularly invisible, of course, amid the shouting - but a behind-the-scenes friendship of sorts; an era almost unrecognisable these often-hateful days. Their relationship was rarely better displayed than a night in 1988 when tomfoolery broke out across the Old Parliament House as MPs prepared to move up the hill to the great new monolith. Prime minister Bob Hawke and opposition leader John Howard threw arms across each other's shoulders and bawled out the old socialist anthem, the Internationale. ''Bob,'' Howard conceded fondly when reminded by Fairfax Media on Wednesday of that long-ago event, ''had the better voice''.

Hawke and Howard had given 57 addresses between them to the National Press Club during their long political careers, always separately. In celebration of the club's 50th anniversary, they made their 58th appearance as a duo on Wednesday. Hawke, ever the larrikin, couldn't resist recalling his rapid rise to The Lodge in 1983, declaring he had enjoyed the ideal period in the worst job in politics: Opposition Leader. ''Three weeks,'' he cackled. ''The only bloody way to be leader of the opposition, I tell you!'' Howard, who was twice opposition leader - once for four years before being ditched by his own colleagues - ruminated that the Australian people almost always got their judgments right about who should be in government. ''I mean, I would say that, I suppose both of us would say that. We would think on some occasions we got it spectacularly right,'' he chortled, Hawke joining in.

The former combatants weren't at the press club for the wisecracking, however. They had the indulgence of elders to impart what they had learned. Hawke worried that today's Parliament was held by the community ''if not in contempt, in disdain, and I do think that something ought to be done to lift the quality of performance''. The opposition, he suggested, should support the government without argument on important issues where there was ''a degree of consensus''. Howard pointed out that he, as opposition leader, had done just that in the 1980s on the Hawke government's major economic reforms such as floating the dollar and reducing tariffs.

Both agreed the fundamental task of successful leaders was to make their arguments to the people, taking the country with them on the big reforms. Politics, said Howard, had become less ideological. ''Now, that's good in a way, because one thing I learnt about politics - and I'm sure Bob's experience would have been the same - Australians fundamentally don't like zealots, fanatics. It's part of our deep Celtic scepticism...and long may we remain suspicious of fanatics. ''The bad part of it is that we sometimes lose the capacity to argue the case. We think it's sufficient that we utter slogans. In truth, in politics you need slogans and arguments.'' Hawke worried about the future of the world, where technology and science could ''either lift the standard and quality of life of all mankind, or, on the other hand, destroy life on this planet as we know it''.

His hope was for Australia to help persuade the world to take the former path. And on they went. Loading In an era of slogans and shouting, we could have listened to the two old codgers yarning all day. Neither Tony Abbott, who was on his way to Indonesia, nor Bill Shorten attended. Follow us on Twitter