John Howard becomes leader of the Opposition, presenting a new threat to Keating. Howard describes his intense desire for power and his thirst for revenge against the petty humiliations put on him as a child in a menacing minor-key march ("Power"). However, in the media he presents himself as "a normal bloke and nothing more" ("The Mateship"). Through various costume changes, he attempts to cast himself as a sports fan, a friend of the Australian soldier and a farmer, though the song implies that these are only costumes. The song also refers to the "children overboard" affair, his criticism of political correctness, and his use of immigration as a political issue, some of which occurred after the actual Howard's subsequent election to Prime Minister. In a slow rock duet, Keating and Howard both beseech voters to "Choose Me". However, as the 1996 electoral polls close, Keating concludes that he is doomed electorally. He sings of his unachieved dreams and with some bitterness at what he sees as the backward-looking message of his opponent in a country-influenced ballad referring to former Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley's description of Labor's overarching goals ("The Light on the Hill").