Tales from the Political Trenches

I remember election night in 2007 well. I was at a "Don's Party" at Enmore and not only were we celebrating the election of the Rudd Labor government after the long Howard years. But also in the seat of Bennalong the impossible had happened; a respected former ABC journalist had knocked off a sitting Prime Minister.

Flash forward to today and we're left to wonder what the hell went wrong? I mean it all started so well... and now? A scandal-prone government lead by the woman who knifed a first term Prime Minister (something I doubt the electorate will never forgive or forget) barely hanging on to power in a hung parliament following the most uninspiring election campaign in living memory. And now the nation faces a nine month campaign (again unprecedented) to probably end up exactly where we are now because no one like either side (and an election I fear we'll see the rise of the lunatic fringe). Meanwhile the ghost of Kevin Rudd follows Julia around like the Ghost of Christmas past.

Maxine McKew was not only a witness to many of the events of Kevin Rudd's rise to power but also a participant in his government (up until the men from New South Wales Labor took over - big mistake). I found this to be a balanced and fascinating chronicle of the events of 2007-2010. This is a must red book for anyone who has an interest in Australian political history and the sad decline of the Federal Labor Party.

A couple of weeks ago I read Steve Bracks' memoir of his time as the premier of Victoria and can't help but wonder: if only they'd let the Victorians take charge and not let the New South Wales Labor disease take hold in Canberra.

The Engagement

Hmmm. My reading for 2013 is not off to a great start.

I've read both of Chloe Hooper's previous book and enjoyed both of them, though probably The Tall Man more than A Child's Book of True Crime. But I was disappointed with The Engagement. It was well written, but I just didn't get it. I've noticed some people on Good Reads have been describing it as being a more literary version of 50 Shades of Grey so maybe that's why I didn't like it. Plus my feeling when I finished reading it was "So what?"

Standing in Another Man's Grave

I'd always hated how the last Rebus novel, Exit Music, ended on a cliff hanger even if the cliff hanger was whether Big Ger Cafferty would live or die. Fortunately Ian Rankin has decided to revisit his best creation.

Set several years after Exit Music we find Rebus still working for the Scottish Police, but in a civilian capacity  in the cold case squad. But he's still the same old Rebus drinking, smoking and thumbing his nose at authority. But a case about a missing girl catches his interest and, in typical Rebus fashion, he's determined to get to the bottom of it come hell or high water. His old sidekick Siobhan Clark is back too, now a Detective-Inspector. There's also a subplot involving Rebus wanting to rejoin the force and Rankin's more recent creation, DI Malcolm Fox of the Complaints Department's attempts to stop it. There's obviously some history between the two but I don't recall them ever having met in any of the earlier Rebus books so it's something I'd love to see explored more.

Yep, Rebus is back. Hope Rankin decided to write a few more Rebus novels before he retires for good.

The Casual Vacancy

I'm sorry. I tried. I really did. But we're not in Hogwarts anymore.

I enjoyed the Harry Potter series (even thought I think J.K. could have done with a lot more editing on the later volumes). But this... I struggled through the first 100 pages before I gave up. And then I read the plot summary on Wikipedia and decided it wasn't for me. There characters were all unlikeable and you don't care about any of them. In the end I decided I didn't care about this book either.

Howzat! Kerry Packer's War

I watched the miniseries when it was screened on Channel 9 a few weeks back. It wasn't bad but, as happens, events were changed and characters condensed for dramatic effect. This book written by the author of the TV series fills in some of the detail that was left out. While I'm sure many other worthy tomes have been written about the World Series Cricket war of the late seventies, I found this one to be very readable and enjoyable.

The Psychopath Test

Some years ago I read The Men Who at Goats by the same author. It was a strange, but well written book. This, by comparison, was a much saner work (if such a thing is possible considering the subject matter).

Jon Ronson is a good journalist who gravitates to the stranger side of life. I'm glad he does because he treats his subjects, no matter how bizarre they are, with respect.

The Stories That Changed Australia: 50 Years of Four Corners

Four Corners is undoubtedly one of the most (if not the most) important programmes on Australian television. It's also one of the longest running; 51 years and still counting. This book brings together some of it's biggest stories and best reporters including Kerry O'Brien, Jonathan Holmes, Chris Masters, Peter Manning, Jenny Brockie, David Marr and Liz Jackson.

Four Corners has covered many important stories over it's long history, but the thing that surprised me the most about this book was in Debbie Whitmont's chapter recounting her efforts to cover the plight of asylum seekers in detention. It wasn't so much the story that surprised me, but then immigrations minister Philip Ruddock's performance on the 7.30 Report not long after the story was aired where, in relation to the case of a child who has suffered trauma while in detention, he referred to the child as "it" thus dehumanising the child. I was so disgusted by this that from now on I will refer to Ruddock as an it.