Australian Politics
Unlike in the United States and several other Western nations, Australian governments are under no compulsion to consult parliament before sending troops to war. In Subimperial Power: Australian in the international arena, Clinton Fernandes argues that this reflects, and furthers, Australia’s longstanding ambition in foreign affairs, which is to demonstrate its usefulness to the United States. In this week’s ABR Podcast, Kevin Foster, an academic at Monash University who has published widely on war in the Australian media, reviews Subimperial Power.
... (read more)Subimperial Power: Australia in the international arena by Clinton Fernandes
The National Anti-Corruption Bill 2022 was introduced into parliament by the attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus KC, on 28 September 2022. After the second reading speech, the NACC Bill was sent for consideration to a Joint Select Committee, which duly completed its report in time to enable the Bill to be considered for enactment in November.
... (read more)Victory: The inside story of Labor's return to power by Peter van Onselen and Wayne Errington
Dreamers and Schemers: A political history of Australia by Frank Bongiorno
Fact or Fission: The truth about Australia’s nuclear ambitions by Richard Broinowski
Daniel Andrews: The revealing biography of Australia’s most powerful premier by Sumeyya Ilanbey
Writing a biography of any practising politician is a difficult task: you are more or less beholden to your subject, and the book can end up an exercise in diplomacy instead of perception. Writing a book about Bill Hayden, who has been called an enigma, a Hamlet, and a Cassandra, is double difficult. Writing about Hayden without Hayden’s help (he ‘was able to squeeze in only limited interviews’) is almost impossible.
... (read more)