AustLit

'Sir Robert Askin, Liberal Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, was the longest serving and most successful Liberal Premier winning four elections in a row and who retired at a time of his own choosing. He came from a modest but happy family background, won a state bursary to secondary college, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and served in New Guinea. He was a natural for politics – he liked people, fellowship, was a good judge of character, and given his background, understood the real needs of the general public. Unfortunately, Askin’s reputation has been overshadowed by long standing allegations of corruption.

'This monograph by Dr Paul Loughnan based on his extensive research for his doctorate on Askin, sets the record straight. Paul’s youth was bookended by Askin’s 1965-75 premiership which ignited his interest in Sir Robert and his government. This monograph informs us about Askin’s character and achievements, but more importantly, demolishes once and for all the myths concerning his alleged corruption. They are just not true. So, this monograph allows us to see Askin for the first time for what he really was – a great leader, an astute pragmatic politician who steered his party to successes which have not been matched since.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This new monograph on Australian Prime Minister Sir John Gorton (1968-71) by Dr Paul Williams, Senior Lecturer in politics, journalism and public relations at Griffith University’s School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences, is more than just a snapshot of one of Australia’s more interesting, and at times, most difficult to understand prime ministers. Rather, Dr Williams’s considerable additional research provides a better understanding of the political context of Gorton’s times. We come to appreciate the changing nature of Australian politics and society, including Labor’s resurgence and the fracturing of the Liberal Party’s dominance, and how each of these affected Gorton’s prime ministership and assessments of his performance.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The latest Australian Biographical Monograph focuses on the formative years and political career of Stanley Melbourne Bruce to his defeat as Prime Minister in 1929. This period included winning a hotly contested by-election in Flinders in 1918, which brought with it the introduction of preferential voting; a short interlude on the back bench; one year as Treasurer in 1922–23; and then a period as Prime Minister from February 1923 until October 1929, when he was still in his forties. Bruce’s career after 1929 was in many ways as distinguished as the period from 1918 to 1929. Notable in this second career after 1929 was his support for institutions such as the League of Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization. The argument of this book is that the theme that connects Bruce’s first period in Australian politics from 1918 until 1929 with his later career is that of institution building.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Neville Wran was arguably the most significant Premier of NSW in the 20th century. He rescued the Labor Party from the political wilderness with his victory in May 1976, then won three more elections, two by then unprecedented landslides. Wran pioneered the effective use of television in election campaigns. Key elements of the Wran model were gradualist politics, competent delivery of basic services, unity in the government, and not getting too far ahead of the voters. Moderate politics did not preclude reform, rather it was a platform for it. Wran left a significant legacy of environmental, social, human rights, constitutional and electoral reforms.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In virtually any state in the Commonwealth I believe you could ask an adult in their 40’s or above to name a state leader and the majority of them could name Joh – no other State Premier left such an indelible mark on the national psyche.

'Some Queenslanders may talk about strong development and a long period of stability. Others, particularly those from southern states will talk of gerrymanders, corruption, white shoe brigades, civil liberty infringements or daylight savings. But many will talk of a man who oversaw perhaps the most dramatic and positive changes the State has ever undergone.

'Whether loved or reviled, Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was a polarising figure, and an indisputably successful one. But too many are quick to dismiss this incredibly successful politician as an aberration of the oddity that is Queensland.

'To understand Joh a little better, this monograph considers Joh’s period in office from the following perspectives:

• His success in moving the Country Party from a rural base to gaining and holding urban seats
• His role in assisting in the downfall of the Whitlam government
• His economic management, overseeing Queensland’s transition from a rural economy to a vibrant and rapidly expanding one and creating funding processes from which the State still benefits
• His masterful understanding of the mood of the electorate in dealing with the likes of power strikes, anti-Springbok riots or street marches
• His market fundamentalism which potentially allowed corruption in commercial activities for tangible benefits for the state'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Upon his retirement from Victorian Parliament in November 1982, Lindsay Thompson was lauded across the political spectrum for his contribution to public life. He served in the Victorian Cabinet for 24 years, including a record 12 years as Minister for Education. In 1981 he was elected Premier, but his term ended ten months later with the long-running state Liberal Government’s first electoral defeat since the 1950s.

'Dignified, reasonable and selfless, he commanded great respect among colleagues and opponents alike. He had a prodigious work ethic, a thorough grasp of policy, a sense of fairness and uncommon civility. He was also a conviction politician, a liberal in the Menzies tradition, who placed the individual in the centre of economic and social life.

'Thrust into the spotlight for his actions during the 1972 Faraday school kidnapping, he was nevertheless a quiet and reserved man who preferred to be a competent Minister, rather than a ruthlessly ambitious politician. When he retired, The Age newspaper recorded: ‘He has served with rare decency, dedication and distinction, and for this he deserves the gratitude of Parliament and public.’ This book explores how and why Lindsay Thompson came to be regarded so highly.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Robert Gordon Menzies, later Sir Robert, was Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, leading the party that he founded, the Liberal Party into Government, from 1949 to 1966 winning seven successful elections in a row. More than this, he had been prime minister from 1939-41 though less successfully, but from which he learnt much about governing, people and himself. Menzies also has the distinction of being one of few Australian prime ministers who retired while still firmly in office at a time of his own choosing. There was never anyone like before him, and there will never be anyone like him again. Universally respected, but almost until recently, almost universally forgotten, even by his own party, Menzies suffered for a time neglect, blame for presiding not governing, being too oriented to Britain and even being lazy. Moreover, his successes both politically and across areas like Australia’s economic growth were snubbed as being easily achieved given the nature of his opponents, and the post World War Two boom. Such views belie the difficulties of the times, Menzies’ numerous achievements, his own skills, foresights and his enduring integrity. This volume explores Menzies many attributes, while acknowledging his frailties.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Australia we have a new hero, The Super Spreader. Born and bred in Victoria.

'He can be anywhere and yet no one can find him.

'Meatworks, Churches, hotels & even golf courses, the Super Spreader is found and he is not even wearing a mask! Inspired by health bureaucrats, the Super Spreader is someone, other than Trump, we can all dislike.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Billy Bilby is excited to be meeting some special visitors at school. He needs to find the perfect gift to give to one of the visitors. Will he find that special gift?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In this his final book in a trilogy of works dealing with Ned Kelly and his community. Doug Morrissey presents the definitive account of the Stringybark Creek Police Murders. The ambush murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek in October 1878 was Ned Kelly’s greatest crime. Ned shot and killed Michael Kennedy, Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan and arrogantly blamed them for their deaths. Sergeant Kennedy endured a two hour interrogation and suffered a particularly callous and coldblooded death. Thomas McIntyre escaped the carnage and wrote a lengthy memoir of the Stringybark Creek encounter, which is annotated and published in Morrissey’s book for the first time. Doug unravels the Stringybark Creek Police Murders distinguishing myth from fact in an even handed and scholarly fashion. Newly researched material in the book provides insight into the family and professional lives of each of the Stringybark Creek policemen. Victim Impact Statements from Kennedy, Lonigan and McIntyre descendants are included. Regrettably, Michael Scanlan has no Victim Impact Statement as no family members could be located. Among the photographs included is Sergeant Kennedy’s gold watch looted from his dead body by Ned Kelly. More than the famous Kelly armour, Kennedy’s watch is a potent symbol of the bushranger’s evil deeds. What he did at Stringybark Creek legally cost Ned Kelly his life. He aggressively chose to confront the police and the die was cast for everything that followed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In 1968 the new Prime Minister, John Gorton, appointed Ainsley Gotto, aged 22, as his principal private secretary.  Ainsley became one of the most talked about young women in Australia.  Hitherto, no woman had been so close to the centre of power, and certainly none was known publicly to be so close.

'Ainsley refused to see herself as a role model for secretaries and said she could not understand what the Women’s Liberation Movement was all about.  She thought her performance in the job answered the senior public servants, conservative Liberal politicians and some business leaders who considered it inappropriate that ‘a mere girl’ should exercise ‘power and influence’. 

'In November 1969, when Dudley Erwin was dumped from the Gorton ministry, he memorably and wrongly identified the cause of his removal: ‘it wiggles, it’s shapely and its name is Ainsley Gotto.’ Ainsley became a celebrity, renamed in the tabloid press as ‘Miss Wiggle’ or ‘The Wiggle’.

'Leaving Gorton in 1972 Ainsley took several jobs in what she called her ‘afterlife’. Remaining obsessively private, Ainsley was a great networker in a national and international setting, and her diaries are full of meetings with the rich, the powerful, the titled and the very interesting. Yet, although Ainsley’s connections, sharp mind and social skills opened many doors, she needed more than her ‘unique experience’ of government to replicate the excitement and fulfilment of her years with Gorton.

'This book describes and explains Ainsley’s rise from a typing pool and shows how the Gorton years provided her with many opportunities but ill-equipped her to take advantage of them and probably cost her lasting personal happiness.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A collection of short biographies of ten remarkable Australians who deserved to be better known. In fact, most were well known, even famous at one stage in twentieth-century history, but have since been largely forgotten. Ian Macfarlane seeks to learn more about these people and their achievements, giving the modern reader an opportunity to discover them too.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Late in September 1980, John Burgess arrived in Poland to head up the Australian Embassy in Warsaw. Little did he realise that he would witness major developments leading eventually to the end of communism in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, and dissolution of the Soviet Union. This book tells the story which Ambassador Burgess was able to witness personally at close quarters, from the emergence of the independent trade union, Solidarity, at the Lenin shipyards in Gdansk, until the imposition of martial law in December 1981 and beyond.' (Publication summary)

'Amazing and very funny, Magnetic Island is also a rumination on art, history and politics as original as it is shocking.

'Patrick Mynts, the owner of a London art gallery, has arrived Australia on a government junket. In Australia’s National Gallery, he is stunned by the work of an artist called Tray Beautous. As Tray’s paintings are unknown in London and New York, Mynts is convinced that he can make a fortune by selling them there.

'Patrick also meets Dewy Popkiss in Canberra, the Prime Minister of Australia. Dew warns Mynts that only he will be able to arrange for the Londoner to get in touch with Beautous because Tray is a recluse who has hidden himself away on Magnetic Island in remote, tropical North Queensland. Dew will only agree to make the arrangements that will bring the two together, however, if Pat agrees to persuade Tray to paint a married couple of Dew’s acquaintance when they are “making the beast with two backs”. If Mynts manages to arrange this ménage à trois, Dew promises that the couple who are determined to perform in it will reward him stupendously.

'Patrick agrees to the deal and goes off to visit an elderly Canberra relative. Suddenly, however, the spirit of Brooklana Fagan - the dead wife of Australia’s former Prime Minister  - seems to ventriloquise his kinswoman’s dementia-muzzled body. “Brookee” tells Pat that the couple whom Dew wants Tray to paint will use the sitting to murder the artist because they feel that one of the sculptures he has created insults the goddess that they worship, Christina Stead, the famous Australian novelist. (In the fashion of deceased Roman Empresses, Christina is now worshipped by millions worldwide).

'Pat now faces a Hamlet-like dilemma. Should he reject Dewy’s commission? Or should he act on it and embrace, perhaps, eternal damnation for accepting the Premier’s 30 pieces of silver?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This is the story of an extraordinary woman - mother of twelve, Prime Minister's wife, first woman member of the House of Representatives and the first woman in a Federal Cabinet, radio broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author of three books - Enid Lyons was for many years the best known woman in Australia. Anne Henderson takes us on an intriguing tour of the first half of 20th century Australia - a time when politics was more fluid yet with many of the problems we face today - political party dysfunction, the widening gap between rich and poor, rural and urban, economic recession and the role of women in public life. In researching Enid Lyons' family background, Anne Henderson uncovers new and intriguing information about a 'family secret'.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Connor Court ed.)

'This short book focuses on Harold Holt’s political philosophy and its expression in what I have termed ‘liberal imagination’. It is an attempt to show how a man of genuinely liberal instincts applied his initiative and creativity – the essence of imagination – to a range of political issues and practical challenges during the middle decades of the twentieth century... The life of Harold Holt provides some useful illustrations of political imagination and, later in his career, political stagnation. Notwithstanding the passage of fifty years, there is much to be learned from what Holt did and didn’t do, and why.' - From the Introduction

'Doug Morrissey’s acclaimed book Ned Kelly: A Lawless Life (2015) was short listed for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Australian History in 2016. This his second book in a trilogy of historical works dealing with Ned’s life and times, shines a much needed light on the bushranger’s pioneer community. The lives of selectors, squatters, and stock thieves are examined revealing a complex community, significantly different from the Kelly myth fiction of squatter tyranny, police oppression and selector poverty and despair. Morrissey’s book holds the key to understanding the Kelly Outbreak, Ned and his Sympathisers and the neglected ‘silent’ majority of respectable, law abiding residents. It reveals the collaborative fulcrum on which community life turned, based on cooperation not conflict. Settling the land is discussed as a successful pioneering endeavor rather than the usual depressing tale of woe. Cultural beliefs, shared values, community goals and how people conducted and expressed themselves in their daily lives, are at the center of this groundbreaking book. Those writing about the bushranger’s life and times from now on, will need to reference Morrissey’s evidence based research or their writings will not be taken seriously.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.