I am Tim: Life, Politics and Beyond

by Peter Rees

When Tim Fischer's elder son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, it triggered Tim's resignation as federal National Party leader and deputy prime minister of Australia. An outpouring of emotion across the political divide greeted his decision, a rarity in a political environment where few leaders choose to give up power and prominence. In I am Tim, Peter Rees uncovers the influences that shaped a key figure of twentieth-century Australian political life, from a Jesuit boarding school to the rigours of officer training and the battlefields of Vietnam, time in state and federal politics, marriage to Judy Brewer and life at home. Fischer's interests and activities after politics were many and varied, spanning a diplomatic posting to the Holy See, new historical studies, and chairing the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. Tim Fischer emerges as a man of energy and ambition but also of humanity, courage and love.

400 pages, Paperback

Published August 8, 2023

About the author

Peter Rees was a journalist for more than forty years, working as federal political correspondent for the Melbourne Sun, the West Australian and the Sunday Telegraph. He is the author of The Boy from Boree Creek: The Tim Fischer Story (2001), Tim Fischer's Outback Heroes (2002), Killing Juanita: a true story of murder and corruption (2004), and The Other Anzacs: The Extraordinary story of our World War I Nurses (2008 and 2009) and Desert Boy: Australians at War from Beersheba to Tobruk to El Alamein (2011 and 2012). He is currently working on a biography of Charles Bean to be published in 2015.