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Diary of a Foreign Minister
Six years after vacating his position as the longest-serving Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr returned to politics in his dream job: as Foreign Minister of Australia and a senior federal cabinet minister.
For 18 months he kept a diary documenting a whirl of high-stakes events on the world stage - the election of Australia to the UN Security Council, the war in Syria - and meeting with the most powerful people on the planet. And they all unfold against the gripping, uncertain domestic backdrop of Labor Party infighting, plummeting polls and a leadership change from Gillard back to Rudd.
For 18 months he kept a diary documenting a whirl of high-stakes events on the world stage - the election of Australia to the UN Security Council, the war in Syria - and meeting with the most powerful people on the planet. And they all unfold against the gripping, uncertain domestic backdrop of Labor Party infighting, plummeting polls and a leadership change from Gillard back to Rudd.
502 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
About the author
Bob Carr
9 books9 followersBob Carr is the longest continuously serving Premier in New South Wales history.
He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1988 until his election as Premier in March 1995. He was re-elected in 1999 and again in March 2003 securing an historic third four-year term.
He retired from politics in 2005 after over 10 years as Premier.
During these 10 years the State Government set new records for spending on infrastructure, became the first government in the State’s history to retire debt, hosted the world’s best Olympics in 2000 and achieved the nation’s best school literacy levels. Forbes magazine called Bob Carr a “dragon slayer” for his landmark tort law reforms.
As Premier he introduced the world’s first carbon trading scheme and curbed the clearing of native vegetation as anti-greenhouse measures. He was a member of the International Task Force on Climate Change convened by Tony Blair, and was made a life member of the Wilderness Society in 2003. He has also received the World Conservation Union International Parks Merit Award for creating 350 new national parks.
Bob Carr has received the Fulbright Distinguished Fellow Award Scholarship. He has served as Honorary Scholar of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.
In March 2012 he was designated by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as Australia’s Foreign Minister. He was elected to the Australian Senate to fill a casual Senate vacancy and sworn in to the Senate and Cabinet on March 13, 2012.
He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1988 until his election as Premier in March 1995. He was re-elected in 1999 and again in March 2003 securing an historic third four-year term.
He retired from politics in 2005 after over 10 years as Premier.
During these 10 years the State Government set new records for spending on infrastructure, became the first government in the State’s history to retire debt, hosted the world’s best Olympics in 2000 and achieved the nation’s best school literacy levels. Forbes magazine called Bob Carr a “dragon slayer” for his landmark tort law reforms.
As Premier he introduced the world’s first carbon trading scheme and curbed the clearing of native vegetation as anti-greenhouse measures. He was a member of the International Task Force on Climate Change convened by Tony Blair, and was made a life member of the Wilderness Society in 2003. He has also received the World Conservation Union International Parks Merit Award for creating 350 new national parks.
Bob Carr has received the Fulbright Distinguished Fellow Award Scholarship. He has served as Honorary Scholar of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.
In March 2012 he was designated by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as Australia’s Foreign Minister. He was elected to the Australian Senate to fill a casual Senate vacancy and sworn in to the Senate and Cabinet on March 13, 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 26, 2023
I detest Bob Carr politically, he is one of those 1990s Tony Blair-esque New Labour scumbags and his recent throwing himself in with the pro-China lobby is…questionable, to say the least. But on a personal level I quite like him; he is a rare sort of Australian, a public intellectual who is erudite and well-read.
This book is a valuable contribution to Australian political literature and Carr is to be commended for publishing it, even including the bits that make him seem a bit ridiculous.
Overall: recommended.
This book is a valuable contribution to Australian political literature and Carr is to be commended for publishing it, even including the bits that make him seem a bit ridiculous.
Overall: recommended.
January 24, 2019
Steel cut oats, protein, pilates, airplanes, Normison, travel fatigue, world leaders – yep that about sums up Carr’s memoir. Oh and he does reveal fascinating information about how diplomacy works and appalling predicament of the Labor Government in 2012/13.
I even got somewhat travel sick reading about all his travels. It might sound exciting and adventurous but even with my limited experience of planes I am glad it was him and not me.
Carr’s diary tells the story of his life from when Julia Gillard invited him to become a senator and subsequently Foreign Minister – a job he had been made for.
Some described Carr as “a snob”, “a prima donna”, “a first class snob.” Labels that he readily accepted. The book is full of self-deprecation and self-mockery. He complains about some of the hotels he has to stay in, the food he has to eat, business class and most frequently his jet lag tiredness. He did this so that the book would attract attention from the media.
This book is very good for a number of reasons.
Festering away in the background of Carr’s travels was the hopelessness of the Gillard led government and the continued undermining by Rudd. Carr’s writings show that he was dispassionate about both leaders. Gillard’s inability to click with the electorate and Rudd’s “madness”. Eventually he realises that the party is on a hiding to political oblivion if they continue with Gillard. The re-election of many of the Labor members in Western Sydney confirmed to him that supporting Rudd was in the best interests of the party.
Carr shines a light on the role of the powerful Jewish/Israel lobby in Melbourne. Too often this group dictated Australia’s foreign policy towards the Middle East.
After successfully lobbying for Australia to gain a seat on the UN Security Council his next best achievement in his short period as Foreign Minister was getting Australia to abstain on a crucial vote on a Palestinian recognition issue.
Carr’s comments on China and Syria are especially relevant considering the developments that have occurred since he put fingers to keys.
The reader gets an insight into how DFAT operates and its role in assisting Australians who find themselves incarcerated in a foreign land.
Carr is critical of a number of decisions of the Gillard Government. He is strong his contempt for many refugees, especially those from Iran who he saw as economic migrants and not authentic refugees. He supported a strong border protection policy.
There are two parts in the book that I think strongly reflected on the real Bob Carr.
On September 7 he is in Russia and is taken to the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery. He writes,
“…..I followed four wreath-bearing, goose-stepping soldiers
along the path between the grassed over mounds – half a
million buried beneath them. As I stood before the memorial
I thought how trivial my own position, to be part of an Australian
government to be voted out of power in an hour in a peacetime
election, with the rest of my life ahead of me. How trivial, compared
to this site and what it represents.”
and
“On one occasion my advisers and I were being bustled through the VIP section of Singapore Airport and I saw two blue-collar staff – may have been cleaners, may have worked with ground transport – bundle themselves out of the way of this VIP party. For a split second I saw the dark eyes of one of the staffers – an Indian, maybe a migrant worker from the subcontintent – flash with trepidation and deference. I wished there had been a way to get a message to him. It would read: no one in this little delegation being escorted to their first class seats deserves your deference. The Australian Foreign Minister in his navy-blue tailored suit and his Hermes tie – he who grew up in a fibro house on a sandhill where bare feet wore out old lino and fried eggs on fried bread would pass as Sunday-night dinner. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia is like all his ilk: making it up as he goes along, improvising and thinking out loud and hoping it all hangs together.
Just like the other representatives of the twenty biggest economies around this table, just like the heads of international organisations like the IMF and the European Union.”
Reading this diary and so many other memoirs and so called important peoples’ stories has shown me that they are no more intelligent, aware and knowledgeable as many, many of the everyday people who we share our lives with. So many of the “greats” of the world are there because of birth, luck and support. They are no better or worse than you or your neighbour.
If you have an interest in politics, foreign affairs or Australia place in the world then I would recommend this book to you.
I even got somewhat travel sick reading about all his travels. It might sound exciting and adventurous but even with my limited experience of planes I am glad it was him and not me.
Carr’s diary tells the story of his life from when Julia Gillard invited him to become a senator and subsequently Foreign Minister – a job he had been made for.
Some described Carr as “a snob”, “a prima donna”, “a first class snob.” Labels that he readily accepted. The book is full of self-deprecation and self-mockery. He complains about some of the hotels he has to stay in, the food he has to eat, business class and most frequently his jet lag tiredness. He did this so that the book would attract attention from the media.
This book is very good for a number of reasons.
Festering away in the background of Carr’s travels was the hopelessness of the Gillard led government and the continued undermining by Rudd. Carr’s writings show that he was dispassionate about both leaders. Gillard’s inability to click with the electorate and Rudd’s “madness”. Eventually he realises that the party is on a hiding to political oblivion if they continue with Gillard. The re-election of many of the Labor members in Western Sydney confirmed to him that supporting Rudd was in the best interests of the party.
Carr shines a light on the role of the powerful Jewish/Israel lobby in Melbourne. Too often this group dictated Australia’s foreign policy towards the Middle East.
After successfully lobbying for Australia to gain a seat on the UN Security Council his next best achievement in his short period as Foreign Minister was getting Australia to abstain on a crucial vote on a Palestinian recognition issue.
Carr’s comments on China and Syria are especially relevant considering the developments that have occurred since he put fingers to keys.
The reader gets an insight into how DFAT operates and its role in assisting Australians who find themselves incarcerated in a foreign land.
Carr is critical of a number of decisions of the Gillard Government. He is strong his contempt for many refugees, especially those from Iran who he saw as economic migrants and not authentic refugees. He supported a strong border protection policy.
There are two parts in the book that I think strongly reflected on the real Bob Carr.
On September 7 he is in Russia and is taken to the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery. He writes,
“…..I followed four wreath-bearing, goose-stepping soldiers
along the path between the grassed over mounds – half a
million buried beneath them. As I stood before the memorial
I thought how trivial my own position, to be part of an Australian
government to be voted out of power in an hour in a peacetime
election, with the rest of my life ahead of me. How trivial, compared
to this site and what it represents.”
and
“On one occasion my advisers and I were being bustled through the VIP section of Singapore Airport and I saw two blue-collar staff – may have been cleaners, may have worked with ground transport – bundle themselves out of the way of this VIP party. For a split second I saw the dark eyes of one of the staffers – an Indian, maybe a migrant worker from the subcontintent – flash with trepidation and deference. I wished there had been a way to get a message to him. It would read: no one in this little delegation being escorted to their first class seats deserves your deference. The Australian Foreign Minister in his navy-blue tailored suit and his Hermes tie – he who grew up in a fibro house on a sandhill where bare feet wore out old lino and fried eggs on fried bread would pass as Sunday-night dinner. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia is like all his ilk: making it up as he goes along, improvising and thinking out loud and hoping it all hangs together.
Just like the other representatives of the twenty biggest economies around this table, just like the heads of international organisations like the IMF and the European Union.”
Reading this diary and so many other memoirs and so called important peoples’ stories has shown me that they are no more intelligent, aware and knowledgeable as many, many of the everyday people who we share our lives with. So many of the “greats” of the world are there because of birth, luck and support. They are no better or worse than you or your neighbour.
If you have an interest in politics, foreign affairs or Australia place in the world then I would recommend this book to you.
January 22, 2016
Interesting read but annoying at the same time. This man has an ego you can't jump over, but can you blame him with an intellect to match? His memory, attention to detail and breadth of interests are all extraordinary. But there is a constant feeling of his being more attuned to feeding his own image than to making real change in the world.
Most depressing to read is how we spend millions on sending people like him, and his advisors, to meetings all over the world, where each delegate spruiks for 3 minutes and basically says the same thing, then they all pack up and go home. No real discussion, no battles fought, just more and more of the same platitudes. I admire his ability to deal with so many different world leaders, but name me one significant breakthrough made under his leadership?
Most depressing to read is how we spend millions on sending people like him, and his advisors, to meetings all over the world, where each delegate spruiks for 3 minutes and basically says the same thing, then they all pack up and go home. No real discussion, no battles fought, just more and more of the same platitudes. I admire his ability to deal with so many different world leaders, but name me one significant breakthrough made under his leadership?
May 24, 2014
Typically Australians prefer their former politicians to be neither seen nor heard. While a judiciously delayed post-office memoir is considered acceptable, we don't seem to quite know what to do with those like Paul Keating, Malcolm Fraser or Bob Carr who breech this convention.
Yet we are the better for them having done so. While Keating (Engagement) and Fraser (Dangerous Allies) have written two important books on foreign policy ideas, Carr's Diaries are a must read for their insight on foreign policy practice. And indeed politics as it is practiced daily by our political class.
The joy of this book is being as close to the action as possible, with a very dry, boyish narrator leading us through his mere 18 months near the top of the greasy pole, and some insight into how he got there.
This book exploded into the popular press with its lines about lack of pjs in first class, missing subtitles on Wagnerian operas and steel cut oats and abs. These comments can be read alongside the other bemoans of deep sleep deprivation & a loss of the comfortable retired life of the mind Carr had built. But Carr knew exactly what he was doing by keeping such absurd concerns in these pages. Bob Carr is one of the greatest directors of the Sideshow of Australian politics, and these pages and the launch of this book show him still a master of this game.
For foreign policy buffs, the real insights are twofold. One that Gillard and DFAT were bereft of a coherent foreign policy approach (i'm loath to use the word strategy for reasons discussed here: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-...). No great surprise there but this book is all the prosecution needs to secure its case. This lack of preparedness or direction for Australian foreign policy did leave me wondering whether books on Australian foreign or defence policy history have had much chance to grace his bedside table. Like many of our political class, he seems to regard history as something that happens to other countries.
More encouraging is Carr's attempt to untangle the US-China-Australia knot. Carr seemed unprepared for the challenges he faced, and he comes out of the experience with no great insights for the way forward. Yet his rambling seminar is still a must read for showing how bedeviling the relationship truly is for our leadership and the narrowness of their sense of policy options. The two radical ideas Carr has - A proposal to resolve the South China Sea disputes based on the Antarctica Treaty, and Australian membership of ASEAN are raised then quickly dropped. Carr's assertion that 'all foreign policy is a series of improvisations' is rightly criticised, but given he was given little direction from above or below, and the complete failure of the system-builder he proceeded (Rudd), his record in office is a highly competent one.
This is a long book, but it is very well written, often very funny and for those who want to get a sense of just what it's like to be in the job, there's no better option. While no doubt many former colleagues (and bureaucrats) have cursed his name in recent months, the Australian public is well served by the book's release. Simply writing such a book and putting it out within months of his departure from the spotlight is a radical move. More of this please.
Yet we are the better for them having done so. While Keating (Engagement) and Fraser (Dangerous Allies) have written two important books on foreign policy ideas, Carr's Diaries are a must read for their insight on foreign policy practice. And indeed politics as it is practiced daily by our political class.
The joy of this book is being as close to the action as possible, with a very dry, boyish narrator leading us through his mere 18 months near the top of the greasy pole, and some insight into how he got there.
This book exploded into the popular press with its lines about lack of pjs in first class, missing subtitles on Wagnerian operas and steel cut oats and abs. These comments can be read alongside the other bemoans of deep sleep deprivation & a loss of the comfortable retired life of the mind Carr had built. But Carr knew exactly what he was doing by keeping such absurd concerns in these pages. Bob Carr is one of the greatest directors of the Sideshow of Australian politics, and these pages and the launch of this book show him still a master of this game.
For foreign policy buffs, the real insights are twofold. One that Gillard and DFAT were bereft of a coherent foreign policy approach (i'm loath to use the word strategy for reasons discussed here: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-...). No great surprise there but this book is all the prosecution needs to secure its case. This lack of preparedness or direction for Australian foreign policy did leave me wondering whether books on Australian foreign or defence policy history have had much chance to grace his bedside table. Like many of our political class, he seems to regard history as something that happens to other countries.
More encouraging is Carr's attempt to untangle the US-China-Australia knot. Carr seemed unprepared for the challenges he faced, and he comes out of the experience with no great insights for the way forward. Yet his rambling seminar is still a must read for showing how bedeviling the relationship truly is for our leadership and the narrowness of their sense of policy options. The two radical ideas Carr has - A proposal to resolve the South China Sea disputes based on the Antarctica Treaty, and Australian membership of ASEAN are raised then quickly dropped. Carr's assertion that 'all foreign policy is a series of improvisations' is rightly criticised, but given he was given little direction from above or below, and the complete failure of the system-builder he proceeded (Rudd), his record in office is a highly competent one.
This is a long book, but it is very well written, often very funny and for those who want to get a sense of just what it's like to be in the job, there's no better option. While no doubt many former colleagues (and bureaucrats) have cursed his name in recent months, the Australian public is well served by the book's release. Simply writing such a book and putting it out within months of his departure from the spotlight is a radical move. More of this please.
May 26, 2014
I have to say this book is a must read for anyone wanting to gain some understanding of Australian Foreign Affairs, the Australian Labor Party and the arrogance of politicians. While finding myself disagreeing with Bob Carr on many things in this book I also supported a lot of what he said. It reinforced my beliefs that AUstralia will never be an adequate world or even regional leader without a clear public diplomacy strategy. Bob Carr is to be commended for thoroughly readable book and an honestly that is quite breathtaking, #nofilter as they say...
July 4, 2017
A very interesting look into Carr's time in State and Federal Govt. I knew he was very intelligent, but I did not know how humorous he could be. A good insight...
May 22, 2017
I worked for a governmental department in Bob Carr's New South Wales government when he was Premier, and have always liked and admired him. Any time I see he is giving a lecture, or launching a book or new think tank locally I make it my business to attend. Just last week I attended the American Civil War Round Table (Sydney, Australia Branch) to hear him discuss how he became interested in the Civil War. As usual it was very entertaining and worthwhile, and I left with a list of books he mentioned that I had to read. By the way, his book about his reading life has steered me to some wonderful books I never would have picked up otherwise.
I am interested in foreign policy and international relations up to a point. I found that point in this book, which is, for my generalist level of involvement, far too detailed in its descriptions of the various ambassadors, politicians, countries and global institutions and their conferences. So I ended up skimming to find his impressions of famous politicians, or certain international hotspots such as North Korea.
Stilll, it was rather hard going. I am interested in him and his life but he did not say much about it. I was interested in his opinions and glad to learn his viewpoint on various Australian issues, but I think I would have learned more from newspaper interviews with him over the years.
That said I am glad to have spent time with this book. I was clearly not its target audience, but am glad I tried to read it.
I am interested in foreign policy and international relations up to a point. I found that point in this book, which is, for my generalist level of involvement, far too detailed in its descriptions of the various ambassadors, politicians, countries and global institutions and their conferences. So I ended up skimming to find his impressions of famous politicians, or certain international hotspots such as North Korea.
Stilll, it was rather hard going. I am interested in him and his life but he did not say much about it. I was interested in his opinions and glad to learn his viewpoint on various Australian issues, but I think I would have learned more from newspaper interviews with him over the years.
That said I am glad to have spent time with this book. I was clearly not its target audience, but am glad I tried to read it.
October 8, 2021
After a slew of books on/by Australian politicians turned up at the opshop I thought I'd better learn more about the country I live in though don't engage with very much, more of a spectator, really.
Howard, Costello et al, and now this. Very interesting reading diaries, the minutae reveals a lot more than the writer realises. At sixty five he's dashing around the world acting important, representing a minor country on the world stage, eating spelt sandwiches, bribing other small countries for a seat on the security council, exercising beyond his aged capabilities and barely functioning with permanant jet lag because of the distances he has to travel. Very little of the food he's offered comes up to his requirements even though travelling first class or equivalent. We should all be so lucky.
It all reinforces the jaundiced view I and most Australians have regarding our politicians. And few realise their efforts make little dent on world affairs or even at home...
Howard, Costello et al, and now this. Very interesting reading diaries, the minutae reveals a lot more than the writer realises. At sixty five he's dashing around the world acting important, representing a minor country on the world stage, eating spelt sandwiches, bribing other small countries for a seat on the security council, exercising beyond his aged capabilities and barely functioning with permanant jet lag because of the distances he has to travel. Very little of the food he's offered comes up to his requirements even though travelling first class or equivalent. We should all be so lucky.
It all reinforces the jaundiced view I and most Australians have regarding our politicians. And few realise their efforts make little dent on world affairs or even at home...
February 8, 2024
Quite possibly the most absurd political memoir ever written, with the interminably sassy Carr weaving droll accounts of policy debate with passages expounding the quiet indignity of being relegated to business class flights, four star hotels, substandard theatrical productions, and the parliamentary dining room. His weightlifting regime and perennial quest for food that satisfies his particular macronutrient goals (the man is positively tormented by the urge to consume protein) are revealed to be singular obsessions not even international crises can occlude from focus. He swallows prodigious amounts of benzodiazepines and swoons over Hilary Clinton (referred to mononymously as ‘Hilary’) multiple times. Can we get Bob Carr as a judge on the next season of Drag Race Down Under, please?
June 28, 2017
Must READ
Only few will publish their diaries to the public, and Mr. Carr did that in a style. To be an honest man a tell the truth is quality of few, and Bob is one of them.
Only few will publish their diaries to the public, and Mr. Carr did that in a style. To be an honest man a tell the truth is quality of few, and Bob is one of them.
October 21, 2018
Interesting.
February 5, 2021
Eh. It was alright, a bit lacking in some ways, and overly descriptive in others.
September 11, 2015
I struggled with the writing style during the first few chapters and also found he was far too preoccupied with his daily requirements of protein and steel cut organic oats!
Once I got about a third into the book I started to enjoy it and found his witty observations very entertaining. Bob Carr obviously enjoyed his time as Foreign Minister and this came across well. I particularly enjoyed reading his views on his Canberra colleagues and his fellow Foreign Ministers as he is not hesitant to say exactly what he feels.
Once I got about a third into the book I started to enjoy it and found his witty observations very entertaining. Bob Carr obviously enjoyed his time as Foreign Minister and this came across well. I particularly enjoyed reading his views on his Canberra colleagues and his fellow Foreign Ministers as he is not hesitant to say exactly what he feels.
Read
July 20, 2014this is the sort of book mr collins would write if he were foreign secretary, with kissinger in place of lady catherine de burgh. like 'hillary', carr mistakes activity & confidences for accomplishment.
Read
January 3, 2016This is a book well worth reading. An inside look at international affairs from 2011-2013, and really well written. Australia has boots on the ground in all the important places, so Carr had a seat at the big table. His observations are fascinating and right on the money.
May 23, 2014
A great read - great dietary, leadership and international advice. Very well written.
May 25, 2014
While I do have an interest in the political process this book would most likely have been twice as interesting if was half as long.
June 6, 2014
High quality insight into the pace of a Minister.
November 29, 2014
Great insight into the life of a politician, truly no holds barred
January 6, 2015
Carr’s diary is witty, frank, iconoclastic, revealing and informative. A great read.
November 13, 2016
Interesting perspective of course but somewhat pompous ...
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews