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A Long March
In 1975, as Gough Whitlam's government hurtled towards its demise, a nineteen-year-old arts student at the University of Melbourne, Kim Carr, began a long march.
Raised in an avowedly blue-collar household headed by his boilermaker father, Carr eschewed what he regarded as the fripperies of student politics and went directly for the real thing. He joined his local Labor Party branch, signing up from day one as an active soldier in the labour movement.
Forty-nine years later, Kim Carr is still part of the Labor army. He served in the Senate for twenty-nine years, was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, a secretary of the Socialist Left faction, and a national convenor of the Left.
A Long March tells a rich and engaging story about a long life in Labor—the often-fraught processes of the formulation and development of policy, the maintenance and manoeuvrings of factions, the personal enmities and conflicting ambitions, the raw use of power inside party forums, political offices, unions, the caucus, the front bench, and the bureaucracy. It also looks forward, addressing a key question: how should Labor argue the case for a workable, appealing, durable version of social democracy for twenty-first-century Australia?
As well as a revealing memoir, this is a comprehensive analysis of today's political landscape told through the life of one of the ALP's longest-serving members.
Raised in an avowedly blue-collar household headed by his boilermaker father, Carr eschewed what he regarded as the fripperies of student politics and went directly for the real thing. He joined his local Labor Party branch, signing up from day one as an active soldier in the labour movement.
Forty-nine years later, Kim Carr is still part of the Labor army. He served in the Senate for twenty-nine years, was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, a secretary of the Socialist Left faction, and a national convenor of the Left.
A Long March tells a rich and engaging story about a long life in Labor—the often-fraught processes of the formulation and development of policy, the maintenance and manoeuvrings of factions, the personal enmities and conflicting ambitions, the raw use of power inside party forums, political offices, unions, the caucus, the front bench, and the bureaucracy. It also looks forward, addressing a key question: how should Labor argue the case for a workable, appealing, durable version of social democracy for twenty-first-century Australia?
As well as a revealing memoir, this is a comprehensive analysis of today's political landscape told through the life of one of the ALP's longest-serving members.
- GenresPolitics
280 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2024
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October 29, 2024I enjoyed this read from Kim and definitely agreed with his sentiments regarding the Labor party and their problems and what they need to do to gain the trust of voters. Sorry I’m not ranking it - I’m the publicist for the book and I very much like working with the former Senator - but I will say if you like political memoirs, I encourage you to read it. He’s a most erudite man…
May 16, 2025
This is an engagingly written political memoir, offering insightful reflections on power, politics and policy making. Amidst fascinating anecdotes from fifty years in the labour movement and Labor Party, the book is full of sound political advice and wisdom.
June 5, 2025
The story of Senator Carr’s political journey is both enjoyable and engaging.
The chapters on the nature of the ALP were insightful.
The chapters on the future of the ALP were inspiring.
For those interested or involved in the Labor Party, I cannot recommend this book enough.
The chapters on the nature of the ALP were insightful.
The chapters on the future of the ALP were inspiring.
For those interested or involved in the Labor Party, I cannot recommend this book enough.
June 12, 2025
‘This is not a memoir. Not in the conventional sense, anyway.’
While I am always interested in analysis of Australian politics and the occasional memoir, I’ll confess that the left wing of the Australian Labor Party is not one of my usual areas of interest. Still, a friend of mine recommended this book and lent me a copy, so how could I resist?
Kim Carr is of a similar age to me, and the beginning of his story takes me back both to 1972, and the excitement of the Labor victory in my blue-collar home in regional Tasmania, and then to 1975. I was living in Canberra by then and was gobsmacked by the dismissal. In 1975, Kim Carr joined the ALP.
As I read this book and learned more about the byzantine manoeuvrings of the factions of the ALP, I wondered how such processes can ever deliver effective governance. Clearly, it has been at times (I am thinking of the first Hawke/Keating governments).
Kim Carr was elected to the Australian Senate in 1993. This was the election that Paul Keating claimed as a ‘victory for the true believers’. He served as a minister in both the Rudd and Gillard governments in several different portfolios. The history is interesting (I refuse to comment on the personalities, factional fights, and Gillard versus Rudd), but I found Kim Carr’s focus on a future in which Australia could still make things (provided that the right skill bases were developed and new technologies were embraced) inspiring. Yes, those of us with a blue-collar background deplore the loss of manufacturing jobs within Australia, as should those who worry about Australia’s future security.
Once upon a time, the ALP was the political party of choice for most blue-collar workers. Once upon a time the ALP had members (and members of parliament) who had actually worked in blue-collar jobs. Not these days. And I am unconvinced that a parliament full of university-educated representatives is actually doing a better job of governing Australia. Sigh.
Perhaps Bill Kelty’s label of ‘mired in mediocrity’ is accurate.
Me, I am nostalgic for the days of Paul Keating. I didn’t always agree with his vision for Australia, but at least he had one.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
While I am always interested in analysis of Australian politics and the occasional memoir, I’ll confess that the left wing of the Australian Labor Party is not one of my usual areas of interest. Still, a friend of mine recommended this book and lent me a copy, so how could I resist?
Kim Carr is of a similar age to me, and the beginning of his story takes me back both to 1972, and the excitement of the Labor victory in my blue-collar home in regional Tasmania, and then to 1975. I was living in Canberra by then and was gobsmacked by the dismissal. In 1975, Kim Carr joined the ALP.
As I read this book and learned more about the byzantine manoeuvrings of the factions of the ALP, I wondered how such processes can ever deliver effective governance. Clearly, it has been at times (I am thinking of the first Hawke/Keating governments).
Kim Carr was elected to the Australian Senate in 1993. This was the election that Paul Keating claimed as a ‘victory for the true believers’. He served as a minister in both the Rudd and Gillard governments in several different portfolios. The history is interesting (I refuse to comment on the personalities, factional fights, and Gillard versus Rudd), but I found Kim Carr’s focus on a future in which Australia could still make things (provided that the right skill bases were developed and new technologies were embraced) inspiring. Yes, those of us with a blue-collar background deplore the loss of manufacturing jobs within Australia, as should those who worry about Australia’s future security.
Once upon a time, the ALP was the political party of choice for most blue-collar workers. Once upon a time the ALP had members (and members of parliament) who had actually worked in blue-collar jobs. Not these days. And I am unconvinced that a parliament full of university-educated representatives is actually doing a better job of governing Australia. Sigh.
Perhaps Bill Kelty’s label of ‘mired in mediocrity’ is accurate.
Me, I am nostalgic for the days of Paul Keating. I didn’t always agree with his vision for Australia, but at least he had one.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
January 15, 2025
A Long March is an insightful, dynamic, eminently readable political memoir chronicling Kim Carr's three decades as a senator. His deep understanding of politics, historical and contemporary, not only provided the basis for his service and achievements in the Senate, but also enriches this book.
Carr spares the reader the usual childhood and early career chapters of a political memoir. The middle third details Carr's perspective on the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government, of which he was a senior member. He provides insights into the function of the parliamentary Labor party, and into Labor's governance more broadly. Withering insults, including across the aisle - a highlight being Scott Morrison's "stupid-looking baseball caps" - are woven throughout.
It is clear that editorial choices have been made - this book is a lot shorter than it could be. It doesn't contain every detail of Carr's career, instead electing to critique the current government and trace Australians' growing disaffection with Labor. Regardless, it is an enjoyable and informative read for those who are interested in politics and policy.
Carr spares the reader the usual childhood and early career chapters of a political memoir. The middle third details Carr's perspective on the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government, of which he was a senior member. He provides insights into the function of the parliamentary Labor party, and into Labor's governance more broadly. Withering insults, including across the aisle - a highlight being Scott Morrison's "stupid-looking baseball caps" - are woven throughout.
It is clear that editorial choices have been made - this book is a lot shorter than it could be. It doesn't contain every detail of Carr's career, instead electing to critique the current government and trace Australians' growing disaffection with Labor. Regardless, it is an enjoyable and informative read for those who are interested in politics and policy.
July 1, 2025
Decent book. I was hoping for a bit more policy analysis, but I don't know much about Australian politics, so I may be missing something.
January 22, 2025
Kim Carr's insight into factional shenanigans within the ALP is so fun to read. He also poses some interesting questions about the Labor Party and it's future. He diagnoses a lot of the problems well but not convinced by his solutions. He provides no evidence tho and other top factional players say he just made stuff up. Perhaps he's a narcissist or perhaps they lie. Who knows?
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews