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The Short and Excruciatingly Embarrassing Reign of Captain Abbott
An irreverent take on the political life and times of our 28th prime minister.
In August 2013, Australia welcomed Tony Abbott as its new prime minister. This promised to be a marriage between responsible government and a nation tired of the endless drama of the Gillard/Rudd years. The honeymoon, however, proved to be short.
Fairfax columnist Andrew P. Street details the litany of gaffes, goofs and questionable captain's calls that have characterised the subsequent reign of the Abbott government, following the trail from bold promises to questionable realities; unlikely recoveries to inexplicable own goals; Malcolm Turnbull's assurances of support, to Julie Bishop's death stare. And all this comes with a colourful cast of supporting characters that only a nation unfamiliar with the concept of below- the-line voting could elect. Here is a unique take on a government in crisis and an opposition in chaos.
If Game of Thrones was a deeply irreverent book about politics, then the TV series would probably not rate nearly as well. It would, however, look something like this.
In August 2013, Australia welcomed Tony Abbott as its new prime minister. This promised to be a marriage between responsible government and a nation tired of the endless drama of the Gillard/Rudd years. The honeymoon, however, proved to be short.
Fairfax columnist Andrew P. Street details the litany of gaffes, goofs and questionable captain's calls that have characterised the subsequent reign of the Abbott government, following the trail from bold promises to questionable realities; unlikely recoveries to inexplicable own goals; Malcolm Turnbull's assurances of support, to Julie Bishop's death stare. And all this comes with a colourful cast of supporting characters that only a nation unfamiliar with the concept of below- the-line voting could elect. Here is a unique take on a government in crisis and an opposition in chaos.
If Game of Thrones was a deeply irreverent book about politics, then the TV series would probably not rate nearly as well. It would, however, look something like this.
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2015
19 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
November 1, 2015
Mocking Tony Abbott is an easy sport, and Andrew P Street is an Olympic champion of that pursuit. But this book is more than a collection of jokes about the former Australian Prime Minister. Street does an impressive job of examining the history of politics and culture in Australia that led to the national waking nightmare that was 2013 to 2015. He pulls together many disparate threads to create a coherent narrative of the ramshackle, reactionary decisions of the Abbott government.
This is a smart book as well as a very funny one. Street makes complex concepts clear without ever speaking down to his audience. It's well-researched (and referenced - Street always demonstrates why what he says is correct, rather than shouting out objections like CaptainAbbott), and I learned things about Australia I didn't know. Street is also a charming, if caustic, narrator. He never misses a chance for a joke - I suppose, when Abbott is your nation's leader, if you don't laugh, you cry.
This is a smart book as well as a very funny one. Street makes complex concepts clear without ever speaking down to his audience. It's well-researched (and referenced - Street always demonstrates why what he says is correct, rather than shouting out objections like CaptainAbbott), and I learned things about Australia I didn't know. Street is also a charming, if caustic, narrator. He never misses a chance for a joke - I suppose, when Abbott is your nation's leader, if you don't laugh, you cry.
Currently reading
January 11, 2016I HAD to buy this !!!
After a Couple of years of the Rule of this Incompetent,
a Therapy of Humour is ESSENTIAL.
A British Migrant
he brought with him some of the Worst Aspects Of English Rule:
A Thatcherite,
a Mother who swore he was destined to be either a Pope
or an Aussie Prime Minister...
A Racist
A Catholic
A Misogynist,
A Homophobe
A Tory, with the Right To Rule Arrogance
A Snob
An Entrenched Believer in the British Class System
with it's phoney Title's System
and finally and happily
...a Born Loser.
Finally he has lost...Thank The Gods !!!
PS. Julia Gillard, as PM, a frequent target of her Fellow Country Mans's misogyny,ie.,the Same Endearing Mr Abbott,
now no longer an MP, still stands by her hardline asylum seekers policy. Here is a woman who has been vilified for her atheism, her childlessness, her de facto relationship....all Senseless Prejudices...
yet despite this showed no sympathy for Marriage Equality, and still adheres to what I consider a racist Immigration Policy, especially when it concerns refugees. Another Abbott, being someone whose family was able to take advantage of their Britishness and seek a Better Life in Australia, although this does not mean they tolerate other Economic Refugees. Consistency is NOT a failing of these Two, who strangely have a Great Deal in common.
I hope Andrew P. Street turns his attention to this Second Merciless Immigrant....and soon.
March 21, 2016
Chapter after chapter, we are confronted with the mis-steps, deceptions and outright lies of the former Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, and his closest political colleagues. Human rights, health, education, defense, the plight of refugees, climate change denial, Abbott's tin ear, MPs abuse of their entitlements, all get a working over. Street himself calls his writing a 'snarky rant', which pretty well sums it up.
It was a desperately incompetent government, and it is painful to read this account of our so-recent past (Abbott was deposed by his own party only in September 2015). We get a lot of description, lists of events and encounters, with not much analysis.
Street's snarky, heavy-handed humour jarred with me. Terry Pratchett is the only writer I've read who manages deadly satire with wild footnotes for emphasis, and Street's footnotes don't match the master. (Here I could put a footnote, saying 'How could they?', but a bracket will do instead.)
The Epilogue, titled 'Is this the best we can do?', is a pleasant surprise - a brave plea for decency in politics and working together to make a better society, and bumped my rating from 3 to 4.
21 March. I've just given 4 to Credlin and Co., a better book on the same government, so back to 3 for this one.
It was a desperately incompetent government, and it is painful to read this account of our so-recent past (Abbott was deposed by his own party only in September 2015). We get a lot of description, lists of events and encounters, with not much analysis.
Street's snarky, heavy-handed humour jarred with me. Terry Pratchett is the only writer I've read who manages deadly satire with wild footnotes for emphasis, and Street's footnotes don't match the master. (Here I could put a footnote, saying 'How could they?', but a bracket will do instead.)
The Epilogue, titled 'Is this the best we can do?', is a pleasant surprise - a brave plea for decency in politics and working together to make a better society, and bumped my rating from 3 to 4.
21 March. I've just given 4 to Credlin and Co., a better book on the same government, so back to 3 for this one.
November 5, 2015
I enjoyed this book throughout, however, I would have gone for the four-star approach had it not been for the superb epilogue. Overall, the book is a thoroughly engaging account of the Abbott Years with an interesting tangent amidst the despair and cynicism (rightfully caused by said Years and a Captain's rule) for it would seem that there exists a hope for the future. Or so Andrew Street seems to hope. Can we know if that the positivity is warranted? Maybe very soon we can!
March 17, 2016
Every now and then a book comes along you wish you'd written. This is one of those, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is a devastating summary and commentary on Tony Abbott's time as Prime Minister.
By turns hilarious and seething with anger (particularly when writing about Australia's dreadful treatment of asylum seekers), Street takes aim at the Abbott government and never misses his mark. In a way, he's like David Marr and Jon Stewart's love-child. Even while you're laughing at his cleverness, you're shaking your head and gritting your teeth at the inexorable line-up of facts he presents.
Just when you feel all is lost, though, comes a wonderful epilogue. There's optimism, and an exhortation that not only can we do better, we must.
March 13, 2016
This is one - pardon the pun - hell of a Good Read.
Street knows his stuff, and presents it with erudite sarcasm. He targets not just every gaffe and potentially criminal misdemeanour Abbott himself is responsible for, but also shines a revelatory light on the incredulous shenanigans of the likes of Pyne, Brandis, Dutton, Morrison and others. The book balances sly and sardonic asides on the unfeasible and, in some cases, incomprehensible actions of our 2013-2015 government, alongside genuinely heartfelt rousing calls to unjingoistic patriotism and human collaboration. While he's a very funny man, Street is also clearly not one to mince words about the breathtaking incompetence of Abbott's team(s).
This is one for both political nuts like me as well as more casual readers - any jargon or complex terminology is streamlined, usually with entertaining footnotes - and is required reading for anyone who, also like me, lived through the hell that was the Abbott years. We're still dealing with Tony's unmatched idiocy months after his vanquishing, and Street's book helps take the sting from the wounds Abbott inflicted on both the international perception of Australia and our own national spirit.
Street knows his stuff, and presents it with erudite sarcasm. He targets not just every gaffe and potentially criminal misdemeanour Abbott himself is responsible for, but also shines a revelatory light on the incredulous shenanigans of the likes of Pyne, Brandis, Dutton, Morrison and others. The book balances sly and sardonic asides on the unfeasible and, in some cases, incomprehensible actions of our 2013-2015 government, alongside genuinely heartfelt rousing calls to unjingoistic patriotism and human collaboration. While he's a very funny man, Street is also clearly not one to mince words about the breathtaking incompetence of Abbott's team(s).
This is one for both political nuts like me as well as more casual readers - any jargon or complex terminology is streamlined, usually with entertaining footnotes - and is required reading for anyone who, also like me, lived through the hell that was the Abbott years. We're still dealing with Tony's unmatched idiocy months after his vanquishing, and Street's book helps take the sting from the wounds Abbott inflicted on both the international perception of Australia and our own national spirit.
October 14, 2015
I'm a huge View from the Street fan, a frequent invoker of Andrew P Street's name in political conversations and a massive leftie so there was no way I wasn't reading this book. I mean it's called 'The Short and Excruciatingly Embarrassing Reign of Captain Abbot' for pete's sake. There's an onion on the cover!
The beauty of Andrew P Street's writing style lies in making complex and often (intentionally) boring political issues that affect the majority of us seem interesting nay hilarious. He highlights just how hypocritical, and goddamn silly politicians like Tony Abbot can be as they attempt to screw the majority of us out of healthcare to a stable climate while defending their pre-election lies and $5000 helicopter rides. This book taught me more about the history Australian politics than a plethora of uninterested teachers and it was funny as hell.
The introduction is called "Australia, stop hitting yourself.'
Nuff said.
The beauty of Andrew P Street's writing style lies in making complex and often (intentionally) boring political issues that affect the majority of us seem interesting nay hilarious. He highlights just how hypocritical, and goddamn silly politicians like Tony Abbot can be as they attempt to screw the majority of us out of healthcare to a stable climate while defending their pre-election lies and $5000 helicopter rides. This book taught me more about the history Australian politics than a plethora of uninterested teachers and it was funny as hell.
The introduction is called "Australia, stop hitting yourself.'
Nuff said.
July 10, 2019
Andrew P. Street is funny, snarky and smart. As the right in English speaking countries becomes weirder and frankly beyond parody and satire but increasingly dangerous, the only people who get it right are the Stewarts and the Colberts.
The awfulness and sheer incompetence of the Abbott government are detailed in excruciating detail in this book. Street did the hard yards by not just stitching his Sydney Morning Herald columns together but by writing something new and coherent.
While laughing out loud funny, it is actually quite a decent book about Australian politics.
The awfulness and sheer incompetence of the Abbott government are detailed in excruciating detail in this book. Street did the hard yards by not just stitching his Sydney Morning Herald columns together but by writing something new and coherent.
While laughing out loud funny, it is actually quite a decent book about Australian politics.
November 12, 2015
Andrew P Street sets the stage for us by describing the circumstances leading to Abbott's ascension to the Prime Ministership, then chronicles in sharp, laconic detail the relentless string of cack-handed own goals that led to his downfall.
There's not a lot here you wouldn't have been aware of at the time, but the full, dumbfounding horror of Abbott's tenure as PM is laid out here end-to-end in case you were uncertain if any of it really happened. I thoroughly recommend this book.
There's not a lot here you wouldn't have been aware of at the time, but the full, dumbfounding horror of Abbott's tenure as PM is laid out here end-to-end in case you were uncertain if any of it really happened. I thoroughly recommend this book.
November 13, 2015
What can one say about a tragic era in Australian politics. I didn't imagine there could be a more divisive person than John Howard until Abbott arrived on the scene. An ignorant, arrogant, racist, homophobe, mysoganist, twat with Cardinal Bell as his confessor. The same Bishop responsible for the cover up of a pedophilia ring in Bendigo years ago who now resides in the Vatican secure from prosecution. I have to hold my nose for fear of the stink.
March 26, 2016
They is a great summary of the chaos of the Abbott years mixed with a fabulously funny and smart commentary. I love Andrew's style and I look froward to his next book. I give Andrew 11.
November 29, 2015
Very entertaining, would have been funnier if it weren't all tragically true. Even the footnotes made me chuckle.
June 16, 2021
In my book Waves of Unreason, I ran the agreed signs of fascism against Tony Abbott’s term as PM: he met all but one, to overthrow and redesign the state. So no he wasn’t a fascist: Andrew Street tells the story in great and often hilarious detail revealing that Abbott was/is simply barking mad. Street has researched out documented incidents of verbatim speeches, blatant lies, aggressiveness for the sake of it (he mistook parliament for his beloved boxing ring) and above all egotism – he was genuinely astonished that others didn’t see the world as he did, as in the numbers for the challenges to his leadership. Street brought back so many incidents of the PM’s terrible judgement – and on the way reminding us what a stupid and deluded sidekick Joe Hockey was, as indeed were other sailors in Captain Abbott's good ship, Coalition. I have to say I got tired of Street’s snarky asides: he is clearly biased and sarcastic on the run but what he writes are true incidents but he has to editorialise. Irritating. Nikki Savva’s The Road to Ruin is straight and unbiassed as she is a Liberal commentator and even more damning of Abbott and particularly of Credlin (just given one of Australia’s highest award the AO for (dis)services to the Liberal Party and certainly not to the people of Australia). A useful foil to Street. His epilogue is of the never fear, government is intrinsically good and acts for good of mankind; it just gets things wrong now and again, Abbott being an example. But hang on, he has a book on Abbott’s nemesis and successor Malcolm Turnbull I have yet to read, but I can guess: same pendulum different clock. And as for Scott Morrison, whose career as terror of asylum seekers started under Abbott, and he is definitely not the swing of the pendulum: he is even more mendacious, more determinedly right wing, crueller, more hypocritically religion-driven than Abbott ever was. Now Abbott’s gone, you can put him in the Bad Joke cupboard, but Morrison is no joke, to anyone with a shred of humanity and empathy Morrison belongs in the cupboard of Bad Dreams. I’d love to read Street’s book on Morrison if ever he writes one.
August 16, 2021
Looking at the cover, it was assumed that this would be a book that would be filled with criticisms about Tony Abbott and perhaps more of a character study. However, I did find it slightly misleading that while the book was framed around the voyage "Captain Abbott", there were chapters that seemed to detail various things about the members within his party instead. Although, judging by the copious footnotes that this book was very well-researched, it also seemed quite rambling and tedious. Street made a lot of very cynical, bitter points (which is completely fair, given the political climate at the time), yet at the end, tried to instill some optimism by insisting that we could still be a lucky country. Although this in itself was not necessarily a bad thing, it did come across as slightly inconsistent, especially since he was critiquing Turnbull throughout the book, only to then become extremely optimistic towards the end (when Turnbull became PM at the time of writing).
What would have been more ideal was if Street had instead spoke about a few select issues, rather than trying to cram everything he could think of about the Abbott Government. I do applaud Street's clear passion for Australian Politics, but with this stream of consciousness writing, it felt more like I was having my ear talked off instead of reading.
This would no doubt appeal to those who lean on the left side of Labor or the Greens, but would probably alienate anyone to the right of that. However, there are other politically biased books that do a better job at conveying arguments than this one.
What would have been more ideal was if Street had instead spoke about a few select issues, rather than trying to cram everything he could think of about the Abbott Government. I do applaud Street's clear passion for Australian Politics, but with this stream of consciousness writing, it felt more like I was having my ear talked off instead of reading.
This would no doubt appeal to those who lean on the left side of Labor or the Greens, but would probably alienate anyone to the right of that. However, there are other politically biased books that do a better job at conveying arguments than this one.
February 21, 2024
Currently (February 2024), ABC Australia is showing the 3-part documentary series, Nemesis, on the prime-ministerships of Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, and Scott Morrison...so it seemed a good time to read this account by Andrew Street (which had been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years).
They make a good match - and those who can, I'd encourage to watch the series on iView as well as read this book.
The TV series hints heavily enough at the gaffs, stupidities, closed-mindeneness, narrow thinking and wrecking-ball approach of Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister. The book lays them starkly bare.
The approach in the book is to make you laugh and gasp with astonishment (or re-gasp with astonishment if you're now hazy about the details of past events). And what else can you do but laugh at the breathtaking incompetence and stupidity, predicated on a desire to hold power, whatever it takes, including bald-faced lying, manipulation, and bullying?
Pleasingly, the book shows how Abbott was supported (at least initially) by a cast of comics - sorry, politicians and ministers of his own party - who coordinated to elevate him to office, helped to keep him there, but then, eventually, cut him out like a canker.
More generally, the sorts of things exposed here are the way most governments and politicians work wherever you are in the world, so the book is engagingly and amusingly instructive whatever country you're in.
More specifically, and alarmingly, Abbott was a Rhodes Scholar - someone given a scholarship to Oxford from Australia because of being both academically gifted and good at sport. In Abbott's case, boxing. It just goes to show that being academically gifted doesn't mean you're smart, and that boxing can do bad things to your temporal and frontal lobes. What excuse we can provide the other characters - none of whom were former boxers as far as I know - I'm not sure. I suppose just being plain stupid is enough for many of them, or perhaps, like Abbott, being academically gifted but not smart is sufficient, even without externally applied nervous system damage.
Anyway, read this book...it's a marvellously enjoyable ride through the 'corridors of power', it describes complex situations succinctly and clearly, and bluntly points the finger of blame without the recourse to the twisted attempts at logic, the lying, and attempted media manipulation that politicians use to seek to obscure their own incompetencies.
They make a good match - and those who can, I'd encourage to watch the series on iView as well as read this book.
The TV series hints heavily enough at the gaffs, stupidities, closed-mindeneness, narrow thinking and wrecking-ball approach of Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister. The book lays them starkly bare.
The approach in the book is to make you laugh and gasp with astonishment (or re-gasp with astonishment if you're now hazy about the details of past events). And what else can you do but laugh at the breathtaking incompetence and stupidity, predicated on a desire to hold power, whatever it takes, including bald-faced lying, manipulation, and bullying?
Pleasingly, the book shows how Abbott was supported (at least initially) by a cast of comics - sorry, politicians and ministers of his own party - who coordinated to elevate him to office, helped to keep him there, but then, eventually, cut him out like a canker.
More generally, the sorts of things exposed here are the way most governments and politicians work wherever you are in the world, so the book is engagingly and amusingly instructive whatever country you're in.
More specifically, and alarmingly, Abbott was a Rhodes Scholar - someone given a scholarship to Oxford from Australia because of being both academically gifted and good at sport. In Abbott's case, boxing. It just goes to show that being academically gifted doesn't mean you're smart, and that boxing can do bad things to your temporal and frontal lobes. What excuse we can provide the other characters - none of whom were former boxers as far as I know - I'm not sure. I suppose just being plain stupid is enough for many of them, or perhaps, like Abbott, being academically gifted but not smart is sufficient, even without externally applied nervous system damage.
Anyway, read this book...it's a marvellously enjoyable ride through the 'corridors of power', it describes complex situations succinctly and clearly, and bluntly points the finger of blame without the recourse to the twisted attempts at logic, the lying, and attempted media manipulation that politicians use to seek to obscure their own incompetencies.
January 3, 2026
10 years later, this book holds up as a delightful time-capsule of quips, insights and cutthroat commentary. It is even moreso delightful to read Street’s character (assassination?) assessments of enduring auspol bobbleheads (see - Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton). I snorted, harrumphed and cackled my way through this, despite Street’s insistence in his epilogue this is a slog of a read — it was unputdownable.
July 7, 2017
Irreverent and extremely funny take on Australian politics in recent years; if I hadn't lived through this crazy time, I would believe it to be a work of fiction. It validates my memories of these events despite politicians trying to reframe the public perception daily. There's something Shakespearean about this, maybe Hamlet, maybe Macbeth, with a little of Much Ado About Nothing!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2018
A irreverent, lighthearted account of the short, accident prone prime ministership of Tony Abbott. Some laugh out loud moments but also very depressing recounting of the Legislation enacted regarding asylum seekers might have you wondering what the hell happened to that open hearted country that used to be Australia.
November 2, 2017
Hilarious!
December 28, 2018
Boring
February 4, 2023
Funny writing but so left to the left and biased that it is simply a malicious fairy tale
March 13, 2016
If there’s one lesson that I’ve learned in my life, it is that it is better to respond to tragedy with laughter rather than tears. This has got me in trouble on more than one occasion when I’ve made what has been interpreted as an off colour comment to some tragedy (“too soon”), but for the most part it has served me well. It’s better than caving in to utter despair, after all. Andrew P Street seems to have the same attitude, if his history of the dark Abbott years is any indication.
If you’re looking for a sober and even handed history of the era, this ain’t it. Street makes no attempt to hide his ideological bias, or his utter contempt for most of the Coalition front bench of the era (although special loathing is reserved for Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison). The tone is jocular, only breaking when Street gets to the horrific topic of the government’s punishment camps on Nauru, but for the most part this is a light and entertaining read. Or it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that this actually happened. It gets a little rougher towards the end, with a couple of typos and spelling mistakes in the last chapters, almost as if Street was caught by surprise by the sudden demise of the Abbott government and a desperate need to get the book onto shelves while it was still topical.
I suspect that this won’t be the last book that attempts to make light of the ridiculous excesses of the Abbott government (Mungo MacCullum, where are you?), but it is a very worthy first entry in the genre. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Coalition supporter, you probably won’t enjoy this book at all, but for those on the more progressive side of politics, as well as those who don’t follow politics and wish to be surprised by just how hilariously inept the Coalition could be during this era, this is an amusing read. Although I’m still looking forward to that sober and even handed history as well.
If you’re looking for a sober and even handed history of the era, this ain’t it. Street makes no attempt to hide his ideological bias, or his utter contempt for most of the Coalition front bench of the era (although special loathing is reserved for Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison). The tone is jocular, only breaking when Street gets to the horrific topic of the government’s punishment camps on Nauru, but for the most part this is a light and entertaining read. Or it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that this actually happened. It gets a little rougher towards the end, with a couple of typos and spelling mistakes in the last chapters, almost as if Street was caught by surprise by the sudden demise of the Abbott government and a desperate need to get the book onto shelves while it was still topical.
I suspect that this won’t be the last book that attempts to make light of the ridiculous excesses of the Abbott government (Mungo MacCullum, where are you?), but it is a very worthy first entry in the genre. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Coalition supporter, you probably won’t enjoy this book at all, but for those on the more progressive side of politics, as well as those who don’t follow politics and wish to be surprised by just how hilariously inept the Coalition could be during this era, this is an amusing read. Although I’m still looking forward to that sober and even handed history as well.
October 15, 2016
How hilarious is this book! From the title to some incredibly sharp and funny footnotes, Street has provided an incredibly entertaining analysis of Abbott and his short and excruciatingly Embarrassing Reign over the Australian Government. Abbott made us a laughing stock on the world stage with bizarre behaviour (onion anyone?), threats against other leaders (shirt fronting Putin for god sake!), ignoring climate change and inappropriate whinging about domestic matters at international forums (G8). Now that it's over, we can sit back and have a good chuckle about how silly it all really was.
Having said that, don't think there is no substance to this book. Street has done a wonderful job of analysing the Abbott government, systematically dismantling the deeds of the Captain and his cronies. The book is set out in such a way that even if you weren't particularly engaged in Australian politics at the time of events described, you are given a full understanding of what happened in the lead up to, during and the fall out from some of the Abbott's governments more stellar moments. And although the majority of the book is aimed fairly and squarely at Captain Abbott and his crew, Street shoots some warning shots across the bow of the Labor Party as well.
Just when you are left with next to no hope though, Street's epilogue gives you hope for the future. May we all pray that Australian politics can lifts itself out of the mud is currently resides in and become something we can believe in again.
Having said that, don't think there is no substance to this book. Street has done a wonderful job of analysing the Abbott government, systematically dismantling the deeds of the Captain and his cronies. The book is set out in such a way that even if you weren't particularly engaged in Australian politics at the time of events described, you are given a full understanding of what happened in the lead up to, during and the fall out from some of the Abbott's governments more stellar moments. And although the majority of the book is aimed fairly and squarely at Captain Abbott and his crew, Street shoots some warning shots across the bow of the Labor Party as well.
Just when you are left with next to no hope though, Street's epilogue gives you hope for the future. May we all pray that Australian politics can lifts itself out of the mud is currently resides in and become something we can believe in again.
January 21, 2016
This book would have been awarded 3 stars for its title alone but Street rounds up all the usual suspects (Hockey, Pyne, Bishop) in his often hilarious post mortem of the Good Ship Flagpole. I wager this will not be the last evisceration of the worst Prime Minister (& government) Australia has ever endured - serve us right, we voted them in - but I doubt there will be another as entertaining. The one illogical absence, given the nature of the book, is Abbott appointing himself as Minister for Women. This decision, amongst his first as P.M., ignited my fears about Abbott's incompetence for the job he had lied his way into. And the fact that there was only 1 woman in cabinet & she had already been assigned Foreign Minister was no justification. His record as a sexist was already well-established & would be quickly expanded when he claimed that women would welcome the removal of the carbon tax because it would make ironing cheaper. We have not yet seen the back of Tony Abbott, & it will take some time to dig the country out of the hole he tried to bury it in, but books like this will make sure we don't forget the time we voted a mendacious buffoon into the highest office in the land.
December 1, 2015
Street is a leftie satirical writer who does occasional columns in the newspapers, and I've always liked his snarky style.
This one is light and breezy, and is actually a pretty good primer for anyone who is a bit interested in Australian politics but hasn't really followed what has gone on in the last couple of years.
There is much detail skipped, and the focus is really on the biggest clangers and calamities that befell the government, but for all that it covers it all off quite nicely.
Clearly rushed for publication after Abbott's fall, and the last couple of chapters are not quite as polished as the earlier ones, but that is forgivable in what will no doubt be a piece of ephemera.
Rated G for idiotic political hijinks. 3/5
This one is light and breezy, and is actually a pretty good primer for anyone who is a bit interested in Australian politics but hasn't really followed what has gone on in the last couple of years.
There is much detail skipped, and the focus is really on the biggest clangers and calamities that befell the government, but for all that it covers it all off quite nicely.
Clearly rushed for publication after Abbott's fall, and the last couple of chapters are not quite as polished as the earlier ones, but that is forgivable in what will no doubt be a piece of ephemera.
Rated G for idiotic political hijinks. 3/5
December 12, 2015
Nothing in this book really surprised me - I did live through this cringe-making period of Australian history, and believe me, I was paying attention. However, to read all the 'highlights' in 300 pages, well, made it all come back like some half-remembered nightmare. Yes, he really did eat an onion, skin and all. And gave a knighthood to Prince Phillip. Yes we have a right to be a bigot, and poor people don't drive cars, because we are too busy leaning, rushing from the debt and deficit crisis that mysteriously vanished the following year, but we don't have the right to know the inhumanity done in our name on our borders...and whose a fixer again? Seriously, it would be funny if it wasn't real... but it was. How could we let that happen? And how can we be sure it won't ever happen again?
March 15, 2016
Like his column in the SMH this book is funny, sharp, snarky and painfully on point. Taking the view that if you don't laugh you will cry the inadequacies of the Coalition front bench is laid out in cringe inducing detail. Making Abbott and co is like a free kick at an empty goal but doing it as funny as this means the ball ends up in the net. If you want a conservative insight into the same debacle try the far dryer but equally as damning Road to Ruin by Nicki Savva. But if you only have time for one example of hubris personified stick with this gem. Abbott was a clown so it's only fit a jester should tell his tale.
March 17, 2016
Changed the rating to a 5 because I can't fault this book at all. It made me look back a time in Australian politics that invigorated me into taking politics head-on and a time that makes me wince, cringe and feel like lobbing something through a window. Street's thoughts towards the end however gives me hope not only for all the good people in this country but that even the most morally unconscious of the public remember that yes being respectful and showing love to your fellow humans is A-OK, taxes are brilliant when employed properly and we won't let a leadership schism fuck us all by electing a reptile in human skin.
March 5, 2016
Damn, that was good. A resolutely snarky look at Tony Abbott's time as Prime Minister, with an equal opportunity savaging of the ALP (and PUP, and the Greens, and Nick Xenophon) when the opportunity arises. I'm slightly disappointed that the "Border Farce" incident went unmentioned (in an otherwise near-encyclopedic catalogue of this government's many gaffes and screw-ups), but that's my only serious criticism of the book.
Read it for the insight, read it for the laughs (do not skip the footnotes), but bloody well read it. And ask yourself why we don't seem to believe that we deserve any better from our elected leaders.
Read it for the insight, read it for the laughs (do not skip the footnotes), but bloody well read it. And ask yourself why we don't seem to believe that we deserve any better from our elected leaders.
November 8, 2016
Street has a very nice turn of phrase - reminiscent of old-style Town Hall political meetings. It relieves some of the despair to read his unrelenting sarcasm in retelling the story of THOSE YEARS. The trouble is, that a year after the book's publication, the sequel would be just as cynical and easy to construct.
The saving grace may be the last chapter, "Is that the best we can do?", which, as others have pointed out, is a statement in support of civilisation, egalitarianism and decency. Lampooning the last few years of Australian political achievement might relieve stress - the next step is to dig ourselves out of the hole.
The saving grace may be the last chapter, "Is that the best we can do?", which, as others have pointed out, is a statement in support of civilisation, egalitarianism and decency. Lampooning the last few years of Australian political achievement might relieve stress - the next step is to dig ourselves out of the hole.
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