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Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir
A colourful and central figure in Australian politics for two decades—described by Bob Hawke as having 'the most acute mind' of any of his ministers—Gareth Evans has also been applauded worldwide for his contributions, both as Foreign Minister and in later international roles, to conflict resolution, genocide prevention and curbing weapons of mass destruction.
In this sometimes moving, often entertaining, and always lucid memoir Evans looks back over the highs and lows of his public life as a student activist, civil libertarian, law reformer, industry minister, international policymaker, educator and politician. He explains why it is that, despite multiple disappointments, he continues to believe that a safer, saner and more decent world is achievable, and why, for all its frustrations, politics remains an indispensable profession not only for megalomaniacs but idealists.
In this sometimes moving, often entertaining, and always lucid memoir Evans looks back over the highs and lows of his public life as a student activist, civil libertarian, law reformer, industry minister, international policymaker, educator and politician. He explains why it is that, despite multiple disappointments, he continues to believe that a safer, saner and more decent world is achievable, and why, for all its frustrations, politics remains an indispensable profession not only for megalomaniacs but idealists.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
277 pages, Hardcover
Published October 2, 2017
3 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Gareth Evans
12 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Gareth Evans AC QC was a Cabinet minister throughout the Hawke–Keating governments, including as foreign minister from 1988 to 1996. In his 21-year parliamentary career, he served as both leader of the government in the Senate and deputy leader of the Opposition. After leaving politics, he was president of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009, and chancellor of the Australian National University from 2010 to 2019, where he is now Distinguished Honorary Professor.
Gareth Evans AC QC was a Cabinet minister throughout the Hawke–Keating governments, including as foreign minister from 1988 to 1996. In his 21-year parliamentary career, he served as both leader of the government in the Senate and deputy leader of the Opposition. After leaving politics, he was president of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009, and chancellor of the Australian National University from 2010 to 2019, where he is now Distinguished Honorary Professor.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 4, 2018
4★
“ As I write these words [April 2017], the environment for good public policymaking, both internationally and domestically, is as desolate as I can ever remember . . . But the presidency of George W Bush was, after all, followed by that of Barack Obama, and it may be that, like other bad cases of the DTs, this one too will pass.”
Ah, Gareth! You incorrigible optimist, you. Maybe the glass-half-full is the hair-of-the dog that will cure the DTs? I’m getting carried away, sorry.
An aside for interested Aussies: This is a “political memoir”, so only once, and only in a political context, does he mention Cheryl Kernot (a fellow parliamentarian with whom he had a notorious five-year affair, which he denied for years).
Back to the book. Evans declares not only his optimism but also his drive to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. My words, not his. And I’d say he’s not averse to the spotlight.
After years in the diplomatic and political fields, he’s now chairing the New York-based NGO “The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect”, meaning we must all prevent atrocities to people whether their own government likes it or not. http://www.globalr2p.org/
He’s managed to avoid what he once called a former politician’s “Relevance Deprivation Syndrome” by being as active as ever. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
He was a Labor politician for more than 20 years, and Australia’s Attorney General and then Foreign Minister from 1988-1996 during the famous Hawke-Keating era. High profile, highly influential, loved it!
He had a big picture view of the world and Australia’s place in it, so when first appointed Foreign Minister, he didn’t go forelock-tugging, cap-in-hand to the Mother Country, Europe, and the US. No, he made the rounds of the neighbourhood, the Asia-Pacific region, and only then did he visit the rest.
“It was also to make it clear that, as important as the US alliance was to Australia, I did not see the world primarily through that prism.”
There was a lot in the US that probably offended his strong sense of social justice. Back in 1965, when he went there on a trip for student leaders from the Asian region, he finally saw first-hand what he calls the “reflex prejudice” that his friends and companions lived with.
“I remember, for example, a doctor in Texas telling us over a family dinner, ‘If God had meant marriages between Negroes and Caucasians to take place he would not have made them black and us white’.
‘What about us and Asians?’ I asked, in deference to the interests of my travelling companions.
‘Well, that’s not so bad’, he said. ‘For a start, the kids are cuter.’
CRINGE! At least Gareth wasn’t the host, and he was just along for the ride, but it spurred him on to continue to campaign against racism and for Indigenous rights.
He studied, taught and practised law, got into politics, and simply wanted to change the world. Was that asking too much?
During the campaign proposing Australia add a preamble to the Constitution, (when he was in Opposition in 1999) he wrote a particularly good, inclusive one, but it never got off the ground. It should.
“Having come together in 1901 as a Federation under the Crown
And the Commonwealth of Australia being now a sovereign democracy,
Our people drawn from many nations
We the people of Australia
Proud of our diversity
Celebrating our unity
Loving our unique and ancient land
Recognising Indigenous Australians as the original occupants and custodians of our land
Believing in freedom and equality, and
Embracing democracy and the rule of law
Commit ourselves to this our Constitution.”
He may big-note himself sometimes (all right, he does), but he includes plenty of criticism and self-deprecating remarks.
“. . . one unnamed colleague was reported at the time as saying, ‘Who would have thought Gareth could produce an 83-word history of Australia? He once used qualifying phrases that went longer than that’”
He is also quick to say that sometimes you just have to let other people get the credit, and to that end, he quotes, in full, not his own many speeches about Indigenous rights, but both Prime Minister Paul Keating’s “Redfern Speech” and PM Kevin Rudd’s “Sorry Speech”. And he credits fervent political opponent Tony Abbott’s comment about Keating’s saying it “movingly evoked . . . the stain on our soul.”
He was active since his student days against apartheid and was Foreign Minister when the end was finally being negotiated in South Africa. He says his biggest joy during his career was meeting Nelson Mandela. I have to say, he is legitimately able to name-drop like almost nobody except a head of state.
I’ll throw in a word about the environment. Regarding “the passage of the ‘World Heritage Properties Conservation Act’. Drafting that legislation, in which enterprise I was involved as the new Attorney-General, was about as much fun as a constitutional lawyer could ever have sitting down. We threw every weapon in the armoury at it. . .”
But it’s really the appalling international atrocities that have kept him fired up. All through the book are references to our responsibility to protect people, culminating in the organisation mentioned in the beginning.
We no longer say that a sovereign nation has a right to maltreat its citizens any more than parents have a right to abuse their children. We WILL intervene. Again, have a look at http://www.globalr2p.org/ [Disclaimer: I like this kind of initiative and am a member of Amnesty International, which is humanitarian while being non-partisan, and non-political.]
Evans has divided his memoir into sections about different areas of his professional life and interests, and I won’t attempt to list even the headings. I’ve just plucked a few things at random.
Suffice to say he’s done more than any half a dozen people you can think of, and if you’d like an interesting, readable history of Australia and its place in the world over the last 60 years, Evans is your man. He's a good writer and experienced lecturer who speaks in lists. The three things to remember, the four points that should be included, the five . . . and so on. Very readable.
(If you want the lowdown on the aforementioned affair, just google it.)
Thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Press for the review copy from which I’ve quoted.
“ As I write these words [April 2017], the environment for good public policymaking, both internationally and domestically, is as desolate as I can ever remember . . . But the presidency of George W Bush was, after all, followed by that of Barack Obama, and it may be that, like other bad cases of the DTs, this one too will pass.”
Ah, Gareth! You incorrigible optimist, you. Maybe the glass-half-full is the hair-of-the dog that will cure the DTs? I’m getting carried away, sorry.
An aside for interested Aussies: This is a “political memoir”, so only once, and only in a political context, does he mention Cheryl Kernot (a fellow parliamentarian with whom he had a notorious five-year affair, which he denied for years).
Back to the book. Evans declares not only his optimism but also his drive to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. My words, not his. And I’d say he’s not averse to the spotlight.
After years in the diplomatic and political fields, he’s now chairing the New York-based NGO “The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect”, meaning we must all prevent atrocities to people whether their own government likes it or not. http://www.globalr2p.org/
He’s managed to avoid what he once called a former politician’s “Relevance Deprivation Syndrome” by being as active as ever. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
He was a Labor politician for more than 20 years, and Australia’s Attorney General and then Foreign Minister from 1988-1996 during the famous Hawke-Keating era. High profile, highly influential, loved it!
He had a big picture view of the world and Australia’s place in it, so when first appointed Foreign Minister, he didn’t go forelock-tugging, cap-in-hand to the Mother Country, Europe, and the US. No, he made the rounds of the neighbourhood, the Asia-Pacific region, and only then did he visit the rest.
“It was also to make it clear that, as important as the US alliance was to Australia, I did not see the world primarily through that prism.”
There was a lot in the US that probably offended his strong sense of social justice. Back in 1965, when he went there on a trip for student leaders from the Asian region, he finally saw first-hand what he calls the “reflex prejudice” that his friends and companions lived with.
“I remember, for example, a doctor in Texas telling us over a family dinner, ‘If God had meant marriages between Negroes and Caucasians to take place he would not have made them black and us white’.
‘What about us and Asians?’ I asked, in deference to the interests of my travelling companions.
‘Well, that’s not so bad’, he said. ‘For a start, the kids are cuter.’
CRINGE! At least Gareth wasn’t the host, and he was just along for the ride, but it spurred him on to continue to campaign against racism and for Indigenous rights.
He studied, taught and practised law, got into politics, and simply wanted to change the world. Was that asking too much?
During the campaign proposing Australia add a preamble to the Constitution, (when he was in Opposition in 1999) he wrote a particularly good, inclusive one, but it never got off the ground. It should.
“Having come together in 1901 as a Federation under the Crown
And the Commonwealth of Australia being now a sovereign democracy,
Our people drawn from many nations
We the people of Australia
Proud of our diversity
Celebrating our unity
Loving our unique and ancient land
Recognising Indigenous Australians as the original occupants and custodians of our land
Believing in freedom and equality, and
Embracing democracy and the rule of law
Commit ourselves to this our Constitution.”
He may big-note himself sometimes (all right, he does), but he includes plenty of criticism and self-deprecating remarks.
“. . . one unnamed colleague was reported at the time as saying, ‘Who would have thought Gareth could produce an 83-word history of Australia? He once used qualifying phrases that went longer than that’”
He is also quick to say that sometimes you just have to let other people get the credit, and to that end, he quotes, in full, not his own many speeches about Indigenous rights, but both Prime Minister Paul Keating’s “Redfern Speech” and PM Kevin Rudd’s “Sorry Speech”. And he credits fervent political opponent Tony Abbott’s comment about Keating’s saying it “movingly evoked . . . the stain on our soul.”
He was active since his student days against apartheid and was Foreign Minister when the end was finally being negotiated in South Africa. He says his biggest joy during his career was meeting Nelson Mandela. I have to say, he is legitimately able to name-drop like almost nobody except a head of state.
I’ll throw in a word about the environment. Regarding “the passage of the ‘World Heritage Properties Conservation Act’. Drafting that legislation, in which enterprise I was involved as the new Attorney-General, was about as much fun as a constitutional lawyer could ever have sitting down. We threw every weapon in the armoury at it. . .”
But it’s really the appalling international atrocities that have kept him fired up. All through the book are references to our responsibility to protect people, culminating in the organisation mentioned in the beginning.
We no longer say that a sovereign nation has a right to maltreat its citizens any more than parents have a right to abuse their children. We WILL intervene. Again, have a look at http://www.globalr2p.org/ [Disclaimer: I like this kind of initiative and am a member of Amnesty International, which is humanitarian while being non-partisan, and non-political.]
Evans has divided his memoir into sections about different areas of his professional life and interests, and I won’t attempt to list even the headings. I’ve just plucked a few things at random.
Suffice to say he’s done more than any half a dozen people you can think of, and if you’d like an interesting, readable history of Australia and its place in the world over the last 60 years, Evans is your man. He's a good writer and experienced lecturer who speaks in lists. The three things to remember, the four points that should be included, the five . . . and so on. Very readable.
(If you want the lowdown on the aforementioned affair, just google it.)
Thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Press for the review copy from which I’ve quoted.
October 26, 2017
‘This is an account of one person’s efforts, …’
In this political memoir, organised broadly chronological by particular policy themes, Gareth Evans reflects on his efforts during a long public life to try to encourage both Australia and the world ‘in better policy directions’. For those of us interested in Australian public policy, it is a memoir worth reading. It is interesting and informative as well and, at times, amusing. It is both wordy and well-written. Gareth Evans could never be accused of being a man of too few words.
‘My family being neither criminal nor rich, I grew up with practically no exposure whatever to the legal profession.’
For those too young to remember the Hawke-Keating governments (11 March 1983 to 11 March 1996), Gareth Evans served as Attorney-General (1983-84), Minister for Resources and Energy (1984-1987), Minister for Transport and Communications (1987-1988) and Foreign Minister (1988-1996). He was a Senator for Victoria from 1978 to 1996 and then the Member for Holt from 1996 to 1998. Since leaving the Australian Parliament, Gareth Evans has served as the President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009, and has been Chancellor of the Australian National University since 2010.
In this memoir, Gareth Evans covers ten themes under the headings of: Justice, Race, Enterprise, Diplomacy, Cooperation, Conflict, Atrocities, Weapons, Education and Politics. For each of these themes, he sets himself three goals: how he became involved with each, how he pursued each subject (covering both his successes and failures), and the lessons learned.
Is it incorrigible optimism to have a vision of effective international citizenship at a time when many countries are pursuing isolationist policies? At a time when reports of atrocities have tragically become commonplace? Perhaps it is, but ideals are important and need to be articulated so that they can be strived for. I was particularly interested in reading about the work of the International Crisis Group, and also in Gareth Evans’s experiences as a backpacker in Africa and Europe during the 1960s.
I found this memoir absorbing and thought-provoking.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In this political memoir, organised broadly chronological by particular policy themes, Gareth Evans reflects on his efforts during a long public life to try to encourage both Australia and the world ‘in better policy directions’. For those of us interested in Australian public policy, it is a memoir worth reading. It is interesting and informative as well and, at times, amusing. It is both wordy and well-written. Gareth Evans could never be accused of being a man of too few words.
‘My family being neither criminal nor rich, I grew up with practically no exposure whatever to the legal profession.’
For those too young to remember the Hawke-Keating governments (11 March 1983 to 11 March 1996), Gareth Evans served as Attorney-General (1983-84), Minister for Resources and Energy (1984-1987), Minister for Transport and Communications (1987-1988) and Foreign Minister (1988-1996). He was a Senator for Victoria from 1978 to 1996 and then the Member for Holt from 1996 to 1998. Since leaving the Australian Parliament, Gareth Evans has served as the President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009, and has been Chancellor of the Australian National University since 2010.
In this memoir, Gareth Evans covers ten themes under the headings of: Justice, Race, Enterprise, Diplomacy, Cooperation, Conflict, Atrocities, Weapons, Education and Politics. For each of these themes, he sets himself three goals: how he became involved with each, how he pursued each subject (covering both his successes and failures), and the lessons learned.
Is it incorrigible optimism to have a vision of effective international citizenship at a time when many countries are pursuing isolationist policies? At a time when reports of atrocities have tragically become commonplace? Perhaps it is, but ideals are important and need to be articulated so that they can be strived for. I was particularly interested in reading about the work of the International Crisis Group, and also in Gareth Evans’s experiences as a backpacker in Africa and Europe during the 1960s.
I found this memoir absorbing and thought-provoking.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
May 6, 2018
Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir
By Gareth Evans
An autobiography of sorts covering key parts in Gareth Evans' life, it covers his time at University, through Parliament, to his heading up the International Crisis Group and later the ANU. Chapters cover topics rather than being broken down by time periods. These range from areas of justice and race, diplomacy, international rule of law and politics (among others).
The memoir is quite good although I found my interest waning in some parts, and the editing could be better. His memoir really shines on areas of justice, politics, government and international diplomacy (in fairness, these encompass most of the book). However, I did find other parts somewhat tedious causing me to skip over some paragraphs. This was mainly confined to areas related to his work post exit from Parliamentary life. I would have attributed this to my own interest in Gareth’s career as a Minister except I did find his commentary about his early years before entering professional politics as equally interesting as his time in government.
As mentioned earlier, the quality of editing could have been improved. There were two cases where typos in years/dates were wrong which did cause me confusion (such as how work on implementing the Mabo High Court ruling took place in 1983, when it was only handed down in 1992 -a simple errant ‘8’ causing problems).
Gareth’s memoir is also loaded with verbose prose. Much of this could have been pared back with some editing. Reducing some sentences down from around 60 words to a more reasonable 20-30 would have been a good start. This said, Gareth does write very well and his choice of words are quite enjoyable (just too long-winded for my taste).
There are multiple references to Gareth’s previous political memoir-esque book (his Cabinet Diaries). So many in fact I thought they were almost a sales job. It did work and I will be reading them later, however I did get the distinct impression that you really would have to read both books to get the full picture.
3 stars.
By Gareth Evans
An autobiography of sorts covering key parts in Gareth Evans' life, it covers his time at University, through Parliament, to his heading up the International Crisis Group and later the ANU. Chapters cover topics rather than being broken down by time periods. These range from areas of justice and race, diplomacy, international rule of law and politics (among others).
The memoir is quite good although I found my interest waning in some parts, and the editing could be better. His memoir really shines on areas of justice, politics, government and international diplomacy (in fairness, these encompass most of the book). However, I did find other parts somewhat tedious causing me to skip over some paragraphs. This was mainly confined to areas related to his work post exit from Parliamentary life. I would have attributed this to my own interest in Gareth’s career as a Minister except I did find his commentary about his early years before entering professional politics as equally interesting as his time in government.
As mentioned earlier, the quality of editing could have been improved. There were two cases where typos in years/dates were wrong which did cause me confusion (such as how work on implementing the Mabo High Court ruling took place in 1983, when it was only handed down in 1992 -a simple errant ‘8’ causing problems).
Gareth’s memoir is also loaded with verbose prose. Much of this could have been pared back with some editing. Reducing some sentences down from around 60 words to a more reasonable 20-30 would have been a good start. This said, Gareth does write very well and his choice of words are quite enjoyable (just too long-winded for my taste).
There are multiple references to Gareth’s previous political memoir-esque book (his Cabinet Diaries). So many in fact I thought they were almost a sales job. It did work and I will be reading them later, however I did get the distinct impression that you really would have to read both books to get the full picture.
3 stars.
January 20, 2019
In the 1970s and 1980s I was a political memoir junkee. In the recent past I have given most political memoirs a wide berth. This is probably a reflection on the quality of the politicians writing them!
I have always admired Gareth Evans. He is somewhat of a Renaissance Man who was an effective Attorney General and Foreign Minister. Since leaving parliament he has had a successful and productive life. President of the International Crisis Group, numerous international commissions and panels. Presently he is Chancellor of the ANU.
This memoir is filled with Evans’ ego, wit and self-deprecating humour. He tried to rise above the daily cut and thrust of party political life but he was a strong supporter of Hawke and subsequently Keating.
Throughout the pages of this book there is an unbridled commitment to good government, human rights and the decency of many of the people he dealt with in his position of foreign minister.
The book is divided into chapters about the issues that he faced in his public life, justice, race, conflict, education among many others. He is very detailed in his writings and some readers might find certain chapters long packed with information and insights.
I would rank his work in bringing peace to Cambodia (unfortunately things have gone skewiff recently) and his work on the Mabo legislation.
Some have made criticisms of Evans egocentrism. I admire a person with ability that has the motivation and drive to achieve good, and Evans is such a person.
A quality read.
I have always admired Gareth Evans. He is somewhat of a Renaissance Man who was an effective Attorney General and Foreign Minister. Since leaving parliament he has had a successful and productive life. President of the International Crisis Group, numerous international commissions and panels. Presently he is Chancellor of the ANU.
This memoir is filled with Evans’ ego, wit and self-deprecating humour. He tried to rise above the daily cut and thrust of party political life but he was a strong supporter of Hawke and subsequently Keating.
Throughout the pages of this book there is an unbridled commitment to good government, human rights and the decency of many of the people he dealt with in his position of foreign minister.
The book is divided into chapters about the issues that he faced in his public life, justice, race, conflict, education among many others. He is very detailed in his writings and some readers might find certain chapters long packed with information and insights.
I would rank his work in bringing peace to Cambodia (unfortunately things have gone skewiff recently) and his work on the Mabo legislation.
Some have made criticisms of Evans egocentrism. I admire a person with ability that has the motivation and drive to achieve good, and Evans is such a person.
A quality read.
May 17, 2018
Some good insights into public policy development but otherwise mostly a big list of everything Gareth Evans ever did. Those are enough to carry the book in places (he is a very interesting person) but it does drag sometimes.
January 11, 2018
bit too dry for my tastes
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews