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The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely: Australia's Prime Ministers
Since 1901, thirty different leaders have run the national show. Whether their term was eight days or eighteen years, each prime minister has a story worth sharing. Edmund Barton united the bickering states in a federation. The unlucky Jimmy Scullin took office days before Wall Street crashed into the Great Depression. John Curtin faced the ultimate challenge of wartime leadership. John Gorton, Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating each shook up their parties’ policies so vigorously that none lasted much longer than a single term. Harold Holt spent three decades in parliament, only to disappear while swimming off the coast of Victoria two years into his first term. John Howard's ‘triple bypass’ is the stuff of legend. Julia Gillard overthrew Kevin Rudd and Kevin Rudd overthrew Julia Gillard, thus paving the way for Tony Abbott, who was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull – until he too was toppled, this time by Scott Morrison. But is Australia’s thirty-first prime minister just around the corner? With characteristic wit and expert knowledge, Mungo MacCallum brings the nation’s leaders to life in this fully up-to-date new edition of a classic book.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
103 people are currently reading
281 people want to read
About the author
Mungo MacCallum
32 books4 followersMungo Wentworth MacCallum (21 December 1941 – 9 December 2020) was an Australian political journalist and commentator.
From the 1970s to the 1990s he covered Australian federal politics from the Canberra Press Gallery for The Australian, The National Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nation Review and radio stations 2JJ / Triple J and 2SER. He wrote political commentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) current affairs and news analysis program The Drum, frequently wrote for the magazine The Monthly, and contributed political commentary to Australia's national Community Radio Network, columns for the Byron Shire Echo and The Northern Star, and a weekly cryptic crossword for The Saturday Paper.
He also authored several books, including Run, Johnny, Run, written after the 2004 Australian federal election. His autobiographical narrative of the Australian political scene, Mungo: the man who laughs – has been reprinted four times. How To Be A Megalomaniac or, Advice to a Young Politician was published in 2002, and Political Anecdotes was published in 2003. In December 2004, Duffy & Snellgrove published War and Pieces: John Howard's last election.
From the 1970s to the 1990s he covered Australian federal politics from the Canberra Press Gallery for The Australian, The National Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nation Review and radio stations 2JJ / Triple J and 2SER. He wrote political commentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) current affairs and news analysis program The Drum, frequently wrote for the magazine The Monthly, and contributed political commentary to Australia's national Community Radio Network, columns for the Byron Shire Echo and The Northern Star, and a weekly cryptic crossword for The Saturday Paper.
He also authored several books, including Run, Johnny, Run, written after the 2004 Australian federal election. His autobiographical narrative of the Australian political scene, Mungo: the man who laughs – has been reprinted four times. How To Be A Megalomaniac or, Advice to a Young Politician was published in 2002, and Political Anecdotes was published in 2003. In December 2004, Duffy & Snellgrove published War and Pieces: John Howard's last election.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 20, 2016
Guess which Australian Prime Minister counted his three greatest achievements as winning a Cambridge Blue, captaining the St Andrews Golf Club (the one in Scotland, not the one at Gunnamatta) and being a member of the Royal Society? Not, you will have noticed, running our country for six years. He’d have had to have been here in this country for that, and he wasn’t any too interested in Australia, hanging out in London for most of his adult life including large chunks of his term of office. Presumably he thought that running our little backwater was a minor achievement, perhaps analogous with managing the staff in a country house.
Give up? Stanley Melbourne Bruce (1923-29) was his name (christened thus to acknowledge the place where his family made their impressive fortune) but (serves him right) this arrogant prat’s claim to fame is that he left the economy in ruins and was so out of touch with the electorate that he lost his own seat when they booted his government out in 1929. (John Howard (1996-2007) is the only other PM to suffer this ignominy, in the rubble of the Kevin 07 landslide).
This and many other interesting titbits come from Mungo MacCallum’s entertaining new book, The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely, Australia’s Prime Ministers. It is just the antidote needed for an electorate that is bored witless by what passes for political debate in this country at the moment, and a salutary reminder that, as PM Paul Keating said in the election campaign that he lost to Howard, leadership does matter.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/02/06/th...
Give up? Stanley Melbourne Bruce (1923-29) was his name (christened thus to acknowledge the place where his family made their impressive fortune) but (serves him right) this arrogant prat’s claim to fame is that he left the economy in ruins and was so out of touch with the electorate that he lost his own seat when they booted his government out in 1929. (John Howard (1996-2007) is the only other PM to suffer this ignominy, in the rubble of the Kevin 07 landslide).
This and many other interesting titbits come from Mungo MacCallum’s entertaining new book, The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely, Australia’s Prime Ministers. It is just the antidote needed for an electorate that is bored witless by what passes for political debate in this country at the moment, and a salutary reminder that, as PM Paul Keating said in the election campaign that he lost to Howard, leadership does matter.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/02/06/th...
November 10, 2022
ok call me a nerd but why did this book actually slap
February 18, 2018
An excellent read to understand the political forces that have shaped Australia. Battlelines were drawn at the conception of the nation that have been maintained for over 100 years. The forged differences between the socialists and free marketers that have crystallised into the two party Labor and Liberal forces. A captivating read that should be studied in our secondary schools. Only a few long serving Prime Ministers managed to reach across the political divide. Politics is the art of negotiation and the art of compromise. As Kenny Rogers sang, "You've got to know when to hold and know when to fold." Thank you Mungo for a concise summary and history lesson.
September 2, 2021
An entertaining read in Mungo’s inimitable style with a short chapter on each of Australia’s Prime Ministers, up to 2019 and including the present incumbent.
January 23, 2022
If only there was a chance to add 4.5 stars on this website, instead of 4; if ever a book that I've read deserves such an equivocal assessment between really good and 'ohmygoditwasgreat' it's the late great Mungo MacCallum collection of Australian prime ministerial biographies. Informative, engaging, funny, provocative, intelligent and anecodtal, MacCallum has turned what could be considered one of the least interesting subjects into one that deserves more consideration, more exploration. It also fills a gap in Australian popular history; whereas the Americans and other countries have a long tradition of discussing, debating and assessing the lives of the men (and some women) who have led them, Australians are generally disengaged from our PMs except when they are in office. MacCallum provides a starting point for a more comprehensive history of these key players in our country's history and development.
Where MacCallum really makes a difference is his biographies of earlier PMs, particuarly those of the first decade or so of the Commonwealth's federation, as well as some of the lesser lights who served for short periods. Barton, Deakin, Cook, Reid, Watson and Fisher are allowed to emerge from the dustiness of over 100 years of neglect in popular Australian history, and each is given the attention they deserve. I was particularly taken with the biography of James Scullin, a PM that MacCallum depicts as a far better man and leader than his circumstances allowed. The author also ensures that even short-lived PMs such as Page, Fadden, Forde and McEwan are given due diligence, though in all these cases it is the lives these men lead up to and after their short-lived regimes that makes up much of his narrative.
MacCallum gives the more 'significant' PMs plenty of depth, and his biographies of Hughes, Bruce, Lyons, Menzies, Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke are each masterpieces of character study, political summary and historical perspective. That's not to say he doesn't do it with other PMs, however to be able to reduce the lives and careers of these men who through either length of primeministership and/or influence on Australian politics into such informative and digestible biographies is a major achievement.
Another reason why this book deserves high praise is that MacCallum's prosesparkles with wit. His pen is both ascerbic and enlightening as it describes the subjects of his book. There is no doubt that he has positions on each of the PMs, and he does not back away from calling out the failures (political and/or personal) of each one. However there is little if any malevolence in his criticisms, and MacCallum balances out some of his negative comments with self-deprecatory comments made by the PMs themselves. MacCallum is willing to let his distaste for Labor rats like Hughes and Lyons to come through in his biographies of these PMs, yet he is fair enough to not let that personal opinion dominate his narrative. In fact it's probably only Bruce and MacMahon who gains his (somewhat muted) opprobrium, and that is because the former is shown to be disengaged with being an Australian Prime Minister and the latter is discussed as being the last gasp of a tired and moribund Coalition regime.
Putting aside the historical value of the book MacCallum is also to be commended for writing a book that is at times genuinely funny. As befitting an ex-journalist who wrote some of the wittiest columns on politics and other matters in Australian papers in the last 50 years or so MacCallum finds humour in the words of and about these thirty PMs. It would be easy to write a book that would be dry as dust about each of these leaders, and in the process kill off much potential interest in them. Through the agency of his humorous prose MacCallum ensures that the reader will never be bored of his biographies.
If there is a fault to be found in 'The Good, The Bad and the Unlikely', and it is a minor one, it is that the last few Prime Ministers are given perhaps too much space in contrast to their predecessors. Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison are accorded almost a quarter of the book's content and whilst it's fine to consider their importance and relevance to contemporary Australia it would be fair to point out that their lives and careers are deeply and widely documented for current audiences. These Prime Ministers are still part of our public dialogue and consciousness and perhaps don't need as much attention as those that have faded out of popular memory. Of course it may be argued that as these politicians are so much still in our mass consciousness it is right to give them more study. As said, this aspect of the book is at worst a minor fault, and it might even be considered another strength.
In conclusion, if one wants to read a popular history of the thirty Australian Prime Ministers since 1901 you would struggle to find a better book. MacCallum has written a most engaging and illuminating book that deserves to be read by a wide audience.It is a fine legacy from a great Australian writer.
Where MacCallum really makes a difference is his biographies of earlier PMs, particuarly those of the first decade or so of the Commonwealth's federation, as well as some of the lesser lights who served for short periods. Barton, Deakin, Cook, Reid, Watson and Fisher are allowed to emerge from the dustiness of over 100 years of neglect in popular Australian history, and each is given the attention they deserve. I was particularly taken with the biography of James Scullin, a PM that MacCallum depicts as a far better man and leader than his circumstances allowed. The author also ensures that even short-lived PMs such as Page, Fadden, Forde and McEwan are given due diligence, though in all these cases it is the lives these men lead up to and after their short-lived regimes that makes up much of his narrative.
MacCallum gives the more 'significant' PMs plenty of depth, and his biographies of Hughes, Bruce, Lyons, Menzies, Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke are each masterpieces of character study, political summary and historical perspective. That's not to say he doesn't do it with other PMs, however to be able to reduce the lives and careers of these men who through either length of primeministership and/or influence on Australian politics into such informative and digestible biographies is a major achievement.
Another reason why this book deserves high praise is that MacCallum's prosesparkles with wit. His pen is both ascerbic and enlightening as it describes the subjects of his book. There is no doubt that he has positions on each of the PMs, and he does not back away from calling out the failures (political and/or personal) of each one. However there is little if any malevolence in his criticisms, and MacCallum balances out some of his negative comments with self-deprecatory comments made by the PMs themselves. MacCallum is willing to let his distaste for Labor rats like Hughes and Lyons to come through in his biographies of these PMs, yet he is fair enough to not let that personal opinion dominate his narrative. In fact it's probably only Bruce and MacMahon who gains his (somewhat muted) opprobrium, and that is because the former is shown to be disengaged with being an Australian Prime Minister and the latter is discussed as being the last gasp of a tired and moribund Coalition regime.
Putting aside the historical value of the book MacCallum is also to be commended for writing a book that is at times genuinely funny. As befitting an ex-journalist who wrote some of the wittiest columns on politics and other matters in Australian papers in the last 50 years or so MacCallum finds humour in the words of and about these thirty PMs. It would be easy to write a book that would be dry as dust about each of these leaders, and in the process kill off much potential interest in them. Through the agency of his humorous prose MacCallum ensures that the reader will never be bored of his biographies.
If there is a fault to be found in 'The Good, The Bad and the Unlikely', and it is a minor one, it is that the last few Prime Ministers are given perhaps too much space in contrast to their predecessors. Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison are accorded almost a quarter of the book's content and whilst it's fine to consider their importance and relevance to contemporary Australia it would be fair to point out that their lives and careers are deeply and widely documented for current audiences. These Prime Ministers are still part of our public dialogue and consciousness and perhaps don't need as much attention as those that have faded out of popular memory. Of course it may be argued that as these politicians are so much still in our mass consciousness it is right to give them more study. As said, this aspect of the book is at worst a minor fault, and it might even be considered another strength.
In conclusion, if one wants to read a popular history of the thirty Australian Prime Ministers since 1901 you would struggle to find a better book. MacCallum has written a most engaging and illuminating book that deserves to be read by a wide audience.It is a fine legacy from a great Australian writer.
April 16, 2012
This irascible, long-serving political journalist has presented a lively overview of the twenty-six men and the lone woman who have had the nation’s toughest job – no, not captaining the Aussie cricket team – but of being our Prime Minister. Initially one may have thought that being such a brief tome, MacCullum couldn’t possibly do justice to these venerable and not so venerable men/woman – unless of course they were all a bunch of light-weights. He does, though, largely succeed, given that one wishes not to delve too deeply. If this wasn’t the case, the purists would note that much of import has been omitted, and even this reader, a decidedly amateur political junkie, could pick a few worthy moments missing. This book should largely be taken as a primer, a ‘whetter of the appetite’.
Be they Menzies or Forde, all PMs are given roughly equal weight, and some revelations, for this reader, were surprising – why even the great Ming supposedly had an affair! MacCullum delights in those who made our Parliament zing, none so more that my own fave, Keating. He was the last in my view to have any notion of a ‘light on the hill’ vision – I suspect only Turnbull comes within a bull’s roar of the current lot. But it is the Boy from Bankstown’s verbal shredding of opponents that the author enthusiastically relates, and there is much other quirkiness to be had as well in his pages. There were those PMs who were decidedly unique – Deakin, Gorton, Bruce; those that were intensely boring – Howard, Howard, Howard; decidedly unlucky – Scullin, Holt; those that rose above their vices – Curtin, Hawke; those that ratted – Hughes, Lyons; and those the nation grew to respect in retirement – Whitlam, Fraser. Some took our country on a hairy ride, some governed ‘steady as she goes’ but collectively they made us what we are today, for better or worse. We are, after all, perhaps the most ‘reliable’ democracy in the world.
The book was also illuminating as to how many of our leaders in the early decades of Federation had such humble working class beginnings, in some cases even dysfunctional. This perhaps gave them the toughness to make the often unpopular, yet necessary, decisions our present crop seem incapable of doing.
I immensely enjoyed this read of the men, and woman, who had to survive the nation’s parliamentary ‘bear pits’ to make it to the top in Canberra. It deserves a wide readership for the author has striven to present the humanity, as rough as it might be, of all the determined servants of the people. With the exception of Billy McMahon, generally they have made us proud.
Be they Menzies or Forde, all PMs are given roughly equal weight, and some revelations, for this reader, were surprising – why even the great Ming supposedly had an affair! MacCullum delights in those who made our Parliament zing, none so more that my own fave, Keating. He was the last in my view to have any notion of a ‘light on the hill’ vision – I suspect only Turnbull comes within a bull’s roar of the current lot. But it is the Boy from Bankstown’s verbal shredding of opponents that the author enthusiastically relates, and there is much other quirkiness to be had as well in his pages. There were those PMs who were decidedly unique – Deakin, Gorton, Bruce; those that were intensely boring – Howard, Howard, Howard; decidedly unlucky – Scullin, Holt; those that rose above their vices – Curtin, Hawke; those that ratted – Hughes, Lyons; and those the nation grew to respect in retirement – Whitlam, Fraser. Some took our country on a hairy ride, some governed ‘steady as she goes’ but collectively they made us what we are today, for better or worse. We are, after all, perhaps the most ‘reliable’ democracy in the world.
The book was also illuminating as to how many of our leaders in the early decades of Federation had such humble working class beginnings, in some cases even dysfunctional. This perhaps gave them the toughness to make the often unpopular, yet necessary, decisions our present crop seem incapable of doing.
I immensely enjoyed this read of the men, and woman, who had to survive the nation’s parliamentary ‘bear pits’ to make it to the top in Canberra. It deserves a wide readership for the author has striven to present the humanity, as rough as it might be, of all the determined servants of the people. With the exception of Billy McMahon, generally they have made us proud.
July 22, 2017
A VERY brief overview of the figures who took upon the Prime Ministership of Australia - however the book lacks so much depth, that a quick glance of Wikipedia would offer more detail and analysis.
October 18, 2017
Got as far as the chapter on Harold Holt and dropped my Kindle in the toilet. Oops
April 14, 2022
A witty account of Australian Prime Ministerial history. MacCallum weaves personal and political history to include major policies and achievements 0f each PM.
Since 1901, thirty different leaders have run the national show. Whether their term was eight days or eighteen years, each prime minister has a story worth sharing. Edmund Barton united the bickering states in a federation. The unlucky Jimmy Scullin took office days before Wall Street crashed into the Great Depression. John Curtin faced the ultimate challenge of wartime leadership. John Gorton, Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating each shook up their parties’ policies so vigorously that none lasted much longer than a single term. Harold Holt spent three decades in parliament, only to disappear while swimming off the coast of Victoria two years into his first term. John Howard's ‘triple bypass’ is the stuff of legend. Julia Gillard overthrew Kevin Rudd and Kevin Rudd overthrew Julia Gillard, thus paving the way for Tony Abbott, who was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull – until he too was toppled, this time by Scott Morrison. But is Australia’s thirty-first prime minister just around the corner? With characteristic wit and expert knowledge, Mungo MacCallum brings the nation’s leaders to life in this fully up-to-date new edition of a classic book.
Since 1901, thirty different leaders have run the national show. Whether their term was eight days or eighteen years, each prime minister has a story worth sharing. Edmund Barton united the bickering states in a federation. The unlucky Jimmy Scullin took office days before Wall Street crashed into the Great Depression. John Curtin faced the ultimate challenge of wartime leadership. John Gorton, Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating each shook up their parties’ policies so vigorously that none lasted much longer than a single term. Harold Holt spent three decades in parliament, only to disappear while swimming off the coast of Victoria two years into his first term. John Howard's ‘triple bypass’ is the stuff of legend. Julia Gillard overthrew Kevin Rudd and Kevin Rudd overthrew Julia Gillard, thus paving the way for Tony Abbott, who was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull – until he too was toppled, this time by Scott Morrison. But is Australia’s thirty-first prime minister just around the corner? With characteristic wit and expert knowledge, Mungo MacCallum brings the nation’s leaders to life in this fully up-to-date new edition of a classic book.
July 7, 2021
I am sure I am not alone when I say I did not know much about our early Prime Ministers. Actually, aside from the media hungry raft of leaders over recent years, I don't have many memories at all about our past leaders, aside from a few "highlights": the Dismissal, Bob Hawke celebrating Australia's America's Cup victory, the Misogyny speech and Kevin 07.
So when I discovered Mungo MacCallum's work I dove right in. This book provides a brief synopsis of the life and career of each of our 30 Prime Ministers since Federation -and yes, a few have had more than one run at the top job.
Mungo is such a brilliant writer and he entertains and informs the reader with the accounts of each Prime Minister's victories, defeats, peccadillos, failings and strengths. It reinforces the machinations behind getting to power and how complex the fight the lead is.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
So when I discovered Mungo MacCallum's work I dove right in. This book provides a brief synopsis of the life and career of each of our 30 Prime Ministers since Federation -and yes, a few have had more than one run at the top job.
Mungo is such a brilliant writer and he entertains and informs the reader with the accounts of each Prime Minister's victories, defeats, peccadillos, failings and strengths. It reinforces the machinations behind getting to power and how complex the fight the lead is.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
April 4, 2021
A series of short essays on each of Australia's Prime Ministers, up to and including the current one. Each write-up covers the PM's upbringing, career (inside and out of politics), rise to the top job, performance therein, and - for those who did not die in the role - subsequent activities.
MacCallum slants to the left in his political views, but then so so I! I felt this comes through mostly in his assessment of the policies implemented by these 29 men and 1 woman. Fortunately he is open-minded enough to recognise where more progressive-in-modern-times parties were otherwise in the past; for instance, he does not hold back from skewering the historical Labor party for their long time support of the racist 'White Australia' policy.
MacCallum slants to the left in his political views, but then so so I! I felt this comes through mostly in his assessment of the policies implemented by these 29 men and 1 woman. Fortunately he is open-minded enough to recognise where more progressive-in-modern-times parties were otherwise in the past; for instance, he does not hold back from skewering the historical Labor party for their long time support of the racist 'White Australia' policy.
January 17, 2020
This book was recommended to me by family and it did not let down!
An excellent, brief, overview of the Prime Ministers of Australia. Enough to get your feet wet and give you a sense of who the person might have been as a person in that time. I have found respect for people I did not know existed and understand better the vitriol surrounding others.
I laughed, I cheered and I seethed (in a good way). Recommend for anyone interested in politics or anyone interested in improving their trivia knowledge.
An excellent, brief, overview of the Prime Ministers of Australia. Enough to get your feet wet and give you a sense of who the person might have been as a person in that time. I have found respect for people I did not know existed and understand better the vitriol surrounding others.
I laughed, I cheered and I seethed (in a good way). Recommend for anyone interested in politics or anyone interested in improving their trivia knowledge.
May 7, 2020
It's a little shameful how little I knew about Australia's PMs other than those I've been alive for - this definitely helped a lot, and does it in an entertaining manner. By design it's a highlights reel for each PM rather than a deep dive, and does the job of this very well. I also found it fairly even-handed in judgement, while being highly opinionated of each legacy.
If I had a criticism it's that I'd love to have had the start and end years in the role at the beginning of each chapter so I could get my bearings on succession.
If I had a criticism it's that I'd love to have had the start and end years in the role at the beginning of each chapter so I could get my bearings on succession.
June 19, 2023
This was such a funny, charming, surprisingly introspective, and special read. Mungo provides a perspective like no other, giving each PM their moment and manages to pay sympathetic respect while not attempting to rewrite history. A must read for anyone interested in the tumultuous history of politics in Australia, or anyone interested in what people do to get power as well as what they do when they have it.
October 17, 2017
Great overview of Australia's Prime Minister's. MacCullum's prose is as entertaining and informative as his reporting and columns, and you'll learn enough about the personalities, context and policies of each PM to get a good feel for each one - you'll be solid for trivia night and be able to follow up knowing the answer with an anecdote.
August 16, 2025
A great read for anyone interested in learning about our leaders since Federation. Could’ve awarded five stars with more detail in some of the earlier chapters.
I’ve never read anything from Mungo before but certainly enjoyed his flair. I’m a big fan of Frank Bongiorno’s work (the main reason for buying this book) and once again he hasn’t disappointed.
I’ve never read anything from Mungo before but certainly enjoyed his flair. I’m a big fan of Frank Bongiorno’s work (the main reason for buying this book) and once again he hasn’t disappointed.
May 16, 2019
Great summary of our leadership history
I wish they gave us this book to read at school. A lot of interesting context to the roles and difficult positions each of our prime ministers played.
I wish they gave us this book to read at school. A lot of interesting context to the roles and difficult positions each of our prime ministers played.
May 7, 2020
It's a pretty good account of all the Aussie PMs. Maccallum is quite left wing in his reviews which is fine but it would be useful context if that was stated at the start. A good amount of detail and well researched.
June 26, 2020
A good overview of each of the Prime ministers in their lead up to being elected, their terms in office, and their legacy. Slags in parts but mainly due to the Prime ministers in question. Interesting chapters were on John Curtin, Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, and John Howard.
August 10, 2020
For a self-described political junkie, my knowledge of Australian prime ministers past about the 70s has always been sketchy. This book is a great corrective, giving a potted history of each PM since Federation in an often hilarious way.
August 4, 2025
Great read for understanding how we got where we are today in Australian politics and isn’t boring to read, there are just some parts where they focus to much on not important information for too long but still amazing read
October 2, 2019
On the whole an interesting read - just a bit uneven with far more details on later PMs than earlier ones.
November 4, 2019
A snappy and eccentric guide to our nation’s leaders.
June 26, 2021
Good summary of our PM's. I liked the informal style. The Keating chapter was a personal favourite. The insult list gave me a good chuckle.
January 13, 2023
Masterfully written to be easy to comprehend, yet also containing analysis evaluation, and of course humour plus wit.
July 19, 2024
a good read.
What strange assortment of characters. Some suited for the job, others not. Hard to say who was the best but Hawke, flawed as he was, comes out best.
What strange assortment of characters. Some suited for the job, others not. Hard to say who was the best but Hawke, flawed as he was, comes out best.
July 21, 2024
Great read, enthusiastic author :) also cringing at the ScoMo chapters because I can’t fucking believe I lived through that. But gave me a good reason to watch KRudd vids again.
November 26, 2023
Written in the vast majority by one of Australia's most colourful political commentator, Mungo MacCallum and published for the first time in 2012, this edition flows on from the many updates since bought on by the constant change in Australia's top job since. The final two chapters - Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese - have been largely contributed by Frank Bongiorno, following the lamented demise of MacCallum in 2020. The closer to the present time, the more detail is exposed and the more critical the essays - although, the quality of the subjects in these latter chapters somewhat demands such a progression.
MacCallum is unashamedly pro ALP and whilst this shows in his writing about Australian PMs, it is as much a negative as a positive for the left of politics, for he holds nothing back. Gough Whitlam once described him as a "tall, bearded descendant of lunatic aristocrats". The distain for those considered "Labor Rats", such as Billy Hughes, is made clear but in most cases he seeks to find some redeeming features in all his subjects.
The latter chapters divulge a weariness in the writer of his subjects; something reflective of the Australia electorate, without doubt. Bongiorno has made additions to the chapter on Scott Morrison and wrote the final chapter about Anthony Albanese and he writes it with much of the sympathy and sensibility of MacCullum.
Some chapters are scathing; some warm and praiseworthy. Largely, they reflect the attitudes held by the Australian public both at the time of each PM and in the judgement of History. Morrison, Abbott and Rudd receive their due. Much the same can be said for Hawke, Curtain and Chifley. There are no real shocks and much focus on what each achieved, largely as being more important than who they were as people. However, many of the latter conservative PM's didn't achieve much so their personal failures tend to stand out.
No surprises. Conservatives would no doubt dislike the conclusions and call bias but it is only of late that lies have become the new truth!
A worthy read when it was first published and no less in its updated form.
MacCallum is unashamedly pro ALP and whilst this shows in his writing about Australian PMs, it is as much a negative as a positive for the left of politics, for he holds nothing back. Gough Whitlam once described him as a "tall, bearded descendant of lunatic aristocrats". The distain for those considered "Labor Rats", such as Billy Hughes, is made clear but in most cases he seeks to find some redeeming features in all his subjects.
The latter chapters divulge a weariness in the writer of his subjects; something reflective of the Australia electorate, without doubt. Bongiorno has made additions to the chapter on Scott Morrison and wrote the final chapter about Anthony Albanese and he writes it with much of the sympathy and sensibility of MacCullum.
Some chapters are scathing; some warm and praiseworthy. Largely, they reflect the attitudes held by the Australian public both at the time of each PM and in the judgement of History. Morrison, Abbott and Rudd receive their due. Much the same can be said for Hawke, Curtain and Chifley. There are no real shocks and much focus on what each achieved, largely as being more important than who they were as people. However, many of the latter conservative PM's didn't achieve much so their personal failures tend to stand out.
No surprises. Conservatives would no doubt dislike the conclusions and call bias but it is only of late that lies have become the new truth!
A worthy read when it was first published and no less in its updated form.
November 29, 2015
This could have been such an entertaining glimpse into Australia's quirky Prime Ministers (let's face it, it's the one thing they have in common - with a champion drinker, a man who vanished at the beach, backstabbers, a 6 day ruler, and one hilarious swearer) but sadly this was a drab set of facts about our nation's leaders.
Each Prime Minister is dealt with in a chapter. There's a short biography of them including birth year, parents, schooling and work history. The chapter also includes political achievements and memorable traits (by far the most interesting part).
The political parties of the leaders are awarded a good measure of space in the book and it was interesting to see how similar the two major parties (Liberal and Labor) once were. The book is biased towards Labor, glorifying the acts of the Prime Ministers belonging to that party (especially Whitlam), while painting most modern Liberal leaders as buffoons who fell into the job.
I bought this book expecting to chuckle at lots of stories involving Prime Ministers, or at least interesting stories, but I was instead granted a compilation of facts, some interesting but told in a very dry way.
Each Prime Minister is dealt with in a chapter. There's a short biography of them including birth year, parents, schooling and work history. The chapter also includes political achievements and memorable traits (by far the most interesting part).
The political parties of the leaders are awarded a good measure of space in the book and it was interesting to see how similar the two major parties (Liberal and Labor) once were. The book is biased towards Labor, glorifying the acts of the Prime Ministers belonging to that party (especially Whitlam), while painting most modern Liberal leaders as buffoons who fell into the job.
I bought this book expecting to chuckle at lots of stories involving Prime Ministers, or at least interesting stories, but I was instead granted a compilation of facts, some interesting but told in a very dry way.
February 3, 2016
This book is a good 'potted history, of Australia. I am not into politics, but found Mungo's style appealing enough to stick with the drier bits that made me wonder 'now why am I reading this?'. His knowledge of the more recent personalities and his research of the historical (and often hysterical) has made this entertaining. I enjoyed the Keating chapter, and now who wouldn't?
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