The Surprise Party: How the Coalition Went from Chaos to Comeback

by Aaron Patrick

In this gripping behind-the-scenes account, acclaimed journalist Aaron Patrick examines how the Coalition came back from the brink, and what that means for Australia.

Disunity is said to be death in politics – but not in 2019. In The Surprise Party, Aaron Patrick tells how the Coalition came back from the brink.

Patrick interviews key insiders to reveal the story behind the scenes – the turning points and the cunning schemes. He covers the fall of Turnbull and the failed Dutton coup that saw Scott Morrison take his chance. When did the Coalition realise they might win? How good is Morrison at plotting? Is chaos behind them now, or is there more to come?

This is a pacy, gripping account of how politics was turned on its head – several times.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2019

About the author

Aaron Patrick is the Chief Writer at The Nightly. He worked at the Australian Financial Review for 18 years, the Wall Street Journal, London Daily Telegraph, Bloomberg News and Herald Sun. He was the Washington Post's Australia stringer for seven years and an op-ed contributor to the New York Times. He lives in Sydney with his two children.

Reviews

[Tom J · Rating 4 out of 5]

it’s easy to forget that in recent history shorten lost an election that should have been unloseable. the book is a decent if slightly poorly edited recounting of how the coalition managed to let Labor give the game away.

some ideological bias does slip through, but it’s mainly a good retelling and goes into why things ended how they did. the author has a few books on recent australian political history that I would recommend as well, check out the rest of his work if you enjoy this

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a complete overview of the 2019 Australian Federal Election, so it was a great read for a political nut like me. It follows the campaign and shows potential turning points (easy in hindsight) to show how Bill Shorten lost the unlosable election.
It starts with the Liberal Leadership challenge where Malcolm Turnbull was rolled for Scott Morrison.

So if you are not interested in Australian politics stay well away, otherwise it is well recommended!