Publisher Description

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. But then... Well...

Fairfax columnist Andrew P Street details the litany of gaffes, blunders and questionable captain's calls that characterised the subsequent reign of the Abbott government, following the trail from bold promises to questionable realities, unlikely recoveries to inexplicable own goals and Malcolm Turnbull's assurances of support to the day he pushed the Captain off his bike once and for all. And all this comes with a colourful cast of supporting characters and dangerous loons that only a nation unfamiliar with the concept of below-the-line voting could elect. Here is a unique take on politics Australian style.

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.

Author Biography

Andrew P Street is an Adelaide-built, Sydney-based journalist, editor, columnist and failed indie rock star responsible for 'View from the Street' in the digital edition of The Sydney Morning Herald. Over the last two decades he's been published internationally in Time Out, Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian, GQ and Elle. This is his first book.

Table of Contents

Introduction Australia, Stop Hitting Yourself

1 The Gathering Storm

2 Meet the Motley Crew

3 Mandate, Mandate, Mandate!

4 The Right to Be a Bigot

5 For Those Who've Come Across the Seas...

6 Classified On-Water Matters

7 Putting the Coal into Coalition

8 No Cuts to Health

9 Not Your Average Jo(k)e

10 Meet the New Senate!

11 Someone's Getting a Shirtfrontin'

12 We All Live in a Competitively Evaluated Submarine

13 The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Spill Motion

14 Good Government Starts Today

15 I'm a Fixer

16 Who's Afraid of Human Rights?

17 The Hunt for Team Australia

18 Everywhere with Helicopter

19 Whither Labor?

20 Abandon Ship!

Epilogue Is This the Best We Can Do?

Acknowledgement Or Who's to Blame for this Book

Review

A lively and well organised account... Street lays the mockery on thick... with a savage and intelligent wit. * The Australian * Well-researched... Street is very funny... Debunks the dangerous assumption that our politicians are good people who deserve respect. * The Saturday Age *

Long Description

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. But then... Well... Fairfax columnist Andrew P Street details the litany of gaffes, blunders and questionable captain's calls that characterised the subsequent reign of the Abbott government, following the trail from bold promises to questionable realities, unlikely recoveries to inexplicable own goals and Malcolm Turnbull's assurances of support to the day he pushed the Captain off his bike once and for all. And all this comes with a colourful cast of supporting characters and dangerous loons that only a nation unfamiliar with the concept of below-the-line voting could elect. Here is a unique take on politics Australian style. 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.

Details