In conversation with Niki Savva
Tuesday 6 December 2022, 6–7pm
Cultural Centre
Australian National University
153 University Avenue
Canberra ACT 2600
ANU/The Canberra Times Meet the Author series
Niki Savva will be in conversation with Kerry-Anne Walsh on Niki's new book Bulldozed. Scott Morrison's fall and Anthony Albanese's rise.
Between 2013 and 2022, Tony Abbott begat Malcolm Turnbull, who begat Scott Morrison. For nine long years, Australia was governed by a succession of Coalition governments rocked by instability and bloodletting, and consumed with prosecuting climate and culture wars while neglecting policy.
By the end, among his detractors - and there were plenty - Morrison was seen as the worst prime minister since Billy McMahon. Worse even than Tony Abbott, who lasted a scant two years in the job, whose main legacy was that he destroyed Julia Gillard, then himself, and then Turnbull.
Morrison failed to accept the mantle of national leadership, or to deal adequately with the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. He thought reform was a vanity project. He said he never wanted to leave a legacy. He got his wish.
Niki Savva, Australia's renowned political commentator, author, and columnist, was there for all of it. In The Road to Ruin, she revealed the ruinous behaviour of former prime minister Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, that led to the ascension of Turnbull. In Plots and Prayers, she told the inside story of the coup that overthrew Turnbull and installed his conniving successor, Morrison.
Now she lays out the final unravelling of the Coalition at the hands of a resurgent Labor and the so-called teal independents that culminated in the historic 2022 election. With her typical access to key players, and her riveting accounts of what went on behind the scenes, Bulldozed is the unique final volume of an unputdownable and impeccably sourced political trilogy.
This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase on the evening in the Cultural Centre foyer. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm, and available again after the event.
Niki Savva is one of the most senior correspondents in the Canberra Press Gallery. She was twice political correspondent for The Australian, and headed up the Canberra bureaus of both The Herald Sun and The Age. When family tragedy forced a career change, she became Peter Costello's press secretary for six years and was then on John Howard's staff for three. Her work has brought her into intimate contact with Australia's major political players for more than 40 years. She is a regular columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and often appears on ABC TV's Insiders.
Kerry-Anne Walsh is one of Australia's most respected independent political commentators and communication strategists and leads Counsel House's crossbench advisory practice. An award-winning, best-selling political author, she was a senior journalist in the parliamentary press gallery for twenty-five years and has been widely published in international publications. For nearly thirty years she has kept Kiwis informed about Australian affairs in a popular twice-weekly segment on Radio New Zealand, and appears on an ad hoc basis on other media outlets.This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase on the evening in the Cultural Centre foyer.
The vote of thanks will be given by the Virginia Haussegger AM, the former Chair and Founding Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra, where she is an Adjunct Professor.