With sharp wit and a discerning eye, political commentator Guy Rundle enlightens and entertains, drawing back the curtain on the iconic moments in Australian politics of the 2010sFrom the coal blockade frontline of the Liverpool Plains to Hobart's Cat and Fiddle arcade, from being on the road with last chance Malcolm Turnbull to the fossil fuel fantasies of Adaniland in the north, Guy Rundle gives a first-hand history of Australia in the 2010s, after the brief and hopeful haha insurgency of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era and the descent of another decade of reaction. Through multiple elections, rubbing shoulders with the major players and upstart independents, Rundle describes a country changing and fracturing as the global wave of populism swept across conventional politics, and the culture wars solidified. He goes into battle, both against a corrupt, cynical and nihilistic right, and an increasingly elitist and fantastical progressivism. And he steps back into the past, looking at how we got to here, in memoirs and analyses of the shifting personal, cultural and political faultlines of the past half century.
“Never before has the case been more compellingly made that America’s dependence on a free and abundant water supply has become an illusion. Cynthia Barnett does it by telling us the stories of the amazing personalities behind our water wars, the stunning contradictions that allow the wettest state to have the most watered lawns, and the thorough research that makes her conclusions inescapable. Barnett has established herself as one of Florida’s best journalists and Mirage is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of the state.” —Mary Ellen Klas, Capital Bureau Chief, Miami Herald “Mirage is the finest general study to date of the freshwater-supply crisis in Florida. Well-meaning villains abound in Cynthia Barnett’s story, but so too do heroes, such as Arthur R. Marshall Jr., Nathaniel Reed, and Marjorie Harris Carr. The author’s research is as thorough as her prose is graceful. Drinking water is the new oil. Get used to it.” —Michael Gannon, Distinguished Professor of history, University of Florida, and author of Florida: A Short History “With lively prose and a journalist’s eye for a good story, Cynthia Barnett offers a sobering account of water scarcity problems facing Florida—one of our wettest states—and the rest of the East Coast. Drawing on lessons learned from the American West, Mirage uses the lens of cultural attitudes about water use and misuse to plead for reform. Sure to engage and fascinate as it informs.” —Robert Glennon, Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of Arizona, and author of Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters Part investigative journalism, part environmental history, Mirage reveals how the eastern half of the nation—historically so wet that early settlers predicted it would never even need irrigation—has squandered so much of its abundant freshwater that it now faces shortages and conflicts once unique to the arid West. Florida’s parched swamps and supersized residential developments set the stage in the first book to call attention to the steady disappearance of freshwater in the American East, from water-diversion threats in the Great Lakes to tapped-out freshwater aquifers along the Atlantic seaboard. Told through a colorful cast of characters including Walt Disney, Jeb Bush and Texas oilman Boone Pickens, Mirage ferries the reader through the key water-supply issues facing America and the globe: water wars, the politics of development, inequities in the price of water, the bottled-water industry, privatization, and new-water-supply schemes. From its calamitous opening scene of a sinkhole swallowing a house in Florida to its concluding meditation on the relationship between water and the American character, Mirage is a compelling and timely portrait of the use and abuse of freshwater in an era of rapidly vanishing natural resources.
Viscount Blakeney has experienced prejudice from both sides of his heritage, but a promise to his dying English grandfather has forced him to divide his time between Britain and his beautiful Sahara, where he is Sheikh Altair Mazir. When he witnesses the British Museum rejecting Alexandra Talbot’s request for help finding the lost city of Per Ramesses, he’s compelled to come to her aid, but first he dons his desert robes to hide his identity. Alexandra has endured a lifetime of men dismissing her intelligence because she’s a woman. But unlike other men, the mysterious Altair doesn’t question her abilities or whether she’ll find the Per Ramesses. The only thing he questions is why she won’t give in to the temptation of untold pleasure. Desire flares under the desert stars, but murder and betrayal make for a deadly quest, and trust is the only thing that will keep them alive.
People have good reason to demand decent public education and a well-funded health system, to yearn for an economy that doesn't trash the environment or for a smaller gap between rich and poor. Almost without exception, sound economics is on their side. We've grown used to public debates that pit people and the planet against an abstract, distorted image of 'the economy', but it doesn’t have to be this way. Governomics shows that an emaciated state is bad for business, and that standing up for government means standing up for a public sector that truly serves the public. 'Everybody knows governments are wasteful, incompetent and a drag on the economy. But if you're not sure that's true, read this book.' Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age 'Governomics shows that a market economy can only work when sustained by a strong and active public sector. It will inject some much-needed economic sanity into conversations on the role of government in Australia.' John Quiggin, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, University of Queensland
This is a fascinating account of one of the most challenging political campaigns Australia has ever seen. From the detailed war-gaming of potential political outcomes to the nail-biting lead-up to the polls. . . what really happened on that campaign trail? How did Rudd resume the prime ministership? Did his ultimate push come too late, or was saving the furniture the best the ALP could hope for? These diaries reveal the sense of urgency and the size of the hurdles to be overcome in the remarkably short time that Team Rudd was given to try to turn around the Government’s fortunes. They are a rare insight into the complexities of running a campaign—the strategic and tactical decisions that challenged the team every day as they tried to snatch an unlikely win. Framed by a prologue and epilogue to set the scene and to analyse the election wash-up, this is a candid, blow-by-blow account of what really went on.
Nothing prepares a person for the job of chief of staff to a Commonwealth Minister. There are no professional development courses, no specialist recruitment agencies and no training manuals. It was into this vortex that Allen Behm became chief of staff to Greg Combet in 2009, the minister responsible for managing carbon pricing and the pink batts crisis. A seasoned troubleshooter, Behm has an uncanny ability to anticipate and deflect political crises. By his measure success as a chief of staff is being an invisible force. 'Invaluable insight from an experienced insider into the closed world of callow political advisers and their disastrous impact on the performance of many Ministers.'—TERRY MORAN
The 2010 federal election campaign had more twists, conspiracies and betrayals than a ripping political thriller. Confessions of a Faceless Man is the day-by-day account of the campaign by one of Labor's 'faceless men'. Paul Howes, head of the Australian Workers' Union, was accused of assassinating Kevin Rudd and installing Gillard in the top job - the King is dead; long live the Queen. Howes writes openly about his role in the leadership coup and reveals his experience inside Labor's campaign. In an unashamedly partisan and amusing account, Confessions of a Faceless Man chronicles the highs and lows, the stuff-ups, the leaks and the nuts and bolts of a modern Labor election campaign. This is Howes' first book - an unvarnished, brutally honest, at times laugh-out-loud account of how Labor won 2010.
Libertarianism--the philosophy of government that pairs free market economics with social liberalism-- presents a vigorous challenge and viable political alternative to the old Left-Right partisan shouting match. Libertarianism offers surprising new solutions to stagnant policy debates over issues such as immigration and civil rights, and provides a framework for tackling contemporary problems like privacy, the environment and technological change. In The Libertarian Alternative, Chris Berg offers a new agenda for restoring individual liberty in Australia, revitalising politics and strengthening our sagging economy.
In this young adult thriller for fans of Lost and The Twilight Zone, a group of teens are saved when they come across a mysterious oasis. But who will save them from the oasis? Alif had exciting summer plans: working on her father’s archeological dig site in the desert with four close friends ... and a very cute research assistant. Then the sandstorm hit. Their camp wiped away, Alif and the others find themselves lost on the sands, seemingly doomed ... until they find the oasis. It has everything they need: food, water, and shade—and mysterious ruins that hide a deadly secret. As reality begins to shift around them, they question what’s real and what’s a mirage. The answers turn Alif and her friends against each other, and they begin to wonder if they’ve truly been saved. And while it was easy to walk into the oasis, it may be impossible to leave ... An Imprint Book “Will stick to readers’ skin long after the final page is turned.” —Booklist (starred review) “de Becerra successfully builds a fraught tension throughout the book that mirrors the characters’ feelings as reality leaves them behind . . . well worth the payoff.” —The Bulletin
