Malcolm Turnbull Funny Moments of Australin Animls
See a Problem?
Thanks for telling us about the problem.
Friend Reviews
Community Reviews
Those were the questions I wanted you to answer, and yet I received little to nothing about those matters. However, I was treated to a 700-page love-fest about how great your party is, how 'progressive' you were, how much you felt as though the right-wing of your party had spoilt the milk a little (to be fair, the party were already well spoiled before your time). The Australian Liberal Party doesn't come up looking like a jewel in the crown after reading this-in fact, it comes up as looking like a party of liars, backstabbers, and truth-twisters, which, funnily enough, it rather seems to be.
And it is a shame, it genuinely is. I really would have expected a little better. You don't have a job to toe the party line anymore, let alone sell it. This could have been an opportunity to hold firm and let loose on those who did undermine whatever progressive ideas you had for the party, and to own up genuinely to more mistakes than the bloody s44 scandal (which, to be fair, caught everyone out in parliament and is a little contrived in and of itself). I suppose that brings us to the crux of the issue- of the revolving door of Liberal PM's we've had over the course of the last 7 months (more like eight years but you change every five minutes), you were probably the best of them. It's just a shame you couldn't own up to the things that would have made the public respect you just that little bit more post-office.
I did appreciate some facets of the book- the bond of Turnbull's family, the way in which it lifted the curtain (ever so slightly) on the backroom of politics, and the campaign trail as we see it in Australia. It is, in that sense, thoroughly educational and rather nice to read. Credit, where it is due, is also accorded to Turnbull's clarity and writing style- this is not a dense book and lends itself to being rather readable at times, which is nice.
As a postscript, I will never recover from Peter Dutton being hailed as remarkably empathetic, Donald Trump being cast as an 'effective businessman', nor from the fact that there was a very energetic focus on the Labor spills being of some note and causing incredible destabilisation in the party, but no attention paid to the fact that your party did precisely the same and then some. It's time to get off the high horse and plant your feet firmly on the ground. Then, perhaps, I'll be a little more receptive to what you have to say.
...more
Much of his analysis of his own party could be put down to gossip, especially since there aren't many occasions where he is genuinely self-critical, but it is an interesting read nonetheless. His view of hi This book is a pretty comprehensive memoir of his life, from primary school to the bushfires in January. Much of the book focuses on his time in govt, and provides some excuses and background analysis as to why he couldn't achieve some of the things he wanted due to the far right in his party.
Much of his analysis of his own party could be put down to gossip, especially since there aren't many occasions where he is genuinely self-critical, but it is an interesting read nonetheless. His view of his colleagues becomes particularly critical when he revisits Snowy 2.0, the NEG and the coup in the final few chapters of the book.
If you aren't interested in his life story, it could be well worth it to read part 5 of his book which looks at his government. I'm sure it would provide some useful insights into the current government and why certain decisions are or aren't being made today.
...more
Malcolm is still self delusional. He cannot see that the NBN was a great opportunity wasted. He thinks that the welfare card imposed on aboriginals was doing for them not to them. Everything that went wrong was eit
When Turnbull is describing events or other character this book is excellent but when he gets to his favourite subject, himself, it bogs down and becomes very self serving. There is a good reason to buy political books written by journalists. They are not trying to justify themselves.Malcolm is still self delusional. He cannot see that the NBN was a great opportunity wasted. He thinks that the welfare card imposed on aboriginals was doing for them not to them. Everything that went wrong was either the fault of Rudd of Abbott. He talks as if the country would have foundered if he had not been there to save us. Well, save me. This is clap trap.
That said, I enjoyed much of the book; especially when he is ripping into his "enemies".
...more
Let's get the political elephant in the room out of the way. I'm not here to start a political discourse in the comments section, but one is unavoidable when examining the autobiography of a self-described "moderate conservative." Indeed, my personal politics definitely lean in the opposite direction to
Has it really only been less than two years since Turnbull departed office? It was August 2018 that Scotty from Marketing took the party leadership and what an interesting 20 months that has been!Let's get the political elephant in the room out of the way. I'm not here to start a political discourse in the comments section, but one is unavoidable when examining the autobiography of a self-described "moderate conservative." Indeed, my personal politics definitely lean in the opposite direction to Australia's Liberal Party, but are more Green variety than Labor. Yet here I am reading a bio of a Liberally polly. Who woulda thunk it?
His early years are probably the most fascinating because we learn of his business dealings and the founding of Ozemail, the way Australians first learned about getting online with a pre-packaged disc if memory serves. It's also the sections where I have the least opinion on and aren't so fresh in our collective memories, so it's harder to dispute anything there.
There was always a promise that Turnbull was going to cross the bipartisan divide and bridge some of those irreconcilable gaps between the left and the extreme right. Bring climate change to the fore and change the way that...
...oh, who am I kidding?!? I turned up for the spilling of the T and all the shade that comes with it! Referring to the "Lunactic Abbott agenda" and equating the "Toxic alliance of the right" with terrorism! Trump gets a serving as well, particularly in light of the infamous international phone call they exchanged early in his presidency.
Yet there isn't a single moment, save for a few retrospective remarks in the conclusion (written around the time of the 2020 bushfires), where Turnbull takes any personal responsibility for wrongdoings. He would take all the credit for the Marriage Equality victory, but not the culpability of the toxic public discourse the non-binding national survey created. That, like many of the issues raised, he would argue are "inherited" problems from the leadership he briefly grabbed.
Indeed, one has to take this book with a few grains of salt. If you take it as gospel, then the entirety of Turnbull's career was spent patiently (and some might argue condescendingly) explaining rational points of view to the uninformed. Still, hearing even a moderately rational voice from a politician in 2020 feels like such a novelty that there's a perverted appeal to the whole thing.
...more But the book certainly does revolve around Malcolm. There is plenty of trash talk and sniping about those who betrayed him, and plenty of juice on the weirdos of auspol (looking at you George Christensen). The upside of it being from Malcolm's perspective is that I'm genuinely convinced he wa Putting Malcolm's ego aside for a second, the book is a 10/10 walkthrough of all the major events in Australian politics since the mid 2000s, written from an extremely fair, rational, and centrist viewpoint.
But the book certainly does revolve around Malcolm. There is plenty of trash talk and sniping about those who betrayed him, and plenty of juice on the weirdos of auspol (looking at you George Christensen). The upside of it being from Malcolm's perspective is that I'm genuinely convinced he was a better PM than I previously thought. The narrative that he didn't accomplish much seems to be a complete fabrication by newscorp, and he recounts impressive policy reforms they achieved that barely rated a mention in the media at the time.
I think we're worse off not having him around and having scomo and Dutton in charge, and you'd be better off if you can stomach a hundred pages about Malcolm's childhood to get to the good bits and finish this extremely interesting memoir. ...more
Much like the man who was responsible for this reprehensibly repugnant government, this is a book that ultimately disappoints.
Where was the commentary about what he put refugees through (and for what?), or admission about the number of suicides he caused by forcing the non-compulsory postal survey upon LGBTQI people? Where does he talk about the scandalous behaviour of many of the ministers he stood by and defended (Cash, Angus Taylor, Morrison, Dutton, Brandis...), or the RoboDebt fias
2½ starsMuch like the man who was responsible for this reprehensibly repugnant government, this is a book that ultimately disappoints.
Where was the commentary about what he put refugees through (and for what?), or admission about the number of suicides he caused by forcing the non-compulsory postal survey upon LGBTQI people? Where does he talk about the scandalous behaviour of many of the ministers he stood by and defended (Cash, Angus Taylor, Morrison, Dutton, Brandis...), or the RoboDebt fiasco? Or commentary and an explanation on why he was so ineffectual at standing up to right-wing media and internal division within the Liberal/National parties?
Although there were small moments of raw honesty (such as his admission of mental health illness), the book read more like a self-serving revision of history, and is not a book I'd recommend.
...more
Yeah. That.
I finished Turnbull's autobiography. It is approximately 5x more self-congratulatory and name-droppy than Gillard's, the only other ex-PM's autobiography that I have read. Also he has some huge blind spots of obliviousness in his life experience. Reading the multiple burns to Dutton, Morrison, Abbott, Packer, Trump and Murdoch was less satisfying than I thought when I got to the end and he was all, "in conclusion, I haven't done enough to save the planet and we're all gonna burn."Yeah. That.
...more
Well worth the time of anybody with an interest in Australian politics.
Insufferable bores and ideologues who dismiss this book without having read it should be ignored.
Of course what interests all of is the toppling of the prime ministers. In just a few years Australia watched four sitting prime ministers get knifed in the back by their colleagues and thrown out. In this country the people elect their parliamentary representatives. Then they elect, by party, the prime minister. And they can change their mind at any time. Turnbull was the knifer in one of these cases and the 'knifee' in a later one. He gives a good thorough account. Of course all of the others were vicious, purely political and completely unprincipled. Only his knifing was righteous and just. Yeah sure. Given who he took out (Tony Abbott) I will at least agree it was necessary.
When they finally in turn tossed him to the curb he retired. Job well done. Yeah right.
He does deserve credit for taking a principled stand on allowing Same Sex Marriage and on acting on Climate Change one of the very few members of our ultra conservative (so called liberal) party to do so. Of course that's part of the reason that they tossed him overboard. So not all conservative ultra-rich nobs are completely blinkered, just most of them.
Overall a good enough book. Lots of detail. Very thorough. Worth a read. But don't necessarily believe what he's telling you. All politicians lie to some extant. You have to gauge just how much. ...more
Well an excellent biography, really well written. Malcolm Turnbull is a talented and a smart writer (Rhodes scholar) and he could easily live from his writing. And he did as a younger fellow. I don't really believe in everything he wrote, a very happy marriage (who has a happy marriage these days, es What a big book and a heavy book, physically heavy book, a bit more than 700 pages. Must be a very hard work to write such a huge book. I would recommend an e-copy of the book, much easier to handle.
Well an excellent biography, really well written. Malcolm Turnbull is a talented and a smart writer (Rhodes scholar) and he could easily live from his writing. And he did as a younger fellow. I don't really believe in everything he wrote, a very happy marriage (who has a happy marriage these days, especially at his age), everything related to his private life is pefect.. Found annoying his constant repeating how well off he and his wife are.
Political part is very interesting, shocking, really disturbing and written in a great detail. I am familiar with a lot of facts I heard onTV or read in newspapers but also learned quite a bit from this book. Especially about various politicians who were and some of them still are present in our government system.
An excellent title, really "A bigger picture".
I am glad I read this book, found it a valuable read, an eye opener. ...more
He's honest about colleagues and most backroom discussions within his party, writes well, and comes across as a warm person, although things like the entire explanation of his time as a lawyer for Kerry Packer (dodgy stuff on tax avoidance no matter how he spins it, and especially getting
I've always liked Malcolm Turnbull as a person and thought he was a statesman as PM. However, I simply have to dock a few stars for the lies by omission and mistruths he puts in some of the policy explanations.He's honest about colleagues and most backroom discussions within his party, writes well, and comes across as a warm person, although things like the entire explanation of his time as a lawyer for Kerry Packer (dodgy stuff on tax avoidance no matter how he spins it, and especially getting the QLD Joh government to run an inquest into a dude specifically to find he wasn't murdered at the outset), NBN chapter (where he seems almost pissed off to have to write the chapter, talking up his botched NBN changes that clearly went against public interest for political pointscoring), as well as the explanations into why he didn't get rid of negative gearing (Turnbull claims issues with housing is due to supply, you need more public housing -- so then why didn't he announce to build more public housing or some other big housing policy undertaking? He simply leaves it hanging) show clearly that he's not willing to discuss problematic policy in the LNP during his time as PM. To say nothing of the morals of asylum seeker policy and debate, something a guy as socially liberal as Turnbull believing in a "multicultural Australia" would surely find fault. This is largely glossed over beyond the call with Trump where he organised the deal to send some to America, and a passing mention of Dutton as a "tough cop" who wouldn't work as leader in a "multicultural Australia". An interesting aside he makes is apparently Dutton behind the tough act is actually quite caring, to the point of worrying for the asylum seeker's mental health, something that hasn't been corroborated anywhere else, and I find kinda weird considering Dutton hasn't made any reference that I know of to looking out for asylum seekers. There's more here that Turnbull doesn't go into much to my annoyance. It's like he dangles interesting tidbits here and there of "behind the scenes" stuff but it's never a full dissection of policy, and seeming always to favour Turnbull in the outcome.
I'm kinda torn on this book because I did like reading it and Turnbull's view of his time in politics is interesting but I guess as with all politicians, the man doesn't tell the whole truth when it suits him. Some of the book glosses over unsavory LNP policy, and you can tell when he does this. His major error was in putting Dutton in cabinet and not heeding warnings that the far-right of the party would obviously hate a little-L liberal as leader. Doesn't take a genius to know Dutton is a walking disaster in the style of Abbott and that someone on the far-right was white-anting to take leadership during Turnbull's term.
Fundamentally I think Turnbull simply didn't go with the right party, in today's political environment he's a Labor dude -- Labor is centre-right nowadays, economically conservative and socially liberal. Turnbull's views lie in this area, and beyond saying he'd feel "uncomfortable" in the Labor party, he never delves into what ideologically drove him to the Liberal party, outside of their respect for private industry, something Labor pretty much does, being that market freedom and deregulation under neoliberalism is the accepted economic view of both parties, with Labor putting a few constraints. Turnbull blames having no campaign money for the 2016 election on winding back tax credits for the rich and the rich donors subsequently not donating -- this is a Labor policy, not LNP, and it's no wonder he was regarded an outsider and a 'leftist' by right-wing commentators. Dude should've gone Labor, and we could've had a good NBN, and a leader who Australians like helming Labor, something unfortunately Shorten and Gillard could never achieve. Alas, we had Turnbull running a party that ideologically was to the right of its leader, never particularly liked by his colleagues or by those staunchly LNP, to be forced out for someone further to the right, and he failed on the most important policy -- climate change, something he'd put front and centre of his political identity.
...more
I also really enjoyed reading about Turnbull's early life and career before politics. From journalist, to lawyer, to investment banker, he really has done it all and it is incredibly inspiring!
...more
Monday, 4 May 2020
2:49 PM
When you are reviewing a book by someone as important and yet controversial as Malcolm Turnbull it is difficult to separate the man from the work. I am writing this as a review of the book, not a critique of his prime ministership
In my view this book is difficult to read; it is not a page turner. Mr. Turnbull writes well. I suspect he does everything well and I suspect he may agree with me. He is certainly a very capable, erudite man who makes us mere mo
Monday, 4 May 2020
2:49 PM
When you are reviewing a book by someone as important and yet controversial as Malcolm Turnbull it is difficult to separate the man from the work. I am writing this as a review of the book, not a critique of his prime ministership
In my view this book is difficult to read; it is not a page turner. Mr. Turnbull writes well. I suspect he does everything well and I suspect he may agree with me. He is certainly a very capable, erudite man who makes us mere mortals look a bit inferior.
The book opens with a description of Turnbull's early years. It is written in a style which hides the pain he must have experienced as a child abandoned by his mother and raised by his father with no siblings. Instead Turnbull goes to some lengths to drop as many names as possible so we accept his rationalisation that his mother wasn't so bad after all.
The following part of the book details Turnbull's not inconsiderable efforts to make a fortune and a name for himself; the latter given a big boost by his defence of the former spy Peter Wright's Spycatcher case. Turnbull was also destined to be a high achiever, despite or perhaps because of his childhood.
A common theme running through the book is his love of family especially his wife Lucy, daughter Daisy and his father Bruce. He dotes on his grandchildren; there are many mentions of his family in the book. They do add a human touch to a fairly dry tome.
Once Turnbull moves into politics his observations can be quite scathing. He keeps his best remarks for his nemesis, Tony Abbott who preceded him as prime minister. In fact I would argue that nowhere does he show as much passion.
The last half of the book describes his time as prime minister. I'm afraid by this stage I had to skip to the penultimate chapter. I was weary of all the encyclopedic detail. The last two chapters are certainly the most salacious, but I think he saved his best for last, The Conclusion. I felt here was Turnbull the man talking, not the lawyer or banker or politician.
When Turnbull became a government minister he observed to himself that he needed to look at the bigger picture instead of the minutea he had been used to doing all his life; hence the book title. Personally I think his book is an overload of minutea. He spends a lot of trying to convince us of how important his legacy is, and maybe he is right. Unfortunately I found the overwhelming amount of detail prevented me from seeing the big picture.
THAT SAID. If you do embark on this mammoth read, prepare yourself to shudder and vomit (regularly) as you wade through what can only be described as 704 pages of pure unadulterated self-congratulatory wank.
If you're interested in the politics (rather than in Malcolm himself) - skip parts 1 and 2. They aren't worth reading unless you want to hear about how POOR young Malcolm had such a hard and impoverished upbringing (growing up in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and attending Sydney Grammar) but through his hard work and enterprising determination (the foundation of his liberal values apparently) he was "fortunate enough" to become a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.
All I'll say about part 2 is that it could be entitled "Malcolm, the dashing, daring and wickedly intelligent young journalist/lawyer, single handedly saves Australia again and again - one monumental legal battle at a time".
If you skip/make it through part 1 and 2 (I nearly didn't), you'll still need to struggle through about 550 pages of hubris barely disguised behind false humility and poor attempts at modesty. One of the worst things about this book is just HOW MANY TIMES he describes how he was the first or only person to see something clearly or understand something... how no one else seemed to care about things the way he did.. how no one else could have done what he did etc etc etc.
Faux shock/surprise at the ignorance of others is seemingly employed as a literary technique to give him the opportunity to brag about how smart and innovative and caring he is. It was initially exhausting and infuriating but by the beginning of part 4 I just had to laugh at it. I can't even recall how many times the same scenario played out - that scenario being a variation on "everybody, including [insert high profile politician and/or lawyer and/or business mogul here] agreed the sky was blue. I was shocked by this!! The sky was clearly grey - and I said so. They ALL fought on me on it and mocked me and the Murdoch press had a go at me about it but ultimately, of course, I turned out to be right."
The pretence at self reflection and self criticism at the end of each chapter is also difficult to read - he employs the classic interview technique of 'when they ask what your weaknesses are, give them a weakness that is also a strength!!' - e.g. "perhaps, on reflection, I was too trusting of others" - and the final concluding chapter is basically just "if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have ... [long long list of reforms that Malcolm takes personal credit for]."
There are also some classic "rich boy" comments that are SO funny because of how clearly out of touch he is while trying to defend himself as not being out of touch - like when he complains that Kirribilli House and the Lodge were both "unliveable" and that's why he and Lucy had to continue living at his Point Piper mansion...........
In summary, I liked Malcolm as a politician but as an author... he needs to find a better editor.
...more
What fascinated me most in this book is how we all can see the world through our own lens. Turnbull describes the right of the Coalition with searing accuracy - homophobic, sexist, climate change denialists, racist dog-whistlers. It is clear that his biggest opposition was from within his own party
I rated this 4 stars because of my interest in the content rather than any particular literary merit the book may have. But then, I don't think Malcolm Turnbull set out to write a literary masterpiece.What fascinated me most in this book is how we all can see the world through our own lens. Turnbull describes the right of the Coalition with searing accuracy - homophobic, sexist, climate change denialists, racist dog-whistlers. It is clear that his biggest opposition was from within his own party and that the distance between him and the views of the right within his own party was a far greater gulf than any ideological difference with the opposition. In fact he articulates no particular objections to the values of the Labour party - other than anger at the 'Mediscare' lie. But we are left in no doubt as to his repugnance at the values held by many within his own party.
Given this, it is interesting to reflect on why he stayed as leader of that party and a member of it. Do all politicians put party loyalty as more important than their professed values? Did Turnbull stay within the ranks of a party he sat so uncomfortably with because it gave him the opportunity to hold the nation's most powerful job? If so, how sad it is that principles can be sold in such a manner. How sad that politicians don't vote on the basis of their personal judgment, rather as they are directed by their party membership.
The book is a defence of Turnbull's leadership. However, he fails to acknowledge that he voted to remove Australia's price on carbon, he voted against the Malaysian solution for dealing with boat immigrants (because it might work and therefore was contrary to the Coalition's election strategy). He said nothing (publicly at least) when Morrison brought a lump of coal into parliament. He refused to accept Labour's support to pass the National Energy Guarantee, putting his political interest ahead of the climate.
Despite these decisions, he defends his government, emphasising achievements against the gale force opposition within his own party - his 'delcons' (deluded conservatives). It is extraordinarily sad that he failed to stand up to the delcons and often compromised his values by trying to accommodate them.
It is also sad that we have no true 'liberal' party in this country. Perhaps he would have better spent his time and his personal political capital trying to create one.
...more
Moral of the story - Everything was supposedly Abbott's fault!
A tad self-congratulatory in parts but not overly so.
I bet it has set some teeth grinding.
Related Articles
Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52925018
0 Response to "Malcolm Turnbull Funny Moments of Australin Animls"
إرسال تعليق