An idealist as well as a pragmatist, and someone who believes passionately in equality, democracy and empowerment, Race Mathews has inspired and mentored many.Race was principal private secretary to Gough Whitlam in the lead-up to Whitlam’s election as prime minister, then an MP in the Whitlam government, and later served as Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Community Services.Race Mathews: A Life in Politics is the...

This is the fascinating story of a Quaker family from England who camped on the beach in 1837 before the city of Adelaide was created, but rose to owning a 3000-acre estate in the Adelaide Hills. Barton Hack built his first house where the Adelaide Railway station now stands, became a merchant who owned ships, a whaling station and the first vineyard in the Province, and was chairman of the first Chamber of Commerce in Australia. His younger brother Stephen became a grazier and explorer. Afte...

‘It is only with an understanding of the past we can create a better future. A must-read for anyone aspiring to make their own impactful change.’ — Julia GillardWhat was it like to be involved in the heady days of 'second wave' feminism in Australia, when the role of women at home and at work changed decisively? Iola Mathews was one of the founders of the Women's Electoral Lobby, a journalist at The Age, and later a leading ACTU advocate for women workers ...

A new edition of this acclaimed biography of a key player in the fight for women’s rights in Australia.‘It is only with an understanding of the past we can create a better future. A must-read for anyone aspiring to make their own impactful change.’ — Julia GillardWhat was it like to be involved in the heady days of 'second wave' feminism in Australia, when the role of women at home and at work changed decisively? Iola Mathews was one of the...

Flos Greig said, ‘Women are men’s equals in every way and quite competent to hold their own in all spheres of life.’ Then she and her sisters set about proving it.The Greig sisters – including Jane, Janet and Flos – arrived in Melbourne in 1889 in search of a university education. As the 19th century turned into the next, Jane and Janet would be among the first women doctors in Australia. And once an enabling act of parliament was passed, Flos became the first woma...

The first biography of Australia's first female Prime Minister.Julia Gillard has always been an exceptional figure in Australian politics, widely admired by her adversaries as well as in the electorate. And now she is also an exceptional figure in Australian history: the first woman to be this country's Prime Minister.The path to power has been far from smooth. Gillard's career has been marked by pitched battles with jealous rivals and powerful factions. But ...

An insightful and entertaining glimpse into what really made the John Key government one of the most successful conservative governments New Zealand has ever seen.Christopher Finlayson is a lawyer and was a senior minister in the John Key-led National government, serving as Attorney-General, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, as well as the Minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau ...

No Australian prime minister has had to face such a difficult and challenging political environment as did Julia Gillard. Her impressive legislative record was overshadowed by pitched battles with jealous rivals and a remarkably hostile media, as well as her own struggles to communicate effectively with the public.Following her successful The Making of Julia Gillard, award-winning biographer Jacqueline Kent analyses our first woman prime minister's tumultuous term in offic...

Revised edition of a landmark bookAt the height of the building boom in the 1970s, a remarkable campaign stopped billions of dollars worth of indiscriminate development that was turning Australian cities into concrete jungles. Enraging employers and politicians but delighting many in the wider community, the members of the NSW Builders Labourers' Federation risked their jobs to preserve buildings, bush and parkland. The direct impact of this green bans movement can...

The award-winning biography of one of Australia's best-loved writers ... The author of MY BRILLAINT CAREER had a fascinating career of her own ... Winner of the Adelaide Festival Award for Literature for Non-Fiction 2010'a long-awaited and splendidly breezy blockbuster biography of the indefatigable, self-inventing and campaigning author of My Brilliant Career' Richard Holmes, AUStRALIAN BOOK REVIEW 'to meet Miles Franklin was as invigorating as to ride on a spring morning across th...

A commanding biography of one of Australia's greatest and most visionary prime minsters by an acclaimed political journalist and author.Longlisted for the Australian Political Book of the Year 2026There has been no one like Gough Whitlam in public life - a charismatic, inspirational and visionary leader who ushered in a reform revolution to modernise Australia, which endures to this day. But Whitlam's immense self-belief, relentless determi...

Eureka Stockade - the unfinished revolution . . . In 1854, Victorian miners fought a deadly battle under the flag of the Southern Cross at the Eureka Stockade. Though brief and doomed to fail, the battle is legend in both our history and in the Australian mind. Henry Lawson wrote poems about it, its symbolic flag is still raised, and even the nineteenth-century visitor Mark Twain called it: � a strike for liberty�. Was this rebellion a fledgling nation�s first attempt to assert its indepen...