- This is a brief but brilliant little gem of a book. Wallace is knowledgeable and persuasive, and her decades of experience writing about Australian politics shines through. She lists the 10 basic things a political party must focus on to win an Australian federal election.
- Unfortunately it was written and completed in the first half of 2020 and published in September last year, pre Trump's defeat and Biden's victory, and before the politics of the pandemic really started to dominate national life. So it has a dated feel to it. And, surprisingly, current Labor leader Anthony Albanese does not get a single mention. Ironically, contrary to her own advice, she focuses on the last election in 2019 rather than the next one expected this year, 2021. The publisher would have been wise to delay this book’s release by a few months at least.
- But it's excellent on why Shorten lost: an unpopular leader with a blizzard of policies in a campaign lacking strategic focus and basic political craft.
- Each of the ten chapters outlining the ten principles is rich in wisdom and insight. I particularly liked number six on Labor and the Greens and why they should at least cooperate in key seats to further the progressive cause. Their decades-long unwillingness to negotiate in any meaningful way remains infuriating and destructive.
- The fable-like introductions to each chapter where the shattered leader (Shorten) licks his wounds in a cave and reflects on his awful, humiliating loss, are exquisite.
(Ridiculously expensive at $29.99 for a short, small format, 145 page paperback. And typical of so much non-fiction publishing in Australia, no index or author photo).
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