Try free for 30 days
-
Quarterly Essay 47: Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott
- Narrated by: David Marr
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $4.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Quarterly Essay 1: In Denial
- The Stolen Generations and the Right
- By: Robert Manne
- Narrated by: Robert Manne
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this national best seller, Robert Mane attacks the right-wing campaign against the "Bringing Them Home" report that revealed how thousands of Aborigines had been taken from their parents. What was the role of Paddy McGuinness as editor of Quadrant? How reliable was the evidence that led newspaper columnists from Piers Akerman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph to Andrew Bolt in the Melbourne Herald Sun to deny the gravity of the injustice done?
-
-
Absolutely brilliant
- By Melissa on 14-11-2016
-
The Prime Ministers
- By: Iain Dale
- Narrated by: Iain Dale
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It has almost been 300 years since Sir Robert Walpole arguably became the first holder of the office of Prime Minister in 1721 - an office which today is under scrutiny like never before. The Prime Ministers, edited by leading political commentator Iain Dale, brings to life all 55 of Britain's 'First Among Equals' with an essay for each office holder, written by key figures in British politics.
-
-
very well written book
- By Anonymous User on 18-02-2024
-
Bulldozed
- Scott Morrison’s Fall and Anthony Albanese’s Rise
- By: Niki Savva
- Narrated by: Corinne Davies
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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. Morrison failed to accept the mantle of national leadership, or to deal adequately with the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
-
Interesting analysis disappointing narration
- By jan campbell on 01-06-2023
-
The Secret
- By: Alexandra Smith
- Narrated by: Alexandra Smith
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gladys Berejiklian was Australia's rockstar premier. The first woman elected to lead NSW, she steered the state through devastating bushfires, drought and a once-in-a-generation pandemic with a steady hand. To many, she was 'The Woman Who Saved Australia' for the way in which she navigated the first wave of COVID, with a sterling reputation as a dedicated and reliable public servant. But for all of her premiership, and well before, Berejiklian was harbouring a secret. That secret would eventually bring down one of the country's most deeply respected leaders.
-
-
Title should be ‘the scam’
- By Anonymous User on 13-01-2024
-
Party Animals
- The Secret History of a Labor Fiasco
- By: Samantha Maiden
- Narrated by: Leah McLeod
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the dark arts of the dirt units to the role of billionaire Clive Palmer, this is the untold story of an election debacle. The Labor Party was the unbeatable favourite to win the 2019 election right up until the polls closed and voters delivered the surprise verdict. If the results staggered pundits, they also shocked Bill Shorten and his frontbench, who had spent the final weeks of the campaign carefully planning for their first days in office. Party Animals uncovers the secret history of a Labor fiasco, the untold story behind Scott Morrison's miracle.
-
-
Contrived Voices
- By Richard on 22-05-2020
-
Lazarus Rising
- By: John Howard
- Narrated by: John Howard
- Length: 34 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Howard is the second longest serving prime minister in Australia's history. His tenure lasted almost 12 years. His autobiography is essential reading for those interested in contemporary politics, in Australian history or the craft of practical politics. John Howard spent decades under media scrutiny, and while his credentials as a political leader, devoted family man and sports tragic are beyond dispute, in this autobiography he reveals much more about himself.
-
-
Educational but lacking personal connection.
- By Andrew on 31-08-2015
-
Quarterly Essay 1: In Denial
- The Stolen Generations and the Right
- By: Robert Manne
- Narrated by: Robert Manne
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this national best seller, Robert Mane attacks the right-wing campaign against the "Bringing Them Home" report that revealed how thousands of Aborigines had been taken from their parents. What was the role of Paddy McGuinness as editor of Quadrant? How reliable was the evidence that led newspaper columnists from Piers Akerman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph to Andrew Bolt in the Melbourne Herald Sun to deny the gravity of the injustice done?
-
-
Absolutely brilliant
- By Melissa on 14-11-2016
-
The Prime Ministers
- By: Iain Dale
- Narrated by: Iain Dale
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It has almost been 300 years since Sir Robert Walpole arguably became the first holder of the office of Prime Minister in 1721 - an office which today is under scrutiny like never before. The Prime Ministers, edited by leading political commentator Iain Dale, brings to life all 55 of Britain's 'First Among Equals' with an essay for each office holder, written by key figures in British politics.
-
-
very well written book
- By Anonymous User on 18-02-2024
-
Bulldozed
- Scott Morrison’s Fall and Anthony Albanese’s Rise
- By: Niki Savva
- Narrated by: Corinne Davies
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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. Morrison failed to accept the mantle of national leadership, or to deal adequately with the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
-
Interesting analysis disappointing narration
- By jan campbell on 01-06-2023
-
The Secret
- By: Alexandra Smith
- Narrated by: Alexandra Smith
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gladys Berejiklian was Australia's rockstar premier. The first woman elected to lead NSW, she steered the state through devastating bushfires, drought and a once-in-a-generation pandemic with a steady hand. To many, she was 'The Woman Who Saved Australia' for the way in which she navigated the first wave of COVID, with a sterling reputation as a dedicated and reliable public servant. But for all of her premiership, and well before, Berejiklian was harbouring a secret. That secret would eventually bring down one of the country's most deeply respected leaders.
-
-
Title should be ‘the scam’
- By Anonymous User on 13-01-2024
-
Party Animals
- The Secret History of a Labor Fiasco
- By: Samantha Maiden
- Narrated by: Leah McLeod
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the dark arts of the dirt units to the role of billionaire Clive Palmer, this is the untold story of an election debacle. The Labor Party was the unbeatable favourite to win the 2019 election right up until the polls closed and voters delivered the surprise verdict. If the results staggered pundits, they also shocked Bill Shorten and his frontbench, who had spent the final weeks of the campaign carefully planning for their first days in office. Party Animals uncovers the secret history of a Labor fiasco, the untold story behind Scott Morrison's miracle.
-
-
Contrived Voices
- By Richard on 22-05-2020
-
Lazarus Rising
- By: John Howard
- Narrated by: John Howard
- Length: 34 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Howard is the second longest serving prime minister in Australia's history. His tenure lasted almost 12 years. His autobiography is essential reading for those interested in contemporary politics, in Australian history or the craft of practical politics. John Howard spent decades under media scrutiny, and while his credentials as a political leader, devoted family man and sports tragic are beyond dispute, in this autobiography he reveals much more about himself.
-
-
Educational but lacking personal connection.
- By Andrew on 31-08-2015
Publisher's Summary
Tony Abbott: prime minister in waiting.
David Marr: the nation’s leading biographer and investigative journalist.
In Quarterly Essay 47, David Marr goes beyond the clichés - Dr No, mad monk, gaffe-prone, budgie-smuggling gym junkie - to look at the man as he is and reveal what kind of prime minister he might be.
This is a unique portrait of a unique politician. Marr shows Abbott as part reactionary and part pragmatist, part fighter and part charmer, deeply religious and deeply political. But is Abbott a figure from the past or a leader for the future?
Following the explosive Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd, this is certain to be the most discussed political writing of the year.
What listeners say about Quarterly Essay 47: Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James
- 06-10-2019
A compelling biography of a reprehensible man
Marr has written an engrossing political biography of one of my least-favourite public figures. I didn't know many of the details from earlier in Abbott's life, like the child he and his girlfriend gave up for adoption, or his university crusade to crush student unions, or his unabashed, explicit homophobia during those university days, so my mouth was frequently agape at learning another horrific detail.
Marr did take one cheap shot which annoyed me, at Abbott's propensity for cycling lycra and budgie smugglers, culminating in a barely-veiled joke about the size of his penis. I think dick-measuring should be beneath the scope of a quarterly essay, and I'm furthermore generally irritated by the popular ridicule of this aspect of Abbott's persona. The fact that he is comfortable with (even, god forbid, proud of) his body is in my opinion the least objectionable thing about him, and the fact that people fixated on it just shows the discomfort society holds for body positivity. Anyway, I know this shouldn't be the main takeaway, and I've probably already written too much about it, but it's something that has long irked me. That, and when people tore into him for biting that raw onion, which I always thought was clearly a joke on his part and was pretty funny.
The one most alarming pattern that became clear to me from this essay is that nothing seems to enrage and galvanise Abbott more than being beaten by a woman. This is what provoked the incident where he punched the wall beside his female opponent's head in his student politics days, and this is what presaged his relentless opposition to the Gillard government, which ravaged the Australian public's faith in politics and made the formerly bipartisan policy of pricing carbon emissions into a political third rail (most gallingly, Marr suggests that Abbott's reasons for throwing climate policy under the bus were entirely expedient, and that he had no particular personal conviction on the issue). Now that Abbott has been toppled from his former seat by Zali Steggall, I shudder to imagine what future plans he might have. Though he presently seems quarantined to a relatively safe position kissing up to defence contractors at the Australian War Memorial, the threat that he may be plotting some manner of comeback ever looms.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful