In Search of Good Government: Great Expectations & Political Amnesia

Finalist, 2016 Walkley Award for Long Feature Writing

With the politics of rage and resentment dominating many Western nations, including Australia, Laura Tingle’s calm, perceptive analysis is more relevant than ever. What has happened to good government? Can Malcolm Turnbull apply the lessons of the past to put things right? When leaders surf the wave of discontentment all the way to power, how do they deal with our great expectations?

In her crisp, profound and witty essays, Laura Tingle seeks answers to these questions. In Political Amnesia, she ranges from ancient Rome to the demoralised state of the once-great Australian public service, from the jingoism of the past to the tabloid scandals of the internet age. In Great Expectations, Tingle argues that governments can do less since deregulating the economy, but they still talk like they can do more, and we still expect them to do more – leading to anger, frustration and disengagement.

In Search of Good Government also contains a major new essay that analyses Turnbull’s leadership and brings the story up to date.

‘This is precisely the kind of political journalism we don’t get to see often enough.’ —Sydney Morning Herald