George Megalogenis – författare

''Likely to become the essential short work on modern Australia'' Don Watson ''Megalogenis is Australia''s best explainer … A brilliant read'' Annabel Crabb Winner of the 2013 Prime Minister''s Literary Award, 2012 Walkley Book Award, and Australia''s bestselling political book of 2012 There''s no better place to be during economic turbulence than Australia. Brilliant in a bust, we''ve learnt to use our brains in a boom. Despite a lingering inability to acknowledge our achievements at home, the rest of the world asks: how did we get it right?George Megalogenis, one of our most respected political and economic writers, reviews the key events since the 1970s that have forged institutional and political leadership and a canny populace.  He examines how we developed from a closed economy racked by the oil shocks, toughed it out during the sometimes devastating growing pains of deregulation, and survived the Asian financial crisis, the dotcom tech wreck and the GFC to become the last developed nation standing in the 2000s. As a result, whatever happens next, we''re as well positioned as any to survive the ongoing rumblings of the Great Recession.Drawing on newly declassified documents, fresh interviews with our former prime ministers and a unique ability to bring the numbers to life, Megalogenis describes how, at just the right time, the Australian people became more farsighted than our politicians. We stopped spending before the rest of the world, and at the top of a boom voted out a government that was throwing around the biggest bribes ever offered.The Australian Moment is packed with original insight, challenging our often partisan selective memories and revealing how our leadership and community have underestimated each other''s contribution to the nation''s resilience. ''This man is perhaps the sanest journalist in Australia. He believes in facts and figures. He has a unique grasp of politics in all its messy detail. The result is this splendid account of the great reforms of the last 40 years that have made Australia, he says, ''the last rich nation standing in the 21st century''.'' David Marr ''Megalogenis has the rare gift of being both comprehensive and detailed. He identifies big-picture global trends and demonstrates them forensically. The Australian Moment is him at his insightful, meticulous best. Anyone interested in Australia''s political history and future, anyone who wants to understand our economic and cultural development, has no reasonable choice but to imbibe this. It is indispensably important.'' Waleed Aly ''Arguably the most important work on Australian economics and modern political history of our generation'' Australian Book Review ''Probably the best exposition of Australia''s political history over the period of market liberal reform, and from the viewpoint of the reformers, that we have seen, or are likely to'' John Quiggin, Canberra Times ''Stimulating ... It is a tribute to the intellectual power of the book that it provokes the reader to consider seriously the compelling counter-argument that, instead of continuing to progress, we have in some crucial ways squandered our inheritance'' Sydney Morning Herald ''The Australian Moment reminds us that politics really does matter because the power of government matters ... George Megalogenis is no ordinary journalist'' Canberra Times ''Lucid and flowing ... One of the best communicators in Australia today'' Courier-Mail ''Wise, considered and incisive ... [a] lucid and penetrating portrait of Australia during the past 40 years'' Herald Sun ''Highly recommended'' Good Reading

The bestselling author of The Australian Moment asks the most important question confronting the country right now – how do we maintain our winning streak? Most nations don''t get a first chance to prosper. Australia is on its second. For the best part of the nineteenth century, Australia was the world''s richest country, a pioneer for democracy and a magnet for migrants. Yet our last big boom was followed by a fifty-year bust as we lost our luck, our riches and our nerve, and shut our doors on the world. Now we''re back on top, in the position where history tells us we made our biggest mistakes. Can we learn from our past and cement our place as one of the world''s great nations? Showing that our future is in our foundation, Australia''s Second Chance goes back to 1788, the first contact between locals and migrants, to bring us a unique and fascinating view of the key events of our past right through to the present day. With newly available economic data and fresh interviews with former leaders (including the last major interview with Malcolm Fraser), George Megalogenis crunches the numbers and weaves our history into a riveting argument, brilliantly chronicling our dialogue with the world and bringing welcome insight into the urgent question of who we are, and what we can become. ''Megalogenis has emerged as something of a polymath. He slaps history and politics and culture like mortar in and around his knowledge of economics and numbers to build compelling, even thrilling, theses about the country of his birth and where it stands in the world.'' Tony Wright, Saturday Age

Between the fires and the plague, Scott Morrison had no choice but to adapt his style of leadership. But does he have an exit strategy for Australia from the pandemic?In this original essay, George Megalogenis explores the new politics of care and fear. He shows how our economic officials learnt the lessons of past recessions and applied them to new circumstances. But where to from here? Megalogenis analyses the shifting dynamics of the federation and the appeal of closed borders. He discusses the fate of higher education what happened to the clever country? And he asks: what should government be responsible for in the twenty-first century, and does the Morrison government have the imagination for the job? Morrison has no political interest in talking about the future. But passivity does not reduce the threat of another outbreak. In any case, the future is making demands on Australia in other ways. George Megalogenis, Exit Strategy

What does the new political landscape look like in Australia?

Australian politics is shifting. The two-party system was broken at the last federal election, and a minority government is a real possibility in the future. Politics-as-usual is not enough for many Australians.

In this richly insightful essay, George Megalogenis traces the how and why of a political re-alignment. He sheds new light on the topics of housing, the changing suburbs, the fate of the Voice to Parliament, and trust in politicians. This is an essay about the Greens, the teals and the Coalition. In a contest between new and old, progressive and conservative, which vision of Australia will win out? But it's also about Labor in power – is careful centrism the right strategy for the times, or is something more required?

In Minority Report, Megalogenis explores the strategies and secret understandings of a political culture under pressure.

"The sword of minority government hangs over the major parties. Neither side commands an electoral base broad enough in the twenty-first century to guarantee that power, once secured, can be sustained for more than a single three-year term. Now the question turns to whether a return to minority government will further damage our democracy, or, perhaps, revitalise it."—George Megalogenis, Minority Report

This essay contains correspondence relating to Quarterly Essay 95, High Noon, from Thomas Keneally, Emma Shortis, David Smith, Bruce Wolpe, Paul Kane, and Don Watson

A sport unlike any other in the world, football has always been Australia’s bellwether. But at a time when politics is increasingly conducted like sports – full of one-eyed tribalism, captain’s calls and policy dictated by the Newspoll scoreboard – football is the one institution that’s more relevant than ever.And it’s Richmond that’s out in front of the pack. Before it could win the 2017 premiership, the club had to change how it thought about good leadership. By weaving together the game’s conflicted history, a sharp-eyed analysis of Richmond’s off-field turbulence and his own love of the Tigers, Megalogenis reveals just how Richmond found a new way to win – and how Australia might do the same.‘Megalogenis has done it again, but with an unexpected twist.’ HUGH MACKAY‘A public intellectual who barracks for Richmond argues that the Tigers’ 2017 flag contains the seeds of our national resurgence. That’s some footy argument . . .’ MARTIN FLANAGAN‘Richmond are not yet ahead in the premiership wars, but through inspired leadership, they’re streets ahead in the culture wars.’ BARRIE CASSIDY‘Manages the incredible feat of igniting hope again for something called Australia. Whatever football code you follow, or even if you don''t follow sport at all, I urge you to read this book. It''s bracingly sane and beautifully told.’ CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS

In Trivial Pursuit George Megalogenis considers Australia's political dead zone.

The Hawke, Keating and early Howard years were ones of bold reform; recently we have seen an era of power without purpose. But why? Is it down to powerful lobbies, or the media, or a failure of leadership, or all of the above? And whatever the case, how will hard decisions be taken for the future?

In Trivial Pursuit, Megalogenis dissects the cycle of polls, focus groups and presidential politics and what it has done to the prospect of serious, difficult reform. He argues that politics-as-usual has become a self-defeating game and mounts a persuasive case for a different style of leadership. From now on, he argues, it is the key divisions between young and old, and north and south, that will shape the nation's future. But can a hung parliament and a pragmatic Labor leader rise to the challenge?

"Rudd, Gillard and Abbott sought power in 2010 on the same dangerous premise, that no sacrifice is required to secure our future. Government on this basis is never worth it because the promise of painless change can never be kept. The voters knew it, which is why they spared them- selves the inevitable let-down by hanging the parliament." George Megalogenis, Trivial Pursuit

'One of Australia's most incisive political analysts' –The Australian

This issue also contains correspondence discussing Quarterly Essay 39, Power Shift, from Gareth Evans, Bruce Grant, Michael Wesley, Lyric Hughes Hale, Robert D. Kaplan, Harry Gelber, David Uren, Hugh White