Before television, radio, and later the internet came to dominate the coverage of Australian politics, the Canberra Press Gallery existed in a world far removed from today's 24-hour news cycle, spin doctors and carefully scripted sound bites. This historical memoir of a career reporting from The Wedding Cake of Old Parliament House offers a rare insider's perspective on both how the gallery once operated and its place in the Australian body politic. Using some of the biggest political developments of the past fifty years as a backdrop, Inside the Canberra Press Gallery - Life in the Wedding Cake of Old Parliament House sheds light on the inner workings of an institution critical to the health of our parliamentary democracy. Rob Chalmers (1929-2011) entered the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery in 1951 as a twenty-one-year-old reporter for the now-defunct Sydney Daily Mirror and would retire from political commentary 60 years later - an unprecedented career span in Australian political history. No parliamentary figure - politician, bureaucrat or journalist - can match Chalmers' experience, from his first Question Time on 7 March 1951 until, desperately ill, he reluctantly retired from editing the iconic newsletter Inside Canberra sixty years, four months and eighteen days later. As well as being considered a shrewd political analyst, Chalmers was a much-loved member of the gallery and a past president of the National Press Club. Rob Chalmers used to boast that he had outlasted 11 prime ministers; and a 12th, Julia Gillard described him as 'one of the greats' of Australian political journalism upon his passing. Rob Chalmers is survived by his wife Gloria and two children from a previous marriage, Susan and Rob jnr.
'In both its form and content, this book is a call for a reinvigoration of journalism.
From wading through salmon guts in Tasmania to the never-ending search for mobile phone coverage, in Follow the leaders, radio reporter Francis Keany documents first-hand what it's like to follow the political leaders of Australia for five ...
He worked in the Canberra press gallery from 1969 to 1988 and before, during and since has contributed to every major Australian outlet in press, radio and television. He has published eight books, the most recent being Poll Dancing: ...
On Disruption is a report from the coalface of that change: what has happened, will it keep happening, and is there any way out of the chaos?
This is one of the few books about Australian political life written by an insider with decades of exposure to its major players.
This fascinating book reflects on how economics is central to our lives, and how 'economic rationalism' has become the lens through which all Australian public life is viewed.
This is the first book to examine the emergence of social media as a new force in the coverage of Australian politics.
Part 1: Shedding my city skin -- Lesson 1.
On Message: Political Communications of Australian Prime Ministers 1901 - 2014 examines all 28 Australian Prime Ministers.
This is the story of one of the most extraordinary episodes in recent Australian political history, of how a powerful media pack, a vicious commentariat, and some of those within her own party contrived to bring down Australia's first ...