The Australian Moment
Shortlist year:
2013
Shortlist category:
Non-fiction
Published by:
Penguin Random House
About the book
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.
About the author
George Megalogenis
George Megalogenis is an author and journalist with three decades' experience in the media. The Australian Moment won the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-fiction and the 2012 Walkley Award for Non-fiction, and formed the basis for the ABC documentary series Making Australia Great. He is also the author of Faultlines, The Longest Decade, Quarterly Essay 40: Trivial Pursuit – Leadership and the End of the Reform Era and Quarterly Essay 61: Balancing Act – Australia Between Recession and Renewal.
Judges’ comments
The Australian Moment examines the social and economic contributions of both sides of politics, from the Whitlam government of the 70s to the global crises of the early 21stCentury, detailing how each government has responded to both internal and external conditions. While most readers will be familiar with the events of recent history, Megalogenis provides additional insights from declassified documents from the USA; and a fascinating and probing series of interviews, where he asks successive Prime Ministers to comment on the value of each other's contribution.
A seasoned political journalist, George Megalogenis writes with elegance and clarity.
The Australian Moment is an important contribution to Australia's social and political history, not least for its ability to explain the Australian reform agenda since the 1970s to a broad audience.
