Every year Grattan Institute releases a summer reading list for the Prime Minister. It recommends books and articles that the Prime Minister, or any Australian interested in public debate, will find both stimulating and cracking good reads. We are pleased to announce this year’s list:
Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics – Michael Ignatieff
Anzac’s Long Shadow: The Cost of Our National Obsession – James Brown
A Rightful Place: Race, Recognition and a More Complete Commonwealth – Noel Pearson (Quarterly Essay 55)
The Golden Age – Joan London
The Wife Drought – Annabel Crabb
The Inequality Puzzle – Lawrence H Summers (Democracy Journal)
This year’s list covers many vital subjects, from a discussion of Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century to the impacts of the ANZAC legend on modern defence policy. The list includes a candid look at women, men, family and work, an argument for constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians, and the post-mortem of a spectacular political defeat. Capping off the list is this year’s must-read novel, a seamlessly shifting blend of poetry, pathos and humour from one of Australia’s finest story-tellers.
Watch a recording of the launch event in Melbourne or listen to a podcast of the event in Sydney to learn what informed our choice of the works on the list, and what messages government can take away from them. ABC Presenter Geraldine Doogue will join Grattan Institute CEO John Daley in Sydney, and Helen Silver, former head of the Victorian Public Service will join John in Melbourne to discuss how these titles illuminate some of Australia’s biggest debates.
This year we are proud to publish our list in partnership with Readings – an Australian independent retailer. The books can be purchased at Readings’ table at our Melbourne launch, any of Readings five shops in Melbourne, or via Readings online with free delivery on orders $19.95 and over anywhere in Australia.