Political Lives
Moderator: Barrie Cassidy • Chris Wallace and Niki Savva
John Howard thought they were a terrible idea. Paul Keating thought they were a waste of time. But there’s no doubting their power...
A well-timed biography of a sitting politician can make or break a career. Chris Wallace and Niki Savva have first-hand experience of that cultural power. They take us behind the scenes in crafting a political narrative. Is it possible to be objective when you’re writing about a partisan figure? How have biographers of the past used – and abused – their influence? What stories are missing from Australia’s political history?
Artist
Political historian DR CHRIS WALLACE is a professor at the University of Canberra, and the author of Political Lives: Australian prime ministers and their biographers. Her previous book, How To Win An Election, drew important lessons for Labor from its shock 2019 election loss. Wallace was formerly a longstanding member of the Canberra Press Gallery, and her political analysis and commentary currently appears in Nikkei Asia, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Saturday Paper and The Conversation.
Artist
NIKI SAVVA is an award winning journalist, author and political commentator. She is a columnist with The Age and the SMH and appears regularly on ABC’s Insiders. She has written four books and in 2016 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Melbourne Press Club “for her outstanding coverage of Australian politics as a reporter, columnist and author.” First was a memoir, So Greek, confessions of a conservative leftie. In 2017 her best-selling book The Road to Ruin, how Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin destroyed their own government, won the Australian Book Industry Award for the best non-fiction book of the year. In 2019 she wrote another bestseller, Plots and Prayers, Malcolm Turnbull’s demise and Scott Morrison’s ascension. Bulldozed, Scott Morrison’s fall and Anthony Albanese’s rise, is also a best seller, winning two prestigious awards, one from ABIA and the other from BookPeople for best non-fiction book 2023.
Moderator
BARRIE CASSIDY is one of Australia’s leading political journalists and analysts having had a long career at the ABC including 18 years as host of the Sunday morning discussion program Insiders. He is now chair of Old Parliament House in Canberra.