Loner: Inside a Labor tragedyWhen Mark Latham walked out of the caucus room as Labor leader in December 2003, he took the Labor Party into one of the most tumultuous periods in its history. Bernard Lagan was there in the beginning and he was there at the end. This is his story of the rollercoaster ride that was the Latham year and of what went wrong for the man who was going to be the Labor Party's saviour. The day Mark Latham became leader of the Labor Party, the dynamics of federal parliamentary politics shifted up more than a few notches. A year later this loner would resign from the parliament a broken figure. What happed in those twelve months to turn the most dynamic performer in Australian politics into the sick and embattled man we all saw on our TV screens? Bernard Lagan burrows deep inside that dramatic year to uncover the gut wrenching personal dramas, the plots and the intrigues, and the loyalties betrayed. Written with all the energy and drama of a political thriller, Loner: Inside a Labor tragedy uncovers the bitter struggle and brutal realities of Labor's inner crisis. |
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
19 | |
Chapter 3 The Sins of the Fathers | 41 |
Chapter 4 Sweet Summer | 56 |
Chapter 5 Autumn in Iraq | 73 |
Chapter 6 Under the Radar | 92 |
Chapter 7 A Heart in Winter | 107 |
Chapter 9 The Death of the Grand Design | 140 |
Chapter 10 Forty Days and Forty Nights | 153 |
Chapter 11 The Black Forests | 173 |
Chapter 12 The Forces are Arrayed | 188 |
Chapter 13 The Tsunami and the Mad End | 210 |
Notes | 224 |
Acknowledgements | 226 |
Index | 228 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
advisor announced ballot Beazley’s Bernard Lagan Bob Carr Byres called Canberra Carmody caucus Christmas colleagues Costello day’s decided early economic election campaign faction federal Ferguson Fitzgibbon forests former frontbench Gabrielle Garrett Gartrell Gough Whitlam government’s Green Valley Hawke interest rate scare Iraq issue Janine Jenny Macklin Joel Fitzgibbon John Faulkner John Howard journalists Keating Keating’s Kevin Rudd Kim Beazley knew Labor government Labor headquarters Labor leader Labor Party later Latham’s office Latham’s speech Latham’s staff Laurie Brereton leadership leaked Lennon Liberal Lorraine Mark Latham Martin Ferguson McMullan meeting ment Mike Richards needed night O’Connor party’s Paul Keating political polling premier press conference press gallery prime minister resign seats senator shadow Treasurer Simon Crean story Sydney Morning Herald Sydney’s talk Tasmanian tax cuts television told troops home tsunami vote voters wanted week who’d