When former Prime Minister John Howard visited Booktopia, John Purcell took the chance to ask him the hard questions in a rare and candid interview. The Johns discuss Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech, his role in the rise of Tony Abbott, the controversial WorkChoices legislation, as well as his views on his Prime Ministerial predecessor Paul Keating and the future of Australian education. ... Read more

It has been a bizarre month in politics. We’ve seen a speaker talk (or text) about dud roots, an MP allege union officials used his hotel phone while he was in the shower and an opposition minister for business declare  he had the skin of a rhinoceros, the speed of a gazelle and was watching the opposition like a hawk (yes ladies and gentlemen, a one man menagerie voted in by the people f... Read more