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Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Political histories tend to focus on the personalities involved in wins, losses, dramas and disasters.

Journalist and author Paul Kelly's latest book Triumph and Demise: The broken promise of a Labor generation , looks deep into the people but even deeper into the idea that our whole political system is in crisis. It is the inside account of the hopes, achievements and bitter failures of the Labor Government from 2007 to 2013.

A veteran journalist and oneĀ of Australia's eminent political commentators, Paul Kelly discusses his book and his theories in a free UWA Extension event at University Hall at 6pm on Wednesday 26 November.

The book draws upon more than 60 interviews with all the major political players this century and is full of remarkable disclosures.

Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard came together in 2007 to defeat John Howard. They formed a brilliant partnership and raised the hopes of the nation. Yet they fell into tension, and then hostility, under the pressures of politics and policy.

Kelly probes the dynamics of the Rudd-Gillard partnership and dissects what tore them apart. He tells the full story of Julia Gillard's tragedy as our first female prime minister - her character, Rudd's destabilisation, the carbon tax saga and how Gillard was finally pulled down on the eve of the 2013 election.

Triumph and Demise takes Kelly's long-running narrative series in a new direction with a provocative and challenging thesis: that the political system is in crisis and the ongoing reform necessary to maintain and lift our standard of living is under threat.

Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large of The Australian newspaper. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the paper and he writes on Australian politics, public policy and international affairs. He appears each week on Australian Agenda (Sky News) and before that was a regular on Insiders (ABC TV) for nearly a decade. He is the author of seven books.

This event has been made possible through the generous support of the Perth USAsia Centre, University Hall, UWA and the Centre for Social Impact.

Reserve tickets here for a stimulating evening discussing Triumph and Demise: The broken promise of a Labor generation .

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