Bulldozed: Scott Morrison's Fall and Anthony Albanese's Rise
WINNER OF THE 2023 ABIA GENERAL NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD
"The gripping inside story of how Scott Morrison went from miracle man to roadkill. Savva portrays a fatally flawed leader who trashed his government, his party, and his legacy."
--Laurie Oakes
Between 2013 and 2022, Tony Abbott begat Malcolm Turnbull, who begat Scott Morrison. For nine long years, Australia was governed by a succession of Coalition governments rocked by instability and bloodletting, and consumed with prosecuting climate and culture wars while neglecting policy.
By the end, among his detractors--and there were plenty--Morrison was seen as the worst prime minister since Billy McMahon. Worse even than Tony Abbott, who lasted a scant two years in the job, whose main legacy was that he destroyed Julia Gillard, then himself, and then Turnbull.
Morrison failed to accept the mantle of national leadership, or to deal adequately with the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. He thought reform was a vanity project. He said he never wanted to leave a legacy. He got his wish.
Niki Savva, Australia's renowned political commentator, author, and columnist, was there for all of it. In The Road to Ruin, she revealed the ruinous behavior of former prime minister Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, that led to the ascension of Turnbull. In Plots and Prayers, she told the inside story of the coup that overthrew Turnbull and installed his conniving successor, Morrison.
Now she lays out the final unravelling of the Coalition at the hands of a resurgent Labor and the so-called teal independents that culminated in the historic 2022 election. With her typical access to key players, and her riveting accounts of what went on behind the scenes, Bulldozed is the unique final volume of an unputdownable and impeccably sourced political trilogy.
'I don't hold a hose, mate.' Scott Morrison, 20 December 2019, on the Black Summer bushfires
'It's not a race.' Scott Morrison, 11 March 2021, on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout
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"Savva's great skill as a journalist combines with sharp commentary and her vast experience to deliver a powerful analytical coda to Morrison's pointless premiership ... A key strength of Bulldozed is the way Savva convinces the key players to talk, including some of those closest to Morrison ... Bulldozed will not be the last word on Morrison's dismal premiership, but it will surely influence future accounts according to the degree to which their authors concur or disagree with Savva. It is a superb insight into a government in terminal moral decline, a regime with little purpose other than the burning career aspirations of its members."
--Mark Kenny, Australian Book Review
"The gripping inside story of how Scott Morrison went from miracle man to roadkill. Savva portrays a fatally flawed leader who trashed his government, his party, and his legacy."
--Laurie Oakes
"Niki Savva, an accomplished author (especially in the realm of Australian political biography) has now written the definitive study of the fall of the Morrison government. It is as powerful as it is persuasive ... The Road to Ruin was a withering examination of the self-destruction of the Abbott government. This was followed by Plots and Prayers which was a sweeping critique of Malcolm Turnbull's disappearance and the treachery of those who backed Scott Morrison into the Lodge. Both books set new benchmarks in forensic evaluation of the deceit that accompanies leadership changes in Canberra. Bulldozed continues Savva's laser-like examination of the political players ... Savva's interpretations of the cascading episodes which led to the disintegration of the Morrison government are utterly compelling. She has employed the equivalent literary device of a cat o' nine tails, as she flays the former prime minister's reputation for a diversity of failings."
--Stephen Loosley, The Australian
"This is catnip for politicos ... Savva's book is excellent, it is riveting and will stand as testament of how not to lead."
--Neos Kosmos
"[A] bracing read."
--Matthew Ricketson, Inside Story
"[Bulldozed] is highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in contemporary politics and in human behavior ... Savva has done a fantastic job in bringing together the many fragments of the last decade's national politics."
--Paul Costigan, CityNews Canberra
"It is difficult to think of anyone better qualified than Niki Savva to write a detailed analysis of the reasons for the defeat of the Morrison government in 2022 ... most readers who have even a passing interest in politics will be familiar with many of the events and incidents in this book ... but what makes Savva's analysis so special is the amount of behind the scenes detail that she provides and the way she ties it all together to explain Morrison's demise ... This is a book that will appeal to the political tragic as well as the less political involved reader ... [Bulldozed] is a well written book that every voter concerned about good government should read."
--John Watts, The Manning Community News
