'A fascinating portrait of one of Australia's most influential women
'Elected to federal parliament aged just twenty-eight, Tanya Plibersek has lived almost half her life in the public eye - and is the longest-serving woman in Australia's House of Representatives. But how much do we know about what drives her, what she values, and what we can expect from her next?
'Plibersek was born in Sydney to Slovenian parents, both of whom fled post-war Europe as young adults. Their experiences as migrants would profoundly shape the lives of their children. Driven by a commitment to equity and social change, Plibersek joined the Labor Party at a time of intense factional battles for the party's future and emerged as part of a new generation of ALP leaders. Throughout her career she has campaigned for social justice reform on issues such as paid parental leave, fairer rights at work and rights for same-sex couples and is a staunch advocate for gender equality.
'Award-winning journalist Margaret Simons draws on exclusive interviews with Plibersek, her political contemporaries, family and close friends to trace the personal and political strands of this modern Australian story. She considers Plibersek's role in the Rudd and Gillard governments, Labor's soul-searching years in opposition, and Plibersek's position in the Albanese cabinet. She also sheds light on the personal currents that have carried Plibersek, through moments of joy and tragedy, to become the person she is today.' (Publication summary)
'Tanya Plibersek’s biographer makes the case for her “strength of understanding and coolness of judgement”'
'In early March 2023, Tanya Plibersek fronted an audience at the Australian National University to question historian Chris Wallace about her newly released account of twentieth-century prime ministers and their biographers. Coming shortly before the publication of Margaret Simons’s biography of her, Plibersek’s interest in the dynamics of writing about a living, breathing, vote-seeking politician seemed prompted by more than mere professional courtesy. ‘It’s like building a golem, in the shape of a person, in a way, isn’t it?’ she remarked. ‘And then you’re putting magic into it and animating it. It comes out of the mud.’' (Introduction)
'Biographies of politicians still in the game have a slippery quality, even if – as in Margaret Simons’ solidly researched, cautiously told life of Tanya Plibersek – they wear such limitations on their sleeve. Simons’ Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms is not a historical verdict being rendered on some superannuated figure safely euthanised by time and the voting public. This book is inevitably entangled with the live debates and power struggles of the moment.' (Introduction)
'Days before the publication of a new biography of federal Labor cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek, the Nine newspapers carried an exclusive extract in the Good Weekend magazine, accompanied by a news article leading with Plibersek’s assertion that if she had stood for the party’s leadership after the 2019 election she would have won.' (Introduction)
'Days before the publication of a new biography of federal Labor cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek, the Nine newspapers carried an exclusive extract in the Good Weekend magazine, accompanied by a news article leading with Plibersek’s assertion that if she had stood for the party’s leadership after the 2019 election she would have won.' (Introduction)
'Biographies of politicians still in the game have a slippery quality, even if – as in Margaret Simons’ solidly researched, cautiously told life of Tanya Plibersek – they wear such limitations on their sleeve. Simons’ Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms is not a historical verdict being rendered on some superannuated figure safely euthanised by time and the voting public. This book is inevitably entangled with the live debates and power struggles of the moment.' (Introduction)
'In early March 2023, Tanya Plibersek fronted an audience at the Australian National University to question historian Chris Wallace about her newly released account of twentieth-century prime ministers and their biographers. Coming shortly before the publication of Margaret Simons’s biography of her, Plibersek’s interest in the dynamics of writing about a living, breathing, vote-seeking politician seemed prompted by more than mere professional courtesy. ‘It’s like building a golem, in the shape of a person, in a way, isn’t it?’ she remarked. ‘And then you’re putting magic into it and animating it. It comes out of the mud.’' (Introduction)
'Tanya Plibersek’s biographer makes the case for her “strength of understanding and coolness of judgement”'
