Mike Steketee Mike Steketee i(A71454 works by)
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Robert (Bob) Hawke Mike Steketee , Cleveland : Connor Court Publishing , 2022 27389887 2022 single work biography

'Bob Hawke ranks as one of Australia’s leading prime ministers. He enjoyed extraordinary electoral success, winning four elections and serving for eight years and nine months, a term exceeded only by Robert Menzies and John Howard. His political skills, including his popularity with voters and his emphasis on consensus, enabled his government to implement a large agenda of economic reform that transformed the nation. Often unpopular at the time, the scope and ambition of initiatives such as financial deregulation, reform of the tax system and cutting import tariffs are unimaginable in today’s political context. Hawke also left a substantial record on social policy, including the introduction of Medicare and directing welfare to those most in need, and on the environment, with measures such as blocking a dam on Tasmania’s Franklin River and preserving North Queensland rainforests. His extensive involvement in foreign policy, including playing a role in ending apartheid in South Africa, is often overlooked.

'Hawke was a complex personality. A son of the manse, his life combined hard work, discipline and a sense of public duty with an undisciplined private life of heavy drinking, aggressive behaviour, multiple affairs and sexual liasions and neglect of his family. The convention that journalists did not report on politicians’ private lives unless it affected their public duties meant Hawke survived with his reputation largely intact until recently. Today such conduct would disqualify him from leading the nation. Hawke may have adapted to today’s community standards in the interests of his long-nurtured ambition to become prime minister but this remains an imponderable.  

'Mike Steketee was chief political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald in the Canberra Press Gallery from 1984 to 1988 and continued to cover the later years of the Hawke Government as the Herald’s Political Editor.' (Publication summary)

1 Was Bob Askin Corrupt? Mike Steketee , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Inside Story , April 2021;

'With a new book reopening the debate about the one-time NSW premier’s behaviour in office, our correspondent assesses the evidence'

1 The Governor-general’s Ambush Mike Steketee , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Inside Story , November 2020;

— Review of The Palace Letters Jenny Hocking , 2020 single work prose biography
'What the Palace didn’t do during the 1975 constitutional crisis was as important as what it did'
1 It's Time, Comrade Bob Carr , Greg Sheridan , David Williamson , Evan Williams , Troy Bramston , Alan Wood , Mungo MacCallum , Mike Steketee , Paul Kelly , 2014 single work obituary (for E. G. Whitlam )
— Appears in: The Australian , 22 October 2014; (p. 1-4, 19-22)
1 Portrait of the Politician as a Young Man Mike Steketee , Milton Cockburn , 2014 extract biography (Wran : An Unauthorised Biography)
— Appears in: Inside Story , April 2014;

'In this extract from Mike Steketee and Milton Cockburn’s biography, first published in 1986, Neville Wran – who died earlier this week – arrives in Balmain, leaves Balmain, appears on the radio, considers becoming an actor, and joins the Sydney University Liberal Club' 

1 PM with the Golden Touch Mike Steketee , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 17-18 July 2010; (p. 20-21)

— Review of Hawke : The Prime Minister Blanche d'Alpuget , 2010 single work biography
1 History Not Always Meant To Be Easy Mike Steketee , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 March 2010; (p. 22-23)

— Review of Malcolm Fraser : The Political Memoirs Malcolm Fraser , Margaret Simons , 2010 single work autobiography
1 Son's Partisan Take on a Man of the People Mike Steketee , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14-15 March 2009; (p. 8-9)

— Review of They Loved Him to Death : Australian Prime Minister 'Honest Joe' Lyons Brendan Lyons , 2008 single work biography
1 Colourful Corporate Cowboy Mike Steketee , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 31 January - 1 February 2009; (p. 21)
1 Ambition from the Sidelines Mike Steketee , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 27-28 September 2008; (p. 14-15)

— Review of The Costello Memoirs Peter Costello , Peter Coleman , 2008 single work autobiography
1 The Steel in Rudd Mike Steketee , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , July vol. 2 no. 6 2007; (p. 10)

— Review of Kevin Rudd : The Biography Robert Macklin , 2007 single work biography ; Kevin Rudd : An Unauthorised Political Biography Nicholas Stuart , 2007 single work biography
1 Journalist's Unique Perspective on PMs Past and Present Mike Steketee , 2006 single work obituary (for Wallace Brown )
— Appears in: The Australian , 30 August 2006; (p. 12)
1 Our Political Bradman Mike Steketee , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19-20 November 2005; (p. 10)

— Review of Billy Hughes : Prime Minister and Controversial Founding Father of the Australian Labor Party Aneurin Hughes , 2005 single work biography
1 Slender Agenda Mike Steketee , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3-4 September 2005; (p. 12)

— Review of The Life and Death of Harold Holt Thomas R. Frame , 2005 single work biography
1 Guided by Ideals, and That Rare Commodity, Conscience Mike Steketee , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 January 2005; (p. 10-11)

— Review of Keep the Bastards Honest Don Chipp , 2004 single work autobiography
1 Idealist Avoids Reality Check Mike Steketee , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 November 2004; (p. 10)

— Review of Bob Brown : Gentle Revolutionary James Norman , 2004 single work biography
1 The Making of Tragedy and Legend Mike Steketee , 2002 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 June 2002; (p. 10-11)

— Review of Recollections of a Bleeding Heart : A Portrait of Paul Keating PM Don Watson , 2002 single work biography
1 y separately published work icon Wran : An Unauthorised Biography Mike Steketee , Milton Cockburn , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 1986 27061274 1986 single work biography

'For ten turbulent years, Neville Wran (1926-2014) dominated the public life of Australia’s most populous state New South Wales. In this unauthorised biography, two prominent political observers present a portrait of this man.' (Publication summary)

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