Written by former minister and Labor historian Rodney Cavalier, Power Crisis is an explosive account of the self-destruction of the New South Wales Labor government, which has seen a turnover of four premiers in five years, and is heading for rejection and even humiliation by voters at the next state election. While the catalyst was the thwarted attempt to privatise electricity, Cavalier reveals that the real issue is the takeover of Labor by a professional political class without connection to the broader community or the party's traditions. Featuring interviews with ex-premiers Iemma and Rees, Power Crisis contrasts the current turmoil and self-indulgence with the stability within New South Wales Labor over generations before, and asks, 'What went wrong?'
By:
Rodney Cavalier (University of Technology Sydney)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 153mm,
Spine: 10mm
Weight: 310g
ISBN: 9780521138321
ISBN 10: 0521138329
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 27 September 2010
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
General/trade
,
Undergraduate
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. NSW Labor and its leaders; 2. Death below; 3. The rise of Morris Iemma; 4. Annual Conference, May 2008; 5. Iemma falls; 6. The protracted fall of Nathan Rees; Epilogue: does party membership matter?; Appendix A: NSW ALP branches closed 1999–2009; Appendix B: NSW ALP financial membership 2002–2009; Appendix C: delegates to NSW ALP Annual Conference, May 2008; Sources; Index.
Rodney Cavalier is a Labor and political historian and Chair of the NSW Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government.
Reviews for Power Crisis: The Self-Destruction of a State Labor Party
'This is a forensic and penetrating analysis of the crisis facing modern Labor. Cavalier is unrivalled in his ability to identify the dilemmas of the present but locate them in historical context.' , Paul Kelly, The Australian
