Keating

I very much enjoyed Keating by Kerry O'Brien which is the book of the oral history interviews O'Brien did with former Prime Minister Paul Keating in 2015.  (Before I go further I feel I must declare my highest admiration for Paul Keating as our best Prime Minister.) Each chapter begins with O'Brien  comprehensively outlining what that chapter will cover, then the transcript of the interview is shown.  The interviews briefly cover Keating's early life before his political life began, then the interviews detail his public life as a young Member of Parliament, an Opposition member, Treasurer and finally Prime Minister.  This book gives an insight into Keating's mind and how he developed serious policies which made Australia a more mature economic nation.  It is a great "behind the scenes" look at Australia's history and how Keating influenced the changes that were made.  Keating had no tertiary education so he taught himself about economics and leadership soaking up that knowledge from others, including former NSW Premier Jack Lang.  His major achievement was the floating of the Australian dollar.  He supported Native Title after the High Court's Mabo decision.  He was very "hands on" with Treasury and the Reserve Bank, getting his information for the Budgets from the leaders of these institutions, but also from people further down the ladder.  This is a great example of the use of oral history telling an historical story by a key person involved with it.  Australia was fortunate to have a political leader of this calibre at that time.  Highly recommended for those who would like to learn more about that period. 5/5