Meet the author - John Birmingham

John Birmingham will be in conversation with Mark Kenny on his new Quarterly Essay, Another Country: The rise and rise of One Nation. The rise of One Nation isn’t a sudden eruption. In this intimate, perceptive and funny essay, John Birmingham gives us the deep history and the present moment. Using personal stories, insights from political insiders and overarching analysis, he shows who is thinking about voting One Nation and why. This is an essay about nostalgia, rage and the efforts to build an unstoppable movement to change Australia .In Another Country, John Birmingham maps One Nation’s Australia and explores where our politics goes from here. “When a person who has been told their whole life that they are an autonomous economic actor, responsible for their own success, suddenly discovers that they cannot afford a home, they need two jobs to cover the grocery bill, they can’t get ahead, can’t afford childcare, can’t retire, they don’t necessarily conclude: ‘The political economy of labour has shifted in favour of capital.’ Instead, they tend to think, ‘Something has gone terribly wrong.’ And then somebody like a Hanson, or a Farage or a Trump, comes along and says, ‘No. It’s not you. It’s them. The migrants. The trans kids. The Others.’” —John Birmingham, Another Country John Birmingham’s books include the cult memoir He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, which was filmed, with the stage adaptation became the longest running non musical production in Australian history and Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney, which won the National Award for Nonfiction. He is the author of two Quarterly Essays, Appeasing Jakarta – Australia’s Complicity in the East Timor Tragedy and A Time for War – Australia as a Military Power. He is a regular contributor to the Monthly. Professor Mark Kenny is Director of the Australian Studies Institute at ANU, where he hosts the popular podcast series 'Democracy Sausage'. Mark is the Canberra Times political analyst and a regular on the ABC's Insiders and numerous broadcast programs across the country. The vote of thanks will be given by award-winning Canberra author Dr Patrick Mullins. Books will be available for signing from 5.30pm and again after the event. Additional information: Registration is required for this event. Accessible parking spaces are available around campus should you require them. By registering for this event, you are accepting our privacy policy. A podcast will be made available after the event. TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C