What happened at Essendon, what happened at Cronulla, is only part of the story. From the basement office of a suburban football club to the seedy corners of Peptide Alley to the polished corridors of Parliament House, The Straight Dope is an inside account of the politics, greed and personal feuds which fuelled an extraordinary saga. A football club and coach determined to win, a sports scientist who doesn't play by the rules, an AFL administration hell bent on control, an anti-doping authority out of its depth, a generation of footballers held hostage by scandal and an unpopular government that just wants it to end; for two tumultuous seasons this was the biggest game of all.

    Fifteen months later, his mother, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's brother were sent to prison. But media attention turned on those who worked to protect children, especially the social workers and their managers, who became the focus of the reporting and of the blame. Five years later they are still harassed by press reporters. This book tells what happened to 'Baby P', how the story was told and became focused on the social workers, its threatening consequences for those who work to protect children, and its considerable impact on the child protection system in England. This is the first book to draw together all evidence available on this high profile case and will make a unique and crucial contribution to the topic. It will make essential reading for everyone who is concerned about child protection and the care of children and about the media's impact.

    At its heart, it's a powerful and compelling account of how one of the most infamous and shocking murders in Australian history came to happen - and how justice came to be done. But it's also a forensic examination of how the crime would shatter the lives of dozens of people, some of whom had never met six-year-old Sheree Beasley. Wayne Miller's newspaper reporting on the case earned him a Walkley Award for excellence in journalism. With The Murder of Sheree he went much deeper, his enduring relationship with those most deeply affected by the murder revealing just how much devastation such a crime can cause. Miller's writing is as clear, passionate and compelling as ever, and The Murder of Sheree remains one of the finest books of its kind ever published in Australia. Brad Newsome, Fairfax Media

    Hawke - Australia's 23rd and oldest living prime minister - has welcomed Derek Rielly into his home to share fine cigars and irreverent conversation. On a sun-soaked balcony, the maverick young writer and the charismatic old master talk life, death, love, sex, religion, politics, sport ... and everything in between.On other days, to paint his subject's enigma from the outside, Rielly interviews Hawke's Liberal MP rival John Howard, Labor allies Gareth Evans and Kim Beazley, wife and lover Blanche d'Alpuget, live-in stepson Louis Pratt, and friends - diplomat Richard Woolcott, economist Ross Garnaut, advertising guru John Singleton, and longtime mate Col Cunningham.The result is an extraordinary portrait of a beloved Australian - a strange, funny, uniquely personal study of Bob Hawke ruminating on his (and our) past, present and future.

    If you thought the 2019 election was just about a death tax that didn’t exist, you’re in for a surprise.From the dark arts of the dirt units to the role of billionaire Clive Palmer, this is the untold story of an election debacle. The Labor Party was the unbeatable favourite to win the 2019 election right up until the polls closed and voters delivered the surprise verdict. If the results staggered pundits, they also shocked Bill Shorten and his frontbench, who had spent the final weeks of the campaign carefully planning for their first days in office.Party Animals uncovers the secret history of a Labor fiasco, the untold story behind Scott Morrison’s miracle

    It was an unlikely friendship. She is a middle class, middle-aged white woman who writes for the right-wing press and a right of centre think tank. Gangs like Tuggy Tug's are responsible for the majority of crime in our inner cities. During the riots of August 2011, they were the young men setting our streets ablaze.Over the next three years she got more and more involved with the boys. All the issues she had read about - single mothers, absent fathers, lack of education and social mobility, the criminal justice system - suddenly took on new meaning as she encountered not just Tuggy Tug and his gang but their relatives and friends. She enters their world and sees institutions through their eyes. It is a revelation.She describes a dramatic three years. By the end of the book Tuggy Tug was found guilty of committing over a hundred street robberies. He and two other gang members are in prison, one is in mental hospital and one appears to be a successful criminal. In a remarkable, often funny and moving book, Harriet Sergeant describes how the friendship changed her and investigates the forces that turn potentially decent young men into misfits and criminals. As Britain faces the first anniversary of the riots, this book should be required reading for us all.

    The Summer of ’82 is the hilarious and heartfelt story of a boy becoming a man in suburban Australia.Dave O’Neil is one of our most loved comedians. He has been performing stand-up for over twenty-five years, has been part of some of Australia’s most successful FM radio teams, and is a regular on our TV screens, where he holds the honour of having the most guest appearances on ABC’s iconic Spicks and Specks (over fifty!). He is also a successful writer, columnist and actor. The Summer of ’82 is his fifth book.

    As Dr Nick Fuller, one of Australia's leading obesity researchers, has discovered, we're all tuned to a set body weight - a weight range that the body feels most comfortable being. When you take your body out of that comfort zone, it will work back towards its starting point as a defence mechanism. In The Interval Approach, Dr Fuller explains how you can trick your body into believing it's at its new set point so that you not only become slimmer but stay that way. And the good news is that you don't need to starve yourself to do this or go on any fad diet. In fact, following the next fad diet will only make the problem worse and you will end up dieting yourself fat.Containing meal plans, mouth-watering recipes and tips on organisation, The Interval Approach details how Dr Fuller has helped hundreds of his patients lose weight and keep it off using this method - and how you can too. It's simple, based on the latest scientific findings and effective. So, if you've tried every diet under the sun and are still watching those scales go up, then you need to stop now and read this book. You have nothing to lose but the kilos.

    Many of them don’t survive their ordeals and those who do are often either too afraid or too ashamed to speak. If I Live to Tell is unique in that respect. It’s a real, first-person look at the world from the perspective of a woman who has endured tragedy, heartbreak, abuse and betrayal at almost every point in her life.Set on three continents, If I Live to Tell is a rare glimpse into the world and heart of the largely invisible victimized woman. Following one woman’s struggle to discover purpose and identity, If I Live to Tell shows how tragedy can become triumph and how pain can turn to purpose. This is a true story like you’ve never heard before.

    The daughter of Lang Hancock – legendary arch-conservative, secessionist, mining millionaire and discoverer of the world's largest iron deposit in the Pilbara – Gina has grown up in a family known as much for its front-page legal stoushes as for its business acumen and toughness.With her reported wealth more than doubling in the last twelve months, Rinehart is beginning to flex the enormous power her money gives, buying large shareholdings in television's Ten Network and newspaper group Fairfax Media. They are moves that will give Rinehart and her controversial views a major place in Australian life and public affairs.Based on painstaking research and a wealth of interviews with Rinehart's colleagues, friends, family and former employees, award-winning journalist Adele Ferguson has written the definitive biography, shining a light into the private world of Gina Rinehart, her family, her feuds and the iron determination that has driven her relentless rise.

    . . An Unbelievable True StoryOnce upon a time in Melbourne there was a gigolo who thought he was a vampire. He bit the tongue off a prostitute and was then murdered in broad daylight on a suburban street. His execution, top brass believed, was organised by police. The aftershocks of this killing—and the murder of a state witness and his wife inside their fortresshome—rocked the police force and the Parliament, vanquished one government and brought the next to its knees.This is the story of police corruption for years swept under the carpet to avoid a Royal Commission. It is the story of a police force politicised to the point of paralysis and a witness protection program that buries its mistakes. It involves a policeman still free and living in a very big house, a drug baron who survived the gangland war only to be murdered in the state's most secure jail, and battles royale within a police force comprised of thousands of pistol-packing members.This is the story of Melbourne around the first decade of the new millennium: its lawmen, villains and politicians. It is a bizarre, tawdry, unbelievable tale. But every word of it happened.

    He has seen the bone-weary effort his single mum mustered to raise three kids and pay the bills. A poor boy who grew into a middle class man, his spending habits and attitude to money are still informed by growing up without it.Money is one of the most fraught subjects; it raises powerful emotions in all of us. Too much money often corrupts people - too little can make people feel desperate.In On Money, Morton examines the meaning of money and exposes the lie behind the government's mantra: have a go, get a go.

    First published in 1970, the book seeks to explain the causes for the 13 May 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur.Dr Mahathir sets out his view as to why the Malays are economically backward and why they feel they must insist upon immigrants becoming real Malaysians speaking in due course nothing but Malay, as do immigrants to America or Australia speak nothing but the language of what the author calls “the definitive people”. He argues that the Malays are the rightful owners of Malaya. He also argues that immigrants are guests until properly absorbed, and that they are not properly absorbed until they have abandoned the language and culture of their past.

    Why then do we have creeping inequality in the land of the fair go? The answer lies in stagnant wage rises, gender pay inequity, insecure work and the lack of real opportunities for all while corporations are still consuming large profits and executives claim record bonuses. Sally McManus confronts these truths every day. In On Fairness, she explores the true cost of social injustice and argues for advancing Australia fair.

    But we did it.In Upturn Tanya Plibersek brings together some of the country's most interesting thinkers who are ready to imagine a better Australia, and to fight for it. It is a compelling vision for a stronger economy, a fairer society and a more environmentally sustainable future.