Just as air brushed as the Kernot book that was soundly ridiculed because she air brushed her affair with Gareth Evens when the whole country knew he bedded her.
MEMOIRS are always self-serving — that is their purpose. Many will accept this as they read Julia Gillard’s new account of her time in power, but the gaps in the story may end up being more intriguing than the tale told.
Playing it safe when so many of her friends and enemies are still in parliament, the former prime minister avoids settling scores with the Labor colleagues who tore her down, leaving most of them unmentioned.
There is a lengthy account of Simon Crean’s failings, but a diplomatic silence on the machinations of others in the caucus over three years of venomous infighting to restore Kevin Rudd to the position he lost in June 2010.
The silence extends to some of Gillard’s machinations, too, when she sought the leadership. The events of those few days remain a mystery in My Story, for instance, because Gillard suggests everything came down to a single newspaper report that questioned her loyalty to Rudd. Yet we know now she had already held talks with Tony Burke that seemed to raise the question of leadership.
Nobody should need this new account to convince them of Rudd’s character flaws. He was a canny campaigner, but arrogant as leader, destructive in power and a malign force during the 2010 election campaign. For Gillard, the search for blame always leads to the same destination.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/yes-julia-we-all-made-mistakes/story-e6frgd...
