Simon Benson

The story everyone is talking about...The book that helped trigger a change of Prime Minister... and helps explain why Labor failed to win a majority in the recent election... and what Labor needs to do about it!

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND... IN ITS 2ND PRINT

A story that some in the Australian Labor Party would prefer to keep buried. But to others, including former Labor giants, it's a story that needs telling.

BETRAYAL is a shocking, often crude, even hilarious war-story about politics, policy and petty personal ambition.

More important, it's about the train wreck of the NSW Labor Party & the policy reform framework that past Labor leaders fought hard to make it stand for, and how that culture infected Federal Labor... ultimately what cost Labor majority government in the recent federal election.

Available now.  Ask for it!

THE POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR !

 

What people are saying about BETRAYAL:

"A new genre of books – political horror"

"one big morality tale... a cracker read." ABCTV News Breakfast

" ...probably be the best-selling political insider’s account in years" - Vexnews

"To get an insight as to what may happen, I thoroughly recommend you buy Simon’s book, Betrayal ... it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read...most fascinating , most-jaw-opening things you’ve ever read in your life..." Andrew Moore, Radio 2GB

"A rivetting read... although it's not a pretty picture." Steve Austin, ABC Radio 612 Brisbane

"This book takes readers inside the corridors of power and re-creates critical conversations through painstaking interviews. It's a remarkable feat of investigative journalism." Thomas Liddle, GoodReading Magazine

"You are going to hate what you learn" Caroline Overington, Spectator Australia

"an extraordinary book...meticulously detailed...I couldn't put it down...an absolutely gripping story." Alan Jones, Radio 2GB

"An accurate portrayal...I had a...deal with the Prime Minister and it should have been honoured." - Morris Iemma, former NSW Premier

"I supported the government's policy. On the question of organisational matters within the Australian Labor Party, Mr Iemma's recollection of events is not accurate.” former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (June 2010)

“What I said is 100 per cent accurate. Mr Rudd's the one who's got it wrong...the one whose recollections are hazy." Morris Iemma, former NSW Premier

"a book that will shatter the credibility of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd." Radio 2UE

"a portrayal of the dirty world of politics...secret meetings and broken promises..." - Steve Liebmann, Radio 2UE

"an outstanding read..." - Ray Hadley, Radio 2GB

"an explosive tell-all book..." - The Daily Telegraph

"a ripper book" - Michael Smith, Radio 4BC Drive

"...bombshell..." Miranda Devine, The Sydney Morning Herald

"the book does a brilliant job capturing the often cinematic quality of the treachery within the ALP. There is one scene straight out of a movie." David Penberthy, The  Australian

“Benson has the quality tabloid journalist’s feel for detail... Betrayal, however, is more than a compelling political potboiler. It should stimulate the beginnings of the conversation about what Labor government in NSW between 1995 and (if the polls are correct) 2011 has meant. If the answer to that question by most media commentators and editorialists would appear to be ‘unalleviated disaster’, that simply reflects shortness of memory, including for many of their own previously held positions.” Imre Salusinszky, Australian Literary Review

 

"Benson is best of breed in political reporting... and his skill and access shines through his book, which reads like a political spy-thriller where you’re compelled to turn the next page to read the next act of intrigue, skullduggery or bloody-mindedness. We, of course, know how it ends but it’s no less compelling for it." Vexnews

"an account of the destruction of the Iemma government in NSW on electricity privatisation reform. In effect, the party destroyed the government." Paul Kelly, The Australian

 

“Simon Benson’s riveting account...of how the unions, the state ALP machine and even the opposition brought down the Iemma government...” Michael Stuchbury, The Australian

"a book with more twists than a Rubik’s cube." Robert Simeon

"In the most explosive political book of 2010 the underbelly of Australian politics... finally exposed!" Readings Bookstore

"the first book which captures the disillusionment which followed the glory days of Kevin 07 and explores the chicanery of  The Lodge’s present tenant." Quadrant Online

“As a snapshot of what happened, the book deserves comparison with Alan Reid’s The Gorton Experiment (1971). The events, scheming, the atmosphere and personalities, drama and ultimate tragedy are deftly sketched. Benson’s book illuminates how the NSW machine betrayed its own traditions. That’s the real betrayal...” Michael Easson in The Australian Financial Review

"...A rollicking read... a readable and an accessible account of the dysfunctional, damaged and cynical culture of the NSW ALP" Michael Samara in The Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum

"...Benson’s narrative is fast-paced and captures the hectic untidiness of politics behind the scenes... Amid the often colourful recriminations, Betrayal has a serious point to make. It is that when the party machine lacks ‘policy purpose, it has nothing more to offer than to focus on marketing and polls’..." Stephen Minas in Upstart

About Simon Benson

Award-winning journalist Simon Benson is chief national political reporter for Sydney's The Daily Telegraph, where he has worked since 1994.

Previously, Simon was The Daily Telegraph's NSW political editor, and also president of the NSW Parliamentary Press Gallery more >

Interviews with Simon Benson or about the book

See video interview of Simon Benson by The Daily Telegraph 

Hear radio interview of Morris Iemma & Michael Costa by Alan Jones, Radio 2GB

Hear radio interview of Simon Benson by Steve Liebmann, Radio 2UE

Hear radio interview of Simon Benson by Ray Hadley, Radio 2GB

Hear radio interview of Simon Benson & Morris Iemma, ABC World Today

 

About the cover artwork

The original cover artwork was created by Bill Leak, renowned artist & Australia's leading political cartoonist.

With Bill Leak’s consent, Pantera Press recently made available a limited edition of framed and signed prints of this work for The Smith Family to auction to help raise funds for literacy program, Let’s Read... more>