Bulldozed

The gripping inside story of how Scott Morrison went from miracle man to roadkill.

Laurie Oakes

Between 2013 and 2022, Tony Abbott begat Malcolm Turnbull, who begat Scott Morrison. For nine long years, Australia was governed by a succession of Coalition governments rocked by instability and bloodletting, and consumed with prosecuting climate and culture wars while neglecting policy.

By the end, among his detractors - and there were plenty - Morrison was seen as the worst prime minister since Billy McMahon. Worse even than Tony Abbott, who lasted a scant two years in the job, whose main legacy was that he destroyed Julia Gillard, then himself, and then Turnbull.

Morrison failed to accept the mantle of national leadership, or to deal adequately with the challenges of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. He thought reform was a vanity project. He said he never wanted to leave a legacy. He got his wish.

Niki Savva, Australia's renowned political commentator, author, and columnist, was there for all of it. In The Road to Ruin, she revealed the ruinous behaviour of former prime minister Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, that led to the ascension of Turnbull. In Plots and Prayers, she told the inside story of the coup that overthrew Turnbull and installed his conniving successor, Morrison.

Now she lays out the final unravelling of the Coalition at the hands of a resurgent Labor and the so-called teal independents that culminated in the historic 2022 election. With her typical access to key players, and her riveting accounts of what went on behind the scenes, Bulldozed is the unique final volume of an unputdownable and impeccably sourced political trilogy.

'I don't hold a hose, mate.' Scott Morrison, 20 December 2019, on the Black Summer bushfires
'It's not a race.' Scott Morrison, 11 March 2021, on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

'Savva's great skill as a journalist combines with sharp commentary and her vast experience to deliver a powerful analytical coda to Morrison's pointless premiership ... A key strength of Bulldozed is the way Savva convinces the key players to talk, including some of those closest to Morrison ... Bulldozed will not be the last word on Morrison's dismal premiership, but it will surely influence future accounts according to the degree to which their authors concur or disagree with Savva. It is a superb insight into a government in terminal moral decline, a regime with little purpose other than the burning career aspirations of its members.'

Mark Kenny, Australian Book Review

'Niki Savva, an accomplished author (especially in the realm of Australian political biography) has now written the definitive study of the fall of the Morrison government. It is as powerful as it is persuasive ... The Road to Ruin was a withering examination of the self-destruction of the Abbott government. This was followed by Plots and Prayers which was a sweeping critique of Malcolm Turnbull's disappearance and the treachery of those who backed Scott Morrison into the Lodge. Both books set new benchmarks in forensic evaluation of the deceit that accompanies leadership changes in Canberra. Bulldozed continues Savva's laser-like examination of the political players ... Savva's interpretations of the cascading episodes which led to the disintegration of the Morrison government are utterly compelling. She has employed the equivalent literary device of a cat o' nine tails, as she flays the former prime minister's reputation for a diversity of failings.'

Stephen Loosley, The Australian

'Savva's blunt and often eye-popping account of the Morrison Government has smashed the mould of contemporary writing on our country's political contest ... Savva's book reflects the wisdom of her judgements about politics and people formed over decades as a political reporter, and the quality of her skills as a wordsmith. Bulldozed is also the third instalment of her account of the federal Coalition which gives readers an unparalleled view of a very particular period in Australian politics ... Savva's trilogy of books demonstrates how the finest in her profession can both gain an unparalleled insight into how politics really works but emerge on the other side with their independence intact.'

Judges comments for Australian Political Book of the Year Award