Bob Carr

Political memoirs are often worthy but boring. Not Bob Carr's. One of Australia's leading politicians tears up the rules. His account plunges into the unintended consequences of politics, the twists and turns, loaded with furious self-criticism. He lashes himself for ignoring a cry from a cell in Goulburn Gaol and berates his failure to convert the country to reduced immigration and population growth. Revealed, too, is his joy in saving nature, running good budgets, thrashing opponents, surviving against the odds. He talks about not having kids, about outsmarting the conservatives on law enforcement, about forcing the notorious Obeid out of cabinet. He tells how on a whim, in his last days in opposition, he forced a Royal Commission to upend the state's police, describes what he learnt from Neville Wran and how as a kid, from a working class suburb, he was inspired by Gough Whitlam. He celebrates the Olympics - 'the world's best' - without the games. This 'anti-memoir' takes a critical look at the author: his failure to be ignited by sport (except on two notable occasions) and why in politics being true to your quirky self is good advice. Silence the jet skis! Liberate the dolphins! Take James Hardy to the cleaners! Declare more wilderness!

Run for Your Life

Six years after vacating his position as the longest-serving premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr returned to politics in his dream job: as foreign minister of Australia and a senior federal cabinet minister. For 18 months he kept a diary documenting a whirl of high-stakes events on the world stage--the election of Australia to the UN Security Council, the war in Syria, and meetings with the most powerful people on the planet. And they all unfold against the gripping, uncertain domestic backdrop of Labor Party infighting, plummeting polls, and a leadership change from Gillard back to Rudd. This compelling diary provides an intimate glimpse into the day-to-day workings of a foreign minister and proves that Carr is not only a master politician and statesman but a great writer as well.

Diary of a Foreign Minister

"This is former NSW premier Bob Carr's guide to reading. In it he tells us about the books he loves (fiction and non-fiction), why he thinks they are important and why he thinks it is important to read seriously and deeply."--Provided by publisher.

adventures in the world of books

My reading life

At a time of increasing nationalism around the world, Bob Carr, the Premier of New South Wales, explores a subject close to his heart. In this essay on patriotism and Australia, Carr discusses what our nation's traditions, history, heroes, values and achievements mean to him. In doing so, he encapsulates much that fellow Australians will recognise and honour.What Australia Means to Me examines the sources of national pride and patriotism, clears away old myths, and praises our democracy and sense of humour. It looks at what we got right, outlines some of our achievements, lists our sacred sites, describes our national characteristics and considers the development of our nation.Carr nominates areas to defend and protect: our environment, a sustainable population, education, respect for the public sector, citizenship rights, and a healthy patriotism. Finally, he urges white Australians to acknowledge the dark side of their history in order to achieve reconcilliation with indigenous people.

What Australia Means to Me

2018 Annual China in the World Lecture

Australia-China Relations at the Crossroads?

Social Democracy and Australian Labor

Bede Nairn and Labor History

Address by the Premier, Minister for Ethnic Affairs and the Arts, the Hon. Bob Carr MP, on the Occasion of the 82nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Willoughby Town Hall, Victoria Avenue, Willoughby, Sydney

Outlines the policies which will be put into place by the next Labor government in New South Wales.

The Labor Revival in New South Wales

Matters of Principle

"Raising our children on Bourbon is the story of Bob and Jan Carr, who escaped the mundane life of mid-America and moved to the heart of the infamous French Quarter to raise their children among the 'Quarter eccentrics' while accomplishing spectacular careers in radio and television. Join them as they renovate and restore a Bourbon Street mansion, passing through one crisis after another; their Ku Klux Klan encounter; sunbathing strippers next door; integration of the Desire bus line; and school problem solutions, all interspersed with the bizarre and myriad characters of the 'Quarter.' Laugh with them as they relate anecdotes of encounters with celebrities: Bette Davis, Joan Crowford, Brenda Lee, Bishop Fulton Sheen, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Clay Shaw, Ruthie the Duck Girl, and more than a score of the famous and infamous. This story depicts the bright side of the city's indomitable spirit as it forges ahead and continues to dazzle visitors. Enjoy this taste of New Orleans without the calories!"--Front flap.

A French Quarter Love Affair

Raising Our Children on Bourbon

The Scrolls of Belbou tells of duty, courage, and friendship. An evil army has subdued the continent and plans to conquer the island of Eden that stands in the way of total domination. The scrolls reveal the islands past glory, and tell of a boy doing his duty that becomes the catalyst of a miraculous development.

Winning at Their Sales Game

I like to tell stories. As my kids grew up I would tell them stories about my childhood, things that happened to me, and about the people who had passed away, that influenced that childhood. My daughters suggested I write the stories down. As a gift to them I have. The stories here are recollections of my specific memories of Brooklyn, and my summers spent in Pine Bush NY, from about 1960 to when we moved to the suburbs September, 1969. The narratives are short with illustrations opening each chapter capturing the essence of the stories that follow.

Brooklyn 1963 a Memoir

Robert Carr

The beauty and endless mysteries of mathematics are central to this work of fiction. Continuums is partly about the resolution of Cantor's Conjecture, or the Continuum Hypothesis partly about people trapped in their own worlds, unable to find a way out. Alexandra is a brilliant mathematician whose career and family unravel following the flight of her brother from Communist Romania. She finally departs for North America and leaves be-hind her husband and daughter. Asuero Aroso is Alexandra's first mentor and, then, colleague. An extraordinary but obscure mathematician stuck in Romania, he is a Sephardic Jew, born in Istanbul, a former student of the eminent David Hilbert in the days when Gottingen was the world centre of mathematics. His is the story of a young genius, of an incompatible and unhappy marriage, of an epochal mathematics discovery left unheralded, of a man caught in an absurd and cruel political system. Robert Carr has created a bold, imaginative and engaging novel.

Continuums

This novel tells the story of an old and seemingly defenseless man, confronted by three drunken yobs who demand his wallet by threatening him with a flick knife. In the blink of an eye, the three yobs end up lying in a bloody heap on the war memorial.

Signs of the Times

Reflections of a Public Man

Thoughtlines

All author proceeds from this book are donated to help the children displaced by the Syrian civil war by funding humanitarian aid through the registered charity Australia for UNHCR. Most political memoirs are boring. Bob Carr tears up the rules. He plunges in, beginning with the despair of a young man pining for a political career, convinced he's going nowhere, then vaulting to the exhilaration of a premier who, on one day, saves a vast forest and unveils the country's best curriculum. He lashes himself for ignoring a cry from a prisoner in a cell and for a breach of protocol with a US Supreme Court judge. He considers talking to the leader of a notorious rape gang and celebrates winning power against the odds: a leader without kids or any interest in sport. He describes growing up in a fibro house without sewerage and a 'lousy education' that produced a lifetime appetite for self-learning. He is candid about dealing with the media, dining with royals, working for Kerry Packer. He reveals the secrets he learnt from Neville Wran. He is open about his adulation of Gough Whitlam. Floating above all is Bob Carr's idea of public service in a party, he says, that resembles an old, scarred, barnacled whale. In an era of bland politicians, here's one with personality true to his quirky self. Silence the jet skis! Balance the budget! Liberate the dolphins! Roll out the toll roads! Declare a million hectares of eucalypt wilderness! Be a politician of character.

Run for Your Life (signed by Bob Carr)

Carr is renowned for his erudition, but what are his favourite books and why does he read them? What does he believe all thinking citizens of the West should read? He speaks of his profound love of reading, examining the reasons why certain books have so captured his attention.

Bob Carr

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