On Being a Minister is a welcome how-to book for those truly interested in politics and public service. Always a passionate thinker, John Hill's wise book is flecked with the same urbanity that characterised his time in public life. What a relief to have a book about politics written with charm and true insight, instead of melodrama and vengeance.' - Nicola Roxon
'It's hard to imagine a job that requires less education than that of government minister,' says John Hill. 'It's also hard to imagine a job where the occupant is less likely to seek help than that of government minister.'
John Hill knew when he quit as a government minister that what he had learnt - often painfully - over 11 years was likely to disappear with him. So he wrote it down …
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John Hill was born in the western suburbs of Sydney in 1949 and settled in South Australia in 1974. Following a career as a schoolteacher, he became ministerial assistant 1986-1989, ALP state secretary 1994-1997, and member for Kaurna 1997-2014. He held several portfolios under premiers Rann and Weatherill, most notably as Minister for Health for seven years. He did not contest the 2014 election and now serves as a director on a number of boards.
ISBN
CATEGORIES: Biography/Autobiography/True Stories, eBooks
IMAGES 33 colour photographs
PAGE COUNT 248
DIMENSIONS 210 x 135 mm
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'On Being a Minister is a delightful political memoir and an ideal primer for anyone seeking representative office at either state or federal level. It is also an absorbing guide for the reader interested in the nuances of the political process, all the way from grass-roots action to the polished benches of Parliament.' - Bernard Whimpress, Newton Review of Books
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'The most significant record of SA politics by an informed insider since fellow former Labor health minister John Cornwall's memoirs in 1989.' - Paul Starick, Advertiser
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'A rollicking good read and rates up there with Barry Cohen's How To Become Prime Minister as a manual for the aspiring politician. Along the way John Hill's intelligence, wisdom and urbanity shines and it is even self-deprecatory in places. The ending is as heart-warming as Bert Facey's in A Fortunate Life.' - Michael Atkinson, InDaily
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'John Hill has provided an intimate and captivating look at what goes on in politics. At the same time he has given us a charming look at the inner workings of a political party, government and parliament.' - Nic Klaassen, Flinders Rangers Research
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'An intimate and disarmingly frank peep into the mind of a policy-focused minister who thankfully did not take himself too seriously. John Hill gives us an engaging, and only too rare, tour of the inner workings of one of the last secret societies - a Minister of the Crown. It is written with a deft touch. Some of the anecdotes made me laugh and, particularly when he unpicks his relationship with the media, cringe.' - Matthew Abraham
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'John Hill writes with insight and great honesty about his time in the South Australian government. If only more politicians wrote like this, we would all have a much deeper understanding of the pressures and opportunities they face in their political lives.' - Clem Macintyre