Dumbing Down Democracy: Lindsay Tanner and George Megalogenis

“The two key rules that now govern the practice of Australian politics are: (1) look like you’re doing something; and (2) don’t offend anyone who matters.”

In 2010, one of the Wheeler Centre’s most popular events saw former ALP federal minister Lindsay Tanner interview senior political journalist George Megalogenis about his Quarterly Essay. Tanner put Megalogenis under the spotlight, questioning his analysis of the failures of leadership in Australian politics.

In 2011, the tables are turned. The former politician and the respected journalist return to duke it out again, this time focusing on Tanner’s new book Sideshow, part memoir, part analysis, and part critique of the media. In his first book since leaving political life, Tanner lays bare the relentless decline of political reporting and political behaviour that occurred during his career. On media, on politics, on Australia today, Megalogenis and Tanner are a formidable double-act.