![Setting the Record Straight: A Political Memoir by [Scully, Carl]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51eMfPoIYtL._SY346_.jpg)
Upon picking up this book you would think that it would be just about the never ending political struggle of Labour versus Liberal. Upon actually reading it, it was not what I expected. For anyone who aspires to a career in politics it is a “must read” for the real struggle is battling forces from within your own party and then the battle to secure project funding and dealing with all the machinery of government for any given portfolio.
It is a read that is hard to put down once I started it, and for me the standout was how difficult it was to achieve funding for much needed infrastructure, or indeed the ongoing maintenance of infrastructure that we already have. This was no more revealing than the battle to run a railway system with the treasurers forced noose of ‘economic rationalism’ by breaking up the railway into compartments that must compete against each other. To separate rail infrastructure (RIC) and rail access (RAC) into corporations that only antagonised each other, as the fatally flawed British ‘Network Rail’ model ultimately proved, was never going to work. My rail industry associates look back that period with their usual cynical sense of humour as “RIC, RAC and Ruin”, upon reading Carls book, how true it turned out to be.
Then to experience the great success of the Sydney Olympics and highs like the M7 and M5 East certainly made for a career of mixed emotions, and to have motorways and railways cancelled by a supposed fellow colleague, would just break ones heart…. But wait! There’s more, read on, it’s hard to put down – a must read.
Product Description
In his political memoir, Carl Scully brings a confronting perspective to the challenges and obstacles an aspiring politician experiences daily to achieve political success — from the process of winning pre-selection, to campaigning for election, and once elected to retaining ministerial longevity, all while delivering significant road and rail infrastructure for the community.
In this first hand account of how the 10-year Carr government conducted its business, Carl recalls amusing anecdotes of events that occured while he was in government, and tells what really happened behind the scenes when Morris Iemma succeeded Bob Carr as Premier, and how on a whim Iemma brought Carl’s career to an end over the Cronulla Riot Report. This political memoir is his opportunity to set the record straight.
Much was achieved during Carl Scully’s nearly 12 years as a NSW minister: five motorways (M7, Eastern Distributor, Lane Cove Tunnel, M5 East, Cross City Tunnel), the extensive Western Sydney bus only Transitway network, the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link, as well as the planning and delivering of transport for the Sydney 2000 Olympics − all lasting legacies for the people he served.
In March 2007, he left politics behind and worked as a consultant and in an international business development role with global engineering firm WorleyParsons, until his retirement from full time employment in November 2015.
Carl Scully currently chairs the NSW Mine Safety Advisory Council, runs his own project advisory business and continues to pursue his interest in history as a part time student at the University of Sydney.
About the Author
Much was achieved during Carl Scully's nearly 12 years as a NSW minister: five motorways (M7, Eastern Distributor, Lane Cove Tunnel, M5 East, Cross City Tunnel), the extensive Western Sydney bus only Transitway network, the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link, as well as the planning and delivering of transport for the Sydney 2000 Olympics - all lasting legacies for the people he served. In March 2007, he left politics behind and worked as a consultant and in an international business development role with global engineering firm WorleyParsons, until his retirement from full time employment in November 2015. Carl Scully currently chairs the NSW Mine Safety Advisory Council, runs his own project advisory business and continues to pursue his interest in history as a part time student at the University of Sydney.