The Killing Season is a documentary film - divided into three parts - which premiered on Australian television (ABC) in 2015.
The topic of this film is the modern history of Australian governments and prime ministers.
More specifically the years 2007-2013, when the Australian Labor Party was in government and when the prime ministers were Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Producer: Sue Spencer
** Director: Deborah Masters
** Writers: Patricia Drum, Sarah Ferguson, and Anne Worthington
** Narrator and interviewer: Sarah Ferguson
** Additional research provided by Shaun Hoyt
** Music: Pete Drummond
** Run time: 70 + 89 + 74 minutes
** Total run time: 233 minutes
Here are the headlines of the three episodes:
# 1. The Prime Minister and His Loyal Deputy
Kevin Rudd is the PM, while Julia Gillard is the deputy PM. The time frame is 2007-2010
# 2. The Great Moral Challenge
Internal problems in the Labor Party. The transition from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard which takes place in 2010
# 3. The Long Shadow
Julia Gillard is now the PM, while Kevin Rudd is no longer the PM. The time frame is 2010-2013
Numerous politicians and officials who were involved in top political affairs during those years are interviewed, including Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
The complete list of names is long.
Too long to be mentioned here.
The interviews are often quite candid. In several cases, more than one version of a specific event is presented.
When politicians and officials are talking about the past, they do not always agree on what was said and what happened at a particular moment:
** Who said what?
** Who did what?
** Who leaked some revealing detail to the media?
In these cases, there is more than one answer.
The viewers must make their own choice:
** What is the truth?
** Who is lying?
** Who can we trust?
The Australian Labor Party came to power in 2007 after a long run with the Liberal Party in government. John Howard had been the PM for more than ten years (1996-2007).
In the beginning, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard made a powerful and popular team. He was the PM, while she was the loyal deputy PM.
When Kevin was away on foreign business, Julia was the acting PM. She had a taste of what it was like to be in the driver’s seat.
The beginning was great.
During the election campaign, Kevin had made a promise: if he became the PM, he was going to make an official apology to the aboriginals for the policy which is known as the stolen generations.
John Howard had repeatedly refused to do this. When Labor won the election, and when Kevin became the PM, he kept his promise.
Aboriginals who had been victims of Australian policies were invited to attend an official ceremony held at the parliamentary building in 2008.
It was an emotional moment for those who attended the ceremony and for millions of Australians who were watching the ceremony on television.
In this moment, the government was seen by many as efficient and honest. The ratings were high. Extremely high.
Shortly after this ceremony was held, the government had to focus on a global problem: the international financial crisis of 2008. Kevin attended several meetings in the US, while Julia took care of governmental affairs in Australia.
During 2009, problems began to develop within the Labor government and within the Labor Party. Factions were developing. One faction supported Kevin, while another faction supported Julia.
This internal conflict had to be solved. The solution chosen was what Australians call a spill or a leadership spill.
This is a situation in which the position of the party leader is challenged. There is a vote in the party room; the winner will be the new party leader.
When the votes were counted, Julia had won and Kevin had lost. Some people were happy, while others were bitter. Politics can be a hard game. A hard way of life.
Key words in politics are:
** ambition,
** betrayal, and
** revenge.
A person you think is loyal may betray you. If you feel you have been betrayed, you may want to take revenge. Politics is not only about serving the people; it is also about having a career; it is about popularity.
One moment you are on top. But the next moment you are nothing. Strong feelings were expressed by many when the Labor Party was split between Kevin and Julia.
In 2010, Julia became the PM. The first female PM in Australian history. It was a significant victory for her, but the victory was always plagued by the memory of how she had attained her position.
The opposition complained about her government. Not only because the PM was from Labor but because the PM was a woman.
A female PM was hard to accept for many male members of parliament. Members of the old boys’ club felt Julia did not know her place:
** A woman’s task is to support a man!
** A woman should not be a leader!
** This is not right!
Julia deserved to be criticized for her mistakes and for the poor decisions she made. But she did not deserve to be criticized, because she was a woman.
Eventually. she was given a dose of her own medicine. In 2013, Kevin did to her what she had done to him in 2010. A spill took place. When the votes were counted, Kevin had won and Julia had lost.
Kevin became the PM again, but his second term did not last long.
In a subsequent election, Labor had a poor result, and the opposition won. It was the beginning of almost ten years with the Liberal Party in government (2013-2022).
The lesson is clear: if you take power by a coup, you may lose power by a coup. If you win by the sword, you may be killed by the sword.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 82 percent, which corresponds to a rating of 4.1 stars on Amazon.
Jonathan Holmes wrote a review of the film which was posted in The Age on 17 June 2015. The headline says:
“The Killing Season is one of the finest TV documentaries made in Australia”
Jonathan Holmes is an Age columnist and a former presenter of the ABC program Media Watch.
His wife, Shaun Hoyt, did additional research for The Killing Season.
The review starts with the negatives:
(1) He says he does not like the title. It is too melodramatic.
(2) He says the film does not explain why the members of the party room so suddenly decided to turn against Kevin Rudd.
Having made these negative statements, the rest of his review is a long list of positive statements. I will quote the paragraph which is the source of the headline:
“There, that’s the whingeing out of the way. For the rest, my verdict is that The Killing Season is shaping to be one of the finest works of documentary television that’s ever been made in Australia.”
I understand what he says and I agree with him.
The story of the time when Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard were prime ministers of Australia is important.
The story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. This film deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
The Stalking of Julia Gillard: How the Media and Team Rudd brought down the Prime Minister
By Kerry-Anne Walsh
(2013)
My Story
By Julia Gillard
(2014)
Kevin Rudd: Twice Prime Minister
By Patrick Weller
(2014)
The Killing Season Uncut
By Sarah Ferguson
With Patricia Drum
(2016)
This book is a companion to the documentary film from 2015 written by two persons who were involved in the production of the film
The PM Years
By Kevin Rudd
(2018)
Not Now.
Not Ever.
Ten Years on from the Misogyny Speech
By Julia Gillard
(2022)
# 2. Film and video
The following items about Australian governments and prime ministers were made by ABC television:
Labor in Power
Five episodes – 1993
Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1983-1991
Prime Minister Paul Keating 1991-1996
The Howard Years
Four episodes – 2008
Prime Minister John Howard 1996-2007
Nemesis:
Ambition, Betrayal, Revenge
Three episodes – 2024
Prime Minister Tony Abbott 2013-2015
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 2015-2018
Prime Minister Scott Morrison 2018-2022
The following item is a four-part documentary film which premiered on Australian television (ABC) in 2021:
Ms Represented with Annabel Crabb
The topic of this film is the history of female politicians in Australia, more precisely the history of female members of the Australian parliament
The following item is a four-part documentary film which premiered on Australian television (ABC) in 2023:
Makers of Modern Australia
This film focuses on four different aspects of Australian history since 1901:
# 1. Leaders
# 2. Innovators
# 3. Rebels
# 4. Artists
Four episodes. Four aspects. Sadly, one important aspect is missing: an episode about the makers of Australian foreign policy since 1901
*****
Kevin Rudd
(born 1957)
Prime Minister of Australia two times:
2007-2010
From June to September 2013
*****
Julia Gillard
(born 1961)
Prime Minister of Australia
2010-2013
*****
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