Institutional stories make great books

Institutions, their people and their rituals are at the heart of the machine that makes our society work. How they work, how they interact and what we think of them has been a constant theme of my work as a journalist, editor and author over the past quarter century.

Most recently, it’s been sated by a commission to co-write a book on the role of the Governors in modern Queensland. The state has had five Governors since knighthoods were essential to the role and they’ve been at the head of government for six Premiers.

With my co-author Madonna King (we’re also married to each other), we interviewed all the living Governors, most of the living Premiers and dozens of other Queenslanders who interact with Government House.

The book, The Governors of Modern Queensland, was launched last month at Government House by the current but soon-to-retired Governor, Paul de Jersey, whose enthusiasm prompted the project.

The role of the Governor can appear challenged in a political system increasingly dominated by the short grab based on the opinion of a political leader. The book demonstrated to us the rigour of the processes that sit behind this - and the important role a Governor plays in ensuring proper process is followed in legislating and committing to major public expenditure.

This is but one part of the Governor’s job. He or she is also highly visible in both ceremonial and community roles.

We enjoyed researching and writing the book which is published by another great Queensland institution, the University of Qld Press. The opportunity to interview people at all levels of the community was insightful and gave us valuable material to weave together a story that is heading towards every library in the state.

The process opened our eyes to the Governor’s role and was a reminder of what value independent institutions offer to our society, regardless of whether you are a republican or a monarchist.

This is the second book Madonna and I have co-written. We also co-wrote Greater Springfield - Australia's Newest City in 2017, again drawing on dozens of interviews to give life to the story of a community that didn’t exist 30 years ago.

It’s a privilege to be admitted to peoples’ lives to tell their stories. Between us, Madonna and I have written 15 books, covering politics, medicine, education, business, social issues and technology, all loaded with personal research, flavoured by our curiosity and enriched by the writing skills of our combined half century in journalism. And there will be more to come.