Over months of filming and 60 on-camera interviews for the ABC’s landmark political docuseries Nemesis, the free character assessments between former Coalition colleagues fly thick and fast. But as well as the blue language and invective, there are also moments of remorse and regret.
Watch the first episode of the ABC’s political docuseries Nemesis on Monday at 8pm on ABC TV and iview.
Some choice quotes:
What [Barnaby Joyce] says next, referring to Turnbull, stuns me. Let’s just say it’s a four-letter word, connected to another four-letter word.
In one interview, Turnbull is called a “turd” by one of his former supporters.
For his part, the former prime minister recounts being told to “f*** off” by his predecessor Tony Abbott.
The last Coalition prime minister Scott Morrison is labelled “smug” and an “arrogant arsehole” during an interview with one of his former backbenchers.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“Barnaby made a shocking error of judgement in having an affair with a young woman working in his office,” intones Turnbull on the screen.
This is not the only unleashed interviewee moment during the shooting of Nemesis, the ABC’s landmark political docuseries charting nine years of Coalition government from 2013 to 2022.
But it would stand, like the previous iterations — Labor in Power, The Howard Years and The Killing Season – as the definitive account of the political period.
“Big bullying billionaires, they all think they’re God’s gift to humanity,” says Turnbull of his infamous call with Donald Trump over Australia’s refugee swap deal with Washington.
Off we go," said Victorian Liberal Katie Allen when we asked her about then-Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and his opposition to the net zero 2050 emissions target.
For others, like Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer, the clumsy handling of women’s issues was a key factor in the demise of Scott Morrison, and in the end of nine years of Coalition government.
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