The Wire

Robert Manne often has a fight on his hands – as a leading Australian intellectual who’s not afraid to speak out, his views have had him branded by the conservative press as a leftist extremist. Now in the post – Howard era and he has a book all ready for what he hopes will be a new era in Australian public life – it’s called Dear Mr Rudd and is a wish list for the new government, with essays contributed by a range of well known commentators. He says many people were afraid to speak out under the former government.