The Fights of My Life

From his childhood in Rooty Hill in the western suburbs of Sydney, Greg Combet rose to the leadership of the Australian trade union movement and went on to become a senior minister in the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments. Along the way he has been a key player in numerous national struggles defending workers rights and making historic reforms. His story is not just a personal memoir; it is an insight into how power works in Australia, who holds it, how it is used, and the sometimes ruthless way in which power is obtained. It is a story of how the powerful edifice of politics, big business, and the media can be breached so as to achieve social justice and fairness. Combet recounts his experience against the backdrop of the biggest political and industrial disputes of our time: the waterfront dispute, the collapse of Ansett, the battle for compensation for asbestos victims of James Hardie, the campaign against the Howard government s workplace laws, and the fight to address climate change. He argues that the labor movement s work is far from done, but that the Labor Party and the trade unions must democratize to engage the next generation of activists to fight the good fight: to achieve a more fair and just world."