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Jelena Dokic shares exciting career update

<p>Aussie tennis great Jelena Dokic has revealed she has two major projects coming up as her career continues to soar.</p> <p>Since retiring, Dokic, 39, has gained a loyal fan base thanks to her sharp tennis commentary and sharing the tough times she’s faced with online abuse, family violence, body-shaming and depression.</p> <p>The former World No. 4 regularly posts raw and inspiring content on Instagram, even sharing that at one point she came close to taking her own life.</p> <p>In an update on her career, she revealed she has a second book being released, and a documentary about her is wrapping up production.</p> <p>The 39-year-old’s autobiography <em>Unbreakable</em>, which focused on the physical and mental abuse she endured from her father, turned out to be a huge success.</p> <p>Her upcoming book, Fearless, will be focusing on her ongoing campaign against body shaming and her battle with mental health issues.</p> <p>The tennis champ is both working full time on the speaking circuit and appearing in fashion campaigns for Witchery.</p> <p>Speaking to Channel 9’s Today, Dokic told hosts, “I have been really busy,”</p> <p>“I thought I’d get a bit of a break after the Australian Open so I did for a week and that’s it.</p> <p>“(I’m) full time on the speaker circuit now as well which is amazing. I absolutely love that and love sharing my story.</p> <p>“A lot of important campaigns with a few fashion brands which are really focused on really good causes especially when it comes to women.”</p> <p>She also mentioned she has been “really busy writing my second book”.</p> <p>“We’re almost at the end,” she said.</p> <p>“It is coming out in September. It is (called) ‘Fearless’. We just came up actually with that headline now, 48 hours ago.</p> <p>“I am really excited because the first book was amazing. It was so successful. It was now five years ago since it’s come out. I have a bit of pressure with this one, I feel like. In a good way. I really want it to be another amazing piece that people can get something helpful out it.</p> <p>“The first book was purely my autobiography. This second one is going deep into mental health, trauma and healing, social media as well, body image and body shaming.</p> <p>“But ultimately I want it to be a book of hope and something that people can pick up, get a bit of inspiration from and just go really a little bit deeper into some of those things and some of the mental health things I have never even spoken about.”</p> <p>Her upcoming documentary <em>Unbreakable</em> is in post production stages and is set for release in 2024 after cameras followed her for three years.</p> <p>“We are pretty much done filming a lot of that,” Dokic said.</p> <p>“I am really excited because there will be a lot of other people in it, ex-players, former World No. 1s. To be able to tell my story but on screen is so powerful so I can’t wait for that to come out.”</p> <p>The tennis star has been very open about her experience with hate she receives online, describing the abusive comments she received during the Australian Open as “disgusting” and “a new low”.</p> <p>She added that she always tries to find the light in negative situations and her book will uphold that inspiring message.</p> <p>“I tried to keep it open and honest and raw as you know,” Dokic shared.</p> <p>“I want to be really real and authentic. That’s what I want to be known for and what I want my legacy to be.</p> <p>“I think we can turn lot of negatives into positives and I’ve learned that in my life so far whether that was on the tennis court as an athlete but also off the court.</p> <p>“I worked incredibly hard after retiring really early at 29 due to injury, how to reinvent myself as well and had to work really hard on that.</p> <p>“I think ultimately it is about finding the positives and not going back, not thinking about the past and trying to do good. I think we can do a lot and help other people.</p> <p>“If I can raise awareness about things that can save lives there is nothing better than that in the world. I want that to be my legacy.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>

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“I’ve tasted the faintest bitter edge of racism”: Ash Barty admits to being racially abused

<p dir="ltr">Ash Barty has confessed that she’s been on the receiving end of “bitter racism” after finding out about her Indigenous heritage. </p> <p dir="ltr">In her autobiography, <em>My Dream Time</em>, which will be published on November 2, Barty opens up about the moment she found out about her family’s past. </p> <p dir="ltr">The former tennis player said it was a difficult moment when her father searched for the truth and eventually told Barty and her sister which then led to “vile racism”. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve seen glimpses and tasted the faintest bitter edge of racism” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’d win a Deadly Award but get vilified on line. I’d become a Tennis Australia First Nations Ambassador and then find some muppet calling my heritage into question.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The three-time Grand Slam winner said there was still a lot of work and educated needed to address the importance of Indigenous Australians. </p> <p dir="ltr">“There was no need for us to talk about that in the moment but it was certainly something that confused me a little bit as to why someone would criticise something that is so personal to me,” she told NewsCorp.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Looking back now it’s all about the education and giving people the tools to understand others and appreciate what came before us.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Barty went on to reveal that her trip to Central Australia where she worked with First Nations children was when she was convinced of a connection with them. </p> <p dir="ltr">“If anything it has just reassured to me that the path I want to go down in the future is to try and help First Nations youth around the country.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Eventually, Barty found out of her Indigenous heritage when her father Rob traced back his roots. </p> <p dir="ltr">At 13 he was told by a cousin that there was Indigenous heritage in the family but his parents denied it, claiming their connection was only to Māoris in New Zealand. </p> <p dir="ltr">Rob did not accept that and went on to trace back his family history where he found out that his great grandmother was an Indigenous Australian who married a white man. </p> <p dir="ltr">Barty’s dad sat her and her sister down when she was just seven and told them the truth. </p> <p dir="ltr">The family then went on to record their names with the Ngarigu Nation. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It was not a conversation his parents could have with him,” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“To his parents, Aboriginal ancestry was something to be ashamed of and not something he should be curious about.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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New Bob Hawke book drops multiple bombshells

<p dir="ltr">Bob Hawke's widow has <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/sex-addict-bob-hawke-had-multiple-affairs-in-lodge/news-story/5ef8467f5fea97b75e66f9d30fc5b471" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> he was a sex addict who used a taxpayer-funded security team to see women in a new bombshell biography about the former PM.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-08206740-7fff-59ce-81a5-a778e6f5ffe2">The autobiography, <em>Demons and Destiny</em>, is written by Troy Bramston and contains revelations about the former Prime Minister from his second wife, Blanche d’Alpuget, among many others.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">It’s thrilling to tear open a box and hold your book for the first time! Very proud of my biography of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BobHawke?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BobHawke</a>, packed with new interviews/archival discoveries, can’t wait for people to read it. In bookshops 1 March. Pre-order <a href="https://twitter.com/PenguinBooksAus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PenguinBooksAus</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auspol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auspol</a> <a href="https://t.co/ai0oQUkgBf">https://t.co/ai0oQUkgBf</a> <a href="https://t.co/xELhOiqlqz">pic.twitter.com/xELhOiqlqz</a></p> <p>— Troy Bramston (@TroyBramston) <a href="https://twitter.com/TroyBramston/status/1490203872077492225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Ms d’Alpuget has revealed that her late husband had at least four lovers during his stint as Prime Minister, and that he used extramarital sex as a form of stress relief while he was still married to his first wife, Hazel Hawke.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Sex will calm people down, and he was a very highly strung man,” she said. “At the end of a day of intense activity, he somehow had to let off steam, as it were, and there’s nothing like a roll in the hay or five to do that.”</p> <p dir="ltr">When asked if she believed her late husband was a sex addict, Ms d’Alpuget replied, “I think so.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The new biography contains several other surprising revelations, including that Mr Hawke’s longest-running affair was with Jean Sinclair, his personal assistant at the Australian Council of Trade Unions, who was also married.</p> <p dir="ltr">Their affair continued during his time in parliament, as she went on to join his parliamentary and prime ministerial staff.</p> <p dir="ltr">The biography also reveals that Mr Hawke visited Ms Sinclair several times as she battled cancer in a Melbourne hospital in 1991, and that he was too distressed to speak at her funeral.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms d’Alpuget, whose affair with Mr Hawke was on-and-off from 1976, said he was even unfaithful to her during their marriage.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Getting in to see him at The Lodge was (often) the only palace that we could meet,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">She also recalled a particular rendezvous where she wore a red wig and stetson hat to meet Mr Hawke, and that they “rushed into each other’s arms, laughing” upon seeing each other.</p> <p dir="ltr">Roger Martindale, the former head of Mr Hawke’s VIP protection service, revealed that the Australian Federal Police sometimes drove him to see his paramours so he wouldn’t gain extra attention from driving his Commonwealth car with its Australian flag.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We were all adults,” Mr Martindale explained. “He never asked anything of us. He just expected discretion from everybody.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Wendy McCarthy, a friend of Hazel, said she was less concerned with her husband’s affairs and more with his drinking.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The alcohol mattered more than the affairs,” Ms McCarthy said. “She would not have been happy about it but there was nothing she could do about it. She was resigned to it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The autobiography claims Mr Hawke nearly drank himself to death during the 1970s, despite claiming he gave up drinking when he became Prime Minister.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Demons and Destiny</em> will be published in March, 2022.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e8daa301-7fff-786c-55a6-915588ab7e3b"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Kyle Sandilands "couldn't give a s***" about Lisa Wilkinson's memoir

<p>The radio shock jock has gone on a classic Sandilands rant on his radio show, slamming Lisa Wilkinson's upcoming autobiography. </p> <p>Speaking live on <em>The Kyle and Jackie O Show</em>, Kyle admitted he "couldn't give a s***" about Lisa's 40-year media career that she has documented in her book <em>It Wasn't meant To be Like This</em>. </p> <p>In her book, Lisa details her time on <em>The Today Show</em>, which came to an abrupt end in 2017 when she was outside after advocating for equal pay with her co-host Karl Stefanovic. </p> <p>However, according to Kyle, there's not much interest. </p> <p><span>"How exciting could her life be?" Kyle wondered aloud to his listeners. </span></p> <p><span>He was also quick to dismiss her claim that she was paid less than Karl, saying this was common practice in the television industry. </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">"Just because you are working on the same show as each other doesn't necessarily mean equal pay, just saying. Sometimes they have to pay someone more because they negotiated it that way," he said.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">'You don't just get what the other one gets. That's not the way the world works."</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He also said, "<span>She couldn't negotiate a decent salary, or her management couldn't, and she changed to a better network [Channel 10] where they paid her what they thought she was worth. That's all that happened. There's no badness or awfulness."</span></p> <p><span>After calling her memoir "boring", he did admit that Lisa is "very good at her job" on <em>The Project</em> after parting ways with Channel Nine. </span></p> <p><span>Kyle, who is good friends with Karl Stefanovic, said Lisa has marketed her book in such a way because "she's a journo... she's good at publicity."</span></p> <p><span>Lisa's book, <em>It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This,</em> will be </span>released on November 3rd. </p> <p><em>Image credits: KIISFM / Instagram @lisa_wilkinson</em></p>

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“Today was your last day”: Lisa Wilkinson reveals brutal dismissal

<p>After suddenly disappearing from the Channel Nine breakfast show <em>Today</em> in 2017, viewers around Australia were shocked at Lisa Wilkinson's quiet exit. </p> <p>Now, Lisa has revealed exactly what happened the day she was axed in an <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/lisa-wilkinson-finally-reveals-the-truth-about-leaving-today-and-her-last-show-with-karl-stefanovic/news-story/ef89081ecb766cac59cae0ba2909351a" target="_blank">exclusive extract</a> from her tell-all memoir called <em>It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This. </em></p> <p>After sitting alongside co-host Karl Stefanovic for more than a decade and appearing to be close friends, Lisa discussed how Karl <span>treated her with an unusual “disregard” on what ultimately became her final day on-air.</span></p> <p>Hours later, she was sacked over the phone while shopping at Woolworths. </p> <p>In her book, Lisa writes of her <span>awkward final on-air encounter with Karl Stefanovic, as she says he ignored her for a week in the lead-up to her brutal axing.</span></p> <p><span>The tension between the hosts came after he ditched her 25th wedding anniversary celebration and vow renewal with a last-minute text cancellation.</span></p> <p><span>“Karl and his new partner Jas had been invited but dropped out just two days before via a text to Pete saying that they were extending an overseas trip and wouldn’t be attending,” she wrote, adding how strange it was he hadn’t contacted her with apologies nor congratulations.</span></p> <p>“In the 10 days since, Karl hadn’t contacted me, his co-host of almost eleven years, at all. No phone message, no text, no apology, not even a simple congrats,” she wrote. “Just complete silence.”</p> <p>She added, “In all the years we’d sat next to each other, even though there were the occasional frustrations on both sides, upsets were rare."</p> <p><span>“But on this particular morning, I was upset. With limited numbers, there were two precious spots at the wedding we could so easily have filled with dear friends, but Karl’s late text meant those seats had gone empty.”</span></p> <p><span>Lisa wrote that as their first show after the wedding began, Karl arrived at his desk just in time to appear live on air, leaving no room for small talk and disappeared at his earliest chance. </span></p> <p>“Not a mention. Not a ‘how was the holiday?’ And certainly no ‘Sorry about that no-show at the wedding’. Not … anything,” she wrote.</p> <p>“What I felt in that instant was hard to put into words. More than anything, I felt just a little bit pathetic. What was this thing Karl and I had between us?"</p> <p>“I’d presumed that along with our work relationship, there was a friendship as well. I must have been wrong.”</p> <p>As Karl finally congratulated Lisa on her vow renewal while the cameras were rolling, Lisa said she felt taken aback by his unusual actions. </p> <p>Despite being hurt by the situation, Wilkinson said she took a deep breath and said: “Yeah, I did Karl, but why would anybody care about that when it’s news time? Good morning.”</p> <p>After that comment, she said: “Karl knew I had cut him dead, something I had never done on or off air before.”</p> <p>“For the next two hours, I exchanged not a single word with Karl outside of what was scripted – because for the first time, I just didn’t trust myself to ‘play nice’,” she wrote.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgGAJRlPGB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgGAJRlPGB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Lisa Wilkinson (@lisa_wilkinson)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>In the wake of these extracts being published, on Monday morning's edition of <em>Today</em>, Karl Stefanovic took the day off. </p> <p>His absence wasn't acknowledged by the hosts, as he was replaced for the day by <em>Today Extra</em> host David Campbell. </p> <p>Lisa's autobiography, <em>It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This</em>, will be released on November 3rd. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / Instagram @lisa_wilkinson</em></p>

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2021 National Biography Award finalists announced

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The National Biography Award, a yearly recognition of the best biographies and life stories across Australia, has returned for another year, with the State Library of NSW announcing the finalists for 2021.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Judges Suzanne Falkiner, Rick Morton, and Mandey Sayer selected six works to shortlist out of 101 entries.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the winner set to be announced on August 26, here is a roundup of the shortlisted autobiographies and biographies for this year.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843075/archie-roach.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/8ea1f6a7e50240c7a5735aae3a0ed503" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Simon &amp; Schuster, Getty</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>Tell Me Why</em>, Archie Roach</strong></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Tell-Me-Why/Archie-Roach/9781760854539" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a memoir detailing Roach’s life - from his forcible removal from his family as a small child to finding his biological family and becoming the legendary songwriter we know today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Roach’s memoir touches on love, heartbreak, family, survival, and renewal, and has won the 202 Indie Book of the Year Non-Fiction and 2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843079/clements-lotus.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/3ffd7e60cf1b46d1bb6ff87019e2aba3" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Hardie Grant Publishing</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>The Lotus Eaters</em>, Emily Clements</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clement’s memoir recounts the young writer’s teenage years and early twenties, covering her time living in Vietnam. After a dispute between her best friend sees Emily stranded in the country, alone for the first time in her life, she decides to stay and attempts to combat her newfound loneliness.</span></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/the-lotus-eaters-by-emily-clements/9781743795699" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Lotus Eaters</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been praised for its deep dive into a range of subjects, including body image, friendship, sex and consent.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843078/kwong-moon.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/14cd1ca7800f4534b4bc6a8ebda28baf" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: HarperCollins Publishers</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>One Bright Moon</em>, Andrew Kwong</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460758625/one-bright-moon/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">One Bright Moon</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Kwong details the trials he experienced as a child fleeing Chairman Mao’s China to a new life in Australia. Having witnessed his first execution when he was just seven years old and growing up facing persecution and famine, he and his family decided they had to escape. And, twelve-year-old Andrew would be the first to make the journey.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Critics have praised Kwong for his “startling clarity” and “profoundly moving” story.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843077/max-miller.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/5b4d72b2976b404b9a726b591b9378e7" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Allen &amp; Unwin</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>Max</em>, Alex Miller</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A tribute to Miller’s friend, Max Blatt, </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/other-books/Max-Alex-Miller-9781760878160" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Max</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> follows Miller’s journey as he pieces together Blatt’s life from the Melbourne Holocaust Centre’s records to his former home in Poland. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Max</em> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">explores the subjects of friendship, memory, and history that critics describe as a “compelling and tender story of one man’s hidden history”.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843076/truganini-pybus.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/396a7b91980240358009a931877c4fd8" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Allen &amp; Unwin, Cassandra Pybus / Twitter</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse</em>, Cassandra Pybus</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pybus, an award-winning author and historian, has pored over eyewitness accounts to tell the story of Truganini, who has since become widely referred to as the ‘last Tasmanian’ in a perpetuation of the myth of the extinction of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture.</span></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/other-books/Truganini-Cassandra-Pybus-9781760529222" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> recounts Truganini’s story of journeying around Tasmania with self-styled missionary George Augustus Robinson to help him try to negotiate an end to the violence between white colonists and Indigenous Australians.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843074/wong-margaret.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b85afede9d5e46b6b5b3abaf635c7369" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Black Inc Books</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>Penny Wong: Passion and Principles</em>, Margaret Simons</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Journalist Margaret Simons has penned the first biography of Senator Penny Wong, tracing her story from her early life in Malaysia, to becoming a student activist in Adelaide, and her time in parliament. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/penny-wong" target="_blank">Penny Wong: Passion and Principles</a></em>, Simons includes exclusive interviews with Wong and her Labor colleagues, as well as parliamentary opponents, close friends, and family members, to provide an insight into the Australian politician’s life.</span></p>

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Lisa Wilkinson "completely opened up" in new autobiography

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post-body-container"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> <p>Australian journalist Lisa Wilkinson is thrilled to annouce her latest project, an autobiography called<span> </span><em>It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This</em>.</p> <p>The autobiography is set to outline her entire life from where she started as a "magazine-junkie" kid in Western Sydney to a successful journalist in the mainstream Australian media.</p> <p>She shared the news on Instagram.</p> <p>"I've been working on something that is very close to my heart over the last couple of years - in fact, when I think about it, I've been working on this my entire life."It's my autobiography, and I'm excited (and just a little bit terrified) to be sharing the cover with you today," she wrote in the caption.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgGAJRlPGB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgGAJRlPGB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Lisa Wilkinson (@lisa_wilkinson)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>"It's called<span> </span><em>"It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This"</em>, and tells the story of how this magazine-junkie kid from (proudly) the western suburbs of Sydney, worked hard to survive the bumps and bruises of my teenage years, and went on to find myself in situations and places I could have once only ever dreamt about," she explained.</p> <p>"In it, I've completely opened up on things I've never talked about before, not even with some of my closest girlfriends."</p> <p>"I share the roller coaster ride of joys, and sadnesses, the pinch-myself moments, and the hard lessons I've had to learn along the way.</p> <p>"I've left no stone unturned, particularly when it comes to some of the more public moments you've seen in the headlines. Now, you'll know the truth," she finished.</p> <p>The post was a hit with fans, quickly hitting over 21,000 likes and other Aussie celebrities commented saying they were proud of Wilkinson.</p> <p>"Can't wait!" Turia Pitt commented.</p> <p>"This is great Lisa, when will the audio book be available? I struggle with those big words you like,"<span> </span><em>The Chase</em><span> </span>host Larry Emdur joked.</p> <p>Comedian Peter Helliar couldn't contain his excitement and commented "Woohoo!! Can't wait!".</p> <p>The book will be released on October 27th, 2021.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Books

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Elton John reveals furious row with Tina Turner in new autobiography

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sir Elton John has revealed in his new autobiography </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Me</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about the tough times he went through with singer Tina Turner. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The two legends united for a joint tour in 1997, but tensions quickly rose and eventually Elton told Tina to “shove her song up her f***ing a**e”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an extract from the book, which has been serialised in the </span><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7551955/Elton-Uncensored-Tinas-tantrum-simply-best.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daily Mail</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Elton revealed that he was particularly upset after some suggestions from Tina. The suggestions included swapping his Versace for Armani outfits so he would look “less fat” and that he should update his hairstyle.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I got off the phone and burst into tears: ‘She sounded like my f***ing mother,’ I wailed at David.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Things didn’t get better in rehearsals. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The subsequent debate about whether I knew how to play </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Proud Mary</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> became quite heated, before I brought it to a conclusion by telling Tina Turner to stick her f*****g song up her a**e and stormed off,” Elton added.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve thrown plenty of tantrums in my time, but there are limits: there’s an unspoken rule that musicians don’t treat their fellow musicians like s***.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Elton has had time to reflect on why Tina was acting like that.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Maybe it was insecurity on her part. She’d been treated appallingly earlier in her career, suffered years and years of being ripped off, beaten up and pushed around. Maybe that had an effect on how she behaved towards people,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Later, once Elton had calmed down, he went to Tina’s dressing room to apologise.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The argument made the pair realise that they had different performance styles, as Elton preferred to improvise, and Tina wanted to rehearse every detail.</span></p>

Music

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Queen “fuming” over David Cameron's tell-all memoir

<p>The former British Prime Minister David Cameron has landed himself in hot water with the monarchy over his admission about his relationship with the Queen in his new memoir.</p> <p>The politicians<span> </span>For The Record<span> </span>was published on Thursday, causing a stir as it is the first time the former PM has spoken about the 2016 Brexit referendum and its aftermath. </p> <p>The lengthy autobiography, spanning over 703 pages, has dished out a number of juicy details from his six years in office - from the internal workings of the Conservative Party to the rise of ISIS. </p> <p>However, what left the Queen “displeased” in Mr Cameron’s work was his comments about the 93-year-old Monarch. </p> <p>In a BBC interview which accompanied publication, Mr Cameron said he sought the sovereign’s guidance and help ahead of the 2014 Scottish independence vote. </p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7830978/david-cameron-queen-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6fde0c8726684ab6a241a887ded780e8" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Queen Elizabeth greeting David Cameron, 2010. </em></p> <p>He said he’d asked the Queen whether she could “raise an eyebrow” about what leaving the UK might mean for the Scots.</p> <p>According to Mr Cameron, the discussion with the Queen’s officials was not “anything that would be in any way improper … but just a raising of the eyebrow even … a quarter of an inch.”</p> <p>A royal source stated conversations between Queen Elizabeth and the PM being made public would “serve no one’s interests”.</p> <p>“It makes it very hard for the relationship to thrive,” the palace source said.</p> <p>This wasn’t the only detail to slip about the private affairs between the 93-year-old and the former PM. </p> <p>Mr Cameron wrote details about holidaying at the Queen’s “summer haven,”<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="/travel/travel-trouble/a-full-royal-household-how-is-balmoral-castle-handling-all-their-guests" target="_blank">Balmoral Castl</a>e - a place where she would drive at “breakneck speed” across the countryside. </p> <p>His book also said Prince Philip would host barbecues and flip burgers, before cleaning up himself. </p> <p>“Literally, the Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms topping up your drinks, clearing up your plates and washing up,” he wrote.</p> <p>The politician revealed the key preparations for the famous “audience” the Queen has held with every Prime Minister since Winston Churchill. </p> <p>“One: always check the BBC headlines, in case you’ve missed something (I usually turned up just after the 6 o’clock news, and in any event, she is phenomenally well-informed).</p> <p>“Two: always check what’s going on in the horseracing world. A quick call to Tom Goff, my racing expert friend, would bring me up to speed on whether one of the Queen’s horses had won that week, or another had recently had a foal. Her knowledge of the turf is prodigious.</p> <p>“During a separate conversation, the week after my father died, the Queen said how sorry she was, and asked if his horse was running at Windsor that evening. It was. I had absolutely no idea about it, and was completely lost for words.”</p> <p>Mr Cameron added Her Majesty was “better informed than most politicians” and wrote he would always leave with a “spring in his step”. </p> <p>The former country’s leader admitted in an interview with John Humphry, some of his comments about the monarch - particularly the one where he said the Queen “purred down the line” to him after informing her Scotland had voted no to independence - was a “terrible mistake”. </p>

Travel Trouble

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Michelle Obama shares "one of the best texts" she has ever received

<p>Michelle Obama has revealed the touching message she received from her older brother in response to her memoir.</p> <p>The former First Lady is currently on tour to promote her book <em>Becoming</em>, which is on course to becoming the world’s most popular autobiography with more than 10 million copies sold, according to its publisher Bertelsmann.</p> <p>During the European leg of her book tour, the 55-year-old received a text from her brother, basketball coach Craig Robinson.</p> <p>“My brother just sent me one of the best texts I’ve ever received,” Obama wrote on Instagram alongside a screenshot of the text.</p> <p>Robinson’s message to her read: “As I sit listening to the words of your book for the third time albeit this time by audiobook, it occurred to me that I haven’t thanked you for all your memories.</p> <p>“Since I'm the one who is supposed to remember everything, I realized I have blocked out everything regarding dad's death. I was here crying and laughing at the sadness of the story and the comfort of your voice.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwPq5iKh2nw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwPq5iKh2nw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama)</a> on Apr 14, 2019 at 10:46am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>In her book, Obama wrote extensively about her father Fraser Robinson III, who struggled with multiple sclerosis for years and died in 1991 at the age of 55.</p> <p>Her brother signed off the message by thanking her for sharing her experience. </p> <p>“All I can think of is how much I love my little sister. Thank you,” Craig wrote.</p> <p>In the post, Obama explained how much her father meant to the two of them. </p> <p>“The laughs and lessons, the hugs, the heartache from losing him – they’re all still there with me, every minute,” she admitted.</p> <p>She also highlighted that sharing personal stories can help loved ones connect, even when they are “an ocean away”, just like her brother Robinson. “Love you, big brother,” Obama signed off. </p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFHzRBBqFs/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFHzRBBqFs/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama)</a> on Apr 10, 2019 at 8:27am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Obama also shared in <em>Becoming</em> about her closeness with Craig. </p> <p>“You have been my protector since the day I was born,” she wrote to her brother in the memoir. </p> <p>"You have made me laugh more than any other person on this earth. You are the best brother a sister could ask for, a loving and caring son, husband, and father.”</p> <p>Have you read Michelle Obama's autobiography<span> </span><em>Becoming</em>? Let us know in the comments below.</p>

Books

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Prince Charles' weird habits revealed

<p>A new biography has detailed some of Prince Charles’ strange habits, such as changing his clothes five times and day and travelling with a personal toilet seat.</p> <p>The unauthorised biography titled <em>Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles</em> is based on interviews with more than 120 people, according to author Tom Bower.</p> <p>Bower describes the Prince of Wales as an out-of-touch royal who obsesses over what the public thinks of him.</p> <p>The book also claims that Prince Charles also has a few bizarre habits that many are unaware of.</p> <p><strong>1. Hiring people to remove slugs from plants</strong></p> <p>Charles reportedly loves organic produce and the book claims that he hires employees to hand-pick slugs off the plants of his garden at Highgrove. Bower claims in the book that his life is run “by valets, butlers, cooks, secretaries, gardeners and chauffeurs”.</p> <p><strong>2. Changing his outfit multiple times a day</strong></p> <p>Bower also claims that Charles is very conscious of how he looks and that sometimes it leads him to change his outfit up to five times a day.</p> <p><strong>3. Travelling with a toilet seat</strong></p> <p>Reportedly, Charles has very <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/2018/03/prince-charles-travel-demands-revealed/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">specific travel needs</span></strong></a> such as having his favourite pillow and mattress in order to sleep. Bower also claims that when he travels he has an orthopaedic bed, his personal toilet seat, Kleenex Premium Comfort toilet paper, fresh linen, radio, a chest of drawers and two landscapes of the Scottish Highlands.</p> <p><strong>4. Not knowing what cling wrap is</strong></p> <p>Reportedly, one night when Charles had asked staff to leave food out for him to eat later, he discovered a mystery plastic covering cold meats. Reportedly, Charles was confused by the plastic and asked Camilla what the plastic was. “‘It’s cling film, darling,’ she replied.”</p> <p>Charles’ lawyers were quick to denounce the claims made by the biography. </p> <p>Do you have any quirky habits? Tell us in the comments below.</p>

Mind

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Prince Frederik pens tell-all autobiography for 50th birthday

<p><span>In anticipation of his 50th birthday next year in May, Prince Frederik has teamed up with author Jens Anderson to tell his fascinating life story.</span></p> <p><span>From growing up in the royal spotlight to falling in love with real estate agent Mary Donaldson from Tasmania, we will finally get to hear about the Crown Prince of Denmark’s life from his perspective.</span></p> <p><span>The autobiography titled </span><em><span>Under the Beam</span></em><span> will discuss Frederik’s life as a royal, father-of-four, husband and humanitarian.</span></p> <p><span>On the weekend, Frederik received the very first copy of the book which is scheduled for release next year.</span></p> <p><span>On the Danish Royal Family Instagram account, fans were given teaser never-before-seen photos to catch a glimpse into the Prince's world.</span></p> <p><span>In one photo, the young Prince Frederik looks like a movie star behind the wheel of a vintage sports car.</span></p> <p><span>In another picture, Frederik and Princess Mary share a warm embrace in front of the Palace before leaving for a fancy event.</span></p> <p><span>The account also posted a candid black-and-white family shot with the four children and their parents.</span></p> <p><span>Alongside the never-before-seen pictures the palace said, “"HRH The Crown Prince received the first copy of the book </span><em><span>Under the Beam</span></em><span> on Friday.</span></p> <p><span>"A portrait of Crown Prince Frederik. The book was written by author Jens Andersen on the occasion of the Crown Prince's 50th birthday in 2018 and is published on Gyldendal's publishing house on Wednesday. Here are selected pictures from the book."</span></p> <p><span>In the past, royal family members avoided overpromoting themselves and minimised their media coverage.</span></p> <p><span>However, times are changing and now British and European royal families have their own social media accounts and use their profiles to advocate for causes they are passionate about.</span></p> <p><span>The most famous royal memoir was Princess Diana’s tell-all </span><em><span>Diana: Her True Story</span></em><span>. Diana secretly helped write the book with her biographer Andrew Morton in 1992.</span></p>

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