Nemesis: The Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison years

ABC has revealed more details around its three-parts docuseries Nemesis on nine years of Coalition government under Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.

Key players tell all in candid no holds barred interviews that capture this tumultuous period and the personalities behind it, showing how the three Prime Ministers gained, wielded and ultimately lost power.

All interviews were conducted by  investigative journalist Mark Willacy.

“Over the last 12 months I have sat down with the key political players from the Coalition – from backbenchers to Cabinet Ministers to Prime Ministers – and conducted more than 60 on-camera interviews,” he said. “I’ve been stunned by how candid they’ve been and how much they’ve revealed about pivotal events, including crucial moments and often frank and sometimes furious exchanges behind closed doors. Audiences are in for some big surprises and quite a few shocks as the story of the nine years of Coalition government is unravelled.”

The Abbott Years – Monday 29 January

When Tony Abbott swept to power with a thumping victory over the Labor government in 2013 his future seemed assured. As the ultimate political warrior he’d brought the Coalition back into power with a devastatingly effective campaign promising to ‘stop the boats’, ‘axe the tax’, ‘reduce the debt’ and ‘end the waste’. But in just under two years, he was removed as prime minister. So how did it all go so wrong so quickly? In this episode Tony Abbott’s allies and enemies take us through those tumultuous years, where successes were overshadowed by a politically disastrous first budget to eye popping moments of onion eating, shirtfronting and the infamous “captain’s call” to bring back knights and dames. As the prime minister stumbled, others were waiting in the wings. His long time rival Malcolm Turnbull, and his backers, talk in vivid detail about how they planned and executed a stunning political coup.

The Turnbull Years - Monday 5 February

With Malcolm Turnbull installed as prime minister after bringing down Tony Abbott, hopes were riding high and so were the opinion polls. But as one of Turnbull’s allies warned, when you have stratospheric popularity it can only go one way. This gripping episode takes us from the early euphoria through to the “week of madness” which saw the Liberal Party utterly consumed by another leadership spill in the full glare of the media. In this dramatic episode Malcolm Turnbull and key members of the government recall the highs and lows, from besting Donald Trump in a fiery dispute with the White House and the creation of marriage equality to the infamous “bonk ban” and the weaponising of climate policy. When it comes to the leadership spill, key players take us “inside the room” where they describe their motivations and actions which saw another prime minister dispatched.

The Morrison Years – Monday 12 February

Emerging from the wreckage of yet another leadership spill, Scott Morrison is sworn in as Australia’s surprise 30th prime minister. He then faces the enormous task of uniting a fractured party and winning the trust of Australians. Against the predictions of many colleagues, Morrison proceeds to pull off the “miracle” election. Then comes an ill-fated family trip to Hawaii and a global pandemic. From “I don’t hold a hose” to “It’s not a race”, Scott Morrison explains what was in his mind during those controversial moments of his prime ministership and reflects upon the impact they had, as do his colleagues, in colourful detail. This episode features senior members of the Morrison cabinet, including former treasurer Josh Frydenberg as well as key former state premiers who give their unvarnished accounts of their dealings with the former prime minister during the covid crisis. As the health crisis abated, it was time for another election, but this time there would be no “miracle”.