On Being a Minister is a welcome how-to book for those truly interested in politics and public service. Always a passionate thinker, John Hill's wise book is flecked with the same urbanity that characterised his time in public life. What a relief to have a book about politics written with charm and true insight, instead of melodrama and vengeance.' - Nicola Roxon'It's hard to imagine a job that requires less education than that of government minister,' says John Hill. 'It's also hard to imagine a job where the occupant is less likely to seek help than that of government minister.'John Hill knew when he quit as a government minister that what he had learnt - often painfully - over 11 years was likely to disappear with him. So he wrote it down ...'An intimate and disarmingly frank peep into the mind of a policy-focused minister who thankfully did not take himself too seriously. John Hill gives us an engaging, and only too rare, tour of the inner workings of one of the last secret societies - a Minister of the Crown. It is written with a deft touch. Some of the anecdotes made me laugh and, particularly when he unpicks his relationship with the media, cringe.' - Matthew Abraham'John Hill writes with insight and great honesty about his time in the South Australian government. If only more politicians wrote like this, we would all have a much deeper understanding of the pressures and opportunities they face in their political lives.' - Clem Macintyre