“Along with its focus on policy, the element of this absorbing book that sets it apart from the usual political memoir is Macklin’s insistence on sharing the credit for her many achievements ... The result is a book that may lack the typical narrative of the hero’s journey expected of a political memoir, but which is, as a result, infinitely more illuminating about the workings of parliament and just how hard it is to achieve meaningful, lasting reform. It is also a very useful book, one that should be on the desk of every parliamentarian and all their staff as they start the work of the forty-eighth parliament of Australia.”

“The real possibility of big economic reform makes the release of former Labor MP Jenny Macklin’s book, Making Progress: How Good Policy Happens, written with author and Labor speechwriter Joel Deane, particularly opportune. This is not a systematic study of the conditions for reform or an attempt to prescribe a formula for what Macklin calls a messy process. She wants to convey critical lessons about how to get policy reform done, especially reforms with a social purpose ... The book is intended as an aid to those working in policy and those who care about its construction, with the aim of demystifying and teaching. This in itself is revealing of Macklin, who obviously wasn’t tempted to share inside stories of the carnage of the Rudd–Gillard years.”

“Jenny Macklin had a reputation for placing the largest coffee orders in Parliament, and for driving much of Labor’s social policy agenda when it was last in government. The Labor luminary touches on keeping her staff caffeinated in her new book, but mostly it’s a guide on how to make policy that sticks. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s new frontbench would do well to go snap up the half-dozen copies in the Parliament House shop. It also contains plenty of lessons the Government should heed.”

“Macklin was instrumental in delivering significant policy reform in Australia ... [She] is now looking to those just elected to use their power, however fleeting it might be, to harness the political will to tackle generational issues such as climate change, the housing crisis and rising inequality. She’s just published a book, Making Progress: How Good Policy Happens. It is part memoir of her time in politics and part field guide to others ambitious for change.”

“Macklin has written a book that explores the art of policymaking. It’s an area she’s more than familiar with. Macklin was instrumental in the design and implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, she also oversaw the introduction of Australia’s first national paid parental leave scheme, played a pivotal role in the 2008 national apology to the Stolen Generations, and led the Closing the Gap framework aimed at reducing disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, education, and employment.”