The John Button prize has been named in honour of the late Senator and Industry Minister and is given "to the best piece of non-fiction writing on politics or public policy in the previous 12 months." Judging is by a panel of nominated persons, including Nobel literature laureate JM Coetzee.
The winner of the prize was recently announced as being Peter Sutton, for his book The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the end of the Liberal Consensus.
The shortlisted works for the 2010 prize were:
Paul Kelly, March of Patriots
Noel Pearson, Radical Hope
Peter Sutton, The Politics of Suffering
Laura Tingle, "Tensions escalate over Rudd's kitchen cabinet"
