A ‘fruitful period of opposition’: Whitlam and telecommunications reform Q&A with Lyndon Megarrity, author of Robert Philp and the Politics of Development Book Review – Emperors in Lilliput: Clem Christesen of Meanjin and Stephen Murray-Smith of Overland Book Review – Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters, Australia’s first filmmaking team Book Review – My Giddy Aunt and her Sister Comedians

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Australian Policy and History is a network of historians that provides politicians, bureaucrats, journalists and the public with historical knowledge in the pursuit of better public policy outcomes. We publish a range of material that connects historical research to current-day policy issues, and we run conferences and workshops. Australian Policy and History is run chiefly by historians at Deakin University, with support from the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University.

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A ‘fruitful period of opposition’: Whitlam and telecommunications reform

A ‘fruitful period of opposition’: Whitlam and telecommunications reform

By John Doyle   Historian Frank Bongiorno recently suggested that Gough Whitlam’s achievements as opposition leader in the lead-up to Labor’s election victory in 1972 ‘should grab our attention’ because he succeeded ‘both in keeping governments accountable and in preparing for office’. The origins of his government’s positive legacy, says Bongiorno, lay in ‘a fruitful […]
Q&A with Lyndon Megarrity, author of Robert Philp and the Politics of Development

Q&A with Lyndon Megarrity, author of Robert Philp and the Politics of Development

Stephen Wilks interviews Lyndon Megarrity, author of Robert Philp and the Politics of Development (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Press, 2022)   Congratulations, Lyndon, on your new book. Let’s start with the essential facts – who exactly was Robert Philp and what is he known for? The Scottish-born Robert Philp is known primarily as the co-founder […]
Book Review – Emperors in Lilliput: Clem Christesen of Meanjin and Stephen Murray-Smith of Overland

Book Review – Emperors in Lilliput: Clem Christesen of Meanjin and Stephen Murray-Smith of Overland

Richard Trembath reviews     Jim Davidson, Emperors in Lilliput: Clem Christesen of Meanjin and Stephen Murray-Smith of Overland, (Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press, 2022).   I don’t want to go back to the days of Tony Abbott, but I have always thought that anybody who attempts a biography deserves at least a minor order of knighthood.  […]
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