Q and A with Iola Mathews

Q and A with Iola Mathews

Jacquelyn Baker interviews Iola Mathews about her recent memoir- Winning for Women: A Personal Story. Your book provides a comprehensive insight into your important and highly influential work in the women’s and union movements, as well as your experience in balancing a career and family. What were your motivations in writing your book? This is […]
Paper Emperors: an interview with Sally Young

Paper Emperors: an interview with Sally Young

The following is an interview between Professor Matthew Ricketson and author of Paper Emperors, Professor Sally Young. Media history in Australia is a field that has developed substantially in the past two decades or so, the fruits of which were evident in A Companion to the Australian Media published in 2014. What do you think […]
Q&A with Dr Ana Stevenson and Dr Alana Piper

Q&A with Dr Ana Stevenson and Dr Alana Piper

Jacquelyn Baker interviews Dr Ana Stevenson and Dr Alana Piper about their new book- Gender violence in Australia: Historical perspectives. Gender Violence in Australia: Historical Perspectives provides huge insight into the history of gender violence in Australia. From the range of topics to the array of primary sources and the variety of methodologies, was there […]
Policy Brief: Australian Assistance to Papua New Guinea

Policy Brief: Australian Assistance to Papua New Guinea

By Brad Underhill Attention: The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne Purpose This paper proposes a reassessment of the means by which we offer assistance to Papua New Guinea, in order to counter risks posed by the increased Chinese presence in the Pacific. Moreover, given the recent change of Prime Minister in […]
Excellent types: New Zealanders at the Royal Military College – Duntroon prior to World War II

Excellent types: New Zealanders at the Royal Military College – Duntroon prior to World War II

By Jordan Beavis Abstract In June 2019 thirteen international students graduated from the Royal Military College—Duntroon as a part of the Australian Army’s program of liaison and cooperation with Indo-Pacific military partners. Facilitating the military education of ‘foreign’ cadets at Duntroon has been an aspect of the institution’s existence since its creation in 1911, when […]
The sulphurous intrigue of the past

The sulphurous intrigue of the past

This review first appeared in Inside Story on 12 July 2019. It is republished here with the approval of the author. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland By Patrick Radden Keefe | HarperCollins | $44.99 | 528 pages What happened when the genteel world of the university library met the grubby […]
Cotton Dreaming

Cotton Dreaming

By Margaret Cook Why do we grow cotton in Australia? The country’s vast cotton holdings are the subject of public ire for their profligate water usage, embroiled in national arguments over the devastation of the Murray Darling Basin, water theft and public service/government corruption. But when cotton was first mooted as suitable for Australia’s climate, […]
Equal pay test case under the microscope

Equal pay test case under the microscope

By Iola Mathews OAM, author of Winning for Women: A Personal Story In June this year, an equal pay case for preschool teachers entered its final stages in the Fair Work Commission. A lot hangs on the outcome, given that only one equal pay case has been successful in Australia in the past 30 years, […]
An atomic historian’s visceral response to Hugh White

An atomic historian’s visceral response to Hugh White

I had a gut reaction to the news that Hugh White, Professor in Strategic Studies at the ANU, had published a book in which he suggests Australia must think about whether or not to develop its own nuclear weapons (Hugh White, How to Defend Australia). My very emotional response is no doubt a result of […]
History and the Hill 2019 | Conference Summary

History and the Hill 2019 | Conference Summary

History and the Hill 2019 was a fascinating, enlightening and important gathering of policy makers (past and present), policy shapers, academics, students and journalists, held at Deakin Downtown (and University of Melbourne) from 12 – 14 June 2019.  The event kicked off with a the Australian Policy History Public Lecture, delivered by Prof. Graeme Davison, […]
Australia’s asylum seeker policy history: a story of blunders and shame

Australia’s asylum seeker policy history: a story of blunders and shame

by Carolyn Holbrook, Deakin University Carolyn presented on this research at the History and the Hill Australian Policy History Conference, 12-14 June at Deakin University. This article was developed from a series of interviews with politicians, officials and other key players, including former Immigration minister Chris Evans and former Victorian premier Steve Bracks. Others preferred […]
A few historical reflections on the 2019 elections

A few historical reflections on the 2019 elections

By Dr Christopher Waters, Deakin University Since 1914 only one Labour government has won power in an election from Opposition promising a broad-ranging reform program: the Whitlam government in 1972. The Curtin government came to power in 1941 when the cross benches changed their votes in the very special circumstances of the war. Two other […]