Will a preoccupation with party unity destroy the Liberal  Party?

Will a preoccupation with party unity destroy the Liberal  Party?

Cover image: Lukas Coch/AAP Carolyn Holbrook, Deakin University and James Walter, Monash University Such has been the turmoil over the Liberal Party’s recent decision to join the National Party in campaigning against the forthcoming referendum on the Voice to Parliament that even some of the most reliable supporters in the media have remarked on the […]
The Australian War Memorial must deal properly with the frontier  wars

The Australian War Memorial must deal properly with the frontier  wars

Carolyn Holbrook, Deakin University; Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University, and Michelle Arrow, Macquarie University The recent media rounds of the new chair of the Australian War Memorial Council, Kim Beazley, appear to presage a major shift in the institution’s attitude to the frontier wars. Beazley explained it is “enormously important” that the current $550 million […]
Not Neglecting, Strangling: A Short History of a Most Inefficient Policy

Not Neglecting, Strangling: A Short History of a Most Inefficient Policy

By     Joshua Black   Executive Summary The efficiency dividend has been applied to Australia’s public sector agencies for thirty-five years, and in the case of the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries Archives and Museums) sector, with particularly devastating effects The efficiency dividend has helped to destroy the formerly first-class service provision of Australia’s national cultural institutions […]
What Can Asbestos’ Past Tell Us about Silica’s Future in Australia?

What Can Asbestos’ Past Tell Us about Silica’s Future in Australia?

James Watson   On 28 February 2023, the Federal Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Burke, met with his state and territory counterparts to take the first steps to ban the manufacture of silica-containing products in Australia. Silica is a naturally occurring mineral found in quartz and is used in the manufacture of kitchen benchtops. Inhalation of […]
A Broken Model? Medicare in the summer of 2023

A Broken Model? Medicare in the summer of 2023

Richard Trembath   When I suggested this article to the editors of Australian Policy and History  (which is now some time ago) there was considerable discussion in the media about the strain on Australia’s health services, partly as the result of the pandemic, and partly as the result of long-term structural issues.  For example, Chip […]
From Militant to Middle-of-the-Road – Why Do So Few Remember International Women’s Day’s Radical Past?

From Militant to Middle-of-the-Road – Why Do So Few Remember International Women’s Day’s Radical Past?

James Keating & Michelle Staff   This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) has two themes. The first—‘Cracking the code: Innovation for a gender equal future’—was devised by the United Nations (UN), which officially recognised 8 March as IWD in 1977. The second—#EmbraceEquity—is promulgated by the British consultancy Aurora Ventures, whose pithier mottoes are increasingly popular […]
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 […]
Pandemics remind us that Australia is a Federation, but we are quick to forget

Pandemics remind us that Australia is a Federation, but we are quick to forget

By Dr Carolyn Holbrook   As we well remember, COVID incited a high degree of tension between the Commonwealth and the states. The former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce probably put it best when he said: For a while there we went from a federation back to little colonies again. I was waiting for Queensland […]
Knowing What to Do: Mental Health Literacy in Australia

Knowing What to Do: Mental Health Literacy in Australia

By Richard Trembath ‘What sort of people live about here?’ ‘In that direction’, the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction’, waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare.  Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’ ‘But I don’t want to go among mad people’, Alice remarked. ‘Oh, […]
Who is going to write the urgent histories of tomorrow?

Who is going to write the urgent histories of tomorrow?

By Lyndon Megarrity   In the midst of commemorating 90 years of broadcasting this year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced that it was abolishing 58 specialist librarian and archivist roles, with journalists expected to play an increasing role in sourcing, collecting and cataloguing material.[1] It’s just the latest example of myopic managerialism that has become […]
The Ongoing Crisis in Sri Lanka

The Ongoing Crisis in Sri Lanka

By Dr Niro Kandasamy   Sri Lankans have taken to the streets to protest the Rajapaksa government. As food supplies dwindle and tensions increase, the president refuses to step down. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence. The country’s population of 22 million have endured months of severe shortages in food, fuel, […]