It was Greek to me: The historian’s obligation to communicate

It was Greek to me: The historian’s obligation to communicate

By Richard Trembath   Cassius: Did Cicero say anything? Casca: Aye, he spoke Greek. Cassius: To what effect? Casca: Nay, an I tell you that, I’ll ne’er look you I’ the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another, and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to […]
The Myths and Meaning Behind Long Tan Day in Australia – and in Vietnam

The Myths and Meaning Behind Long Tan Day in Australia – and in Vietnam

By Mia Martin Hobbs   On 18 August 1966, D Company of 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) clashed with National Liberation Front (NLF) forces in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tan. Seventeen Australians and one New Zealander were killed, and twenty-four soldiers were wounded, marking the highest single-day loss of life […]
History Education for the Citizens of the Future – HTAV Conference, Melbourne 27 July 2023

History Education for the Citizens of the Future – HTAV Conference, Melbourne 27 July 2023

*This is an edited version of a speech delivered by Dr Carolyn Holbrook to the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria annual conference in Melbourne on 27 July 2023.   History teachers hold a special place in my heart.   Like many of you, I was drawn to study history because I had the privilege of […]
Vale Allan Gyngell

Vale Allan Gyngell

By Meg Gurry   Allan Gyngell made a lasting impact on many around him. I was fortunate enough to be one of them. I came across Allan most directly through his work at the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA). As President, he, with then National Director, Melissa Conley Tyler asked me to join a […]
Your body is a temple: The politics of junk food in Australia

Your body is a temple: The politics of junk food in Australia

By Richard Trembath   I cannot advise all more spiritual natures too seriously to abstain from alcohol absolutely.  Water suffices . . . No eating between meals, no coffee . . . Tea beneficial only in the morning. Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo (1888), from the section called ‘Why I Am So Clever’.   In this […]
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 […]