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Keywords: Whitlam

  • AUSTRALIA

    Politicians and their words

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 25 October 2023
    11 Comments

    In a world where every politician has something to say, only a select few wield their words well. As we grapple with the failure of the recent Voice referendum, it's worth drawing from these leaders and questioning what truly guides political decisions - morality or self-interest?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Did China support East Timor's independence from Indonesia?

    • Pat Walsh
    • 04 October 2023
    3 Comments

    Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's meeting with China's President Xi Jinping signals deeper cooperation between Timor-Leste and China. This evolving alliance, closely watched by Australia, raises questions about Beijing's motives and Timor-Leste's historical indebtedness. As China expands its influence in the Indo-Pacific, Timor-Leste's diplomatic balancing act comes under scrutiny.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The book corner: A history of Australian women in science

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 21 April 2023

    Taking to the Field highlights overlooked women who made noteworthy contributions to science in Australia, despite gender-based limitations. This thought-provoking book delves into the complexities of gender and science, revealing a more nuanced and diverse history than previously assumed.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The cities strike back

    • John Warhurst
    • 24 May 2022
    5 Comments

    Governments lose elections, but Oppositions still must demonstrate that they are a capable alternative. Both the Morrison Coalition government and the Albanese Labor Opposition played their part last Saturday. There were many sub-plots in the pattern of voting, but this election was primarily lost and won in the four biggest mainland cities. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    When victory for the silent is defeat for the silenced

    • Anthony N Castle
    • 18 May 2022
    5 Comments

    I was invited to a party the night of the 2019 election. The night’s entertainment was invite-only, with long tables of bread and wine, and I stepped back from the sounds of celebration to hear the political coverage on my phone. Standing at the far window, I looked up to see people in the night below, out in the dark, silent. Behind me a party guest shouted over the noise ‘what happened?’ I looked away from those outside and answered: a loss.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Supply to survive

    • Julian Butler
    • 31 March 2022

    In 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic raged globally, as Australia shut its borders and some states shut in their people, massive government income support was introduced. The government was a little slow coming to recognise the need for such measures. Once they had, they wanted the support rolled out as quickly as possible. Frydenberg, Scott Morrison and their colleagues recognised that a demand side boost was absolutely necessary to sustain economic activity. The government was uncomfortable, though, with this approach.  

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  • AUSTRALIA

    National security elections: Reds under the bed

    • John Warhurst
    • 09 March 2022
    9 Comments

    Domestic policies are often regarded as more important than foreign affairs and defence policies in influencing Australian election campaigns. But national security campaigns by the government of the day, known as either khaki elections or reds under the beds, have such a long history in Australian federal elections that they challenge the conventional wisdom.  

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Are we finally seeing action on Aboriginal water justice?

    • Cristy Clark
    • 15 April 2021
    4 Comments

    Recent research has documented some of the historical causes of the ongoing absence of water justice. When the land rights agenda emerged towards the end of the 20th century, deliberate decisions were made to restrict access mostly to land without water rights.

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  • MEDIA

    Australia and China through the ages

    • Jeremy Clarke
    • 10 September 2020
    7 Comments

    The China story, described this week by the ABC’s Director of News Gavin Morris as ‘the story of our times’, defies simplistic renderings, however much a significant part of Australian-based commentary masquerades as such. The rapid revolutions of the modern media cycle do not permit much nuance or lengthy historically informed pieces.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    High Court decision on palace letters

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 02 June 2020
    19 Comments

    Will former Governor General John Kerr's correspondence with the Queen shed light on what really happened in 1975? It may very well, and historians like Jenny Hocking were willing to challenge the National Archives of Australia's refusal to access such records in High Court.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Going big picture with Malcolm Turnbull

    • Barry Gittins
    • 22 May 2020
    17 Comments

    As the small-l Liberal who attempted unsuccessfully to stare down the right-wing of the Liberal Party, known to his enemies as ‘Mr Harbourside Mansion’ or as the best Labour Prime Minister to ever lead the Liberal Party (2015-2018), Malcolm Bligh Turnbull was a man who dreamed, spoke and spent big.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The lasting legacy of the Vietnam Moratorium

    • Andra Jackson
    • 08 May 2020
    11 Comments

    The Vietnam Moratorium in Melbourne was one of the most momentous events to occur in Australia in the post world war two era. It led to a seismic shift not only in Australia politics but also within society. The moratorium, held fifty years ago today, was a historic achievement in how it united diverse groups behind the goal of ending Australia’s role in the Vietnam war.

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