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Fresh Water: New Perspectives on Water in Australia
by Emily Potter Alison Mackinnon Stephen McKenzie Jennifer McKayIs water a resource or is it the source? Is it something to be consumed or does it have a life of its own? Recent histories of environmental misunderstanding and exploitation shadow our current regime of water management and use. While governments grapple with how to respond to widespread drought, the situation worsens. There is something amiss in current approaches to water. This timely collection of essays addresses the critical and contentious issue of water in Australia today and suggests a need to radically rethink our relationship with this fundamental substance. Contributors from a range of fields, from anthropology to visual arts, discuss the various ways in which we are caught up with water, and challenge us to take up the cultural transformations that underpin a sustainable ecological future.
On The War-path: An Anthology of Australian Military Travel
by Peter Pierce Robin GersterThis important anthology reveals the many ways in which going to war has formed a cultural bridge between Australia and the world. From the Sudan in 1885 to Afghanistan in 2001, the connection of war to travel is illustrated in the observations of writers as varied as 'Banjo' Paterson, George Johnston, Nancy Wake, John Pilger, Lily Brett and Peter Weir. Selecting writings from combatants abroad as well as the reflections of sightseers who travel to foreign battlefields and war sites, Robin Gerster and Peter Pierce reveal how the experience of war has both broadened and refined (and sometimes distorted) Australian views of the world. Their lively collection crosses the boundaries between literature, literary criticism, travel writing, war writing and cultural commentary.
Gangland This Unsporting Life
by James Morton Susanna LobezSport has always attracted organised crime. Huge sums of money are wagered in every arena, and rorts, swindles and unsporting behaviour have shadowed players of all codes. Cricket and footy are not immune, with Heath Shaw and Ben Cousins caught up in gambling and drugs, and NRL star Ryan Tandy in match-fixing. Plenty of punters have criminal connections-Alphonse Gangitano and the Moran brothers. Drugs play a major part on and off the fields of play (looking at you, Essendon Football Club and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks) with horses and greyhounds also routinely doped. James Morton and Susanna Lobez investigate the cheating underbelly of sport, from the first cricket pitch invasion in the 1890s through to the contemporary scandals that will leave you wondering if there is such a thing as a sporting chance.
Australia's Defence Strategy: Evaluating Alternatives for a Contested Asia
by Adam LockyerHow would we know a good defence strategy if we saw one? The Asian Century is challenging many of the traditional assumptions at the heart of Australian defence policy and strategy. Defence scholars have risen to the challenge of these transformational times and have collectively produced a smorgasbord of alternatives for policy-makers. The problem is that these recommendations all point in very different directions. How should we evaluate these options? Adam Lockyer tackles this question and develops a novel conceptual framework for evaluating defence strategies. By doing so, this book breaks new theoretical ground and makes an important contribution to our understanding of strategy in general and defence strategy in particular. Lockyer then applies this analytical tool to the leading arguments in Australia's defence debate and finds that there is still substantial work to be done. Lockyer concludes by proposing a new Australian defence strategy for a contested Asia that would pass the test for a 'good' defence strategy. The result is essential reading for anyone interested in strategy or the future of Australian defence policy.
Revisiting Henderson: Poverty, social security and basic income
by Peter SaundersReform of the system must recognise, respect and reinforce its profound impact on the lives and wellbeing of millions of Australians, not only during childhood and retirement but also when unexpected needs arise in-between. It is time for a fundamental reassessment of how the system can best promote social inclusion and encourage economic contribution in current and future circumstances. This book brings together leading social security researchers and policy analysts to reflect on past trends, the key changes that the system must adapt to and what this will involve. Its contributors share a vision inspired by the groundbreaking work of Ronald Henderson, who argued for a debate that is grounded in evidence and informed by a coherent set of principles. The book's chapters highlight the weaknesses of the current system and propose viable alternatives, showing that there is no lack of new ideas on which to draw. One of these-the introduction of a basic income as Henderson recommended in the 1970s-is used to illustrate the need for a better understanding of what such reforms can offer today and how they might work in practice.
Life On The Ocean Wave
by Pamela Statham Rica EricksonEncounters with cannibals, convicts and pirates were just some of the highlights of eleven long journeys under sail Captain George Bayly made around the world in the early nineteenth century. The journal Captain Bayly kept of his travels is notable for the historical significance of his voyages, and the writer's eye for a good story. It contains eyewitness accounts of the transportation of male and female convicts to Australia, the voyage of British immigrants to the ill-fated settlement attempted by Thomas Peel near Perth, hostilities between Maoris and Europeans, and trading voyages to and from China. Captain Bayly's stories of typhoons, floods, heroic rescues, shipboard quarrels and deaths give the book appeal to a wide audience. The journal's depiction of the infant Australian settlements as just part of a widely-flung network of British colonial outposts in the nineteenth century also provide an insight into the nation's economic development.
Climate Politics and the Climate Movement in Australia
by Hans A Baer Verity BurgmannClimate change is the hottest topic of the twenty-first century and the climate movement a significant global social movement. This book examines the broad context of Australian climate politics and the place of the climate movement within it. Acting 'from above' are the most powerful forces; corporations and governments, both Labor and Coalition; with the media framing the issues. Climate movement actors 'in the middle' include the Australian Greens, major environmental and climate organisations, public intellectuals, think-tanks, academics and the union movement. Acting 'from below' are the numerous local climate action groups and various regional and national networks. This lowest level is the primary location of the climate movement: and grassroots mobilisation the source of its vitality. Burgmann and Baer's study offers a vision for an alternative Australia based upon the principles of social equity and environmental sustainability.
No, Minister: So You Want To Be A Chief Of Staff?
by Allan BehmNothing prepares a person for the job of chief of staff to a Commonwealth Minister. There are no professional development courses, no specialist recruitment agencies and no training manuals.It was into this vortex that Allen Behm became chief of staff to Greg Combet in 2009, the minister responsible for managing carbon pricing and the pink batts crisis.A seasoned troubleshooter, Behm has an uncanny ability to anticipate and deflect political crises. By his measure success as a chief of staff is being an invisible force.'Invaluable insight from an experienced insider into the closed world of callow political advisers and their disastrous impact on the performance of many Ministers.'—TERRY MORAN
Premier's State
by Ellen Whinnett Steve Bracks'In May 1994, while I was going through pre-selection for the seat of Williamstown, I sat down at my desk at home and I wrote a note. I was thirty-nine years old and in that note I mapped out what I hoped would happen in my life.'By the time he was forty-eight, Steve Bracks had achieved the goal he'd set himself nine years earlier. He was premier of Victoria. In A Premier's State he reflects on his ambition to make a difference, and how he reached his goal. He talks about his early childhood growing up in a conservative but impassioned family that supported the Democratic Labor Party, and about his gradual evolution from left-wing university radical to pragmatic centre-left premier. He reveals for the first time the background to his decision to take the party's leadership from his friend John Brumby in 1999—then to hand it back to John in 2007 when he sensationally resigned from office. He gives insights into how to run a successful government and how to manage the factions, and talks about everything from the impact of public life on his family, to forming minority government with independents.
Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir
by Gareth EvansA colourful and central figure in Australian politics for two decades—described by Bob Hawke as having 'the most acute mind' of any of his ministers—Gareth Evans has also been applauded worldwide for his contributions, both as Foreign Minister and in later international roles, to conflict resolution, genocide prevention and curbing weapons of mass destruction.In this sometimes moving, often entertaining, and always lucid memoir Evans looks back over the highs and lows of his public life as a student activist, civil libertarian, law reformer, industry minister, international policymaker, educator and politician. He explains why it is that, despite multiple disappointments, he continues to believe that a safer, saner and more decent world is achievable, and why, for all its frustrations, politics remains an indispensable profession not only for megalomaniacs but idealists.
Becoming Australian: Migration, Settlement and Citizenship
by Brian Galligan Martina Boese Melissa PhillipsThe year 2013 is the 40th anniversary of the end of the 'White Australia policy'. In these four decades Australia's immigration policy has shifted from a primary concern with cultural homogeneity or Britishness to a focus on demand-based skills through an increasingly fine-tuned system of points tests, occupation lists and employer-sponsored visas. Despite disproportionate politicisation of asylum seekers in recent public discourse, the intake of refugees and humanitarian entrants has remained relatively small. While Australia's contemporary migrant and refugee intake is truly multicultural, and governments continue to adhere to an official multicultural policy, integration into the Australian community and culture has been the dominant process, especially for second and third generation Australians. Australian identity and citizenship have changed in the last forty years, making Australia and its people more pluralistic and richly diverse. Becoming Australian focuses on the ways in which migrants and refugees meet the challenges of 'becoming Australian' and the transformative process for Australia and its people as they incorporate the continuing influx of multicultural peoples.
Fishing in the Good Old Days: Was it really better?
by Bob KearneyBob Kearney has been addicted to recreational fishing and is a devout keeper of the legends and lore of the Australian angler. He is also a world authority on fisheries and marine ecosystem management. In Fishing in the Good Old Days, Kearney looks back on his six decades of experience as a fisherman in earnest pursuit of the iconic jewfish off the rocks and beaches of northern New South Wales. He recalls unforgettable adventures, colourful personalities, the thrill of the chase and, yes, the ones that got away. Along the way, he exposes the environmental consequences of poorly planned coastal activities. Kearney also addresses a serious question: Is the holistic experience of fishing for fun, now, truly not as good as it was in the 1960s? Of course, this question rests on many others about recreational and commercial fishing practice, fisheries management, coastal and marine conservation, and the impact of the terrestrial world, including through human population growth and climate change. With a grasp of the scientific research as acute as his ear for the anglers' voices of his youth, Kearney demonstrates that the answer to his question is far from straightforward.
Comrade Ambassador: Whitlam's Beijing Envoy
by Stephen FitzGeraldModern Australia was in part defined by its early embrace of China—a turning from the White Australia Policy of the 1950s to the country's acceptance of Asian immigration and engagement with regional neighbours. It saw the far-sighted establishment of an embassy in Beijing in the 1970s by Gough Whitlam, headed by Stephen FitzGerald. Here, FitzGerald's story as diplomat, China scholar, adviser to Gough Whitlam, first ambassador to China under prime ministers Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, is interwoven with the wider one of this dramatic moment in Australia's history. Comrade Ambassador also highlights the challenge Australia faces in managing itself into an Asian future.
Killing Season Uncut
by Sarah Ferguson Patricia DrumAustralians came to the ABC's The Killing Season in their droves, their fascination with the Rudd-Gillard struggle as unfinished as the saga itself.Rudd and Gillard dominate the drama as they strain to claim the narrative of Labor's years in power. The journey to screen for each of their interviews is telling in itself. Kevin Rudd gives his painful account of the period and recalled in vivid detail the events of losing the prime ministership. Julia Gillard is frank and unsparing of her colleagues.More than a hundred people were interviewed for The Killing Season—ministers, backbenchers, staffers, party officials, pollsters and public servants—recording their vivid accounts of the public and private events that made the Rudd and Gillard governments and then brought them undone. It is a damning portrait of a party at war with itself: the personal rivalries and the bitter defeats that have come to define the Rudd-Gillard era."The making of The Killing Season matched the drama on screen and that's a story we wanted to tell. And now we have a place for the episodes of rich material we could have put into a 5-part series." — Sarah Ferguson
Those We Forget: Recounting Australian Casualties of the First World War
by David NoonanThe official Australian casualty statistics suffered by the men of the Australian Imperial Force in the First World War are seriously wrong, with significant inaccuracies and omissions. Groundbreaking research exhaustively examining over 12,000 individual soldiers' records has revealed that hospitalisations for wounding, illness and injury suffered by men of the AIF are five times greater than officially acknowledged today. Why has it taken nearly one hundred years for this to come to light? Was it a conspiracy to suppress the toll, incompetence of Australia's official war historians Bean and Butler, or was it simply the unquestioning acceptance of the official record? You are invited on the journey in this book to find the truth. The findings are startling and will rewrite Australia's casualty statistics of the First World War. Lest we forget.
Young Menzies: Success, Failure, Resilience 1894–1942
by Zachary GormanSir Robert Menzies is a towering figure in Australian history. As the nation's longest-serving prime minister, he transformed and ultimately dominated the political landscape, implementing policies that laid the foundations of modern Australia. The story of Menzies and his governments is essential to the Australian narrative: the centrality of political liberalism, the defence of democracy through trying times, and the expanding horizons of our identity, prosperity and appreciation. The Young Menzies: Success, Failure, Resilience 1894-1942 explores the formative period of Menzies's life, when his personal outlook and system of beliefs that would help shape modern Australia were themselves still being formed. Contributors look at Menzies's ideas prior to their political practice and examine their context and origins. This period is also the time in which Menzies first attained power, though in difficult circumstances, when the focus of the nation was on survival. It was in losing office that Menzies was given the impetus to develop his vision for post-war Australia. This is the first of a four-volume history of Menzies and his world, based on conferences convened by the Robert Menzies Institute at the University of Melbourne. Contributors include Frank Bongiorno, Troy Bramston, Judith Brett, Nick Cater, Justice James Edelman, David Furse-Roberts, Anne Henderson, David Kemp, Angela Kittikhoun, Greg Melleuish and Scott Prasser, with a foreword by Geoffrey Blainey.
Gatekeepers: Lessons from prime ministers' chiefs of staff
by R.A.W. Rhodes Anne TiernanSo, you want to be Chief of Staff to the Australian Prime Minister? The Gatekeepers provides the key lessons to equip you for the job.Australian prime ministers need help and it is their chief of staff who supports the person and the office, steering the prime minister through the challenges and landmines of political leadership. It is about making sure the urgent doesn't crowd out the important. It comes down to finely tuned coordination. It is about winning support in cabinet, caucus and country.The Gatekeepers offers unparalleled insights into how things really work at the centre of Australia's governing networks from those who have worked as chiefs of staff under prime ministers from Fraser to Rudd. It identifies eight key lessons for success as the PM's gatekeeper and shock absorber.It reveals what to do, what not to do, how to do it and how not to do it.
Trust Deficit
by Sam CrosbyTrust is the most powerful weapon in the political arsenal. It can pierce an opponent's armour or deflect the most ferocious attack. It can explain difficult policies, and become a well of goodwill that politicians can draw from in their darkest hours. Yet despite its great value we are resigned to the idea that trust in politics will continue to decline.Drawing on contemporary political stories and examples, The Trust Deficit shows us how faith in our politicians has been eroded but how it can be rebuilt.Julia Gillard's pledge that there wouldn't be a carbon tax and Tony Abbott's promise of no cuts to health or education saw a collapse in their governments' levels of support.By breaking trust down to its elements—reliability and competence, openness and honesty—we see how recent leaders established trust and used it to their political advantage.
Party Thieves: The Real Story of the 2010 Election
by Barrie CassidyBarrie Cassidy picked a hell of an election to cover: changes of leaders on both sides of politics, Australia's first female Prime Minister, a hung parliament and a country not knowing who its Prime Minister was for nearly three weeks.But in the beginning were the Party Thieves, Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd. Turnbull's manic desire to get his own way in the party, and because he simply stopped listening, led to his demise. Rudd stole the party through his authoritarian approach to government and a cabinet that felt alienated from the job of governing.In both cases, the members of their respective parties came at the Party Thieves to reclaim what was rightfully theirs, and set the stage for the ascension of Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard.And all that before we even get to the 2010 election campaign.The Party Thieves is more than just a campaign diary of the extraordinary 2010 election and its aftermath; it is a rip-roaring, incisive analysis of a tumultuous nine months in politics that even surprised veteran journalists such as Cassidy. This is a must read for anyone interested in Australian politics of any persuasion.
Islam and the Question of Reform (Islamic Studies Series)
by Benjamin MacQueen Rebecca Barlow Kylie BaxterReform, by definition, is not a complete break with tradition, but a determination by scholars, activists, politicians and critical thinkers to re-claim the tenets of their faith. Muslim communities have historically displayed a tendency to preserve the status quo. By contrast, the individuals and movements in Islam and the Question of Reform are determined; often at great personal risk; to push aside existing political and social elites and the historically accepted interpretations of Islam and its place in society. The perspectives examined in this volume avoid superficial or apologetic examinations of Islam's political and social role. Instead, they meticulously scrutinise the religion's public role, often questioning the validity of dogmas that have acted as tools of empowerment for existing elites for centuries. Islamic Studies Series - Volume 1
Private Bill: In Love and War
by Barrie CassidyBarrie Cassidy's dad Bill survived more than four years as a prisoner of war in World War II. He first saw conflict on Crete in May 1941, during the only large-scale parachute invasion in wartime history. Just four days later, Bill was wounded and eventually captured.Twice he tried to escape his internment—with horrific consequences. He suffered greatly but found courageous support from his fellow prisoners.His new wife Myra and his large family thought he was dead until news of his capture finally reached them.Back home, Myra too was a prisoner of sorts, with her own secrets. Then, fifty years after the war, unhealed wounds unexpectedly opened for Bill and Myra, testing them once again.Private Bill is a classic heart-warming story—as told by their son—of how a loving couple prevailed over the adversities of war to live an extraordinarily ordinary, happy life.
Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia
by Simon ButtIndonesia's judicial system has long been described as dysfunctional. Many of its problems developed out of decades of authoritarian rule, which began in the last few years of the reign of Indonesia's first president, Soekarno. By the time President Soeharto's regime fell in 1998, the judiciary had virtually collapsed. Judicial dependence on government, inefficiency and corruption were commonly seen as the main indicators of poor performance, resulting in very low levels of public trust in the courts. To address these problems, reformists focused on improving judicial independence. Yet while independence is a basic prerequisite for adequate judicial performance, much depends on how this independence is exercised. Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia demonstrates that Indonesian courts have tended to act without accountability and offers detailed analysis of highly controversial decisions by Indonesian courts, many of which have been of major political significance, both domestically and internationally. It sets out in concrete terms, for the first time, how bribes are negotiated and paid to judges and demonstrates that judges have issued poor decisions and engaged in corruption and other misconduct, largely without fear of retribution. Further, it explores unsafe convictions and public pressure as a threat to judicial independence. Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia shines a sorely needed empirical light on the Indonesian judicial system, and is an essential resource for readers, scholars and students of Indonesian law and society.
Very Public Solution
by Paul MeesWhy is public transport so poor in Australian cities? Why can't it be more like the fast, convenient systems in Europe? Unlike Europeans, most urban Australians live on far-flung suburban blocks rather than in high-density apartments. Most urban travel is to widespread suburban locations rather than to the city centre. It is often argued that fast, efficient public transport is impossible in our 'dispersed' cities. In A Very Public Solution, Paul Mees compares Melbourne's public transport system with the highly successful system in Toronto; a 'dispersed' city very like Melbourne with its suburban sprawl, and sheds new light on a century-old debate. This debate is particularly important now, as 'economic rationalists' move to privatise public transport in Australian cities. We can have European-style public transport, Mees argues, if our different forms of public transport stop competing with each other and start competing with the car. A Very Public Solution is the first serious work on public transport planning ever published in Australia. It is essential reading for everyone concerned with urban sustainability and our growing traffic problems.
He went back for his hat: Justice Michael Lee on Bruce Lehrmann
by Justice Michael Lee'Having escaped the lions' den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat.' Justice Michael Lee with an introduction by Chanel Contos On 15 April 2024 Justice Michael Lee delivered his judgment in Lehrmann v Network 10. The case, which centred on proceedings brought by Bruce Lehrmann against journalist Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 for her 2021 interview with Brittany Higgins, alleged that Wilkinson had defamed Lehrmann by accusing him of raping Higgins at Parliament House in 2019. It was a singular case, and the controversy has become a cause c�l�bre, described by the judge himself as an 'omnishambles'. In his decision, Justice Lee laid out his reasoning in painstaking detail, and presented his close-grained reading of the evidence based on its subtleties. Critically for future sexual assault matters, his was a trauma-informed judgment that understood that the recollections of an assault victim can be inconsistent, affected by the attempted memory corrections of a traumatised person. The findings are notable for their valuable insights into future defamation and sexual assault prosecutions and for judicial education and the media. A masterclass of legal dissection, the narrative shows what civil courts can sometimes achieve in a way that criminal courts cannot.
Robert Menzies, A Life: Volume 2 1944-1978
by A. W. MartinFor each new generation of Australians, the name Robert Gordon Menzies resounds across the political landscape. No other federal politican this century can match his record period as Prime Minister, from 1949 to 1966. Not one of us is untouched by his life and work. This long-awaited second volume of Allan Martin's unrivaled biography describes and analyses the flowering of policies and practices foretold in the first. Beginning with the birth of the Liberal Party at the end of World War II, it is the first detailed study of Menzies' climb to power and of his post-war strategies for the country and the world. It ends with his death in 1978, mourned by many as an irreplaceable leader and father figure. The tumultuous years of the 1950s were echoed in Menzies' own life. His political acumen built on universal Cold War fears, and his anti-communist campaigns brought him into bitter conflict with H. V. Evatt. Menzies' frequent trips to the United States and Great Britain, usually by sea and invariably in time for the Test cricket, fuelled accusations of absenteeism. Menzies' lifelong devotion to all things British, most notably the monarchy, was rewarded towards the end of his life by investiture as a Knight of the Thistle and by his succeeding Winston Churchill as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The personal pleasure derived from his growing international stature cushioned to some degree his fall from power in domestic politics. This volume completes a monumental contribution to Australian political biography. For both scholars and ordinary Australians, Allan Martin has sought to chronicle Menzies' life and to judge what kind of a man he was and what sort of prime ministerial life he led.