Recent articles

Here are our 10 most recent articles.

  • Labor, the External Affairs Power and Aboriginal Rights December 9, 2022 - David Lee Originally published in Radical Currents, Labour Histories, No. 1 Autumn 2022. Australian Society for the Study of Labour History In 1900 the Australian Constitution gave the Commonwealth Parliament not a ‘treaty power’ but a vague power over ‘external affairs’. Its precise meaning remained elusive for most of the twentieth century. But from the […]
  • When the Australian ruling class embraced fascism November 21, 2022 - Originally published in Marxist Left Review 13, Summer 2017 When the Australian ruling class embraced fascism Louise O’Shea It is commonplace today to treat the far right and far left as mirror images of each other: both extreme, ideologically rigid, intolerant and similarly isolated from the sensible mainstream. But history demonstrates that there is little […]
  • Before the Teals, the DLP rewrote politics August 13, 2022 - This article first appeared in The Canberra Times of 5 July 2022 Before the teals, the DLP rewrote politics by Stephen Holt The election of sixteen House of Representatives crossbench members, including six or so Teal independents, on 21 May 2022 signals a big shift in the underlying structure of Australian politics.
  • Bob Hawke and Canberra’s ‘factional wars’ April 11, 2022 - By Stephen Holt (An edited version of this article appeared in The Canberra Times (Public Sector Informant) of 5 April 2022) There is an intriguing reference to political shenanigans in Cold War Canberra in Troy Bramston’s new biography of Bob Hawke. Bramston in an early chapter refers to a letter dated 24 October 1956. Written […]
  • Slavery in Australia – Convicts, Emigrants, Aborigines August 18, 2021 - Slavery in Australia – Convicts, Emigrants, Aborigines KM Dallas Kenneth McKenzie Dallas (1902- 1988) was a Tasmanian historian, teacher, writer and socialist. In September 1968, the Tasmanian Historical Research Association (THRA) published a collection of three articles by Dallas, each offering a different perspective on aspects of Australian history. The third of the three: ‘Slavery […]
  • The fallacy of remoteness August 18, 2021 - The fallacy of remoteness KM Dallas Kenneth McKenzie Dallas (1902- 1988) was a Tasmanian historian, teacher, writer and socialist. In September 1968, the Tasmanian Historical Research Association (THRA) published a collection of three articles by Dallas, each offering a different perspective on aspects of Australian history. The second of the three: ‘The fallacy of remoteness’ […]
  • Commercial Influences on the First Settlements of Australia August 16, 2021 - Commercial Influences on the First Settlements of Australia KM Dallas Kenneth McKenzie Dallas (1902- 1988) was a Tasmanian historian, teacher, writer and socialist. In September 1968, the Tasmanian Historical Research Association (THRA) published a collection of three articles by Dallas, each offering a different perspective on aspects of Australian history. The first of the three: […]
  • Jack Mundey tribute January 8, 2021 - It’s still right to rebel Only struggle availeth. ‘What’s the good news from Canberra?’ Jack Mundey always wanted to know when we visited him and Judy in their two-up and two-down brick unit in Croyden Park. We welcomed Jack’s unintended reprimand as a reminder to look further than the headlines, to see through the parliamentary […]
  • Abolish the penal powers: freedom’s fight of ’69 July 18, 2020 - Abolish the penal powers: freedom’s fight of ’69 John Arrowsmith John Arrowsmith (1913-1997) was a legend of the Melbourne Branch of the ASSLH, a self-educated working class historian, former Branch President, union activist and communist campaigner. In 1969, he was approached by a number of prominent Victorian union officials to write a history of the […]
  • The case for bank nationalisation July 14, 2020 - The case for bank nationalisation This website seeks to bring to life some interesting and noteworthy publications from the past. This booklet is no exception. It dates from 1947 and was the first publication issued by the NSW Fabian Society. The author was the Hon Clarence Edward Martin, NSW Attorney-General from 1941 to 1953 and […]