Welcome to the Canberra Region Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.

The ASSLH aims to encourage the study, teaching and research of labour history and to encourage the preservation of labour archives.

This website was designed by Webtrax with the assistance of the Bede Nairn Fund. It aims to present a selection of articles and publications that can easily be accessed by students, teachers and others wanting to know more about labour history and politics.

The ASSLH encourages open debate on questions relating to labour history and politics. The articles published on this website do not necessarily reflect the views of the ASSLH and its officers. New contributions welcome. Links to other websites do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the content of those websites.

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COMING EVENTS

The Dismissal from Below, with Frank Bongiorno and James Watson

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Whitlam dismissal. The story of the politicians, judges, Governor-General, and Palace is a familiar one, but how did ordinary Australians experience the dismissal?

In our next talk, The Dismissal from Below, Frank Bongiorno and James Watson will take on this question and examine the marches, strikes, demonstrations, and meetings, as well as the emotions and commitments they reflected.

6.00 pm
Friday 14 November 2025
Lectorial Room One, RSSS Building, ANU.

And as usual, all are welcome.

Chris Monnox
Secretary

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National Conference

This year, the Melbourne Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History will host the Society’s 19th Biennial Conference.

The conference will be held 26-28 November 2025 at the Victorian Trades Hall.
Its theme is, The Spirit of 1975: Transformations in Australian Labour History.

For more information, see https://www.labourhistory.org.au/asslh-conference-the-spirit-of-1975-transformations-in-australian-labour-history/.

If you wish to attend, please register here https://www.labourhistory.org.au/2025-conference-registration/ .

A Draft Conference Programme is available here: Draft Program The Spirit of 1975

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Vale Norman Abjorensen (1947-2025)

Members and friends of the Labour History Society were saddened to hear of the death of Dr Norman Abjorensen on 2 May. An accomplished journalist, editor, academic and author, Norman was also our Branch President in 2009-10. At that time, he played a pivotal role in successfully lobbying the ACT and New Zealand Governments to jointly sponsor a memorial to Harry Holland, a labour pioneer in both countries.

Norman authored a number of books on Australian politics. Probably the best known was “The Manner of their Going” his intriguing study of Prime Ministerial exits, originally published in 2015 with an updated edition following in 2019.

As a tribute to Norman, we publish a link to his interview with Honest History’s David Stevens which was originally published on the Honest History website in 2014.

Stephens, David: Prime ministerial exits: an interview with Norman Abjorensen

The full text of the article can be found under the Articles drop-down menu. There is also a link to Michael Piggott’s review of his book, also on Honest History.

He will be sadly missed.

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Recent articles

Here are some of our recent articles. To search the complete list, click on the Articles and Publications menu.

Our masters and their servants – 11 November 1975 October 22, 2025 - Humphrey McQueen For the golden anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975, ADMASS media can be sure to focus on who advised the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. The role of the Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Garfield Barwick, has been known almost from the start. Knowledge of a […]
Prime Ministerial Exits: David Stevens – an interview with Norman Abjorensen May 14, 2025 - Honest History, 24 February 2014 (updated) Norman Abjorensen is a Visiting Fellow in the Policy and Governance Program in the Crawford School at the Australian National University. He is a prominent media commentator on Australian politics, a former senior journalist, has written a book on Australian political parties and held overseas academic positions. Dr Abjorensen […]
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.

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