Aussie History Podcast

We continue our look at Ben Chifley. Chifley finally gets elected to Federal Parliament and enters the Minsitry as Minister for Defence. But disunity in the Labor Party costs Labor government, and Chifley his seat, all at the hands of Jack Lang. Chifley and Lang become bitter enemies.   I was struggling with a sore throat and I bit my tongue (ouch). So bear with my poor delivery in this episode. E...

In this and the next few episodes we are going to take a look at Ben Chifley. Chifley was born in Bathurst, New South Wales and worked on the NSW Railways for 25 years as an engine driver. Chifley was Australia's 16th Prime Minister who came to the Prime Ministership in July 1945 following the death of John Curtin. Chifley is an icon in Labor Party history. He is most famously remembered for his '...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should note that that in this episode I mention the names of people who have or may have passed away. In this episode we look at the life of Oodgeroo Noonuccal or as you might know her Kath Walker. She was a great poet, writer and activist who played a significant role in the 1967 referendum. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com . I answer every email...

I've decided to rename the podcast to the Aussie History Podcast. Thanks to Artistic Visual Design Director Ken Dampier for the new artwork In this episode my good friend Kate joins me to talk cricket and the infamous Bodyline series of the 1930s. Check out Six and Out's cricketing song 'Can't bowl, Can't Throw'. The band was made up of Australian Test and First Class cricketers, including Brett L...

Would you believe that on the banks of Kati Thanda or Lake Eyre, South Australia, lies the world's second-largest geoglyph? Did you know that from the 1940s until the 1970s cats lived in the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And finally, were you aware that at the end of WWI a French orphan was smuggled to Australia in a sack by Australian troops?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this episode mentions the names of people who have passed away. At school we learned that the the settlement of New South Wales was a pretty peaceful affair and that the local Aboriginal people accepted the colonists. Also that, where there was conflict, it was very much small scale and out of the ordinary. But was it really like th...

Bushrangers!!  This time it's Captain Moonlite and Jackey Jackey. And we say farewell to the Hon. James Robert Lee Hawke MP, one of Australia's best Prime Ministers who died several days before this episode was recorded. Vale Bob Hawke. Australia is a better place because of you.

It's election day today in Australia.  As we head to the polls learn about the first woman who is known to have cast a vote in an Australian election - Frances Finch.  Would you believe it actually happened in 1856, some 46 years before universal suffrage was introduced in Australia.  

It's ANZAC Day. Marion Leane Smith is the only known Indigenous Australian woman to service in WWI.  Let's learn about her story.

We wrap up our series of episodes into the murder of Donald Mackay.  The inquest into the death of Donald Mackay gets underway, Bob Trimbole is finally found and Detective Inspector Ellis goes before the courts. Finally three men are charged over conspiracy to murder Donald Mackay.  

In this episode we follow the Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking in NSW. The findings from the Royal Commission were explosive and the identities of those responsible for Donald Mackay's murder are revealed at the Inquest into Donald Mackay's murder.  

On 15 July 1977, local Griffith businessman Donald Mackay disappeared from the car park of a local hotel. Blood was found on and around his mini-van. And there were three spent .22 bullet casings lying on the ground. This incident led to a Royal Commissioning the illegal drug trade in New South Wales. 

In this episode we complete our look at Edward Eyre, focusing on 'The Great Northern Expedition' where he overlanded from Adelaide to Albany. We also cover his later career, particularly his time as Governor of Jamaica and his role in suppressing the Mount Bay Rebellion. How is it that the 'friend of the Aborigine' became known as the 'monster of Jamaica'?

We finally start our look at Edward John Eyre one of the great explorers of colonial history. Despite his exploits he is largely forgotten these days. In Australia Eyre is often known as the friend and protector of Aborigines. But after his time in Australia he became Governor of Jamaica. Here he brutally put down a local revolt and became known as the 'monster of Jamaica'.  A key source for this...

On 5March 1804, 233 Irish Nationalist convicts led by Phillip Cunningham staged an uprising at Castle Hill in the penal colony of New South Wales. Their plan was to steal a ship and head back to Ireland to rejoin the fight for Irish independence against the British.

On 21 June 1966 an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell the leader of the Australian Labor Party and Opposition Leader. It was only the second political assassination attempt in Australian history In this episode we are going to review the life of Arthur Calwell, including the events of June 1966 when an attempt was made on his life by a 19 year old factory worker called Peter Kocan. T...

In this episode we are looking at the Battle of One Tree Hill. This was a battle fought by the Jagera people led by the warrior Multuggerrah in 1843. While Multuggerah and his forces defeated the white settlers it did not end well for a people who had inhabited the Darling Downs region of South East Queensland for some 30-40,000 years.

In the early to mid-1970s the NSW Builders Labourers' Federation imposed 'Green Bans' in Sydney. These bans were imposed by the builders labourers employed to construct t office-block skyscrapers, shopping centres and luxury apartments The builder's labourers refused to work on projects that were environmentally or socially undesirable. The Green Bans movement was the first of its type in the worl...

Advice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: this episode refers to people who have or may have passed away. It's Reconciliation Day and we look at the Mabo Case which overturned the concept of Terra Nullius - which was that before white settlement the land was empty and belonged to no one. In its decision, the High Court ruled that native title had existed on Murray Island and through...

In this episode we wrap up our take on Ned Kelly. Was he really a larrikin hero? Or should he be more properly remembered as a common criminal and murderer?

In this and the next episode we will be looking at the life and times of Edward 'Ned' Kelly.  We will be asking the question does Ned Kelly deserve his place in Australian culture as a larrikin hero who stood up to the British ruling elite because of oppression faced by him, his family and the broader Irish-Catholic community? Or was he a ruthless  criminal and cop killer who deserved what he got?...

It's ANZAC Day, 25 April 2018.   Over the two days, 26 and 27 November 1942, Australian and American servicemen fought a 'battle' against each other on the streets of Brisbane. Find out what caused this little known incident.

In this episode we wrap up the assassination attempt on Price Alfred by Henry O'Farrell. We cover O'Farrell's trial, his hanging and ask whether O'Farrell was a Fenian terrorist or a man with significant mental health issues that led him into insanity. We also draw some modern day parallels between the anti-Irish-Catholic sentiment that existed at the time.

It's the 12th March 1868 and Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh and second son of Queen Victoria is visiting Australia. It's the first ever Royal Tour of the Australian colonies. He is invited by Sydney's high society to attend a popular picnic spot at Clontarf. But not all is well in Australia. There is sectarian strife between the Irish Catholics and the British Protestant elite. At the picnic...

Harry "Breaker" Morant was an Australian journalist, poet, drover and military officer. On 27 February 1902 he was executed by the British military for war crimes committed during the Boer War in South Africa. He did it in retaliation for the death of his commanding officer and close friend Captain Percy Hunt.