Aussie History Podcast

On  25 April every year, Australians commemorate ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day commemorates the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 during World War 1. This is the 100 th anniversary of those landings. Visit the amazing Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABCs) Gallipoli interactive website: http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/gallipoli2.htm# And watch Chann...

In this episode we examine the aftermath of the Rum Rebellion. There were a series of trials and court martials after the coup and these had profound effects on the major players – particularly Bligh, Macarthur and Johnston.   Enter the AWP coffee mug competition. Entries close on 31 May 2015. It’s easy to enter – just email me. Unfortunately this completion is only open to Australian listeners. T...

As a schoolboy growing up in the Macarthur region on the outskirts of Sydney, John Macarthur and George Johnston were considered heroes who had deposed the cruel, villainous and cowardly tyrant William Bligh. But was it really like this? Were Johnston and Macarthur right to overthrow Bligh or have we got it completely wrong? Maybe Bligh should be seen as the man who stood up to the wealthy and pow...

On 26 th January 1808, exactly 20 years to the day after the arrival of the first Fleet, Governor William Bligh (of the Mutiny on the Bounty infamy) was deposed in a coup d’etat by the New South Wales Corps - under the command of Major George Johnston and with the backing of John Macarthur. The history we learned at school was that Macarthur and Johnston were the heroes of the day. Bligh was a vil...

In this episode we reflect on the First Fleet and come to some conclusions about it all. Then we look at two men – Pemulwuy and Bennelong. Both were Aboriginal men who played important roles in the early years of the colony of New South Wales. Check out the YouTube video of Mirusia Louwerse singing the old Aussie folk song Bound for Botany Bay . It’s a song about a convict being transported to Aus...

On the morning of 13May 1787 the First Fleet weighed anchor and set sail from Portsmouth, England.   On 26 January 1788 the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Harbour.  In this episode we relive the journey out to New South Wales and see what it was like for the colonists in the first few years of the new colony. Needless to say, it was pretty hard going. There was a constant threat of starvation and t...

In this episode we are embarking on a voyage to Botany Bay with the First Fleet.   On 13 May 1787 eleven ships commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip set sail  from Portsmouth, England and headed for Botany Bay. On board were 1420 people of which 755 were convicts. Eight months later they arrived in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to found the penal colony of New South Wales. For this episode I recomme...

In this episode we remember Gough Whitlam’s visits to China – the People’s Republic of China - in 1971 and 1973. The 1971 visit, when Whitlam was Opposition Leader, paved the way for the diplomatic recognition of China and sowed the seeds for a thriving cultural and economic relationship. In 1973 Whitlam became the first Australian Prime Minister to travel to China. Visit the Whitlam Institute web...

In the late 1800s Indian labourers were sent to work in Fiji in the sugar cane farms as indentured workers. Following the 1987 military coup and the coups that followed many have moved to Australia. According to the 2011 Census 57,000 Fijian born people live in Australia and of this 36,000 are Indian. For this episode I recommend: www.girmitunited.org   – a website dedicated to preserving the hist...

For more than 20,000 years the Snowy region was home to the Ngarigo people and a number of other Aboriginal peoples.   White settlement meant that in the 1800s the Ngarigo people were forced from their lands.   Up until the mid 20 th century the Snowy was the province of farmers and high country horsemen as immortalised on Banjo Patterson’s poem The Man from Snowy River .   But after WWII, it was...

We continue our two part series on how Australia’s system of Government works. In this episode we cover: ·       how the House of Representatives and the Senate work; ·       how a new law is created and passed by the Parliament; and ·       how do we keep the Government honest? Then we take a brief look at one of the founders of Australian democracy and the federal Australian Labor Party, King O’...

This is Part 1 of a two part series on Australia’s system of Government. After white settlement the colony of New South Wales was divided up into the six colonies of Australia. Each of these colonies formed their own Governments and reported directly back to Britain. From the 1850s, however, there became a view that the colonies of Australia should federate to form a new nation of Australia. On 1...

The first German people arrived in Australia on the First Fleet in 1788.   Despite this, when World War I was declared around 4500 German-Australians found themselves interned in camps for the duration of the war. For more information check out the Migration Heritage of New South Wales website at www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au   and the National Archives of Australia website at: http://naa.gov.a...

The first Jewish people to come to Australia arrived on the First Fleet on 26 January 1788. Among the  827 convicts  on the English First Fleet were at least 8 and possibly up to 14 or 15 British convicts who were Jewish. On board was Esther Abrahams. Esther would go on to become the First Lady of the Colony of New South Wales and an important landholder and farmer in her own right. Over the past...

I n this episode we explore the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples before the arrival of white European settlers. We also look at first contact with Europeans – the Dutch explorers and finally the British. I use the Aussie rock band Goanna’s song Solid Rock to tie the episode together. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should execise caution if listening to this ep...

In this episode we consider ten sometimes strange but true facts about Australia. These are: Australia really is populated by extremely dangerous animals that can and will kill you Australia was established as a penal colony The Prime Minister is missing Our strange ‘population’ Giving women the vote How much can a koala bear? Australians love a good fence We eat our coat of arms We have a Queen -...

AWP-07-Sugar Slaves and the Eurovision Song Contest This deplorable part of Australian history is not widely known about. Between 1863 and 1904, some 62,000 South Sea Islanders were brought to Australia as indentured labour, and some say as slaves, to work on the cane fields in Queensland. It was on their backs that the Queensland sugar industry was built. Despite the hardships, many Australians o...

AWP-06-Famous Chinese-Australians In this episode we take a peak at four remarkable Chinese-Australians. These are:Billy Sing the decorated WWI war hero; Helene Chung   the journalist and author; Dr Victor Chang the path breaking heart surgeon, whose life was so tragically cut short; and Penny Wong the Australian politician and former Government Minister.   For this episode I recommend Helene Chun...

AWP-05-The Chinese and the Gold Rush Ni Hao!   The Gold Rushes of the 1850s bought the first large numbers of Chinese settlers to Australia.   Before 1850 fewer than 50 or so Chinese migrants had come to Australia, but by the early 1860s this number had risen to 40,000. Many came out as bonded labourers having to work long hours mining for gold to pay off their fare.   The Chinese have had a great...

AWP Episode 4 - The Dunera Boys On 10 July 1940, 2,542 detainees, all classified as ‘enemy aliens’, were placed on the HMT Dunera in Liverpool the United Kingdom and 57 days later they docked at Sydney Harbour.   On board were over 2,000 male Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi Germany. Conditions on board were appalling and during the voyage these men were badly mistreated by their guards with many...

Aussie Waves Podcast Episode 3:The Afghan Cameleers This episode tells the story of the Cameleers who with their camels played a critical role in opening up inland Australia from the 1860s until the early 1900s.   Their story is one of hardship and discrimination.   The invention of the internal combustion engine eventually secured the end of the Cameleer era. By the late 1920s there were almost n...

Episode 2 of the Aussie Waves Podcast with James Dampier.  In this episode we look at 'Ten Pound Poms'.  After World War II around a million people migrated to Australia from the British Isles under an assisted migration scheme. Thr cost of the boat trip out to Australia was ten pound sterling. Hence the term 'Ten Pound Poms'. These people made a great contribution to Australia and their children...

Welcome to The Aussie Waves Podcast by James Dampier.  The Aussie Waves Podcast tells Australian history though the lens of all those peoples who have made the journey from other lands to call Australia home.  Episode 1 is a short introductory episode. Each week I will make a recommendation. This week's it is Laszlo Mongometry's China Histroy Podcast.  Visit the CHP webssite at: http://chinahistor...