Aussie History Podcast

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 that?

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 greatest 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. 

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'?

Edward Eyre is one of the great explorers of colonial history. Despite this he is largely forgotten these days. In Australia Eyre is often known as the friend and protector of Aborigines. But as Governor of Jamaica, after he brutally put down a local revolt, he became known as the 'monster of Jamaica'.  A key source for this episode in Ivan Rudolph's book 'Eyre, The Forgotten Explorer'.

AWP-83-The Castle Hill Rebellion

On 21 June 1966 an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell the leader of the Australian Labor Party and Opposition Leader.  In this episode we are going to review the life of Arthur Calwell. The common view of Calwell is that he was a racist old style labour politician. He once said "two Wongs don’t make a white". Calwell was a staunch defender of the White Australia policy, but he also implemented the era of mass migration to Australia in the post-war era.

In this episode we look at the Battle of One Tree Hill. This was a battle fought by the Jagera people led by tMultuggerrah 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 for some 30-40,000 years.

In the early to mid-1970s the NSW Builders Labourers' Federation imposed 'Green Bans' in Sydney. The bans were imposed by the builders labourers employed to construct office-block skyscrapers, shopping centres and luxury apartments. These were rapidly encroaching upon green spaces or replacing older-style commercial and residential buildings in Sydney. The builders labourers refused to work on projects that were environmentally or socially undesirable.

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 throughout Australia since time immemorial. Join me as learn about the Mabo Case and tEddie Koiki Mabo.