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"This is not a book of documents, snippets or worthy speeches. Instead it presents the original essays and the moments of insight that told us what Australia is and could be. These are the essential statements – from historians, reporters, novelists, mavericks and visionaries – that take us from Federation to the present-day, and tell a story of national self-discovery. There is the Frenchman who saw that Australia was a ‘workingman’s paradise’, and the historian who explained why. The two reporters who realised the true significance of Gallipoli and conveyed it to the nation. Russel Ward on the Australian Legend, Robin Boyd on the Australian Ugliness, Donald Horne on the Lucky Country, W.E.H. Stanner on the Great Australian Silence and Anne Summers on Manzone Country. Real Matildas, Cultural Cringers, Future Eaters and For- gotten People – and much more. Memorably written and cohesive, this is the essential sourcebook of the words that made Australia."
A celebration of our great game, From the Outer brings together 30 personal stories about Aussie Rules from unexpected voices: those who are female, Indigenous or gay; those with a disability, a foreign accent or even – perhaps most dubious of all – literary leanings. Some are closet fans, some are out and proud. Many are ground-breaking and revolutionary, shaking up the institution that has dominated cultural life in Melbourne, and much of Australia, for generations. Some are actively involved in the game, such as Leila Gurruwiwi, panellist on Australia’s first all-Indigenous footy show; Angela Pippos, one of Australia’s first female sports commentators; and Jason Tuazon-McCheyne, founder of the LGBTI supporter group the Purple Bombers. Others, like Christos Tsiolkas, Sophie Cunningham, Tony Birch and Alice Pung, share their poignant, passionate experiences as spectators and supporters. Engaging and surprising, From the Outer shows how footy can both thrill and devastate, exclude and unite, by shining a light on the diversity and splendour of the game.
“I pull on my balaclava and step onto the bridge wing. It’s loud outside: I can hear the rumbles of nine vessels’ engines and the hiss of ten water cannons … Suddenly the bridge is full of refugees from the upper deck. They are blocking my view out the back windows, but their faces – afraid, excited, awestruck – illustrate the looming presence of the Nisshin. I bend my knees and grip the bench, ready for the crunch.” In Blood and Guts, Sam Vincent plunges into the whale wars. Vincent sets sail with Sea Shepherd, led by the charismatic and abrasive Paul Watson. He attends the recent case at the International Court of Justice, which finds Japan’s ‘scientific’ whaling in the...
If Australian politics and public policy is a war of ideas, the National Press Club is the battleground. For the past half-century, the NPC has been the epicentre of political and social debate in Australia. Leaders and opinion-makers have used its stage to launch leadership bids, rattle the cage of public opinion with courageous and sometimes outrageous ideas, and make a stand. Stand & Deliver brings to life the NPC’s rich and colourful history by presenting the best speeches of the past fifty years. It also lifts the lid on the protests and controversies experienced by this national institution. Featuring many of the giants of recent Australian and international history – including Bill Gates, the Dalai Lama, John Howard, Paul Keating, Julia Gillard, Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer and Bob Hawke – Stand & Deliver is an illuminating and entertaining journey through the last fifty years of public debate and discourse that have shaped our nation and the world.
'In every religion I can think of, there exists some variation on the theme of abandoning the settled life and walking one's way to godliness. The Hindu Sadhu, leaving behind family and wealth to live as a beggar; the pilgrims of Compostela walking away their sins; the circumambulators of the Buddhist kora; the Hajj. By taking to the road we free ourselves of baggage, both physical and psychological. We walk back to our original condition, to our best selves.' Robyn Davidson has spent a good part of her life with nomads. In this fascinating and moving essay she evokes a vanishing way of life, and notes a paradox- that even as classical nomads are disappearing, hypermobility has become the hallmark of contemporary life. In a time of environmental peril, she argues, the nomadic way with nature still offers valuable lessons. No Fixed Address is part lament, part evocation and part exhilarating speculative journey.
Presenting the one and only Mr Paul Keating – at his straight-shooting, scumbag-calling, merciless best. Paul lets rip – on John Howard: “The little desiccated coconut is under pressure and he is attacking anything he can get his hands on.” On Peter Costello: “The thing about poor old Costello is he is all tip and no iceberg.” On John Hewson: “[His performance] is like being flogged with a warm lettuce.” On Andrew Peacock: “...what we have here is an intellectual rust bucket.” On Wilson Tuckey: “...you stupid foul-mouthed grub.” On Tony Abbott: “If Tony Abbott ends up the prime minister of Australia, you’ve got to say, God help us.” And that’s just a taste.
In The Weapons Detective, Rod Barton tells of a professional life replete with adventure, urgency and achievement. From the chaos of Somalia to the inner sanctums of the UN, Barton has more than once been at the eye of the historical storm. He describes interviewing Iraq's Dr Germ and painstakingly uncovering a biological weapons program. He also tells of resisting political pressure from the CIA and MI6 in the aftermath of the 2003 war, when WMD failed to appear. The Weapons Detective describes the fascinating chess - game of weapons inspection, with its mixture of detective work, scientific analysis and mind - games. It offers a fresh look at figures including Richard Butler, Hans Blix, Scott Ritter and David Kelly. Written with humour and authority, it reveals an unsung Australian hero and sheds new light on a vital chapter of contemporary history. With a Foreword by Robert Manne.
In Everyday Food Practices, Tarunna Sebastian explores the teaching and learning dimensions of people’s food choices and practices as they are played out in their everyday lives and local community. Using multi-sited critical ethnographic methodology, Sebastian followed people on their journeys while planning, shopping, preparing, cooking, and eating food. These journeys reveal that supermarket corporations play a hegemonic role, creating and sustaining class-based diets and cultural dynamics which undermine individual agency. Rebuking corporate hegemony, food education at counter-cultural sites—such as farmers’ markets, food cooperatives, and community gardens—seeks to empower people with knowledge and skills derived from socially and environmentally sustainable food curricula. However, class and ethnicity-based patterns of engagement compromise learning at these sites. Sebastian argues that, by contrast, the embodied experiences of inter-generational, home-based food practices are more effective in teaching sustainable cooking skills and the production of healthy meals.
In Stop at Nothing Annabel Crabb brings all her wit and perceptiveness to the story of Malcolm Turnbull. This is a memorable look at the Prime Minister in action – his flaws and achievements – as well as his past lives and adventures. Drawing on extensive interviews with Turnbull, Crabb delves into his university exploits – which included co-authoring a musical with Bob Ellis – and his remarkable relationship with Kerry Packer, the man for whom he was first a prized attack dog and then a mortal enemy. She examines the extent to which Turnbull – colourful, aggressive, humorous and ruthless – has changed. Crabb tells how he first lost, and then won back, the Liberal leadership, and explores the challenges that now face him today as the forward-looking leader of a conservative Coalition.
Winner of the ACT Book of the Year Award Shortlisted for the Ernest Scott Prize and CHASS Australia Prize It was the era of Hawke and Keating, Kylie and INXS, the America's Cup and the Bicentenary. It was perhaps the most controversial decade in Australian history, with high-flying entrepreneurs booming and busting, torrid debates over land rights and immigration, the advent of AIDS, a harsh recession and the rise of the New Right. It was a time when Australians fought for social change - on union picket lines, at rallies for women's rights and against nuclear weapons, and as part of a new environmental movement. And then there were the events that left many scratching their heads- Joh for Canberra . . . the Australia Card . . . Cliff Young. In The Eighties, Frank Bongiorno brings all this and more to life. He sheds new light on 'both the ordinary and extraordinary things that happened to Australia and Australians during this liveliest of decades'. 'The definitive account of an inspired, infuriating decade' - George Megalogenis 'A very impressive achievement' - The Monthly 'Meaty and entertaining' - The Australian