The full account of how Australia considered the request for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, appeared to accept it and then rejected it.The Indigenous request for a constitutionally entrenched Voice was thrust firmly onto the public stage with Anthony Albanese’s promise, on election night 2022, to submit it to a referendum. Political analysts Murray Goot and Tim Rowse trace the development and fortunes of the Voice, from early conversations between Indigenous le...

While the Great War raged, Australians were twice asked to vote on the question of military conscription for overseas service. The recourse to popular referendum on such an issue at such a time was without precedent anywhere in the world. The campaigns precipitated mass mobilisation, bitter argument, a split in the Labor Party, and the fall of a government. The defeat of the proposals was hailed by some as a victory of democracy over militarism, mourned by others as an expression of politi...

The basis for the Meryl Streep film A Cry in the Dark: The dramatic true story of a mother's worst nightmare and the murder trial that shocked Australia.On a camping trip at Ayer's Rock, the Chamberlain family's infant daughter disappeared in the middle of the night. Her distraught mother, Lindy, claimed she saw a dingo carry her off into the Australian outback. Two years later, their tragedy worsened when, without a murder weapon, a body, or even a motive,...

A fascinating insight into Breaker Morant and the question of morality and human life. The question of "The Breaker's" innocence is still being fiercely debated more than a century after Lieutenant Harry Morant and Lieutenant Peter Handcock were shot on a lonely veldt outside Pretoria at dawn on 27 February, 1902, by a British military firing squad. Shoot Straight, You Bastards! is a universal account of greed, ambition and the power of the political machine that crushes anyone wh...

"Sydney may look golden, but this is the sunniness of Mozart, whose bright notes, especially at their most joyous, seem to cast themselves out across a great abyss."Sydney has always been the sexiest and most gaudy of our cities. Here, novelist Delia Falconer conjures up its sandstone, humidity, and jacarandas. But she goes beyond these to find a far more complex city: beautiful, violent, half-wild, and at times deeply spiritual. It is a slightly unreal place, haunted by a...

The ultimate collection of unbelievable true Australian stories: the unknown, the forgotten, and the surprising.Did you know that in 1932 the Australian army was called out to wage war on an invading army of 20,000...emus? Or that the first royal personage to arrive in Australia was the King of Iceland and he came as a convict? And how about the spooky phenomenon of the mischief-making Guyra Ghost?From Jim Haynes, one of our most successful and prolific tel...

Alan Turing saved millions of lives. But Bletchley Park wasn’t the only major code-breaking operation during World War II. Down under, there was Central Bureau.Central Bureau — Australia’s own large and sophisticated intelligence network, built from scratch. It was this group of mathematicians, code-breakers, and radio experts who intercepted the travel plans of the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto, leading to his ambush and death. Australian ...

No war has tested the resolve of the American people and her fighting men as did the battles in the Pacific. This book is a visual testament to the key battles fought in the Pacific.On December 7, 1941, as the Japanese dived out of the clouds above Pearl Harbor, America's future was fundamentally altered. Ever since the first world conflict, the United States had resisted the temptation to be drawn into wars outside of its borders. But with this one surprise attack...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AHRC'S ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS MEDALS AND AWARDSThe first decade of the twenty-first century has seen a sharp decline in respect for human rights and the international rule of law. The legal conventions of the new realpolitik seem to owe more to Guantanamo than Geneva.Australia has tarnished its reputation in the field of human rights, through its support for illegal warfare, its failure to honour international conventions, its refusal to de...

From one of our most respected and award-winning authors, Jackie French, comes a fascinating and fresh interpretation of Australian history, focusing on how the land itself, rather than social forces, has shaped the major events that led to modern Australia.to understand the present, you need to understand the past. to understand Australia's history, you need to look at how the land has shaped not just our past, but will continue to shape our future.From highly respected, award-winn...

The Whitlams' wasn't just a love story - it was a dynamic and enduring partnership that shaped our nation.This is the compelling story of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, his wife Margaret and their 70-year relationship – personal and political, private and public. It is a story of how two extraordinary people, side by side, led the Australian nation into an exciting and turbulent new era.Gough had no small talk, Margaret had the gift of easy conversati...

The adventures of Pete the Bushman, a wild West-coaster from Pukekura, New Zealand's answer to Crocodile Dundee and a man who owns his own town. This book about a true New Zealand bushman, of a life lived against the grain, of adventure in New Zealand's thickest wilderness and a lifestyle any Kiwi bloke would envy. Pete the Bushman has lived a life inseparable from the bush - these are his stories of running down deer on foot, heli-hunting in his own chopper, finding the p...