(2019) Story of Our Country
Story of Our Country is an important book on the Australian Labor legacy and modern challenges. This review considers the challenge set out by the author and the gap between task and accomplishment.
(2018) Remembering Stephen Patrick Hutchins, Former NSW Labor Senator
Stephen Patrick Hutchins (22 April 1956 – 24 November 2017), “Steve”, “Hutch” or “Hutcho” to family and friends, former Labor Senator and transport union leader, hard-nosed factional warrior, in many ways typified the old NSW ALP right – tribal, loyal, fierce in response to social injustice, fully aware of the traditions of a minority within the broader national ALP, and with a great sense of humour.
(2018) Obituary: The Passions of Andrew Casey
Andrew Casey (25 March 1953-1 February 2018), refugee, journalist, unionist, trusted political adviser and strategist, community activist, was born Andris Katona (or Katona Andris, as Hungarians would say) in Budapest to Holocaust survivors, Istvan Katona, born 29 June 1924, and Agota Katona (née Halmi) 2 January 1925.
(2018) Sir Richard Bourke and the Foundation of Australian Liberalism
David Kemp’s account of Australian liberalism is exceedingly interesting. He has put heart and soul into the first volume, The Land of Dreams, How Australians Won Their Freedom 1788-1860, part of a projected series of five books.
(2018) Alternatives to State-Socialism in Britain
Rich in insight, combative in insisting on fresh perspectives, Akers and Reid have tossed a grenade into the edifice of neo-Marxist interpretations of labour history.
(2018) Australian Liberalisms
An impressive achievement of David Kemp’s first of five volumes on the history of Australian Liberalism, The Land of Dreams, How Australians Won Their Freedom 1788-1860, is his confident assessment of the interaction between Australian and British debates, personalities and writings, as well as the shifts of moods associated with political change.
(2017) A New Look at The Split
As Australian labour history goes, Robert Murray’s The Split (1970) on the tumultuous splits in the mid-1950s, is only rivalled by H.V. Evatt’s Australian Labour Leader (1942), a sympathetic account of the life, disillusionment and failures of one of the movement’s pioneers, one-time NSW Labor Premier William Arthur Holman who ratted on the ALP in 1917.
(2017) 70 Years On: McKell’s Premiership Then and Now
I cannot give you an update on the lunch I’m afraid. I’ve just been told to keep going. I can assure you however that if when I ran for General Secretary of the Labor party in 1983, if I’d been victorious, you’d all have a three-course meal! [Audience laughter]
(2017) Johno Johnson (1930-2017): He Kept the Faith – Both of Them
John (“Johno’) Richard Johnson, shop assistant, union leader, politician, raffler of puddings, chocolates, Melbourne Cup sweeps – anything for a quid for the ALP – passed last Wednesday morning from a world which had long failed to understand him.
(2017) In Defence of Michael Danby: A Man of Courage and Principle
Michael Danby is a passionate man, unusual for today’s breed of careful, calculating, uncontroversial politicians. He takes up causes. His exuberance can stun, occasionally his choice of words eviscerates. There is something unnerving about a character that calls on the rest of us to think.