Advertise on podcast: People's History of Australia

In April 1998, Australia suddenly erupted into industrial war. Security guards with dogs and balaclavas swarmed docks across the country, threw out all 1,400 unionised workers at Patrick Stevedores, and then replaced them with a non-union workforce. Blockades sprang up at major ports, thousands of workers walked off the job to support the sacked wharfies, and the country seemed poised on the brink of a general strike. This moment was the culmination of a years-long plan by the federal government and major employer associations to completely destroy waterfront unionism in Australia. As an island nation, Australia’s entire economy is heavily dependent on a small number of ports, and the workers in those ports have extraordinary strategic power. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, waterfront workers had used that power to not only heroically fight for and win improved working conditions, but to support struggles by other workers across Australia and the world. It was this proud tradition that the government set out to annihilate in 1998. This was one of the most significant battles between workers and their employers in Australian history, and in this episode we’re joined by Tom Bramble, a retired industrial relations academic, to discuss and analyse the dispute. Tom is the author of War on the Waterfront, a gripping history of the confrontation, as well as several other works on trade unionism in Australia. You can read War on the Waterfront here, and you can also buy Tom’s book on the history of Australian trade unionism here, while you can read his thesis about rank-and-file car industry workers here. Sign up to our Patreon now to have the chance to get a free copy of Tom’s book and support our podcast!  Find out more and get tickets for Radical Melbourne, our upcoming festival on 21 November, here! Opening and closing music courtesy of Glitter Rats. People’s History of Australia logo design courtesy of Nissenbaum Design design.

The idea that Australia was invaded in 1788 is strangely controversial. A Google search for the phrase ‘Was Australia invaded’ provides an AI-generated answer claiming that ‘Australia has not experienced a full-scale foreign military invasion of its mainland’. The Wikipedia history of Australia makes no mention of invasion or indeed any warfare between between Aboriginal nations and the colonisers at all, and large numbers of articles ask ‘Was Australia invaded in 1788?’ as if the issue is somehow not obvious. At the time the British Empire invaded Australia in 1788 however, no one was in any doubt as to what was happening. The first convicts came ashore escorted by a significant body of armed troops, the first structure built in the colony was a military one, and colonial authorities constantly referred to the fact that they were at war. For their part, Aboriginal people quickly realised that they were dealing with a military invasion of their land, and fought back heroically. In this episode, we chat with historian Stephen Gapps, author of the pioneering book The Sydney Wars, about First Nations’ resistance to the invasion of Sydney. Contrary to claims that relations between the colonists and Aboriginal people were mostly peaceful after a short period of confusion and misunderstanding,The Sydney Wars shows how both sides were aware that they were involved in a war for survival. And contrary to accounts that depict the conflict as a one-sided series of massacres and Aboriginal defeats, Stephen’s research reveals that First Nations warriors used sophisticated military tactics and waged a protracted war of resistance across three decades that often had the invaders on the back foot. You can buy The Sydney Wars here. Sign up to our Patreon now to have the chance to get a free copy of Stephen’s book and support our podcast!  Opening and closing music courtesy of Glitter Rats. People’s History of Australia logo design courtesy of Nissenbaum Design design.

In contemporary Australian mass culture, it’s hard if not impossible to find any representation of life as it’s lived by the majority of the population. Few movies, plays, TV shows or documentaries reflect what it’s like spending most of your waking life working to make a boss rich, struggling to keep up with bills, or dealing with sexism, homophobia, racism, and other oppressions – and practically none depict things like going on strike or opposing fascism. With all major media and cultural production owned either by the government or huge corporations, this situation has prevailed throughout virtually the entire post-invasion history of Australia. In the 1930s, though, a massive experiment was launched to create culture by and for ordinary working people – the New Theatre. Under the slogan ‘Art is a weapon’, the New Theatre put on thousands upon thousands of performances about and for ordinary working-class people, aiming to reflect and validate their lives and struggles, and encourage political activism. Its plays were about workers’ strikes, about protest movements, about fighting the far right, and about taking on racism, sexism and other oppressions. Rather than confining themselves to the halls of physical theatre buildings, New Theatre performers – who operated on a miniscule budget and were almost all unpaid – put on plays in factories, in parks, in people’s homes, inside coal mines, and on street corners. They used avant-garde theatrical techniques, pioneered egalitarian gender relations within their productions, and put on some of the most well-attended plays in Australian history. And yet despite this, the New Theatre has virtually vanished from Australian history. In this episode, we chat with Lisa Milner, an academic and researcher of working-class cultural production, on her new book on the New Theatre. We discuss the extraordinary popularity and success of their productions, the efforts by the state to repress the New Theatre, and the ways that culture can help build and sustain radicalism and movements for change. You can buy Lisa’s book on the New Theatre here. Sign up to our Patreon now to have the chance to get a free copy of Lisa’s book and support our podcast!  Opening and closing music courtesy of Glitter Rats. People’s History of Australia logo design courtesy of Nissenbaum Design design.

From the 1880s until the 1980s, telephone operators were at the centre of the communications industry in Australia. Before the invention of the internet or mobile phones, virtually all telecommunication across the country and internationally took place through landline telephones. And operators, who connected calls to their intended destination, were completely essential to that process. Employed first by the federal government and then by the government-owned corporation Telecom, operators worked in gruelling conditions – a predominantly female workforce, they were subject to low pay, a physically and mentally overwhelming pace of work, and consistent threats to their occupational health. For much of their history, they also had a union which refused to take up their interests and which saw itself as almost an arm of management. Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, this abruptly changed, and telephone operators became some of the most militant workers in Australia, staging inspiring strikes and work bans to fight for better conditions on the job. In this episode, we talk with librarian, union activist and historian Jeff Rickertt about the extraordinary history of the telephonists. We explore how essential their work was to the everyday functioning of Australia’s economy, how the telephonists have been virtually erased from history, how it was that their union became completely co-opted and tamed by management, and how, beneath the surface of a seemingly quiescent workforce, resentment and resistance were always present, and were only waiting to explode into industrial militancy and activism. You can read Jeff’s PhD thesis on the telephonists here. Sign up to our Patreon now to have the chance to get a free copy of Jeff’s history of the telephonists, Resistance on the line, which is currently retailing for $250.  Opening and closing music courtesy of Glitter Rats. People’s History of Australia logo design courtesy of Nissenbaum Design design .

In the late 1960s and 1970s, a powerful and radical new movement arose in Australia challenging the widespread oppression that women faced across the country – the women’s liberation movement. Women in Australia in this era had plenty to fight about. It was illegal to get an abortion, and divorce was extremely difficult to obtain. Married women were barred from holding jobs in the public service, and were officially and unofficially excluded from a huge range of industries and occupations. Paid parental leave didn’t exist, and there was no support for single parents. Women weren’t even allowed in pubs – if women wanted to drink, they had to go and sit in a segregated “ladies’ lounge” out the back. Some things however were perfectly legal. It was completely legal for a husband to rape or sexually assault his wife, since marriage was taken to automatically imply consent at all times forever. It was also entirely legal for employers to pay women less than men for doing the same job – ads for jobs would display the male rate of pay for the position, and then the female rate of pay for the position, which was 75% of the male rate. Added to this was a pervasive everyday culture of public sexism and misogyny that touched all areas of life. Fortunately, tens of thousands of women across the country stood up and fought back, fighting for both reforms and for a new kind of society. In this episode, we chat with Janey Stone, who was involved in the women’s liberation movement both in the US and Australia, about this incredible era. You can check out Interventions, the Australian radical publishing house which is led by Janey, here, as well as the Interventions book in which Janey mentions, Rebel Women, here. You can read some of Janey’s other recent writings here, while you can watch a short interview with Janey’s mother Rose about her life and activism here. Check out our upcoming full-day festival on 15 March 2025, Radical Sydney!, here. We now also have a new Patreon account and you can subscribe to support us here! Opening music courtesy of Glitter Rats, closing music courtesy of the Victorian Trade Union Choir. People’s History of Australia logo design courtesy of Nissenbaum Design.

Throughout Australian history, Chinese workers in Australia have been demonised for their alleged enthusiasm for undercutting white workers and happily embracing terrible working conditions from the 19th century until the present day. Fortunately, these racist myths are precisely that - myths. From the arrival of the first Chinese migrants in the 1840s, Chinese workers in Australia have an extraordinary history of rebelling, resisting, going on strike, and collectively fighting against their employers for better wages and better working conditions. To talk about this amazing history that has been virtually hidden and ignored, we're joined in this episode by Liam Ward, a filmmaker and academic at RMIT University in Melbourne, who has researched and publicised some of the stories of Chinese workers in Australia and their struggles. Find full show notes and links for this episode, including more details about our upcoming day-long People's History festival, at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on our new Patreon account here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

Throughout Australia's history, racism has proven to be a remarkably effective weapon in dividing different groups from each other, despite them sharing the same common enemies and the same interests. Vicious anti-Aboriginal racism was deeply rooted in Australian culture from an early stage, and during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, there is minimal history of joint struggle between white workers and Aboriginal people. In the 1930s, however, dramatic changes began to take shape. For the first time ever, mass meetings of predominantly white union members began passing motions declaring their solidarity with Aboriginal resistance. White unemployed workers fought alongside unemployed Aboriginal workers. And a huge campaign took shape across the country, with the participation of thousands of white workers, against frontier massacres and violence. At the same time, radical left-wing theory began arguing that Aboriginal people and every other working-class person in Australia had a shared interest in opposing racism and waging united struggles together. To talk about this incredible history and how such a remarkable change took place, we're joined in this episode by Paddy Gibson, an activist, academic and historian, who discusses socialist anti-racist theory in the 19th century, its flaws and how it was modified and challenged by the Communist Part of Australia during 20th century, and the amazing campaigns led by the Communist Party against anti-Aboriginal racism during the 1920s and 1930s. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

Since it was founded in the 1920s, BHP's Port Kembla steelworks has completely dominated the town of Wollongong, employing over 25,000 workers at its peak and physically towering over the city. For much of its existence, the steelworks also systematically discriminated against women, deliberately confining women to only the lowest-paying jobs, refusing to employ women as steelworkers, and making up arbitrary rules to keep women out - all while constantly advertising for new jobs. In the 1970s, women in Wollongong decided to fight back. They protested, chained themselves to the gates of the steelworks, and sneaked in and stayed for overnight shifts with the support of male steelworkers. Then, in 1980, activists stepped up the pressure and began a largescale Jobs for Women campaign that involved thousands of workers, led to a protest encampment being set up outside the steelworks, and witnessed mass rallies for women's rights in the centre of Wollongong. To talk about this amazing struggle, we're joined by in this episode socialist activist Diana Covell, a founding member of the Jobs for Women campaign and a former steelworker at Port Kembla. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

In mid-2016, the University of Sydney abruptly announced that it would be closing down its Sydney College of the Arts campus. Within the space of a few months, the internationally-renowned arts school, which had produced scores of famous graduates and offered an almost unique education in visual and fine arts, would be gone, and its students shunted off to another university. Fortunately, students at SCA had other ideas, and waged an epic mass campaign to keep the college open that saw huge meetings, strikes and a student takeover of SCA's administration building. In this episode we interview Kelton Muir, an activist at SCA who's written an honours thesis about the campaign. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

In November 1975, the elected Labor Party government of Australia was sacked without notice by Sir John Kerr, the governor-general. Having single-handedly gotten rid of the elected government, Sir John then personally appointed a new government of his own choosing led by Malcolm Fraser and the Liberal Party. The dismissal – or the Kerr Coup as many referred to it – was one of the most dramatic events in Australian history, and ushered in a period of intense social conflict. For the next eight years, Malcolm Fraser’s prime ministership was marked by general strikes, high levels of industrial disputes and working-class militancy, riots in the streets, powerful environmental campaigns, and vibrant social movements against the oppression of women, LGBTQ people, Aboriginal people and migrants. To tell the story of this incredible era, we're joined by Diane Fieldes, a socialist activist and historian. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

When the British Empire invaded and colonised Australia in 1788, the new ruling class had a problem - there was no pre-existing working class in Australia waiting around to work for them. Their solution was to bring tens of thousands of convict prisoners here against their will as a labour force. Despite often horrendous working conditions and a brutal regime of punishment, convicts fought back, frequently going on strike, rioting, rebelling, escaping to become bushrangers, and engaging in hundreds of thousands of acts of collective and individual resistance. In this episode, we interview Michael Quinlan, UNSW academic and author of new book 'Unfree Workers', about this inspiring history. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

In 1996, newly elected politician Pauline Hanson swept to national prominence after making an extraordinarily racist and inflammatory maiden speech in federal parliament. Capitalising on her notoriety, Hanson announced plans to form a new political party, One Nation, with local branches and a mass membership, and polls indicated she would win widespread support. Anti-racists, however, had other ideas. Huge anti-Hanson rallies were organised in towns and cities across the country, and every attempt to run a public meeting featuring Hanson or build a local party branch was met with large and militant protests that disrupted and often shut her meetings down. Support for One Nation dwindled and by late 1998 the party had collapsed. In this episode we chat with Vashti Fox about the extraordinary movement to defeat Pauline Hanson and prevent the formation of a mass, racist party in Australia. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

In the 1940s, with an influx of thousands of new members, the Communist Party of Australia established the Marx Schools - one of the most remarkable experiments in Australian educational history. The schools ran from 10am until 10pm every day of the week, and offered extensive courses in socialist theory, the practicalities of union organising, how to chair meetings and give public speeches, in anti-fascism and women’s rights, and in art, economics, philosophy and literature. With a pedagogy that was far more advanced that most universities, they taught deeply complex ideas to thousands of workers, most of whom hadn't completed school beyond age 13 or 14. To discuss this amazing undertaking, we speak to Bob Boughton, who's researched extensively on the Marx Schools. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia

In early 1973, over a thousand predominantly Aboriginal workers rose up on strike against their employers in the cotton fields of rural NSW, where they were paid pitiful wages, pushed to work for over ten hours a day, denied rest breaks, and even doused with toxic pesticides as planes sprayed it over fields while workers were still in them. The strike took place at the height of the cotton season and threatened to ruin the entire year’s crop, and within days the petrified cotton-growers had capitulated and granted instant pay rises of almost 50%. In this episode, we're joined by Jordan Humphreys to learn more about this inspiring story. Find full show notes and links for this episode at our website - www.peopleshistory.com.au Support us on Patreon here - www.patreon.com/peopleshistoryofaustralia