Print this page More Disturbing Episodes in Australian History

Disturbing episodes in the history of any nation offer significant challenges to the power brokers, policy makers and citizens of the times. Sometimes nations heed valuable lessons from these disturbing episodes but not always. The violence of the anti-Chinese Lambing Flat Riots in 1861 was very confronting. The collapse of the Westgate Bridge in Melbourne 1970 resulted in 35 deaths and a Royal Commission. David Marr’s recent book, Killing for Country offers both a personal and much wider political perspective on the frontier killings of Aboriginal Australians in the 19th and 20th centuries. The White Australia Policy of the late 19th C and 1901 was not abandoned until the 1960s. We explore disturbing events, their significance and impact. Note: Part 2 is a stand alone course and it is not necessary to have completed Part 1.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• King, Jonathan ,2013, Great Disasters in Australian History, Allen and Unwin, ISBN 9781743312513
•  Marr, David, 2023, Killing for Country, Black Inc, ISBN 1760642738
•  Macintyre, Stuart, 2020, Concise History of Australia, fifth edition, C.U.P. ISBN 1108728480
•  Elder, Bruce, 2003, Blood on the Wattle, Massacres and Maltreatment of Aboriginal Australia Since 1788, New Holland, ISBN 1741100089

COURSE OUTLINE

• Lambing Flat Riots 1861 and anti Chinese attitudes on the goldfields, involvement of the police and miners
• Collapse of the Westgate Bridge on the Yarra River in 1970, factors contributing to the collapse and the findings of the Royal Commission, completion of the Bridge in 1978.
• Frontier Wars and Massacres in Australian colonial and 20th century history, debates and questions about museums, commemorations, exhibits and the role of the AWM in the debates about acknowledgement of the massacres
• The foundations of the White Australia Policy, late 19th c, the 1901 legislation, the role of Alfred Deakin and the Federation “founding fathers”, abandonment of the White Australia Policy in the 1960s

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Discuss the factors which relate to each case study of “disturbing episodes” from our past and why they might be defined as “disturbing”
2. Understand the impact or the longer term results of each disturbing episode , including any policy changes by governments or groups as a result of the episodes from the past
3. Appreciate the differences in present and past sensibilities when “condemning” attitudes of the past which are no longer acceptable, appreciating political and social context of each of the case studies