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Ian Frazer discusses the cervical cancer vaccine, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of the Australian medical scientist Ian Frazer discussing how he and his colleague Jian Zhou developed the first vaccine to prevent and treat cervical cancer. He describes their breakthrough laboratory discovery in 1990, and how they realised a vaccine was possible. He also tells of the ...

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Bonita Mabo recalls Eddie Mabo’s land rights battle, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Bonita Mabo, widow of Indigenous land rights activist Eddie Mabo. She recalls how her husband declared he would fight for recognition as the owner of his traditional land on Mer Island, also known as Murray Island, in the Torres Strait after learning it was officially regarded as crown ...

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Andy Thomas discusses recreation on Mir, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Australian astronaut and cosmonaut Andy Thomas describing the recreational challenges of living for almost five months aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1998. The recording was made in August 2008.

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Graeme Burgess remembers army training for the Vietnam War, 2006

This is an edited sound recording of a former Australian soldier, Graeme Burgess, speaking about the School of Military Engineering (SME) in Casula in western Sydney where he trained in 1967 before being sent to fight in the Vietnam War. Burgess gives details of the type of engineer training provided at the SME. He also ...

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Jim Flemming recalls filming an attack mission in South Korea, 2007

This is an edited sound recording of former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Air Vice-Marshal Jim Flemming describing an unusual operation to film an air attack mission in the Korean War for use in a 1950 episode of a 'Cinesound Review' newsreel. Flemming describes how a camera was specially fitted under the wing of a ...

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Kerry Alcock describes his Cyclone Larry experience, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of a Queensland banana grower, Kerry Alcock, describing the devastation wrought by Cyclone Larry on his family business plantation in March 2006. Alcock tells how his crop was totally destroyed and how a new crop had to be planted from scratch using about 65,000 'suckers'. He also points ...

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Milt Cottee describes RAAF air attacks in the Korean War, 2007

This is an edited sound recording of former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Group Captain Milt Cottee describing attack missions in single-seater Mustang planes such as those he piloted in the Korean War (1950-53). Cottee outlines the range of weapons carried and the types of targets they were used against. He also gives ...

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Klaus Scheuermann describes 'welcome home' parades, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Klaus Scheuermann describing the 'welcome home' parade in Brisbane on 12 November 1970 for Australian soldiers who had just returned from South Vietnam. Scheuermann says that the 'fairly rousing welcome' made him and other members of the 8th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment ...

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Joan Kirner discusses affirmative action for ALP women, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of former Victorian premier Joan Kirner (1938-) talking about efforts to ensure the election of a higher proportion of female Labor Party politicians in Australia. Kirner explains how, despite the party's adoption of an affirmative action policy for women, a group of Labor women thought ...

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Judge Kevin Parker talks about 'beyond reasonable doubt', 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Kevin Parker, vice-president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), outlining the process of reaching a judgement. Parker stresses that a guilty verdict can only be based on a case being proven 'beyond reasonable doubt' through evidence brought before ...

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Alexandra Shackleton discusses Ernest Shackleton, 2005

This is an edited sound recording of the Hon Alexandra Shackleton, grand-daughter of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. She recounts aspects of his leadership of a 1907-09 expedition to Antarctica, relating how, for the sake of the survival of his team, he abandoned his bid to be the first to reach the geographic ...

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Ian Ritchie describes the launch of the Blue Streak, 2006

This is an edited sound recording of Ian Ritchie recalling the first launch of a Europa Blue Streak rocket from the Woomera rocket range in South Australia on 5 June 1964. Ritchie, an engine technician at the range, tells of the noise at lift-off and how the first flight of the rocket was cut short. The recording was made ...

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Lynley Huguenin describes being a Bali bombing victim, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Melbourne woman Lynley Huguenin, who received serious burns in one of the two terrorist bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali on 12 October 2002, describing the explosion that set her clothes on fire and the confusion that followed. She also tells of a long series of medical treatments, ...

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Jan Andrew recalls swimming at the 1960 Olympics

This is an edited sound recording of Australian swimmer Janice ('Jan') Andrew (nee Thornett) recalling how she won medals at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. She says that members of the Australian team had none of the special swimwear or support staff available to elite swimmers today. She also outlines her continuing work as ...

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Chris Arthur recalls the Franklin River campaign, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of an interview with Chris Arthur, a Tasmanian environmentalist, who describes being arrested and imprisoned in December 1982 after participating in a blockade of a site linked to a proposed project to dam the Franklin River in south-western Tasmania. He also talks about how he has gone ...

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Marion Scrymgour discusses representing Indigenous men, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of a Northern Territory politician, Marion Scrymgour, talking in July 2008 about representing the views of Indigenous men after she became the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the NT Legislative Assembly in 2001. Scrymgour says that she seeks to empower Indigenous men to take responsibility ...

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Judge Kevin Parker outlines the development of humanitarian law, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Kevin Parker, vice-president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), describing how international law dealing with human rights violations was developed from the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals set up after the end of the Second World War. He explains how ...

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Clare Martin speaks on being a female politician, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Clare Martin, former chief minister of Australia's Northern Territory (NT), talking about being a female politician. Martin discusses some of the difficulties faced by women politicians, particularly those with children. She says that balancing their professional role with their role ...

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Judge Kevin Parker discusses grave human rights violations, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Kevin Parker, vice-president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), describing his response to the extent and gravity of war crimes and other human rights violations in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. Suggesting that such crimes can be committed ...

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Gus Nossal speaks on being a research scientist, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of one of Australia's best known research scientists and immunologists, Sir Gustav Nossal, outlining his views on medical research. He discusses the qualities necessary for a person to be a successful scientific researcher and talks about the nature and future of science research, suggesting ...