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George Burston's granddaughter describes his 'world tour', 2006

This is a sound recording of Geraldine McFarlane, granddaughter of George William Burston, describing Burston's 1888-89 'world tour' by bicycle with a companion, Harry Stokes. McFarlane outlines the route they took from Melbourne to London, pedalling much of the way on 'penny-farthing' or high-wheeled bicycles, and describes ...

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John Collins recalls illustrations by Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), 2007

This is an edited sound recording of John Collins, former managing director of the Brisbane-based book publisher Jacaranda Press, recalling the way the Indigenous poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal (then Kath Walker) produced illustrations for her 1980 book 'Father sky and mother earth'. He describes how a casual remark led to her ...

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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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Ric Havyatt describes bomb disposal work in Darwin, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Ric Havyatt, former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) bomb disposal officer during the Second World War (1939-45), describing the way Japanese planes bombed Darwin in the Northern Territory in 1942-43, and how some bombs did not explode, as designed, on impact. He tells how some unexploded ...

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Jim Stewart recalls the Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Jim Stewart, a former commanding officer of the Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam (AATTV), explaining how the AATTV trained units of the South Vietnamese Army (SVA) and militia forces. Stewart describes the duties of AATTV members, recalling the difficulty of the language barrier ...

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Ian Frazer describes medical research work, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Australian medical scientist Ian Frazer outlining some of the joys and frustrations of a career as a medical researcher. One advantage, he says, is that researchers know that many people may benefit from the work they themselves are enjoying, but he warns against a career as a research ...

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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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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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Jurij Semkiw remembers Australia's first computer, 2006

This is an edited sound recording of 77-year-old Jurij Semkiw talking about Australia's first computer, known as CSIRAC (pronounced 'sigh-rack'), which ran its first simple program in 1949. Semkiw, who was a maintenance engineer on CSIRAC, describes the excitement of being involved in a completely new technology. He also ...

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Brian Manning recalls the Wave Hill walk-off, 2007

This is an edited sound recording of Indigenous rights activist Brian Manning talking about the Wave Hill walk-off in the Northern Territory in 1966, when Gurindji workers on the Wave Hill cattle station went on strike. Manning tells how he was involved in organising the walk-off, assuring the Gurindji that, unlike previous ...

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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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Clare Martin talks about becoming NT opposition leader, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Clare Martin talking about some of the political strategies she adopted after becoming Australian Labor Party (ALP) opposition leader in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) in 1999. Martin says she was very conscious that the NT had an unusually high proportion of male voters, and this ...

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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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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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Andy Thomas speaks of Australia's space program, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Australian astronaut Andy Thomas, discussing what he regards as a lack of Australian investment in a space program. Thomas outlines why he believes a country such as Australia needs a space program as a part of its 'basic infrastructure'. The recording was made in August 2008.

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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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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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Alf Turner remembers his grandfather, William Cooper, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Alf Turner, grandson of Indigenous activist William Cooper. Turner describes moving to Melbourne to live with his grandparents in about 1936 in the house then used for meetings of the Australian Aborigines' League (AAL). He recalls Cooper's frustration at the lack of results from the ...

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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 describes his most noted medical research, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Sir Gustav Nossal describing the medical research for which he became internationally known. He outlines his contributions to the emerging science of immunology in the 1950s-70s, and how other researchers have been able to make further discoveries based on his initial work. The recording ...