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Audio

Radio National: Peter Lalor's Bakery Hill speech

What events led to the attack on the Eureka Stockade (Eureka rebellion) on the Ballarat goldfield in 1854? This audio clip examines the famous Bakery Hill speech by activist Peter Lalor. Listen to Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter discuss the effect that the speech had on the assembled miners. Find out why this is considered a key event ...

Audio

Radio National: Sir Henry Parkes's Tenterfield Oration, 1889

What role did Henry Parkes play in the federation of Australia? Listen to a re-enactment of Sir Henry Parkes's famous 1889 speech in Tenterfield, known as the Tenterfield Oration. Note in particular the arguments Parkes used to gain political support.

Audio

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 ...

Audio

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 ...

Audio

Bob Brown recalls the launch of the Blue Streak, 2006

This is an edited sound recording of Bob Brown recalling the excitement in Woomera in South Australia at the intended first launch of a Europa Blue Streak rocket from the nearby rocket range in June 1964. He tells how hundreds of families gathered to watch, only to be let down when the launch was cancelled with just seconds ...

Audio

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 ...

Audio

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 ...

Audio

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 ...

Image

'Southern Sun' above Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1931

This is a gelatin silver-toned composite photograph measuring 32 cm x 25.5 cm, created by E.W. Searle. The Avro-10 Southern Sun plane piloted by Charles Ulm celebrated the arrival in Sydney of aviatrix Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Amy Johnson had crash landed in Brisbane and was flown ...

Image

Landmarks: people and places across Australia

This resource features the Landmarks gallery, which traces a broad history of Australia since British colonisation in the late 18th century. The exhibition explores ten big themes in the country's past through the stories of Australian places and the people who have lived there. It examines how people have engaged with ...

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The Conversation: Australian Law

This resource contains a series of explanatory articles about Australian law, and how it interacts with a variety of subjects such as indigenous law, state vs federal, and the constitution. It can be used to develop a broad understanding of Australian law.

Video

Mabo: the native title revolution

This a multi-layered website about the life and times of Eddie Mabo and the part he played in Indigenous land rights, produced by the National Sound and Film Archive. There are section headings on: The Mabo film; Mer; The man; The case; Native title; Land rights; and Terra Nullius. Each heading has multiple subheadings ...

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Sustainable table: the coming famine

This is a website about the key issues related to global food insecurity. It contains sections on the scarcity of primary resources; land degradation; land scarcity; waste; climate change; consequences of inaction; and proposed solutions. Photographs, statistics, graphs, maps and figures support the information. This resource ...

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Objects through timeline: 50,000 years before present

This is a 26-page fact sheet that provides a comprehensive overview of migration to Australia from the first arrival of humans to 2006. It includes details about the major waves of international and internal migration, key events and policies, and individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to the development ...

Online

Indigenous Stories about War and Invasion

This is a website about Indigenous experiences of invasion and war during the British invasion, World War I and World War II. The resource is presented in three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are eight story objects that tell the stories of individuals, events and ...

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Forest learning: forest types

This resource is a ten-page pdf produced by Forest and Wood Products Australia providing basic information on the differences between plantation and natural forests. It also includes sections on: native forests; plantations; foresters; forest types; and forest structure. The resource includes: an outline of a class activity ...

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The Conversation: agriculture

This resource consists of a multitude of news articles and analytical pieces under the topic of agriculture. Eight articles address the many challenges of world food security, five explore the impact of predicted water and phosphorus shortages on crop yields and one article analyses the broader impact of organic farming ...

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Looking after the land

This is a resource about the environmental, climatic, natural disaster and pest challenges faced during settlement in Australia. It includes details about land management techniques; extreme and unique weather conditions, including floods and droughts; bushfires; animal and plant pests; and water management. Text, images, ...

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Life on the land

This is a resource about life on the land in Australia in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It includes details about land grants allocation, the establishment of Australia's first farms, the condition of the land, the processes used to farm the land, and case studies about the early farming families in Australia. The ...

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Earthshots: satellite images of environmental change - Lake Chad, Africa

This resource is a series of satellite images of Lake Chad in Africa, showing its decline due to prolonged drought and increased water use from 1963 to 2003, accompanied by a text explanation, including a brief history of the lake. The text describes the geographical features of the freshwater lake, the effect of the region's ...