Author, Researcher, Historian
The above is the title of a chapter that Katie Wright of LaTrobe University and I have written for Fault Lines: Australia’s Unequal Past, a book just off the presses from Monash University Publishing. You can buy the book at https://publishing.monash.edu/product/fault-lines/ The following is a near final version of our chapter. FORGETTING AND REMEMBERING, INDIFFERENCE […]
On 16 October 2025 I was invited to be the Guest Speaker at Ballarat Cafs AGM. Here is the text of my address. I started preparing this talk on the eve of The Australian Rules Football Grand Final. My mind was attuned to events with four quarters. Here’s an orphan’s life in four quarters. A […]
I was pleased to present the prestigious Spielvogel Oration by invitation of the Ballarat Historical Society on 21 May 2025. The Oration is an annual event in honour of Nathan Spielvogel, a public intellectual, historian, teacher, broadcaster, and writer (See Weston Bate’s short bio at https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/spielvogel-nathan-frederick-8607). I was proud and humbled to follow a long […]
On Social Work Day, Tuesday March 18 2025, I joined a panel at Monash University with A/Prof Susie Bawadie (Social Work Department) and Jacinta Woehl (who works at Seniors Rights) to discuss the theme for the day: “Strengthening Intergenerational Solidarity for Enduring Wellbeing”. This is how I summarised my thoughts about how the theme should […]