People's History of Australia

People's History of Australia


Latest Episodes

Ep 21 – Radical Chinese workers in Australian history
November 27, 2024

Throughout Australian history, non-white migrant workers have consistently been stereotyped as docile, submissive, and willing to work for extremely low wages. Nowhere has this been more true than for

Ep 20 – The struggle against anti-Aboriginal racism in 1920s and 1930s Australia
September 15, 2024

When Australia was invaded in 1788, the new colonys nascent ruling class deployed violence and repression on two fronts. On one side of the frontier, the colonial administration used troops and pasto

Ep 19 – Jobs for women! Fighting sexism at the Port Kembla steelworks
July 13, 2024

Since it was founded in the 1920s, BHPs Port Kembla steelworks has completely dominated the town of Wollongong, employing over 25,000 workers at its peak and physically towering over the city. For mu

Ep 18 – SCA here to stay! The campaign to save Sydney College of the Arts
April 23, 2024

In mid-2016, the University of Sydney abruptly announced that it would be closing Sydney College of the Arts, its internationally-renowned arts school. Within the space of a few months, the school, wh

Ep 17 – Years of rage: social conflict in the Malcolm Fraser era
February 10, 2024

In November 1975, the elected Labor Party government of Australia was sacked without notice by Sir John Kerr, the governor-general. Having single-handedly gotten rid of the elected government, Sir Joh

Ep 16 – Resistance and rebellion in convict Australia
September 24, 2023

When the British Empire invaded Australia in 1788, the colonys new ruling class had a problem there was no pre-existing working class in Australia waiting around to work for them. Governments and e

Ep 15 – Fighting for the right to protest in 1970s Queensland
July 18, 2023

In 1977, the premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, abolished the right to hold street protests. Dont bother applying for a march permit, he declared. You wont get one. Thats government pol

Ep 14 – How anti-racists defeated Pauline Hanson in the 90s
April 23, 2023

In 1996, newly elected politician Pauline Hanson swept to national prominence after making an extraordinarily racist and inflammatory maiden speech in federal parliament attacking Aboriginal people an

Ep 13 – The Workers’ University: adult education in the Communist Party of Australia
February 05, 2023

In the 1940s, the Communist Party of Australia was approaching the peak of its power as the largest and most influential left-wing organisation in Australian history. The Communist Party of Australia

Ep 12 – Black Power in rural NSW: the 1973 Aboriginal cotton chippers’ strike
November 22, 2022

Wee Waa, in northern New South Wales, is at the centre of the cotton industry in Australia. Tens of thousands of hectares of cotton crops surround the town, which describes itself as the cotton capit