Afternoon Light

David Headon on our first PM Edmund Barton: "The Iscariots of history"

What kind of country doesn't remember the name of its first prime minister?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Professor David Headon AM to reveal the fascinating story of Sir Edmund Barton. The cricket-mad 'tosspot' who found the vision and drive to spearhead Australia's federation movement.
Dr David Headon is a cultural consultant and historian. Formerly Director of the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies, Cultural Adviser to the National Capital Authority and History and Heritage Adviser for the Centenary of Canberra, he is now a Foundation Fellow at the Australian Studies Institute (ANU), a Parliamentary Library Associate and the Canberra Raiders club historian. He is currently overseeing the First Eight Project, which aims to enliven interest in our nation’s earliest political leaders.
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Sir Peter Cosgrove on Vietnam, his experience in the ADF & Australia's current defence concerns: "underscore and capitalise DETERRANT"

How can Australia see off the threats posed by an increasingly unstable world?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Sir Peter Cosgrove for a wide-ranging interview covering his own personal experience in the ADF, reflections on Australia's Vietnam War commitment, and a call to action on the pressing need to invest in our military preparedness.
Born into an Army family, Sir Peter Cosgrove attended Waverley College in Sydney before graduating from the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1968. His first deployment was in Malaysia with the 1st Battalion RAR and later in Vietnam he commanded an infantry platoon. He served as Commander of INTERFET in East Timor in 1999 overseeing that country’s transition to independence. Then promoted to Chief of Army and later Chief of the Australian Defence Force. He retired from the ADF in 2005 serving on several boards before becoming a Knight in the Order of Australia when sworn in as Governor-General in 2014 and serving until June 2019.
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Katti Williams on the design process that produced Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance: "Surrogate Tombs"

How can a monument encapsulate the loss of 60,000 young men?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Katti Williams to explore the design process that produced Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance. Undoubtedly one of Australia's most iconic monuments and a haunting tribute to those that paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our nation.
Katti Williams is a Postdoctoral Research fellow in Australian architectural history, in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. Her PhD thesis, completed in 2017 at the University of Melbourne, comprised the first sustained academic study of the Australian early twentieth-century architect William Lucas, with a specific focus on his unbuilt designs for First World War memorials. Her research is a nexus between art, architectural, military, and cultural histories.
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David Day on Foundational Labor PM Andrew Fisher: "To the last man and the last shilling"

Why did a critic of the Boer War double down on Australia's commitment to its bloody successor?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with David Day to discuss one of our most important but forgotten nation builders, Andrew Fisher. Who rose from the coal mines of Scotland to become Australia's fifth prime minister. But whose legacy is inextricably linked to the Australian lives lost during World War I.
David Day is an Australian historian and author. Day has written widely on Australian history and the history of the Second World War. Among his many books are Menzies and Churchill at War and a two volume study of Anglo-Australian relations during the Second World War. His prize-winning history of Australia, Claiming a Continent, won the prestigious non-fiction prize in the 1998 South Australian Festival Awards for Literature. An earlier book, Smugglers and Sailors, was shortlisted by the Fellowship of Australian Writers for its Book of the Year Award. John Curtin: A Life was shortlisted for the 2000 NSW Premier's Literary Awards' Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction. He is the author of Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia.
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John Roskam & Zachary Gorman on the 2025 election & where to now for Australian liberalism: "Ideological Incoherence"

How did Menzies's Liberal Party end up with the lowest primary vote in its 80-year history?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with John Roskam and Zachary Gorman to dissect the recent election, apply some historical context to the results, and ask 'where to now?' for Australian liberalism.
John Roskam is a columnist for The Australian Financial Review and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs. Zachary Gorman is the Historian and Research Manager of the Robert Menzies Institute.
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Bob Crawshaw on the communications revolution that defeated Bank Nationalisation & won the 49 election: "Highly Orchestrated"

How did Robert Menzies sell his message as Opposition Leader?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Bob Crawshaw about how Chifley and Menzies's epic clash over bank nationalisation reshaped Australia's political communications landscape. As innovative marketing techniques first defeated the policy then helped to sweep the Liberals into power in 1949.
Bob Crawshaw began his career during the Vietnam era, serving in the Australian Army for over 30 years as a commander, trainer, long-range planner and diplomat. As the first Director of Army Public Affairs, he gained unique insights into how governments try to shape public opinion and how communities push back to influence those in power. After leaving the Army, Bob established a public relations agency, using his experience to help governments and community organisations effectively promote their ideas. His work received Australian and international recognition. In recent times, Bob has focused on uncovering the stories behind the advertising and public relations campaigns that shaped Australia. Inspired by the passion and larger-than-life personalities involved in the bank nationalisation episode, he authored Battle of the Banks, a compelling exploration of how bold communications can either defeat big plans or make them a reality.
 
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Mark Johnston on the story of Don Company: "Astonished by how brave a group of people could be"

How did one group of soldiers manage to endure practically the full breadth of Australia's experience in World War Two?
On this week's Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Mark Johnston to tell the story of Don Company. An Australian 'band of brothers' who fought with distinction in Tobruk, El Alamein and New Guinea.
Dr Mark Johnston has established himself as one of the foremost authorities on the Australian Army in World War II. He was described in the Australian War Memorial’s Wartime magazine as ‘the leading historian on the experience of Australian soldiers during the war’. He is Head of History at Scotch College, Melbourne, a former Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, and the author of twelve books, including An Australian Band of Brothers (NewSouth, 2018).

Paul Strangio on the Great Labor Split: "There you are Judas"

What are the long-term consequences when political parties become wracked by division?
On Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Paul Strangio about the Great Labor Split, which just passed its 70th anniversary. A combustible mix of sectarian prejudice and ideological division lit into an inferno by an unstable leader, it prompted the rise of Australia's first significant minor party and left the ALP in Opposition for over two decades.
Paul Strangio is an Emeritus Professor of Politics at Monash University. Paul specialises in Australian political history, with a particular focus on political leadership and political parties. He’s an author and editor of 11 books. He’s been a frequent commentator on Australian politics in the print and election media, including contributing many op-ed pieces to The Age, and for a number of years has had a regular segment on ABC Radio Melbourne.
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Andrew Levidis on Kishi Nobusuke & the Australia-Japan Reconciliation: "Historians should never say miracle"

How did Japan evolve from Australia's wartime enemy into a friendly trading partner in a little over a decade?
On Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Andrew Levidis about Kishi Nabusuke. A controversial & complex figure, who was imprisoned as a war criminal for his role in the Imperial Japanese Government, only to rebound and become the architect of its post-war political settlement.
Andrew Levidis is a Lecturer in Modern Japanese History at the Australian National University. He completed his doctorate in History at the Faculty of Law of Kyoto University and has been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University at the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies (RIJS) and Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He is co-editor of In the Ruins of the Japanese Empire: Imperial Violence, State Destruction, and the Reordering of Modern East Asia (Hong Kong University Press 2020) and editor of the DFAT Documents volume on Australia-Japan relations 1957-1975. His monograph A Memory of Empire: Kishi Nobusuke and the Transwar Japanese Right explores the international history of Japanese right-wing and the historical rise of conservatism from empire to Cold War.

Judith Brett on Alfred Deakin: "Organic Australian Policy"

How did Alfred Deakin shape so much of the 'Australian Settlement' without ever securing a clear election victory?
On Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Judith Brett to explore one of Australia's most important but enigmatic figures. Who has always featured centrally in the story of federation, in part because he insisted on writing it himself.
Judith Brett is a political historian and biographer and emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. Among her books are Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People, Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class, The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, which won the 2018 National Biography Award, and From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award.