First Contact
As the first Englishman to encounter Australian Aborigines, William Dampier instilled in other Englishmen’s minds the preconceptions about these people when he wrote that they […]
Articles by Michael Taylor
Federation: A colonial view
Federation gave Australia a national government that speaks and acts for the country as a whole. First mooted in the 1840s, about forty years were […]
Castle Hill: The Irish Rebellion in Australia
I have a confession: When it comes to history I am a total nerd. Today I offer a nerdish contribution of an event that most […]
Fun times ahead
The AIMN opened its doors in January 2013. It was an election year and Tony Abbott was Leader of the Opposition, and Tony, bless him, […]
What Morrison said
The excuses, reasons and justifications from Scott Morrison for taking over five portfolios – and the secrecy surrounding them – have dominated the media over […]
Our Christmas message
Christmas Day is like any other day for me: I get to spend it with my favourite person and one of us will prepare a […]
Fake democracy
Leaders from “approximately 110 countries were invited to take part in” President Biden’s two-day Summit for Democracy. The complete list of participating countries can be […]
Respect: Let’s show it
Back when Gough Whitlam won the election a few of us guys from the local football club went along to our pub, and on this […]
What is it with some people and longer cords?
Here’s a little gem (which I published years ago on another site) from the now defunct Originz podcast about a teacher in Western Queensland some time […]
Nationhood and the ‘Pure’ Race (part 5)
Conclusion Intellectual fashions in Social Darwinism and eugenics sought to ‘purify’ and secure a white Australia. The Indigenous population (and what was seen as the […]
Nationhood and the ‘Pure’ Race (part 4)
The other threat With the discovery of gold in 1851, the influx of Chinese became a major focus as the intensity and institutionalism of racism […]
Nationhood and the ‘Pure’ Race (part 3)
Ideology and the Indigenous Australians Racial preconceptions had germinated by 26th January 1788 when the history of European-Aboriginal interactions began as the British flag was […]
Nationhood and the ‘Pure’ Race (part 2)
The Early Thought Many historians argue that the celebrations of our centenary of Federation masked several truths about why the colonies chose to federate. Among […]
Nationhood and the ‘Pure’ Race (part 1)
Over twenty years ago I submitted my Honours thesis in Aboriginal Studies, that had the (academically proper but) gangling title of: A review of the […]
Sometimes you wonder if the government gives a damn
I’m in the middle of a dilemma. A very worrying one, actually. My rural Victorian city has been lucky – full credit to our townsfolk […]