Update: 4 October 2025: We found some biodata on Robert Hill in previous articles he has written for Quadrant, for example this one: ‘Robert Hill is a former Federal Police officer with a deep interest in Australian history and a serious concern about its…
More in sorrow than in anger? Canberra Times and Crikey nail War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial has been in the news recently since it made a bugger’s muddle* of its decisions on the Les Carlyon prize and the Ben Roberts-Smith display. See, for example, the posts under ‘News’ on our sister website, Defending…
Stephens, David: Memorial faffing about on Masters’ book is regrettable but there are bigger issues
David Stephens* ‘Memorial faffing about on Masters’ book is regrettable but there are bigger issues’, Honest History, 15 September 2025 This post originally appeared on our sister site, Defending Country. Earlier Honest History posts on Ben Roberts-Smith. *** 25 September…
Book note: Julie Macken’s Australia’s Schism in the Soul
The sub-heading of this book is ‘Colonialism, Immigration Detention and a Nation’s Failure to Mourn’. It brings together strands of Australia’s national story that often are not linked. We Australians – or at least those of us of Anglo-Celtic extraction,…
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Piggott, Michael: War and trauma – who’d have thought? Part II
Michael Piggott* ‘War and trauma – who’d have thought? Part II’, Honest History, 21 March 2025 Part I of this article. Commentary (continued) 3 There is something deeply ironic about a War Memorial being urged by a consultant to accept…
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Piggott, Michael: War and trauma – who’d have thought? Part I
Michael Piggott* ‘War and trauma – who’d have thought? Part I’, Honest History, 19 March 2025 Evidence On 7 January 2025, an article appeared in the Canberra Times headed ‘Damning report slams Australian War Memorial over “diversity”, “colonial terminology”’. There…
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Stephens, David: Did Four Corners offer a new direction for a War Memorial that has lost its way?
David Stephens* ‘Did Four Corners offer a new direction for a War Memorial that has lost its way?’ Honest History, 18 March 2025 The war memorial to me is one of Australia’s most important places. It is sacred, but it’s…
Four Corners takes deep dive into War Memorial’s links to gun runners
Four Corners this week (reporter Mark Willacy, producer Jonathan Miller) takes a deep dive into the links between gunrunners and the Australian War Memorial. Here’s a trailer and some introductory text (text also below). Interviewees include Defending Country’s President, Professor Peter Stanley, Sue…
Piggott, Michael: Broken Years, Black convicts and Bennelong: some inadvertent irritations
Michael Piggott* ‘Broken Years, Black convicts and Bennelong: some inadvertent irritations’, Honest History, 19 November 2024 The online world seems awash at the moment with lists of things annoying baby-boomers, and indeed why they themselves are so annoying. Archivists have…
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War Memorial needs to talk peace says Medical Association for Prevention of War
Medical Association for Prevention of War Australia (MAPW) has published a new report which includes a set of principles to improve the Australian War Memorial’s programming for children. The report is Time to Talk Peace: the Australian War Memorial and Children. See…
On our sister site, Defending Country: Truth-telling about our history
The Defending Country campaign believes the Australian War Memorial must properly recognise and commemorate the Australian Frontier Wars as an essential part of Truth-telling and as a first step to reframing Australian national commemoration. We are Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous,…
Piggott, Michael: White lies, archival truths and R.J.L. Hawke
Michael Piggott ‘White lies, archival truths and R.J.L. Hawke‘, Inside Story, 17 October 2024 This article contains archivist Piggott’s close analysis of the evidence relating to Hawke’s swim – or not-swim – in a pond at the Australian National University…
War Memorial’s latest Corporate and Strategic Plans contain some puzzles
Our sister site, Defending Country, has looked closely at the War Memorial’s most recent Corporate and Strategic Plans – so you don’t have to. Part 1: Word Play; Part 2: Don’t Mention the War. Part 1: Here is Corporate Plan 24-28…
Parliamentary Inquiry into Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024
The Australian Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (JSCATSIA) is conducting an Inquiry into the Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024. Submissions are due by 6 September. The Bill is intended to establish a Commission…