Australian History: Brilliant stories from Australia's past.
Naval men who arrived in NSW in September 1795, Bass & Flinders were both intent of undertaking exploration and charting sections of New Holland, still largely unknown to the British. They became well known as navigators, explorers and map makers, charting the Australian coasts, and will likely be names known...
Waltzing Matilda is described as ‘the people’s song’. More well known than the actual Australian National Anthem around the world, Banjo Paterson’s jaunty little ditty actually contains clues to some turbulent times he witnessed in Australian history. This episode shares a little background about the much loved song. (40mins) Enjoying...
In the 1950s Australia hosted a number of British nuclear weapons tests. The very first one took place on the Montebello Islands, off Australia’s north west coast. This episode we will explore ‘Operation Hurricane’ on the Montebellos. (75 mins) Enjoying the podcast? Help support the show with a one-off donation...
Maria Island is a UNESCO World Heritage listed Tasmanian convict site, with a long and varied history, and a number of spectacular natural and geological places of interest. From its original indigenous use, soon after aboriginal people made their way to Tasmania, around 30,000 years ago, through it’s early colonial...
From a land with no native domesticated dogs, nearly 230 years after colonists’ brought their first pets & hunting dogs on the first fleet, Australia now has one of the highest rates of dog ownership in the world. Almost half of Australian households kept at least one dog in 2022,...
Presbyterian Minister John Flynn had a desire to bring “a mantle of safety” to those living in the remote areas of Australia. WWI Australian fighter pilot John Clifford Peel suggested a blueprint for such a service. Alf Traeger tested and designed equipment that would allow communication across the outback and...
In this final episode on Buckley & the Wathawurrung, we hear about what happened after Buckley made contact with Batman’s party from the Port Phillip Association. He eventually moves back into the white society, trying to live a quiet, conflict-free life and records his recollections of living amongst the Wathawurrung....
In Part 2 of William Buckley’s story, living amongst the Wathawurrung people who adopted him, we hear how he adapted and learned a great many skills. He was able to record many of the practices that allowed his mob to live so successfully, in country that almost killed him. And...
William Buckley was an escaped convict who lived amongst the Wathawurrung people for more than 30 years. Adopted as Murrangurk, he had the opportunity to participate in, witness and later record some of the lifestyle and cultural practices of these First Nations people, at a time before they had substantial...
We talk about ‘Telegraph Todd’ and the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, built through the largely unsurveyed and vast centre of Australia. Only one group of British explorers had, to date, survived a trek all the way from the south to the north and returned, but using the information...