Digital resources tagged with ‘national identity’

A Telegraph Line across the Continent

The story of the struggle to cross a vast continent and build the telegraph line that would bring Australia to the world and the world to Australia.

An Australian Wedding, 1968

Powerhouse Museum Curator Dr Kimberley Webber looks at how collections bring to life Australian stories in museums.

Andrew Fisher’s Lunch Box

Andrew Fisher’s tin lunch box reminds us that humble beginnings informed his political career: he went from union organiser to three-time Prime Minister, inventing the Australian ideal of a ‘fair go’ along the way.

Aussie-made content

Australian film and television production is competing in a globalised world with big international production companies who market their product effectively to the world market.

Australian television drama

Australian content on television reflects our culture and our society. Mac Gudgeon celebrates the importance of Homicide in the history of Australian television production. Stuart Cunningham and Scott Goodings remember some of the popular dramas which showed Australians that they could love Australian programming.

Ben Chifley’s Pipe

Possibly our best loved Prime Minister, and a former train driver, Ben Chifley was rarely seen without his pipe, as he guided the country through the austere post-war years.

Building the Bridge

In 2007 Australia celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a giant steel arch resembling a coat hanger that has became one of world's most recognised structures and an engineering triumph.

Captain Cook - Cook's Chronometer

On James Cook’s second voyage of discovery he takes part in a grand scientific experiment to test a chronometer that the Admiralty hopes will allow navigators to measure lines of longitude.

Captain Cook in Hawaii

The story of Captain James Cook’s ill-fated final voyage to the Pacific is one of tragic cultural misunderstanding.

Captain Cook’s Tragic Death

Captain James Cook’s untimely return to Hawaii ended with his violent death, the details of which are portrayed in numerous conflicting illustrations.

Censorship in Media

John Safran discusses censorship in Australian media.

Constructing the East-West Rail Link

Rare archival footage from 1910 shows camels carrying heavy supplies across the desert. Railway labourers are building the 1400 km railway that will finally link Western Australia with the Eastern States.

Edmund Barton and the Velvet Soap Advertisement

The Velvet Soap advertising campaign is a tongue-in-cheek reminder of Edmund Barton’s hand in formulating the White Australia policy.

End of a Dream

A look at the life and death of West Papuan independence leader, Chief Theys Eluay.

Endeavour Journal

Written on board the Endeavour during his trip down under in 1770, James Cook’s journal records the beginning of Australia as we know it today.

Family Life in Geelong

In a typical 60s family a mother works to get dinner ready as the children come home after school. After Dad arrives home from work in the Holden, Mum serves traditional roast lamb and three vegetables.

Family radio

A young boy plays along with a musical game during one of the many ABC broadcasts for children. Children from around Australia tune into a kindergarten broadcast over the ABC. Tim Bowden remembers the ABC children's program The Argonauts.

Francis De Groot’s Sword

When right-wing agitator Francis De Groot upstaged the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and sliced through the ceremonial ribbon, the antique sword he wielded cemented its place as an Australian national treasure.

Gold Rush in the West

Gold, more than any other single factor, transformed the Australian colonies.

Harold Holt’s Briefcase

The disappearance of our seventeenth Prime Minister, Harold Holt, during a beach holiday sparked countless conspiracy theories. The items left in his briefcase are a significant time capsule of his last days as Prime Minister.

Ideology and the Curriculum

Who decides what is taught in Australian History in schools?

James Scullin And The GCMG

James Scullin inspired the people when he offered to rent out The Lodge during the Depression, but his fierce nationalism is best revealed in his campaign to install an Australian-born Governor General.

John Curtin’s Australian Journalists’ Association Badge

John Curtin’s journalistic instincts came in handy during World War Two when he kept the media onside with secret press briefings. He wore his AJA badge every day he was in office.

Joseph Lyons’ Love Letters

Politics rarely produces impassioned romantics, which makes the hundreds of letters Joseph Lyons wrote to his adored wife and confidante, Enid, as fascinating as they are unexpected

Launch of TV

Liz Jacka provides a brief history of the debate on how to establish television broadcasting in Australia. Tim Bowden recalls the enthusiasm with which Australians embraced television.

Mabo - Life of An Island Man

This is a film about Eddie Mabo - the man whose name lives on in a High Court ruling that has forever altered Australian life.

Mini-Series

The Australian film revival of the late 1970s and early 80s triggered a rise in quality of Australian TV drama and a 'high point' in the production of mini-series from the early 1980s to the early 90s.

Newsreels before sound

Newsreels included events of both political and social importance and were screened all day long in specially designed cinemas.

O'Connor's Dream for Water

In 1890 C. Y. O'Connor was recruited to work as Chief Engineer in the newly self-governing colony of Western Australia, where he formed a dynamic partnership with the colony's larger-than-life Premier, John Forrest.

Parliamentary Representation

The strength of democracies is founded on the breadth of the representation of it's parliamentarians.

Riding on the Sheep's Back

By the 1950s Australia ‘rode on the sheep’s back’; those who grew the wool had come to symbolise and epitomise what it was to be Australian.

Robert Menzies’ Camera

Robert Menzies’ lifelong passion for home movies resulted in a surprisingly personal record of the war years, including footage of a young Princess Elizabeth.

Snowy Mountains Scheme

An estimated 100,000 people worked on the Scheme between 1949 and 1974, the year of its completion. Two-thirds of the them were immigrants from over 40 countries around the world. They changed the face of Australian society.

Stanley Melbourne Bruce's Cigarette Case

Stanley Melbourne Bruce treasured Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s gift of a gold cigarette case throughout his life.

Stuart Crosses the Continent

There was enormous public and media speculation about whether the Victorian backed Burke and Wills or South Australia's Stuart expedition would be the first to cross the continent's interior.

Stuart encounters Outback Aborigines

When John Stuart crossed the interior of Australia, he did so in ignorance of the complex set of boundaries and rules for the use of shared resources that existed among the Aboriginal people.

The Bridge Workers

The construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was a massive investment for the NSW government. The cost was not only in monetary terms but also the destruction of significant areas of Sydney’s heritage and the loss of lives.

The Effect of Cartoons

Bruce Petty investigates the effects of political satire and cartooning.

The Effects of World War 1 on the Australian Economy

When our troops were sent off to war in 1914, industry in Australia boomed. Steel was necessary for guns and ships.

The Founding of Canberra

In 1913 the Basic Living Wage of 2 pounds 8 shillings a week is introduced. Politicians, including William Morris (Billy) Hughes, lay the Foundation Stone for the new National Capital in Canberra.

The New Curriculum

Talkback Classroom participants argue that students have a say in developing curriculum.

The West and Federation

Some sort of federation of the Australian colonies had been suggested as early as 1846. Ferocious political struggles over the shape of the new nation continued to the eleventh hour.

Todd completes Telegraph

In 1870 Charles Todd, using explorer John McDouall Stuart's maps, organised and lead three teams to lay the overland telegraph wire.

Todd's Telegraph Dream

Charles Todd dreamt of constructing a telegraph line through the heart of the continent.

Tom Roberts' Bailed Up

With its revolutionary approach to depicting the landscape and light, Tom Roberts’ Bailed Up is a painting that helped define Australia’s national identity.

TV and family life

The Doonan family relax together at home in front of the television - their 'permanent visitor'. Liz Jacka describes the role of the the Vincent Committee in establishing local drama production for Austalian television. Megan Spencer remembers some of the shows she and her family watched together.

TV Soap Opera

TV soap operas have the ability to reflect Australian society and culture and connect people through the shared memory of watching a television show.

Waltzing Matilda Song Sheet

The original handwritten score for Waltzing Matilda holds the story of a musical collaboration that created Australia’s national song.

William Hughes and the 1916 Conscription Badge

William Hughes, “The Little Digger”, campaigned twice for national conscription to boost an Australian army decimated by World War One.

Writing Historical Fiction, Nadia Wheatley

Author and Historian Nadia Wheatley writes about historical events in her fiction because history is a great story.