The Memory Tapes
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- 15. Okt. 2026
Über den Podcast
The Memory Tapes is a new podcast from the National Library of Australia that brings history to life through the voices of the people who lived it. Drawing on the nation's most significant oral history collection, the series explores remarkable stories of resilience, innovation, creativity, migration, activism and everyday life. In each episode, oral historian Dr Shirleene Robinson AM combines firsthand accounts with expert storytelling to reveal the people behind Australia's history.
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The Memory Tapes Episode 11 - [Bonus] Trailblazers: Women, Change and the Work Still Ahead
Episode Eleven – Trailblazers: Women, Change and the Work Still Ahead International human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson joins Dr Shirleene Robinson for a special episode centred on the remarkable life of her …
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Episode Eleven – Trailblazers: Women, Change and the Work Still Ahead
International human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson joins Dr Shirleene Robinson for a special episode centred on the remarkable life of her grandmother, Philipa Cracknell. A survivor of domestic violence, Philipa went on to spend seventeen years working in one of Australia's earliest women's refuges, helping other women find safety and support. Jennifer reflects on Philipa's courage and the profound influence she has had on her own life, including her own commitment to fighting for women's rights and human rights more broadly. Their conversation also recognises other trailblazing women who helped change the course of Australian history. Together, Jennifer and Shirleene reflect on how far women have come, the new challenges they face and the work ahead.
Sensitivity Warning: This episode contains discussions and references to domestic violence, gender-based discrimination and sexual violence. Some listeners may find this content distressing and listener discretion is advised.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1.Philipa Cracknell interviewed by Shirleene Robinson Philipa Cracknell was born in Papua New Guinea in 1937 to an expatriate Australian father working there. Following his death when she was very young, she and her mother returned to Bondi. In her oral history, she recalls a childhood shaped by the Second World War, her bond with her mother, her talent for horse riding and the strong sense of community in Bondi. She later married a jockey but experienced abuse within the marriage. She divorced her husband in the 1950s, when divorce was difficult, details were public and support was limited. She reflects on her seventeen years working at Bonnie Women's Refuge, where she supported women in court as a litigation friend and trained police in responding to domestic violence. Philipa speaks proudly of the achievements of her granddaughter, renowned human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, and her other grandchildren. She reflects on the progress made in women's rights, the challenges that remain and need for continued vigilance.
2. Anne Summers interviewed by Hazel de Berg Dr Anne Summers AO, born in 1945, is a pioneering Australian author, editor, academic and feminist whose influential work over more than five decades has helped transform public understanding of gender equality and domestic and family violence. She helped establish Australia's first women's refuge, Elsie, in Sydney in 1974, and later headed the Office of the Status of Women under Prime Minister Bob Hawke and served as an adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating. In her 1975 oral history, Summers reflects on her landmark book Damned Whores and God's Police (1975), childhood and education, involvement in the women's liberation movement, her role in founding the feminist journal Refractory Girl and helping to establish Elsie. She shares her views on feminism and reflects on her plans for the future.
3. Jessie Street interviewed by Hazel de Berg Jessie Street, born in 1889, was an Australian feminist, diplomat, peace activist and human rights advocate. She advocated for the rights of First Nations people and collaborated with Indigenous activists such as Pearl Gibbs, as well as Faith Bandler, a woman of South Sea Islander, Scottish and Indian descent, on the campaign for constitutional change that culminated in the 1967 referendum. In her oral history, she reflects on the quality of life for Australian women at the beginning of the twentieth century, her family history and her childhood experiences in India. She recalls challenging inferior sporting facilities provided for women at the University of Sydney, where she studied Arts and met her future husband, Sir Kenneth Street. She also describes living in England during the First World War, collaborating with sex workers to pursue reform in New York and shares her thoughts on trade unions. Street speaks with pride about travelling to San Francisco in 1945 as the only Australian woman in the delegation to the founding conference of the United Nations. She also reads a passage from her book, Truth or Repose.
4. Faith Bandler interviewed by Hazel de Berg Faith Bandler ACE MBE, born in 1918, was an Australian civil rights activist of South Sea Islander, Scottish and Indian descent who played a leading role in the 1967 referendum campaign. In her oral history, she reflects on her family background, including how her father, who died when she was five years old, was forcibly taken from Vanuatu at the age of thirteen and brought to Queensland to work as slave labour on sugar plantations. She recalls her involvement in the long campaign for constitutional change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the success of the 1967 referendum and the importance of her friendship with Jessie Street. She also expresses her hope that the discrimination experienced by South Sea Islanders will be addressed and that their needs and rights will be recognised.
5. Oodgeroo Noonuccal (formerly known as Kath Walker) interviewed by Hazel de Berg Quandamooka woman, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, was born in 1920 and was a poet, artist, environmentalist and activist for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 1964, she became the first Aboriginal person to publish a book of poetry with We Are Going. In her oral history, she reflects on her family, early life on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in Queensland and her love of writing. She recalls leaving school at thirteen because of discrimination against Aboriginal people in the education system and beginning work as a domestic servant. She also outlines the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal peoples, as well as their endurance and survival. She reflects on her books, how she became involved in the Aboriginal civil rights movement and the campaign leading to the 1967 referendum, reads poems and speaks of her family, connection to culture, the environment and hopes for the future.
6. Elizabeth Reid interviewed by Sara Dowse Elizabeth Reid AO was born in 1942 and, in 1973, was appointed by Gough Whitlam's Labor government as the world's first adviser on women's affairs to a head of government. In her oral history, she reflects on her early life and education at both the Australian National University and the University of Oxford. She reflects on the significance of her role in the Whitlam government, what she had hoped for this role, her eventual resignation and subsequent contributions, including ongoing advocacy for women's rights and the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS. She also discusses roles within the United Nations, in academia and as a development practitioner and social policy analyst.
7. Elizabeth Evatt interviewed by Amy McGrath Elizabeth Evatt AC was born in 1933 and is an Australian lawyer and jurist who became the inaugural Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia, the first female judge of an Australian federal court and the first Australian elected to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. In her oral history, she reflects on her early life, family, education, the beginnings of her legal career as a barrister in England and working at the English Law Commission. She discusses returning to Australia in 1973 to become the first woman appointed Deputy President of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, her appointment as the first female judge of the Australian Federal Court as the inaugural Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia in 1976, and reflects the Family Court and the Royal Commission on Human Relationships.
8. Kathy Lette interviewed by Shirleene Robinson Kathy Lette is an Australian and British writer who first came to prominence with the novel Puberty Blues (1979), co-authored with Gabrielle Carey when both were teenagers. In her oral history, she reflects on her childhood, family and how personal experiences of sexism and Australian 'surfie' culture influenced Puberty Blues. She discusses the novel's reception over time, including its adaptation into a film and television series. Lette has since published nineteen other novels, written for television, including The Facts of Life and The Simpsons. An ambassador for autism charities, Lette also speaks of her love for and pride in her children and the enduring importance of women supporting one another.
9. Philipa Cracknell and Jennifer Robinson interviewed by Shirleene Robinson Philipa Cracknell is interviewed in conversation with her granddaughter, internationally renowned Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson. Jennifer reflects on her childhood memories of Philipa's work at Bonnie Women's Refuge and the inspiration she continues to draw from her grandmother's contribution to the women's rights movement. Together, they discuss Philipa's experiences as a survivor of domestic violence, the difficulties she faced following her divorce, Jennifer's own work to advance women's and human rights and ongoing and emerging threats to women's rights.
The Memory Tapes Episode 10 - Bright Sparks: Australian Innovation
Episode Ten – Bright Sparks: The Story of Australian Innovation In this final episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the remarkable history of Australian innovation and scientific ingenuity. The episode …
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Episode Ten – Bright Sparks: The Story of Australian Innovation
In this final episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the remarkable history of Australian innovation and scientific ingenuity. The episode investigates 65,000 years of invention and imagination from First Nations Australians and considers the stories of 20th century scientists such as Howard Florey's discovery of penicillin. Hear about Fiona Wood and Marie Stoner's invention of spray-on skin, and delve into the incredible stories of Australian women in the space industry. This episode asks an intriguing question: how does a country with less than half a per cent of the world's population keep producing discoveries that change the world?
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Barry Marshall interviewed by Peter Pockley Barry Marshall is Professor of Microbiology at the University of Western Australia. In December 2005, he travelled to Stockholm, with colleague Dr Robin Warren, to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease". In this interview he discusses
2. Roy Barker interviewed by Rob Willis Artist Roy Barker was born at the Brewarrina Mission in 1928, in this interview he reflects on life on the mission in 1930's, the Stolen Generation, Aboriginal musicians, claypan dances and gum leaf players, the disappearance of Corroborrees and the emergence of hillbilly music and old time dances taking their place, country music and its importance to the Aboriginal people, assimilation, removal from tribal lands, the Aboriginal Control Board, his knowledge of Aboriginal language, astronomy and lore, the stories passed down from his father, the official Government Apology, the Referendum of 1967, Census of Aborigines in 1938, Aboriginal deaths after colonisation in relation to Australian war deaths and the future for Aboriginal people.
3. Kevin Pearce interviewed by Graham Dodsworth Pearce talks about his family, childhood and indigenous background, his family background in handicrafts, Aboriginal art and culture, traditional indigenous economy and the importance of didgeridoos as trade items, indigenous weapons and tribal wars, passing skills to the next generation, boomerangs, grass weaving and women's handicrafts, traditional authenticity of designs, and of being a teacher of culture to students.
4. Howard Walter Florey interviewed by Hazel de Berg Florey speaks about his childhood, his studies at the medical school in Adelaide, his career in pathology, his work on penicillin, the setting up of the John Curtin School at the Australian National University and receiving the Nobel Prize.
5. Frank Fenner interviewed by Ann Moyal Frank Fenner, microbiologist and virologist, was born in Ballarat in 1914, graduating in medicine and surgery at the University of Adelaide. He served in the Australian Army Medical Corps, undertook research in microbiology in Melbourne and New York and was appointed as Foundation Professor of Microbiology, Australian National University. He was prominent in developing the myxamatosis virus as a biological control for rabbits and campaigned for the establishment of an international centre for virology research in Australia.
6. Fiona Wood interviewed by Peter Pockley Dr Fiona Wood is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon, the Director of Burns Service at the Royal Perth Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Western Australia and she was named Australian of the year in 2005. In this interview she discusses her early life in Yorkshire, her family's employment, her growing interest and skill in maths and science, working as a plastic surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the complex nature of burn injuries and their treatment, tissue engineering, bioengineering and artificial skin, establishing a laboratory at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, their development of skin culture treatments and cell suspension grafting or 'spray on skin' and producing Clinical Cell Culture kits and starting a company (C3) to make the technology accessible around the world.
7. Katherine Bennell-Pegg interviewed by Louise Whelan Katherine Bennell-Pegg is the first Australian woman to qualify as an astronaut and the first astronaut to train under the Australian flag and officially represent Australia, she was named Australian of the Year in 2026 and is the Australian Space Agency's Director of Space Technology. In this oral history she talks about her childhood surrounded by nature and natural curiosity, a family vacation to the Space centre in DC and the Smithsonian, deciding she wanted to be an astronaut, learning to fly during high school, her interest in the planets of our solar system, studying and working in a predominantly male field, leadership styles, the rigorous tests and interviews involved in becoming an astronaut through the European Space Agency, her astronaut training, seeing the Australian flag on her flight suit for the first time, the evolution and establishment of the Australian Space Agency, the Australian Space Agency's partnership with LEGO to inspire curiosity and creativity, the importance of space in everyday life and her hopes for inspiring the next generations to go into STEM fields.
8. Tracy Smart interviewed by Louise Whelan Professor Tracy Smart is a Professor Military and Aerospace Medicine at the Australian National University. She was the first female Commanding Officer of the Institute of Aviation Medicine and the first lesbian to reach the rank of two-star officer in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In this oral history she discusses growing up on a farm in the McLaren Vale, watching the Moon landing on television as a child, her lifelong love of Star Trek and science fiction, pursuing medicine, joining the Air Force as a medicine student, her role in Aviation Medicine and aeronautical evacuations, training and assessing air crew for the extreme environmental impacts of flight, her deployment to Rwanda in 1995 with the United Nations, working as Wing Command Officer at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia during the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" era, creating the first flight surgeon toolkit website in the wake of the September 11 attacks, her experience marching in the first official ADF entries into Mardi Gras, her deployment as Senior Medical Officer in Timor-Leste, her work as Surgeon General, being awarded Officer of the Order of Australia, her retirement from the Air Force, her work leading the COVID-19 response at the ANU and developing the processes and standards for the professional workforces that will make the future of space travel possible.
9. Natasha Maimbo interviewed by Louise Whelan Zimbabwe born Natasha Maimbo is Senior Mechanical Engineer at Finisar Australia and was previously a Mechanical Engineer at CSIRO working on the next-generation CryoPAF receiver for Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope. In this oral history she discusses attending primary school in Zimbabwe, moving to Australia at age 13, attending high school in Australia, studying engineering and physics at University of Technology Sydney, the everyday realities of being the only woman in a workplace, her student outreach work with Engineering Without Borders, developing an interest in space, the ethics of space exploration, space litter, and utilising the resources of planets responsibly, working for the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Space and Astronomy new space program, the versatility and importance of the Parkes Telescope and its role in international astronomy and her work designing antenna components for the Parkes radio telescope.
10. Karlie Noon interviewed by Louise Whelan Karlie Noon is an astrophysicist and science communicator with extensive knowledge of Indigenous heritage and STEM education. She is currently undertaking a PhD in astrophysics at the Australian National University which focuses on the Milky Way and the chemical evolution of its nuclear wind. In this oral history she discusses her childhood in Tamworth, the isolation and bullying she experienced at school, positive experiences of learning at home, discrimination by teachers, falling in love with maths, leaving school at 13 and attending TAFE, returning to a high school with greater understanding of students in difficult circumstances, experiencing a sense of cultural safety at school for the first time, falling in love with physics, graduating from universtiy as the first female Indigenous person with a combined degree in maths and physics, her focus on Indigenous sky stories, studying astronomy at the ANU, minimising harm in the fields of science and combining Indigenous values and traditions with the future of space exploration.
The Memory Tapes Episode 9 - From Sand to Stadiums: Australians at Play
Episode Nine – From Sand to Stadiums: Australians at Play Few things capture Australia's imagination in the way that sport does. And yet, even in a country that celebrates sporting victories, the playing field …
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Episode Nine – From Sand to Stadiums: Australians at Play
Few things capture Australia's imagination in the way that sport does. And yet, even in a country that celebrates sporting victories, the playing field has not always been level. In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson focuses on sport. From Cathy Freeman to avid fans of AFL, hear stories of First Nations athletes who carried pride and expectation, of swimmers who challenged the rules, the impact of the Matildas on women's sport, and all those everyday Australians who gather each weekend on sidelines across the country to cheer others on.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Max Walker and Max Walker Snr address at the National Press Club on 21 July 1993
Max Walker Junior, sports commentator and former test cricketer, speaks humorously about his cricket career and his childhood in Melbourne.
2. Mina Wylie interviewed by Neil Bennetts
Mina Wylie, an early women's swimming champion and Olympic silver medallist, speaks about the development of women's swimming in Australia, competing in 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and coming second to Fanny Durack, her family background, the introduction of mixed bathing, women's swimming since the 1920s, going to America in 1920 with Fanny Durack, and her election to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
3. Jack Tonkin interviewed by Marjorie Biggins
Jack Tonkin, who was born at Woollahra, Sydney, speaks of his parents and family life, celebrations, exhibitions and shows in Sydney, swimming, dancing and other recreational activities, and the introduction of surfing to Australian sport.
4. Bernard "Midget" Farrelly interviewed by Neil Bennetts
Bernard "Midget" Farrelly, Australian international surfer and surfboard manufacturer, speaks about his surfing titles, his family background and early memories of surfing at Bondi at age 6, his first surfboard at age 12 when he first learnt to surf at Manly, the evolution of professional surfboard construction, the changing perception of surf culture in Australia, and the art of surfing.
5. Harold Coe interviewed by Rob Willis
Harold Coe, born 1955 in Condobolin, New South Wales, talks about his family background and education, early memories of the Murie, the spiritual significance of the Murie, living conditions on the Murie, and the leisure activities and sports they played there.
6. John Maynard interviewed by Hamish Sewell
Historian and Emeritus Professor, John Maynard is the son of Mervyn Maynard, a Worimi man and highly sought after jockey. In this interview he discusses his early experiences with education, being of Aboriginal-Irish descent, his father's career as an international jockey, the family love for horse racing, his childhood on the Newcastle Racecourse, travelling for his father's career, and his developing interest in history.
7. Jenny Rose interviewed by Rob Willis
Jenny Rose, born in Warragul, speaks about her love of sport, meeting Lionel Rose, his early boxing days and training, his work to become a world champion, the attitude towards women in the boxing industry, the elements needed to be a champion, and the mental courage required to compete.
8. Lisa Jackson interviewed by Frank Heimans
Lisa Jackson, born in Surry Hills, speaks about her Aboriginal Australian background, her family history, Stolen Generations, the 1967 Referendum, AFL and its Aboriginal history, the Sydney Olympics, Corroboree 2000 and Bridge Walks for Reconciliation, political activism, Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and working with NSW Police Force
9. Elizabeth Edmondson interviewed by Ian Jobling
At the age of 14, at the 1964 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Elizabeth Edmondson became the youngest swimmer to win a gold medal for Australia, a record she held for 48 years. In this interview she speaks about the 1954 polio epidemic, recovering from polio and the resulting mobility difficulties, swimming at the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics, support for athletes with a disability in Australia, her involvement with the WA Wheelchair Sports Association, the changing attitudes towards awareness, acceptance and appreciation of people with a disability in Australia.
10. Susan Alberti interviewed by Nikki Henningham
Victorian born businesswoman and philanthropist, Dr Susan Alberti was Vice President of the Western Bulldogs football club between 2012 and 2016, and the inaugural ambassador for the AFL national women's competition in 2017. In this interview she discusses playing sports at school, her start in business, the importance of youth sports, Aussie Rules football, the attitudes towards professional women's sports, her extensive philanthropic works, her defamation lawsuit against Channel 9, the changing status of women in AFL leadership, the AFLW league, and creating joy, resilience, and community through women's participation in sport.
11. Edward Hekking interviewed by Edith van Loo
Dutch World War II veteran, Eddy Hekking, speaks about growing up in the Netherlands, the German invasion of the Netherlands, travelling by boat to fight the Japanese in Indonesia when the war ended, immigrating to Australia, buying land and building a house, working for a Dutch dredging company dredging in Botany Bay, the influence of wartime experiences on his life, and becoming part of a new country.
12. Sam Wong interviewed by Michelle Potter
Former People of Australia Ambassador and Australian Red Cross board member, Sam Wong, speaks about his childhood in Hong Kong, studying in Australia, his interest in Carlton Football Club, Chinese community in Canberra, the role of the government in promoting multiculturalism, and the history and impact of the Chinese in Australia.
13. Jodie Bell interviewed by Elaine Rabbitt
Broome based Jodie Bell was the CEO of Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation, CEO of Goolari Media, and board member for the Kimberley Aboriginal Women's Council. In this interview she discusses her family's history and her Aboriginal ancestry, repeated relocations during childhood, her time at school and university, Aboriginal students at university, working for the Department of Training and Workforce Development in Aboriginal access, working for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission out of Broome, working with remote communities in the Fitzroy Valley area, racial violence at Fitzroy, her family's involvement in the Broome Saints Football Club, and health and welfare in the Kimberley.
The Memory Tapes Episode 8 - Power and Protest: Movements that Transformed Australia
Episode Eight – Power and Protest: The Movements that Transformed Australia In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the history of power and protest in Australia. Dr Robinson uncovers some of those …
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Episode Eight – Power and Protest: The Movements that Transformed Australia
In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the history of power and protest in Australia. Dr Robinson uncovers some of those movements and inspiring Australians who joined together to take action for change. The episodes focuses on struggles that took place during a time of great social transformation in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Wave Hill Walk-Off, the Freedom Ride of 1965, Vietnam moratorium protests, work towards gay and lesbian visibility and rights, and the women's liberation movement.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Charles Perkins interviewed by Peter Read Charles Perkins was born in Alice Springs in 1936 and is often recognised for his role in the 1965 Freedom Ride and his campaigning in the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights. In this interview, he reflects on his early life at St Francis House, the influence of Ted Noffs and his Foundation and studying at Sydney University. He speaks about his experiences with the Freedom Ride, working in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, joining the Tent Embassy and establishment of National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC). Charles Perkins also speaks about his experiences of racism in his life, from confrontation with Bjelke-Petersen, land councils and boycotting of the Brisbane Commonwealth Games. He finishes the interview discussing the contribution Aborigines (First Australians) could make to Australian society in the future.
2. Larry Brandy interviewed by Mary Hutchison Larry Brandy is a Wiradjuri man born in Condobolin NSW in 1958 and moved to Canberra in 1975. Over three interview sessions, Larry speaks about his family history in the Condobolin area, his childhood memories of "growing up Aboriginal" and playing football. He reflects on his move to Canberra to work in the Public Service, meeting his wife and working in the same building as Charles Perkins. He talks of his work with the Department of Health, the Ngunnawal Centre, Aboriginal Heritage Officer with ACT Parks and Conservation and involvement in the Apology to Stolen generations. He talks of his plans to become a full-time storyteller and performer with preschool and school aged children.
3. Geraldine Box interviewed by John Bannister Geraldine Box was born in Blackheath, 1949 and grew up in the Riverina area outside of Corowa. In this oral history interview she talks about her background, family history and memories as a child in an isolated community. She reflects on her education, her nursing career, and overseas travel and work, the Vietnam War and her protest activity, her return to Darwin, her memories of Cyclone Tracy and work in Alice Springs. She speaks about living through the Whitlam era, the Rights and Equal opportunity Act (1984); rights movements for women, the environment and First Australians peoples and her experiences in the LGBT community.
4. Peter Galvin interviewed by Matthew Higgins Peter Galvin, born in Gulargambone, NSW, 1951 speaks of his protest experiences beginning with a moral objection to conscription including refusal to register for the draft and participating in the Melbourne moratorium marches. He recalls his experiences in protesting apartheid and the Springbok rugby tour of the 1970s, protesting the US base at West Cape and uranium and union protests against the Whitlam dismissal. He speaks on his careers both on the union side and industrial relations side, the media's role in public opinion; the change of technology; voting patterns; social observations.
5. Merle Thornton interviewed by Maryanne Dever and Margaret Henderson In 1965 Merle Thornton, founding member and President of the Equal Opportunities for Women Association, and Rosalie Bogner chained themselves to the bar of the Regatta Hotel to protest the ban on serving women drinks in Queensland's public bars. The protest was an inciting incident in Australian Second Wave Feminism and a defining moment in what would become the Women's Liberation Movement. In this oral history Merle talks about her family and childhood, early experiences of gender discrimination and becoming involved in feminist politics. Merle reflects on her career, including discussion of joining the Aboriginal Advancement League in the early 1960s, being a working mother, and key political moments including the Regatta Hotel demonstration and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1987.
6. Patricia Barrkman interviewed by Hamish Sewell Patricia Barrkman, born in South Gippsland during the Depression, grew up on a farm with her parents and siblings. In this interview she talks about her family's experiences on their rural farm during World War II, working for G J Coles as a junior office girl, how routines for young women were determined by others, the morals of the time, the sense of safety, the impact of technology on relationships, her courtship and marriage, the post war Americanisation of Australian homes and habits, sex education and the introduction of the pill, how rural social structure ran on religious lines, free education and opportunities for children, and her work with the Queensland Renal Association.
7. Germaine Greer address at the National Press Club Germaine Greer is an Australian academic whose seminal work on female oppression in the nuclear family and the traditional roles of women in society, the Female Eunuch, was published in 1970. She was a prominent figure in second wave feminism and the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s. In this address to the National Press Club she speaks on the representation of women, and women's issues in the media. She discusses; working mother's guilt, access to childcare, wage discrimination, and discriminatory workforce practices, how the media handles sexual assault, how reporting should be improved to reflect the real lives of women, cater to channels through which women consume news, and integrate women's news into mainstream news, and urges women to join the trade union movement.
8. Pat Turner interviewed by Nikki Henningham Born in Alice Springs, Pat Turner is an Aboriginal Australian woman of Gudanji-Arrernte heritage, who has worked extensively for the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, health and welfare, the civil rights and women's liberation movements, and Aboriginal land rights. In this oral history she discusses her family history, childhood and education, and her commitment to self-determination for Aboriginal people. She reflects on her career within Northern Territory and Federal government agencies, her position as the first Aboriginal woman welfare officer in the Department of the Interior, and work with Northern Territory Land Rights and uranium mining at Ranger Mine, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Aboriginal Childcare, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
9. Francesca Curtis and Phyllis Papps interviewed by Helen Ross-Browne In 1970, Francesca Curtis and Phyllis Papps were the first lesbian couple to 'come out' on national television, during an interview on ABC's This Day Tonight. The interview is considered a turning point in the recognition of lesbian relationships in Australia. In this interview they discuss their childhoods, their early experiences of being different, discovering they were gay, their families' attitudes towards homosexuality, and the societal understanding of lesbian relationships in the sixties and seventies. Francesca discusses founding the Daughters of Bilitis in Melbourne, later the Australasian Lesbian Movement, and her decision to appear on television. Phyllis reflects on seeking psychiatric treatment for her homosexuality, realising that there were other women like her, and subsequently joining the Daughters of Bilitis. Together they reflect on meeting, moving in together, and the repercussions of coming out on prime-time television.
10. John Ware interviewed by Sara Dowes In 1971 John Ware was a founding member of CAMP Inc (Campaign Against Moral Persecution), Sydney's first gay and lesbian political organisation, which advocated for visibility, community building, law reform, and an end to the psychiatric 'treatment' of homosexuality. The organisation continues to operate today as the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service of NSW. In this interview he discusses his role in CAMP Inc, the rebellion of the Sixties, the decision to 'come out', the public response, the CAMP INK magazine, the role of psychologists and psychiatrists in the treatment of homosexuality, the early Gay Liberation movement in Sydney, and the effects of HIV/AIDS on the gay community.
The Memory Tapes Episode 7 - Invisible Enemies: Stories from Australia's Epidemic Frontlines
Episode Seven– Invisible Enemies: Stories from Australia's Epidemic Frontlines In this episode, Dr Shirleen Robinson invites you to consider the stories of some of Australia's greatest public health crises …
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Episode Seven– Invisible Enemies: Stories from Australia's Epidemic Frontlines
In this episode, Dr Shirleen Robinson invites you to consider the stories of some of Australia's greatest public health crises through the voices of many of those impacted and whose courage met the moments. Across three different eras, the 1919 influenza epidemic, the devastation of HIV and AIDS, and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, this episode explores how epidemics disrupted the familiar, how individuals and communities responded and how public health became something every Australian had to think about.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
This episode includes excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library Oral History Collection:
1. Alice Doyle interviewed by Lucy Taksa In this oral history Doyle speaks of her family's background in country and city Victoria, moving to Sydney at age 11, her employment in an umbrella factory, work conditions, lifestyle, family reading material, and her memories of the plague in Sydney, 1903 and the flu epidemic of 1918.
2. Barbara Cullen interviewed by Catherine Johnson Born in Double Bay, Sydney, Cullen speaks of her parents' background, childhood memories, family servants and their chores, family life, schooling beginning with a governess and then private schools in Sydney and Bowral, the custom of "coming out", her memories and experiences as a child during WWI, her mother's modern attitudes about women and society, contraception, sex and sex education, and the influenza epidemic of 1919.
3. Louisa Martin interviewed by Catherine Johnson Martin speaks of her parents' background immigrating from Scotland and England, childhood memories with her brothers and sisters, life and work on the farm, moving to Brunswick Heads, employment doing housework for local families, and her experiences during flu epidemic of 1919.
4. Thomas McKernan interviewed by Mel Pratt McKernan, a journalist, overseas correspondent, and publicity officer for the National Capital Development Commission, speaks about his early childhood in Northcote, his family background, living conditions during World War I, illness brought on by Spanish flu epidemic, education at St. Patrick's College, the police strike of the 1920s as he was told by his father, post-war Melbourne, the death of his father, and how he entered journalism in 1948 with Radio Australia.
5. Beatrice Gerdes interviewed by Bronwyn Hughes Born in Balmain, Sydney, Gerdes speaks of her family, being the eldest of 9 children, her mother and her work in the home, sex education, pregnancy, social life, family roles, family health, employment with AMP doing clerical work, WWI, and the flu epidemic.
6. Ethel Brunton Gibb interviewed by Catherine Johnson Born in Surrey Hills, Gibb speaks of her parents' background, her father's employment overseas, life with extended family in Ashfield, meeting her father for the first time, lifestyle and education in U.S., returning to Australia, discrimination and racism during World War I, her husband's involvement in World War I, her and her husband's work in radio, the flu epidemic 1919, and the Depression.
7. Eva Nowlan interviewed by Inge Riebe Nowlan speaks of the family dairy farm, family life, the pneumonic influenza that killed her sister and its effect on the community, her memories of WWI, employment as a home help after leaving school, brief experience nursing, marrying reluctantly, and managing a farm on her own during the 1914 drought.
8. Phyllis Matthews interviewed by Stan Arthur Matthews talks about her earliest recollection of her Uncle Ted singing a song for her at the front gate of the family home before he headed off to the War. Her oral history includes discussion of her mother's death from pneumonic influenza in 1919, her father's return from the war, her relationship with her step-mother, meeting her husband, and moving to Papua New Guinea and working as a radio (tele) operator.
9. Ron Penny interviewed by Diana Ritch Professor Ron Penny, Director, Centre for Immunology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW, speaks of his background in medical research, setting up immunology laboratory St Vincent's Hospital, medical research funding, epidemiological study of HIV and gay men, his representation on AIDS Taskforce, National Advisory Committee on AIDS and ANCA (anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies), and lessons learned from AIDS epidemic and AIDS education.
10. John Bal interviewed by Shirleene Robinson Bal discusses growing up in country Victoria, his experiences of bullying at school, attending La Trobe to study, and reconciling with himself that he 'was not heterosexual'. He discusses the gay scene in early eighties Adelaide, and learning about GRID (gay related immunodeficiency) in medical literature, his work with the Victorian AIDS Council, volunteering as an 'AIDS mate' at Fairfield Hospital, the Grim Reaper Campaign, and the media's handling of the 1984 incident where multiple children had received HIV infected blood transfusions. Bal discusses living with HIV, and his career supplying HIV counselling to patients in GP clinics.
11. Leslie Taylor interviewed by James Waites Taylor speaks about his early life in New Zealand, coming to Australia in 1981, living with HIV, becoming involved with the Victorian AIDS Council in 1983, the AZT Task Force, the People Living With AIDS program, and how HIV has affected his life.
12. Robert McLean interviewed by James Waites McLean speaks about his childhood in Adelaide, his sexuality, contracting HIV; promoting understanding of HIV/AIDS among Torres Strait Islanders, living with HIV, and what he has learned from being HIV positive.
13. Ian Rankin interviewed by James Waites Ian Rankin, President of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations speaks about his upbringing, the early days of AIDS, gay-related immune deficiency (GRID), his social advocacy and activism, his early involvement in HIV community sector activity, his time as Australian Federation of AIDS Organisation delegate, the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power model, Canberra's first mobile needle exchange, his involvement in AIDS Action, and the changes in approach to education over past decade.
14. Geoffrey Cole interviewed by James Waites Geoffrey Cole, Services Coordinator at the AIDS, Dementia and HIV Psychiatry Service, speaks about his experiences working as a medic in Nui Dat during the Vietnam War, moving to Sydney and working as a mental health nurse. Cole discusses the impact the emergence of HIV had on the gay community in Sydney in the early eighties, community building, the scientific and medical advancements Australia made in HIV treatment and prevention, the effects of HIV in remote and rural areas of Australia, as well as the relationship between HIV and mental health.
15. Edward Holmes interviewed by Michael Green Virologist and evolutionary biologist, Edward Holmes is a Professor at the University of Sydney and fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). With Zhang Yongzhen, he co-authored the first published descriptions of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid 19) and its genomic sequence. Professor Holmes discusses his childhood in the UK, developing an interest in virology during the AIDS crisis, his long-standing working relationships with chief virologists in China and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and increasing understanding of COVID-19, including media representation and public safety.
16. Alison McMillan interviewed by Madonna Grehan In this oral history, Alison McMillan, Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, and a member of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, recalls her childhood and family life in England, reflects on her work with the Victorian Department of Health, her roles in health and disaster emergency management, improving conditions for emergency response workers, and the wide range of challenges facing public health in managing Covid-19.
17. Leroy Johnson interviewed by Peter Read Born in Wilcannia 1973, Barkindji/Malyangaapa man, Leroy Johnson, is the Native Title Officer and Park Manager at Mutawintji National Park. In this interview he discusses his family history, working in Juvenile Justice after attending university in Newcastle, his roles at Mutawintji National Park, conservation of Aboriginal Rock Art and the threats posed by feral animals. Johnson reflects on efforts by his team to provide food to Wilcannia after it was effectively cut off from Broken Hill during COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Memory Tapes Episode 6 - Unfolding Journeys: Migration and Memory
Episode Six – Unfolding Journeys: Migration, Memory and Australia Australia is a land that has been shaped by migrants. Before this, and throughout, First Nations people have cared for this Country for …
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Episode Six – Unfolding Journeys: Migration, Memory and Australia
Australia is a land that has been shaped by migrants. Before this, and throughout, First Nations people have cared for this Country for millennia. In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson begins with a remarkable recording of Matthew Ryan, who travelled from Ireland to Australia in 1897, believed to be the oldest surviving recording of a migrant describing their voyage to Australia. Dr Robinson explores migration journeys throughout Australia's history, uncovering stories blighted by discrimination and prejudice, and affirming journeys where Australia offered security and friendship.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
This episode includes excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1.Matthew Ryan interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Matthew Ryan's life in Australia was a happy one. He married; he worked as a blacksmith and in horseshoeing. He had many supportive relatives in the country. His career did mean he eventually sustained some hearing loss and also dealt with typhoid fever. Yet he helped to build the Glebe Bridge, worked on the cane fields, and retired, financially secure, in a climate he liked.
2. Eddie Quong interviewed by Diana Giese
In 1993, Eddie Quong told the extraordinary story of his grandmother, who had travelled to Australia from China at the age of sixteen in the late 1800s for an arranged marriage with Eddie's grandfather. Her search for a new life began as racist exclusion was escalating, yet she met challenges with bravery, initiative, and determination.
3. Anna Piotrowski interviewed by Barry York
Bonegilla was the first home for more than 300,000 new arrivals between 1947 and 1971 — a former army camp turned temporary village. For children like Anna, it was the beginning of an unfamiliar life under the southern sun.
4. Kathleen Golder interviewed by Ben Ross
Kathleen's memory captures both the grief of departure and the hope of arrival, the emotional crossroads faced by so many who left behind the familiar for the unknown. For some, that journey meant freedom. For others, it meant loneliness and loss. For their children, growing up in the years that followed, it meant learning to belong in a country still uncertain of its own identity.
5. Richard Galea interviewed by Elena Volkova
Richard Galea was born in Sydney in 1958 to parents who had migrated from Malta just three years earlier. He remembers that being considered 'different' could come at a cost.
6. May-Britt Mosshammer interviewed by Shirleene Robinson
Sometimes, some Australian ideals went just too far from those who came from afar. May-Britt Mosshammer, who migrated to Australia from Denmark [in the 1950s] with her family – taking to Australia 'like a duck to water'.
7. Van Thi-The Huynh interviewed by Ann-Mari Jordens
Born in a small town northwest of Vietnam, Van Huynh faced many personal difficulties. Her older brother and then her two younger brothers, all died from illness in their childhood. Van cared for her older sister who contracted polio. Moving to Saigon at age six, she pursued an education as the country succumbed to the Vietnam War. Van's father was wounded and died during the Tet offensive. Surviving the fall of Saigon, the political and domestic situation continued to decline, so Van and her family began a perilous ocean journey, eventually arriving to start a new life in Australia.
8. Everest Pitt interviewed by Hamish Sewell
Everest Pitt tells of her childhood in Fiji, where she needed to grow up quickly while looking after her brothers and sisters in the household. Always knowing she was going to leave – Everest looked abroad, eventually migrating to Queensland in 1974. Everest has come to see herself as both Fijian and Australian.
9. Sevuloni Waqatairewa interviewed by Thelma Thomas
Sevuloni was born in Nausori, part of Tailevu, Fiji. He attended primary school in Suva, and when in year five he and his family migrated to Australia. Sevuloni remembers building strong friendships with Indigenous children in Newtown, Sydney. From there, Sevuloni completed a retail management cadetship with Coles Myer Group, developing professional expertise in management, sales and marketing which he then applied in a new role at Microsoft, where he worked for the next 20 years.
10. Mustafa Jawadi interviewed by Ann-Mari Jordens
Mustafa tells about his childhood in Afghanistan and at the age of six, travelling with his family to Iran, where he lived as a refugee. He recounts travelling through Indonesia, then making his way via a perilous boat journey to Australia. The family was taken first to Christmas Island, then to Nauru, where Mustafa spent three years in detention before finally being resettled in Canberra. Since then, Mustafa has undertaken studies in Canberra and has reflected on the complex ways his family's journey played out.
11. Mohan Parasu interviewed by Barry York
Mohan Parasu describes his childhood in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Mohan's father was involved in community and social work, his grandfather was a patron of the arts and theatre, while his mother managed the large ancestral home. He describes his early academic interests and the achievements of his brothers. Mohan migrated to Australia in 1992, as a highly skilled electronics engineer.
The Memory Tapes Episode 5 - The Long Reach: Stories of Distance and Connection Across Australia
Episode Five – The Long Reach: Stories of Distance and Connection Across Australia In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the idea of distance and connection across the vast continent of Australia …
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Episode Five – The Long Reach: Stories of Distance and Connection Across Australia
In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the idea of distance and connection across the vast continent of Australia. You'll hear stories from those who have struggled with isolation. From the Overland Telegraph, to pioneering aviators, to access to broadband internet, you'll hear stories of ingenuity and the bonds that hold people together.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Anne Travers interviewed by Bruce Simpson and Bill Gammage
Distance was keenly felt in Anne Travers' childhood. She was born in 1925, grew up on a Queensland property 100 miles north west of the closest town, Springsure, lived at a distance from neighbours and was educated mainly by correspondence, with a brief stint at boarding school. Life on the family property involved hard work.
2. Evelyn Goodwin interviewed by Judy Wing
Evelyn Goodwin passed an examination to be a phonogram operator after she left school during the First World War. She was not yet eighteen years old and one of only three girls who passed the General Post Office examination required for the job.
3. Thomas McKernan interviewed by Mel Pratt
Thomas McKernan recalls this was when wireless was beginning to find its way into normal civilian life. My earliest recollection of this phenomenon, where you could hear people speaking from space, was the business of playing with a crystal and a cat's whisker, the cat's whisker being a fine piece of wire which, if it landed on an appropriate spot on the crystal, would produce sound through the necessary earphones.
Hudson Fysh was a decorated World War I hero who founded Australia's national airline Qantas with two rickety biplanes to the age of the jumbo jets. A celebrated light horseman at Gallipoli, Fysh flew dangerous missions with the Australian Flying Corps, battling Germans in deadly dogfights in the skies over Palestine. On his return from the Great War, Fysh launched his bush airline, the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd (Qantas), with the help of a wartime pilot friend and some western Queensland graziers.
5. Skip Moody interviewed by Fred Morton
Mr PH 'Skip' Moody was a contemporary of Sir Kingsford Smith and flew with Qantas as a pilot. He fought in the Great War after signing up with the AIF as a private soldier and went to England. The Royal Flying Corp was being badly shot up by German Fokkers, so Moody was selected for flight training, which consisted of only two hours practical instruction. After a lengthy career as an Australian domestic pilot in early Qantas, he was commissioned to participate in World War II as a test pilot for fighter planes.
6. Nancy Bird Walton interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Pioneering Australian aviator Nancy Bird Walton speaks of beginning of her flying career at the age of 17 and of meeting Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. She describes the training available for pilots in the 1930's and earning a living flying her Gypsy Moth. Walton recalls her childhood and family life during the Depression and speaks of the Air Ambulance Service which she helped to establish.
7. Flying high: Talk on aviation given by Nancy Bird Walton, Stewart Wilson and Geoff Shepherd
Recorded at the National Library of Australia, this talk – featuring former pilots Nancy Bird Walton and Geoff Shepherd, was hosted in support of aviation items in the Library's National Treasures exhibition in 2005.
8. Fred McKay interviewed by Alec Bolton
Reverend Fred McKay talks about his family background and his childhood on farming property, "Crab Hollow", west of Mackay, Queensland. He then describes his education at Thornburgh College, Charters Towers and Emmanuel College, Presbyterian University College, Brisbane and meeting John Flynn in 1934 in Southport. He decided to follow him and work with Australian Inland Mission (AIM). He then describes his early experiences on patrol in Cloncurry, Alfred Traeger and his radio work and his reminiscences of some of the earlier Flying Doctor Service pilots.
9. Bernie Higgins Interviewed by Bruce Simpson and Bill Gammage
Bernie Higgins, a drover born in 1941, reflected on importance of the Flying Doctor Service in his own life when he was working on remote Lorraine station in Queensland.
10. Neil Mcdougall interviewed by Hamish Sewell
Neil McDougall talks about his family background including memories of his uncle Don, the family farm, kangaroo hunting, horses, animals, dingoes and corn harvesting. He recalls WWII, and leaving school at 15 to work with his father on the farm. He explains how he began flight training and gaining a commercial pilots license aged 22. Working for Australian National Airlines, he became a flying instructor in Townsville before taking a job with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
11. Harry Perriman interviewed by Barbara Blackman
In this interview, 103 year old Harry L. Perriman, mechanical engineer, talks about his experiences as a missionary on Groote Eylandt – the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. He recalls growing up in Melbourne, his mechanical hobbies, and how he came to join the first official St. John's Ambulance Brigade. He joined a missionary service league and was later persuaded to volunteer for a mission on Groot Eylandt in 1919, where he had a close shave with pneumonic influenza. He describes his initial stay at Roper River Mission in 1921, and after 6 months moved to the newly established Groot Eylandt Mission. He explains how the wife of the Superintendent there bore a child that grew up and went on to invent the black box cockpit voice recorder.
12. John Bolton interviewed by Lennard Bickel
John Bolton was born in Sheffield, England. He was a pioneer in using radar as a means to detect radio emissions coming from distant galaxies. He discovered the Crab Nebula, Southern pulsars, and he identified quasars using the Parkes Radio Telescope. From 1969 to 1973 was worked with NASA to prepare the Apollo missions.
13. Harry Messel interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Harry explains how he came to Australia in 1951 to take up a position at the University of Adelaide. From there he moved to head the school of physics at Sydney University, starting the Science Foundation for Physics in 1952. In this interview, Harry explains his joy at working during what he called the 'golden age' of computers and technology where he was able to observe many scientific disciplines grow from infancy into fully developed areas of practice including information technology, cosmic rays, nuclear physics and more.
14. Meg Dunn interviewed by Frank Heimans
Meg Dunn was born in Mudgee. In this interview she talks about her childhood, the farm at Bylong Valley and her family relationships. Meg explains how she studied a Diploma of Library Information and embraced the digital world. She explained the impact of the development of the internet, following which most research activities shifted to online.
15. Scott Ryan interviewed by Carolyn Collins
Scott Ryan worked at the Holden plant from 2010 to 2015 – the latest of three generations of his family to work for the company. He reminisces about how both his parents worked for Holden, and about his childhood. He remembered his first gaming console – a Sega Megadrive – when he was a child in the nineties. Scott then discusses the rapid pace of development of computer games throughout his life, and how even now his children are growing up using them for recreation.
16. Edgar Percival interviewed by Neil Bennetts
Edgar Percival, a former aviator and aircraft engineer, reflects on the extraordinary pace of technological development during his lifetime, during which he grew up with the horse and buggy, through to the first human landing on the moon.
The Memory Tapes Episode 4 - Imagination Nation: Australia's Artists, Writers and Dreamers
Episode Four – Imagination Nation: Australia's Artists, Writers and Dreamers In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson looks at culture and Australian creatives. Dr Robinson discusses the long and sometimes …
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Episode Four – Imagination Nation: Australia's Artists, Writers and Dreamers
In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson looks at culture and Australian creatives. Dr Robinson discusses the long and sometimes challenging, and at other times exhilarating, process by which Australia began to imagine itself on its own terms.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Oodgeroo Noonuccal interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Oodgeroo Noonuccal, a Quandamooka woman from Stradbroke Island, was an author and activist who's book of poetry: We Are Going, was the first book of poetry to be published by a First Nations person in Australia. In the interview she speaks of her beginnings as a poet, her involvement with the civil rights, the destruction of the Aboriginal race, her two books: "The dawn is at hand" and "We are going", and reads the poems: "Son of mine", "The dawn is at hand", "Biami", and "The past".
2. Sidney Nolan interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Melbourne born, Sidney Nolan, is an artist best known for his post-war series of Ned Kelly Paintings. Here he speaks about how he began to paint, working on Australian images, his various exhibitions, going abroad, his method of painting and materials used.
3. Ray Lawler interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Ray Lawler was an Australian playwright, dramatist, producer, director, and actor. In this interview he speaks about his childhood, how he found his way into the theatre, his time working for the National Theatre movement (1949), writing "Summer of the seventeenth doll" and about his method of work.
4. William Yang interviewed by Daniel Connell
William Yang, is a Chinese-Australian photographer, who was born in North Queensland in 1943. In this interview he discusses the political nature of his work, his experiences of racism, his experiences as a young gay man in Sydney during the sixties and seventies, his work photographing the Mardi Gras parade, how his art created visibility for his communities, and how his work refused to let the human stories of the HIV/AIDS crisis be forgotten.
The Memory Tapes Episode 3 - The Land Remembers - Natural Disasters and Resilience in Australia
Episode Three – The Land Remembers: Natural Disasters and Resilience in Australia This episode includes descriptions of natural disasters, injury and loss of life, which some listeners may find distressing …
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Episode Three – The Land Remembers: Natural Disasters and Resilience in Australia
This episode includes descriptions of natural disasters, injury and loss of life, which some listeners may find distressing. Listener discretion is advised.
In this episode, we will hear from people who lived through some of Australia's most devastating natural disasters. Dr Shirleene Robinson explores the stories of Cyclone Tracy, the Queensland floods, and the Black Summer bushfires, uncovering stories of loss and upheaval, of resilience, care and determination.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Ella Stack interviewed Phyllipa Wyatt
Ella Stack, physician and Mayor of Darwin, speaks of her childhood and family background, her early days in medicine, her husband Tom Lawler and his work as an agricultural scientist in the Namoi Valley. She explains their reasons for moving to Darwin and her subsequent return to medicine. She details her general practice and her developing interest in obstetrics and gynaecology. Ella then describes the impact on her life of Cyclone Tracy, the establishment of the Cyclone Tracy Trust Fund and her election as Major of Darwin.
2. Ken Stagg interviewed by Colleen Hattersley
Kenneth Stagg was born 1959 in Darwin. He speaks about his grandmother and grandfather who were both removed as Indigenous children to the Beagle Bay Catholic Mission in Western Australia in the early 1900s. He describes his own removal to Retta Dixon Aborigines Inland Mission Home in Darwin at the age of 2. Following the death of his mother, Stagg was released into the care of his uncle until he was evacuated to Adelaide after Cyclone Tracy in 1974. He also discusses his working life and his efforts to trace his family and to arrange a family reunion.
3. Peter Bate interviewed by Rob Willis
Peter Bate speaks his profession as a meteorologist and his lifelong interest in music. He describes the days leading up to Cyclone Tracy based through his experience as a meteorologist. He then explains how he survived the cyclone with wife Helen, and the dawn of Christmas Day 1974.
4. Len Wilmington interviewed by Rob Linn
Len Wilmington, air traffic controller and pilot, talks about his apprenticeship with the Queensland railways and joining the RAAF as an electrician. He went to Darwin as an electrician from 1962 to 1963, where he attended an Air Traffic Control Course. He then served in most states as an Air Traffic Controller and instructed other air traffic controllers. He explains the Cyclone Tracey aftermath and the need to rebuild the air traffic control system. He described his role in assisting the evacuation of Darwin after the cyclone, moving some 80,000 people out in 6 days.
5. Roland Chin interviewed by Rob Willis and Olya Willis
Roland Chin is President of the Chung Wah Society – a social and sporting club for Darwin's Chinese community based in Darwin. Roland tells of his youth in Darwin, which he and his family evacuated after Cyclone Tracy. Spending six months in Sydney, the family took a vote to return to the destroyed city, where he has remained to this day.
6. Darwina Fong interviewed by Diana Giese
Darwina is a member of the large and distinguished Top End family, the Chins. She married into the prominent Fong family and helped to run Darwin's soft drink factory - Darwin Aerated Waters - for 30 years. Darwina migrated from China to Australia at the age of eight or nine following Japanese attacks on China prior to World War Two. Darwina recounts her life in Darwin and then how she and her family survived Cyclone Tracy. Injured with a fractured pelvis, Darwina and her daughter were evacuated via a Hercules transport plane to Sydney's Royal North Shore hospital.
7. Interviews with residents of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy by Dr Ella Stack
Dr Ella Stack recorded various interviews with residents of Darwin in the fortnight following the destruction wrought by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve, 1974. Includes a recording made by Father Collins during the cyclone of the noise around him. Also includes an interview with James Muir where James describes the impacts of the Cyclone on his family.
8. Anna Bligh interviewed by Malcolm McMillan
Anna Bligh, is an Australian politician and the 37th Premier of Queensland from 2007 to 2012. Bligh was an Australian Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of South Brisbane from 1995 to 2012. This oral history includes her recollections of the impact of widespread flooding in Queensland in 2011.
9. Maria Kravchenko interviewed by Elena Volkova
Maria is a child of Russian migrants who travelled to Australia via the far East, transiting Shanghai. Maria grew up in Nowra and then moved to Brisbane in 1939. She did not attend school until the age of seven. Religion and faith were an essential part of Maria's ordinary everyday life. The family lived far from the church, and it was difficult to attend the Sunday service. Church was the hub of the Russian community and its cultural centre. Maria explains how the community came together to support each other during the Queensland floods.
10. Ronnie Ayliffe interviewed by Scott McKinnon
Ronnie was born in the Bega Valley where her mother and father worked at a general store. She explains her childhood, her close relationship with her grandparents and the community of Cobargo. Ronnie explains the impact of the Badja Forest Road Fire on herself and the community.
The Memory Tapes Episode 2 - First Nations Voices: Country, Culture and Contribution
Episode Two – First Nations Australians: Country, Culture and Contribution In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson is joined by a very special guest, Theresa Ardler, a Gweagal woman of the Eora nation with …
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Episode Two – First Nations Australians: Country, Culture and Contribution
In this episode, Dr Shirleene Robinson is joined by a very special guest, Theresa Ardler, a Gweagal woman of the Eora nation with cultural connections to the Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl people and her father's Yuin country, to explore the National Library of Australia's First Nations oral history collections. At the heart of the episode is an extraordinary 1987 oral history, where Theresa's grandmother, Gladys Ardler, tells the story of her ancestor Cooman, a warrior present at first contact between the British and First Nations Australians at Botany Bay/Kamay in 1770. Other recordings carry the spirit of resistance and resilience running through this history, including frontier violence, dispossession, the Stolen Generations, political struggles and ongoing movements for recognition and self-determination. Together, they offer a moving account of the world's oldest continuing oral tradition and the power of the spoken word to carry history forward.
This episode includes discussion of the Stolen Generations, the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and distressing experiences at institutions including Kinchella Boys Home. It also contains the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, some of whom have passed away. We acknowledge this material with care and respect.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
Included in this episode are excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Gladys Ardler interviewed by Catherine Johnson
Born in Sydney, Ardler speaks of her family background, the environment and local community when she was young, her memories of life during the Depression, her Aboriginal mother, self-sufficiency and selling crafts, leaving school at 12, her employment in a factory, her domestic employment, work and conditions, living in a house on the mission, married lifestyle, sex education, abortions, having and raising her children, Aboriginal traditions, local fishing and the stories passed down through her family about Captain Cook's landing.
2. Japarta Maurie Ryan interviewed by Glenys Dimond
Ryan speaks about his father and his grandfather Vincent Lingiari, Gurindji leader. Ryan was removed at the age of 4 years by Patrol Officer Ted Evans. He was placed at Seaview cottage on Croker Island, N.T. and was cared for by Una Clarke, whom he praises for her care. In 1956, he was transferred to Lantara Children's Home, Magill, S.A. A couple eventually fostered him and he still maintains a loving relationship with them. In 1963, he became the first Aboriginal student at Westminster College, Adelaide before being conscripted into the Army for 3 years from 1966. In 1981, he won the seat of Victoria River Downs for the Democrats and he is now the Chairperson of the Northern Territory Stolen Generation Corporation. Ryan gives his views on the issues of an official apology and reparations.
3. Herb Simms interviewed by John Maynard
Simms speaks about being removed from his family at the age of 3 and being placed at Bomaderry Children's Home, where he feels the children were well cared for. In 1935, he was transferred to Kinchela Boys' Home, and he describes harsher conditions at this institution. In 1942, Simms went to work on a poultry farm and the family there assisted him to get an apprenticeship as a mechanic. He worked as a motor mechanic from 1945 until 1965, when he went to work at the Aborigines Welfare Board. He returned to Kinchela Boys' Home as the manager for three years until its closure in 1970. Simms expresses his opinions on Reconciliation and the issue of compensation to separated children.
4. Joe McGinness interviewed by Lloyd Hollingsworth
McGinness was removed from his mother at the age of 5 after the death of his father. He was placed at Kahlin Compound, Darwin and remained there until 1924 when he was released into the care of his sister and her husband. He speaks about his political activism for Indigenous rights in the Northern Territory and Queensland and about his involvement with the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. McGinness also talks about his friendship with Xavier Herbert and about the 1967 referendum.
5. Dulcie Flower interviewed by Odette Best
Dulcie Flower, a Miri woman from the Mer Islands, is a Member of the Order of Australia and the 2024 recipient of the NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award. She was significantly involved in the 1967 Referendum and the establishment of the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service. In this oral history she reflects on her family's history, attending school in Woree and Cairns, growing up with limited access to western medicine, her lifelong passion for helping people, training as a nurse in Cairns, her experiences of racism within hospitals and the medical field, training as a midwife in Sydney and completing her dual qualification in 1961. She discusses her involvement with the Aborigines Progressive Association (APA) in 1962, learning about and getting involved in Aboriginal Rights activism, campaigning for the 1967 Referendum, her fellow campaigners including Faith Bandler, Joseph McGinness and Isabel Ferguson, representing APA at the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), what the Referendum would mean for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the extensive work done after the Referendum to enact change, the significant impact of the work done by Aboriginal nurses and midwives, the removal of the Welfare Act, the cessation of the APA and FCAATSI, William Wentworth, the establishment of the Aboriginal Legal Service, the establishment of the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service, working with Fred Hollows and her experiences of government surveillance.
Professor Megan Davis, a proud Cobblecobble woman, is the director of the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Indigenous at UNSW, holds the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law and was a member of the expert panel on the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution, the work of which informed the Referendum Council for the 2023 Voice to Parliament Referendum. In this lecture she discusses her childhood in Queensland and the impact that art has had on her life, the difficulties of campaigning for the Uluru Statement from the Heart during national lockdown and tells the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander story of Australia that was produced from the Dialogues that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
7. Ruby Langford Ginibi interviewed by Frank Heimans
Ruby Langford Ginibi is a Bundjalung author best known for her Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Human Rights Award for Literature winning Don't Take Your Love to Town. In this oral history she speaks of the tribal history of the Bundjalung people, her grandparents, her early life at Box Ridge Aboriginal Mission, how she was protected from being removed by the Aborigines Protection Board, how her father took her and her sister into the bush to transmit cultural knowledge of her people, supporting her eight children as a single parent, the racial discrimination she experienced, how she came to write her first book in 1984, the circumstances which lead to the death of her child from a drug overdose and her own drinking problems, why she wrote her book Haunted by the Past, her views on human rights in Australia and her fear for her son during his incarceration owing to the high incidence of Aboriginal death in custody.
The Memory Tapes Episode 1 - Hazel de Berg: The Silent Revolutionary
Episode One – Hazel de Berg: The Silent Revolutionary Dr Shirleene Robinson begins the series with an introduction to Hazel de Berg, a pioneering oral historian who recorded the stories of over 1,290 …
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Episode One – Hazel de Berg: The Silent Revolutionary
Dr Shirleene Robinson begins the series with an introduction to Hazel de Berg, a pioneering oral historian who recorded the stories of over 1,290 Australians and built Australia's first oral history collection. For nearly 30 years, Hazel de Berg sat down with people across Australia - writers, poets, actors, artists, scientists, migrants, Indigenous people, feminists, musicians—people from all walks of life, and pressed record. Hazel de Berg believed that even the quietest stories mattered. That a voice, once heard, could change how we see a person or a country.
To learn more, the book The Memory Tapes is available where all good books are sold.
This introductory episode includes excerpts from the following oral history interviews from the National Library of Australia's Oral History Collection:
1. Hazel de Berg interviewed by Tom Jacobs
Hazel de Berg speaks about Dame Mary Gilmore when being interviewed on the radio program, "News Magazine".
2. Jessie Street interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Lady Jessie Street, diplomat, feminist and campaigner for the rights of Indigenous Australians, warned what happens when we sideline women and argued for greater inclusion.
3. Peggy Van Praagh interviewed by Hazel de Berg
In 1973, Dame Peggy van Praagh, who had taken up a role in 1962 as the founding artistic director of the Australian Ballet, explains how exciting the development of ballet was in Australia at that time.
4. Nancy Bird Walton interviewed by Hazel de Berg
In 1977, Hazel recorded Nancy Bird Walton, who born in 1915 and was a pioneering Australian aviator, the first woman in Australia to fly for a living rather than for recreation.
5. William Liu interviewed by Hazel de Berg
In 1978, William Liu, a man of Chinese and Scottish descent who was born in 1893 and had lived with anti-Chinese immigration policies and attitudes for the majority of his life, reflected on a pivotal moment with Hazel de Berg.
6. Brian Syron interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Brian Syron, of Biripi heritage, who studied acting in New York with the legendary acting couch Stella Adler and was enjoying growing success internationally when he made the decision to return home.
7. May Gibbs interviewed by Hazel de Berg
One of the most difficult interviews for Hazel de Berg to obtain was with May Gibbs. Hazel's daughter, Diana Ritch, remembers Hazel called her every day on the phone for a month to convince her to be recorded. And with persistence, she eventually succeeded. May Gibbs told her that she was much more comfortable speaking outside, so they did. And May Gibbs told her about her childhood and where the inspiration behind her Gumnut characters, as well as her drawing talents, had come from.
8. Howard Florey interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Nobel Prize winning pathologist, Sir Howard Florey, whose work on penicillin, saved millions of lives, died one year after being interviewed by Hazel. Again, her recording is the only recording of his voice that exists.
9. Essie Coffey interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Essie Coffey, a proud young Murrawarri woman from Brewarrina in north-west New South Wales. A brilliant filmmaker, activist and fierce advocate for Indigenous people and speaking the truth of the Stolen Generations.
10. Jim McNeil interviewed by Hazel de Berg
Playwright Jim McNeil remembers rallying against the sensationalism against homosexual relationships in prison in the play he wrote at Bathurst. He was inspired by Robert McKinnon, an artist in the cell next door. He remembers draining water from their toilets so he and Robert could exchange ideas through the pipes.
11. George Pardey interviewed by Hazel de Berg
George casually told Hazel that he had taken the most important photograph of his life nearly four decades earlier, on 5 August 1944. This was the day of the Cowra breakout, a mass escape by Japanese men who were forcibly kept in an internment camp in Cowra. Their attempt to break out of the camp was the biggest mass escape in the Second World War and one of the bloodiest in the history of attempted escapes in wartime. More than 234 Japanese prisoners died, 108 were wounded and three Australian guards were killed.
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