Season 2, Episode 3: The History Wars

‘All The Best’ from FBi Radio

In September 2020, I was appointed Victorian State Coordinator of FBi’s award winning storytelling show, All The Best and in January 2021 I took on the position of Editorial Manager. I believe wholeheartedly in the value of free broadcast public radio and the strength of the communities that make it possible. You can listen to All The Best on the Community Radio Network and subscribe anywhere podcasts are found.

Mostly I’m editing other peoples stories, but I still get to make them sometimes too. Here are a few stories I’ve made for All The Best

Under The Sun with Mell and Ben

Between March and September 2020. I teamed up with my partner, local musician and composer Ben Cannings, to make a weekly news commentary show for local Hobart station Edge Radio. I started working with Edge Radio in 2015 and have since developed a love for community radio and podcasting that has continued into my professional life. Below you can listen to all 20 episodes of the show. You can also find them anywhere podcasts are found, just search Under The Sun with Mell and Ben.

In the past couple of weeks we have discussed Aboriginal deaths in custody and the discrimination that Aboriginal people face in Australian law and society.

To get to the root of this issue, this week we look back at the telling of Australian history, the way that has informed our national narrative and created a barrier to addressing inequalities.

We discuss the History Wars, the ideological battle between the revisionists who wished to tell a history of Australia that represented the experiences of Aboriginal people, and conservatives such as Prime Minister John Howard, who insisted that history should instil nationalist pride in it's students.

We end with a story about Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, two of many Aboriginal warriors who fought against the invading European forces in the Frontier Wars, something we never learnt about in school.

But don't take our word for it! Aboriginal scholars, journalists, artists and activists have been talking about this stuff forever.

Here are just a few resources we've compiled for more information.

Frontier War Stories (podcast)

“Boe Spearim is a Gamilaraay & Kooma radio host and podcaster who lives in Brisbane. Frontier War Stories - a podcast dedicated to truth-telling about a side of Australian that has been left out of the history books.”

https://boespearim.podbean.com

First Australians (SBS TV Series)

“First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people.”

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/first-australians

Share Our Pride (Website)

An introductory resource curated by Reconciliation Australia, which intends to raise awareness of Aboriginal history and identity, as well as dispelling myths around aboriginality.

http://www.shareourpride.org.au/index.html

Deaths Inside

A database compiled by The Guardian Australia, tracking every known Aboriginal death in custody between 2008-2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2018/aug/28/deaths-inside-indigenous-australian-deaths-in-custody

Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788-1930

Produced by The Centre for 21st Century Humanities at the University of Newcastle, this interactive map provides information about the numerous massacres of aboriginal people during the colonization of Australia.

https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/

**Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of racial violence and the names of Aboriginal people who have died.