Adam Goodes is a prominent Aboriginal footballer and Australian of the Year in 2014 yet he has been incessantly booed by football crowds every time he touches the ball for most of this season. No-one else in the modern history of the game has received such a toxic response from the crowd. Adam Goodes has won the best and fairest medal not once, but twice, yet not even the most … [Read more...] about Historians Stand with Adam Goodes
Sport
Aussie Rules Football in Melbourne and Sydney
This post continues my series, Introduction to Australian History, which is written for people who have recently settled in Australia or live outside Australia and want an introduction to our history and culture. This weekend the AFL Grand Final will be held between the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn football teams. This is a huge event. Around 100,000 fans flock to the Melbourne … [Read more...] about Aussie Rules Football in Melbourne and Sydney
56 Since ’56 – The Crowd at Olympic Games
The excitement and the roar of the crowd was the first thing that Les recalled as he told me about that day in 1956 when he watched the Olympics at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. I was having an all too rare day with relations in a country town in the western district of Victoria and had been expecting a day of sharing photographs and family stories. I was not expecting to hear … [Read more...] about 56 Since ’56 – The Crowd at Olympic Games
India at the Australian Historical Association Conference
Chinese-Australian history was well covered at the Australian Historical Association Conference but when I reviewed my conference notes I realised that a number of the sessions I attended were about the relationship between India and Australia. I have only dabbled in this history during a seminar in my honours year, but increasingly I feel drawn to learn more. Indians have … [Read more...] about India at the Australian Historical Association Conference
Cricket in Sydney 1876
When fossicking in the archives I have at times come across fascinating and totally irrelevant material. It seems to be a shame not to share this, so I have created the 'Lucky Dip' category. 'Lucky Dip' contains what I regard as ephemera but what may be central to the interests of others. What better time than the start of the current Ashes encounter to reflect on the … [Read more...] about Cricket in Sydney 1876