What would you do if you felt Australia faced an imminent invasion?

On Afternoon Light #157 Georgina Downer speaks with Ann Howard to explore how Australian families dealt with the very tangible threat of war on Australian soil. Mass child evacuations are a little-remembered aspect of war on the home front, but one which those who were sent away will never forget.

Ann Howard came out from London in the 1970s, and became an Australian citizen. She was struck by the richness of Australian history, and after obtaining a Master of Arts and a Master of Science in Sydney, started up her own publishing company, Tarka to publish You'll be Sorry! about the AWAS in World War II, giving a voice to these 26,000 women. She moved to an island in the Hawkesbury River, where she restored a heritage house, and has lived there for 52 years. Mainstream publishers took her up, and she concentrated on unwritten histories, focusing on women and children. A Carefree War was written 10 years ago. She interviewed over 100 people to write this book, which she thinks is the only one of its kind of an account of Australian WWII child evacuees.

How did the concept of ‘His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition’ emerge, and what advantages does it offer a democratic system?

On Afternoon Light #156 Georgina Downer speaks with Scott Prasser to unpack the purpose and utility of Parliamentary Oppositions. An understudied yet vital aspect of Westminster governance, Oppositions are expected to go beyond mere criticism to provide the electorate with genuine choices.

Scott Prasser has worked in senior policy and advisory roles in state and federal government public service. From 2013 to 2019 he was Senior Adviser to three federal cabinet ministers covering portfolios of education and training, and regional health, sport and decentralisation. In addition, Scott has held academic positions at five universities across four states and territories, the last at professorial level. Scott gained his undergraduate and master’s degrees from University of Queensland, and his doctorate from Griffith University. He is the co-editor of The Art of Opposition, along with David Clune.

Is migration a one-way street, or does its cultural impact flow both directions?

On Afternoon Light #155 Georgina Downer speaks with Professor Denis Byrne to discuss the China-Australia migration corridor. A phenomenon which saw Australian money, ideas, objects and people shape areas of the Chinese mainland from the 1840s onwards.

Denis Byrne is professor of archaeology and heritage studies at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. Previously he had led the cultural heritage research program at the Office of Environment and Heritage NSW. He is the author of Counterheritage: critical perspectives on heritage conservation in Asia and Surface collection: archaeological travels in Southeast Asia, and co-author of The China-Australia Migration Corridor: History and Heritage, along with Ien Ang and Phillip Mar.