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.

When did the concept of ‘peacekeeping’ emerge? And have its successes outweighed some glaring failures?

On Afternoon Light #154 Georgina Downer speaks with Dr Peter Londey to discuss 77 years of Australian peacekeeping efforts. Never envisaged in the UN charter, the episode reveals how Australia has been at the forefront of how the practice first began and has continued to evolve.

Dr Peter Londey is a lecturer at the Australian National University. He previously worked as a Senior Historian at the Australian War Memorial, where he specialised in the history of Australian peacekeeping missions. He wrote the first history of Australian peacekeeping, Other Peoples' Wars, and is the co-editor of The Long Search for Peace: Observer Missions and Beyond, 1947–2006. His original research background is in Ancient History, with his PhD thesis focusing on Delphic Amphiktyony.

Could Papua New Guinea have become Australia’s seventh state? And would that have saved us money on an NRL franchise?

On Afternoon Light #153 Georgina Downer speaks with Dr Brad Underhill to discuss how PNG was once an Australian territory. After years spent trying to foster development and ‘prepare a nation’, independence came suddenly, reluctantly and possibly prematurely.

Dr Bradley Underhill is a research fellow in Deakin University’s School of Humanities and Social Science. An expert in the history of Papua New Guinea, Brad recently co-edited a special edition of Australian Historical Studies exploring the subject. His forthcoming book, Preparing a Nation?: The New Deal in the Villages of Papua New Guinea, will tell the story of the post-war development of PNG.

When did Australia become a multicultural nation?

On Afternoon Light #152 Georgina Downer meets with Dr Jeff Kildea to unpack how ‘White Australia’ was never quite as homogenous as many now assume. As tensions between the Protestant majority and an Irish Catholic minority produced sharp, longstanding, but never quite universal divisions.

Jeff is an honorary professor in Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales. He has written extensively on the history of the Irish in Australia, most recently releasing the remarkable story of Sister Liguori: The Nun who Divided a Nation.

Compulsory voting is as Australian as the ‘democracy sausage’, but how did its introduction reshape the way our elections are fought?

On Afternoon Light #151 Georgina Downer meets with Dr Chris Monnox to explore how different polling day was a century ago. Back when our political parties used to focus on getting people out to vote - often quite literally in providing them with transportation - rather than persuading them who to vote for.

Chris is the author of ‘Letterboxes and Loudspeakers: Compulsory Voting and the Transformation of Grassroots Electioneering in Australia, 1910–51’, which appeared in the Australian Journal of Politics and History.

Dive into the personalities and politics that shaped Australia-India relations during the Menzies era!

On Afternoon Light #150 Georgina Downer meets with Teesta Prakash to explore the structural and personal factors that complicated Robert Menzies’s diplomatic relationship with Jawaharlal Nehru.

The two question the extent to which the complexities of India’s independce possibly contributed to perceived neglect of this crucial partnership, and proceed to discuss Menzies' efforts to find solutions to the Kashmir issue and his interest in a robust Australia-India bond.

They also explore the Cold War dynamics, highlighting the power of personal relationships, aid, and diplomacy in strengthening ties amidst global crisis.