Our Stories: Protest in Australia

Our Stories: Protest in Australia by Sue Lawson (Walker Books)

PB RRP $ 17.99

ISBN 9781922244543

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Change and how it influenced the history of Australia is another title from the excellent Our Stories series. The various forms this change took, mainly through protest in one form or another against injustice of every kind, and in the name of democracy, are documented here. There are seventeen entries not including the Introduction, Conclusion, Glossary and Index.

The entries begin with the 1804 convict uprising known as the Castle Hill Rebellion, or The Battle of Vinegar Hill. The Rum Rebellion is followed by the miners’ revolt at the Eureka Stockade and end at the Saving Whales entry.

The rallies, strikes, and petitions against unjust laws cover the Shearer’s Strike, the Wave Hill Walk Off, Freedom Ride, Stolen Generation, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Mabo and Land Rights, Women’s Suffrage, Aboriginal Vote, conscientious objectors and the Vietnam War, and Sorry Day.

This is a compact history of change linked to major events. Its valuable resource material can be used at home and in class for the 8+ year age groups. The easy to follow presentation makes learning or refreshing any aspect of Australia’s significant history accessible, particularly that part which relates to social and political causes for change.

The pictures, posters and photographs that draw us back in time, are resourced from archival material from the major State libraries around Australia. This series can be collected, and referred to time and again.