Aussie Waves Podcast

The conflict between the British settlers and the local Indigenous people is heating up. The settlers push into the extremely fertile river flats along the Hawkesbury River near Windsor, Richmond and Wilberforce. This deprives the local people of access to traditional food sources. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com. I answer every email.

In 1813 Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth made the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains. Or did they? Were Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth really the first to cross the Blue Mountains? And what of the implications of their explorations for the local Indigenous people? 

On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced the end of the Holden brand. This has shocked the nation and it truly is the end of an era. Watch the Holden TV advertisement 'Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGW-WX77zjY

On Wednesday 26 May 1971, a man calling himself “Mr Brown" telephoned saying that Qantas Flight 755 from Sydney to Hong Kong was carrying a bomb. It was set to detonate as the plane came in to land and it could only be prevented if he was paid $500,000. Check out the movie 'Call me Mr Brown' on YouTube athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDku9ha0-A PLEASE DONATE TO THE RED CROSS BUSHFIRE RECOVERY APPEAL AT: www.redcross.org.au

Today we are into Aussie cryptozoology; the Bunyip and the Blue Mountain's Panther. Do they really exist? Well yes!. There is a real Bunyip right here in Canberra - Alexander the Bunyip - and you can find him at Gunghalin Library. Check out the truly remarkable ABC cartoon 'Bluey'. For you parents and grandparents out there it provides great parenting tips for toddlers. You can watch episodes on the ABC website or the ABC i-view App for free. Here's a YouTube video of highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1SgpcIULLY&list=PLUptLdhc0cdHxTE1_ZBNP5ZaPgjePZGWC      

The local Sydney people continue to find it tough going after the arrival of the British. A smallpox epidemic breaks out killing many Indigenous people. Bennelong is captured and Arthur Phillip is speared and recovers from his wound.  Arthur Phillip then orders reprisals after the apparently unprovoked killing of John McIntire. Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

Nancy-Bird Walton was one of the great pioneers of flight in Australia. Learn about her remarkable life and achievements. A youtube video aired by the ABC on the day of her funeral can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjfUSjh-muo  

Episode 100! I never dreamed I would still be going after 100 episodes and 6 years.  In this episode we cover Australia becoming a nation. When the six colonies of Australia decided to federate and become a nation in its own right. Thank you to all my listeners for your support and encouragement since I started this little podcast. A big shout out to Laszlo Montgomery from the China History Podcast who started me in this podcasting caper.

In this episode we cover the history of the Sydney Harbour Bridge – or as local Sydney-siders call it, the coat hanger. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is an iconic bridge that joins the north of Sydney Harbour to the south. At the time of its completion in 1932 it was considered the epitome of modern bridge design and engineering ingenuity

In this episode we finish our look at Ben Chifley. Chifley spends many years in the political wilderness before being re-elected to Parliament. After the death of John Curtin he becomes Prime Minister.  email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com  I answer every email.

We continue our look at Ben Chifley. Chifley finally gets elected to Federal Parliament and enters the Minsitry as Minister for Defence. But disunity in the Labor Party costs Labor government, and Chifley his seat, all at the hands of Jack Lang. Chifley and Lang become bitter enemies.   I was struggling with a sore throat and I bit my tongue (ouch). So bear with my poor delivery in this episode. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com      

In this and the next few episodes we are going to take a look at Ben Chifley. Chifley was born in Bathurst, New South Wales and worked on the NSW Railways for 25 years as an engine driver. Chifley was Australia’s 16th Prime Minister who came to the Prime Ministership in July 1945 following the death of John Curtin. Chifley is an icon in Labor Party history. He is most famously remembered for his ‘light on the hill’ speech. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com   

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should note that that in this episode I mention the names of people who have or may have passed away. In this episode we look at the life of Oodgeroo Noonuccal or as you might know her Kath Walker. She was a great poet, writer and activist who played a significant role in the 1967 referendum. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com. I answer every email.

I've decided to rename the podcast to the Aussie History Podcast. Thanks to Artistic Visual Design Director Ken Dampier for the new artwork In this episode my good friend Kate joins me to talk cricket and the infamous Bodyline series of the 1930s. Check out Six and Out's cricketing song 'Can't bowl, Can't Throw'. The band was made up of Australian Test and First Class cricketers, including Brett Lee. As a band they made good cricketers.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcH-unNO7L0  

Would you believe that on the banks of Kati Thanda or Lake Eyre, South Australia, lies the world’s second-largest geoglyph? Did you know that from the 1940s until the 1970s cats lived in the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And finally, were you aware that at the end of WWI a French orphan was smuggled to Australia in a sack by Australian troops?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this episode mentions the names of people who have passed away. At school we learned that the the settlement of New South Wales was a pretty peaceful affair and that the local Aboriginal people accepted the colonists. Also that, where there was conflict, it was very much small scale and out of the ordinary. But was it really like that?

Bushrangers!!  This time it's Captain Moonlite and Jackey Jackey. And we say farewell to the Hon. James Robert Lee Hawke MP, one of Australia's best Prime Ministers who died several days before this episode was recorded. Vale Bob Hawke. Australia is a better place because of you.

It's election day today in Australia.  As we head to the polls learn about the first woman who is known to have cast a vote in an Australian election - Frances Finch.  Would you believe it actually happened in 1856, some 46 years before universal suffrage was introduced in Australia.  

It's ANZAC Day. Marion Leane Smith is the only known Indigenous Australian woman to service in WWI.  Let's learn about her story.

We wrap up our series of episodes into the murder of Donald Mackay.  The inquest into the death of Donald Mackay gets underway, Bob Trimbole is finally found and Detective Inspector Ellis goes before the courts. Finally three men are charged over conspiracy to murder Donald Mackay.