Publications

Vintage Stories: A 150 Year History of Tahbilk (2010)
In 2010, Tabilk Winery celebrates 150 years of continuous wine production and Vintage Stories: a 150 Year History of Tahbilk Winery was commissioned to celebrate this milestone. James Halliday, in his Preface to Vintage Stories, states that ‘The splendidly told history of Tahbilk …makes mesmerising reading’. Significant themes of Victoria’s history are reflected in the 150 year history of Tahbilk. They include the stories of migration, settlement and unlocking the land; agriculture, viticulture and primary industry; commercial and environmental challenges. Through dedicated wine men, changing tastes and drinking habits, phylloxera and fashion, Tahbilk reflects the development of Australian viticulture. Over 150 years it has cemented its place in an ever evolving Australian wine industry.
The distinct Shiraz and Marsanne wines, so perfectly suited to the region, are now synonymous with two names – Purbrick and Tahbilk. In celebrating its 150th year, Tahbilk acknowledges the vision, intelligence, drive, perseverance and passion of its founding fathers – and its current owners. While looking back to its history and inheritance, Tahbilk also looks forward, eager to embrace new generations of wine-lovers and to continue to tell its enduring story. http://www.tahbilk.com.au/
Vintage Stories: A 150 Year History of Tahbilk was launched to an audience of Australia’s finest wine writers on 18 February 2010.

Altona Yacht Club: A History of Community Sailing (2010)
Altona Yacht Club: A History of Community Sailing celebrates 58 years of the Altona Yacht Club! It was commissioned as the result of a successful grant application to the Public Record Office Victoria for a Local History Grant. The Club started with a dozen keen local citizens who saw the need for a sailing club and set about establishing something that was home-grown in Altona. It began as a welcoming, friendly local club with a strong emphasis on the club as a family environment and family activity; it continues in this mould. It was the enthusiasm of the original founders – Commodores, Committee Members and general membership – that have made it the individual organisation that it remains today. In 2010, the Club promotes and highlights community values and the value of volunteering. It promotes these values to the growing number of younger members, the local school children that it now teaches. The Club also emphasizes the importance in a healthy-minded community of inter-generational interaction in sailing and promotes tolerance as an essential component in a continually growing society. http://www.altonayachtclub.org.au/. At the launch of this book in March, Deputy Mayor Tony Briffa said that ‘Fay Woodhouse has not just written a chronological account of the club, but created a book that celebrates the Altona Yacht Club, the Altona community and our enduring sense of community spirit’.

‘An Enigmatic Vice-Chancellor: Raymond Priestley at the University of Melbourne 1935-1938’ (2010)
Published in the inaugural edition of Circa: The Journal of Professional Historians, the journal showcases the work of Australia’s professional historians. In 1935 the University of Melbourne’s first salaried Vice-Chancellor, Raymond Priestley, arrived in Melbourne, eager to lead the small antipodean university. He was surprised at what he found: a lack of funds and a general disconnection between the University and the people of Melbourne that restricted his progressive views. This paper contextualises Raymond Priestley’s campaign to connect the University to the people. The 1930s were a tumultuous time politically, both in Australia and internationally; this was reflected in the attitude and activities of the students and the University Council, which frustrated Priestley’s attempts at reform and eventually led to his resignation. While Priestley only stayed in Melbourne for three years, his legacy can still be seen at the University and his influence cannot be underestimated.

Medicare Mayhem and the Vocational Register (2009)
In 1989 the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners instigated Vocational Registration for general practitioners. Not all members of the College were convinced of the merit of the decision taken by the College’s Council, and a group of general practitioners supported the AMA view that opposed vocational registration. While a motion requesting Council to cease negotiating with the government was lost a motion insisting that the College communicate within its own organization and with other medical organizations was carried. The College set about determining the principles of implementation with the government. A Senate Select Committee held an enquiry into the proposal and as a result Vocational Registration was implemented. While consistently avowing that the College was a practical, learning body who would not engage in politics, for the second time in its history the College was forced to negotiate with government for a fair deal while at the same time dissociating itself from the AMA who were opposed to their stance. At the end of the day, the RACGP successfully adopted its strategy to introduce Vocational Registration. By 1992, this one decision gave General Practitioners a far greater public profile, and the number of Vocationally Registered general practitioners rose to 11,290.

Valuing the General Practitioner in Australian Society (2008)
In 2008, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners celebrated its golden jubilee. To acknowledge and celebrate their achievements, the RACGP commissioned an historical essay for their website. Education, research, publications and preventive medicine have underpinned the activities of the College for fifty years. However, the evolving nature of general practice and, in recent years, a greater emphasis on advocacy, rural health, Aboriginal health, and other matters, have all contributed to the broadening focus of the College and its membership. Social and political events, public policy and their outcomes, have also impacted upon the activities of the College. As Australia has changed in the past fifty years, so too have the aims and objectives of the College evolved to better reflect Australian society and its needs; for example, the College now represents more rural GPs than any other general practice organisation in Australia. The College has also witnessed major developments in its education, research and preventative medicine programs, making them available to enthusiastic general practitioners using the latest innovative technology. The College continues, as it has done for fifty years, to champion the diverse skills of general practitioners and believes that generalist skills are the foundation of the profession. The aim of the founding fathers was to ensure that the general practitioner continued to be the family doctor who would remain as counsellor, guide and friend to his patients. Throughout the past fifty years the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has weathered the storms of change during which its actions have emphasised the value and importance of the general practitioner to Australian society.

Still Learning – A 50 Year History of Monash University Peninsula Campus (2008)
Commissioned to celebrate 50 years since the establishment of this educational institution, Still Learning – A 50 Year History of Monash University Peninsula Campus is more than an institutional history, it brings the lives of students and staff into focus, and conveys the excitement and atmosphere of the times. In the 1960s and 1970s, a ‘Miss Frankston’ competition, which would not be countenanced today, was a popular event. Students enjoyed a staple diet of sport, social activities, rock music, sexual relationships, and interstate and overseas trips. They nonetheless complained of lack of funds for food! The 1970s were turbulent times in Australia, and the issues of the day played out in the lives of students and staff on the campus. Still Learning connects significant moments in Australia’s history to experiences on campus. In its incarnations as Frankston Teacher’s College and the State College of Victoria at Frankston, the institution thrived. However, as the Chisholm Institute of Technology at Frankston it faced many challenges and entered into a period of relative decline. The timely merger with Monash University in 1990 slowly improved the campus’s fortunes. Today, Monash University Peninsula Campus is a significant part of the southern hemisphere’s largest university, with a vibrant campus of around 3500 students and a key focus as a health precinct. http://publications.epress.monash.edu/loi/sl

Monash University Custom Publishing Services, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9805108-2-9 (pb)
ISBN: 978-0-9805108-3-6 (web)
44 pages. Softback

The Encyclopedia of Melbourne,first published in 2005, is a comprehensive guide to the history, people, events and businesses of Melbourne. Created and edited by a team of academics, it has contributions by academic and professional historians including Hindsight Consulting Historians. The Encyclopedia covers the city’s history from pre-European settlement up to the present day. Entries range from short factual summaries about places, institutions and events, through to extended survey articles on key topics such as Architecture, Aboriginal Melbourne, Economy, Early Settlement, Law and Order, Literature, Science, Sport, Suburbia, Theatre and Transport. Hindsight Consulting Historians contributed articles on the literary journals, Overland and Angry Penguins and ‘University Sport’.

Cambridge University Press, 2005
ISBN 10 0-521-84234-4
820 pages. Hardback

Written as a study of student life, ‘Always a Part of Carlton Life: Students’ was published as a chapter in Carlton: A History in 2004. This chapter derived from my PhD in Australian history, awarded by the University of Melbourne in 2001. The study: ‘A Place Apart: Student Political Engagement at the University of Melbourne 1930-39’, traced the period from the Depression to the beginning of the Second World War. The University and its students became a lens through which to view the issues – whether University, local Victorian, Australian or international – which students chose to engage in during this decade.

Melbourne University Publishing, 2004 and 2005
ISBN: 0522852041
570 pages. Hardback

Carlton: A History
Written as a study of student life, ‘Always a Part of Carlton Life: Students’ was published as a chapter in Carlton: A History in 2004. This chapter derived from my PhD in Australian history, awarded by the University of Melbourne in 2001. The study: ‘A Place Apart: Student Political Engagement at the University of Melbourne 1930-39’, traced the period from the Depression to the beginning of the Second World War. The University and its students became a lens through which to view the issues – whether University, local Victorian, Australian or international – which students chose to engage in during this decade.

Melbourne University Publishing, 2004 and 2005
ISBN: 0522852041
570 pages. Hardback

 

 

Anti-Communism and Civil Liberties:
the 1951 Communist Party Dissolution Referendum Debate at the University of Melbourne
This paper outlines the debate on the 1951 Communist Party Dissolution Referendum at the University of Melbourne and considers how it cast light on Australian social, political and higher education institutions at the time. First, it provides a background to the fight against communism in Australia which finally led to the calling of the referendum, and the referendum campaign itself, are outlined as a backdrop to the particular debate under consideration. Secondly, it looks at the University’s place in society at the time, and particularly how the community viewed political activity by prominent figures from the relatively secluded world of the University. Finally, it attempts to analyse the impact of the University’s contribution to public debate, in light of the referendum’s failure. In a Cold War context, it assesses the University’s susceptibility to Government criticism, and the very real pressures felt by the leadership of the University to ensure its integrity. In the final analysis, it suggests that the debate over issues of civil liberties at Melbourne exerted a significant impact on the larger scene.

The University of Melbourne, 1998
History of the University Unit, Working Papers No. 3
ISBN: 0732510783
58 pages. Softback