History  Essays

Vida Goldstein

    Vida Goldstein, born on April 13, 1869 in Portland, Victoria, Australia, as one of the first wave feminists between 1880 and 1914, represented the new generation of the movement in Australia which followed pioneers such as Spence, Scott, Lowe and Dugdale. Although she contributed considerably to women's suffrage, she is most famous for having been the first woman candidate for a national parliament in the British Empire. Her struggle to extend women's influence beyond the home into the public sphere and her advocacy for role changes as a result of her fundamental belief in equality of opportunity for both sexes not only raised the consciousness of Australian women, but also inspired women beyond Australia's shores. Her repeated candidature for House of Representative and Senate seats in the Australian Parliament contributed to the development of the political life of the Commonwealth by constituting the first steps towards changing the newly formed Commonwealth from what Vida called a 'maleocracy' into a fully fledged democracy. She was also linked to the establishment of the Children's Courts in Victoria and inspired Justice Higgins to fix the rate for a basic wage, by making his criterion the needs of an 'average' family. By doing so, Vida won a place for herself in Australian history at a time when women still faced many constraints imposed on them by society, and she herself had to contend with strong resistance. In later years her pacifist principles would find their full expression when she was 'Australia's conscience based on her strong anti-war stance which conflicted with the patriotic and pro-Empire sentiments promoted by the government at the time. The following outlines the post-Federation career of this the 'greatest of the Victorians, and perhaps of the Australian suffragists' and looks at her contribution to the development of the political life of the Commonwealth.
© 1996 Deakin University

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Framing the Constitution

    Program Three of Democracy and Nation, broadcast on ABC Radio National, is titled 'Framing the Constitution'. It consists of two main parts, with the first looking at the Imperial celebrations in Sydney on January 1, 1901, the day the six Australian colonies federated and the current Australian Constitution came into force. An account of the activities surrounding this event and the public participation and feeling in Sydney on that day is supplemented by historians Jill Rowe and Helen Irving giving their views on the celebrations. With the help of a short lead-in which contains ABC archival footage of Sir Robert Garran, Australia's first public servant describing the departments which were ready to be taken over by the Commonwealth from the six States and those that were new, the focus then turns to the Constitution itself with a discussion panel consisting of Professor Cheryl Saunders from the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Melbourne, Professor Brian Galligan from the Centre for Public Policy also at the University of Melbourne, and Constitutional lawyer Michael Coper, looking at the influences which shaped our Constitution, the role of the Senate, the legislative powers of the Commonwealth and the way in which its financial dominance has increased over the States and the question of whether the Constitution should be revised. The program concludes with Chris Baker from the National Centre of Australian Studies at Monash University summing up the key points.
© 1996 Deakin University

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Tom Keneally: Our Republic

    In his book Our Republic, modern day republican Tom Keneally claims to give "an account of things discovered which make up a sort of Republican history of Australia, and which turn a lot of the normal propositions about Australia and its long passion for the Monarchy on their heads". This essay attempts to answer the question whether he does in fact demonstrate convincingly his claim that there has always been a strong current of republican feeling in Australia. It further establishes his explanation of why republicanism declined around the time of Federation and tries to look at how his personal views may have influenced the way he presents his case.
© 1996 Deakin University

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