A fresh look at Federation

Dear ,

Brisbane has yet again been hit by a devastating flood. I know some of our members have been flooded and evacuated, and while those I have been in contact with are matter-of-fact about it, the disruption and loss must be heart-breaking. If you're reading this now you have our sympathy, and I wish there were more that I could give you.

My dad was always talking about the "good old days". They weren't so good really, and included a number of substantial floods. He knew about the 1893 flood through oral history, but as an apprentice mechanical engineer at the Brisbane Courier he remembered their offices in the CBD flooding in 1931.

1931 was roughly 30 years after the 1893 flood, and the 74 flood was approximately 40 years later, as was 2011. Now we've had three major floods in the course of 11 years.

Australia notoriously suffers from floods, as well as droughts. Dad talked about them too, although he wasn't alive for the Federation Drought which occurred around the turn of the 19th Century. I'm not sure whether that drought played any part in Federation - droughts cause poverty and hardship, and make electorates restless, so it's quite possible it was a silent actor - and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to ask William Coleman, the author of Their Fiery Cross of Union: A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation 1889-1914.

Coleman's thesis is that while the national story portrays the Fathers of Federation as heroic figures, the reality is much more prosaic, and that federation was premature, and poorly executed. Certainly our federal system played a part in the recent COVID panic, with each of the premiers turning their states into ones of emergency, without much national control. I think this was largely a good thing, while also wondering how the states were able to actually close their borders under any sensible reading of the Constitution..

This is a good opportunity to get a better understanding of the history of federation, as well as discussing how it might be done better.

Their Fiery Cross of Union will be launched by Emeritus Professor Kay Saunders, the doyen of Queensland historians, who will introduce the book and the author.

Date: March 11, at 6:00 pm for 6:30 pm
Venue: Unit 2B, 50 Logan Road, Woolloongabba Q 4101
Cost: $25 General, $15 Student with $5 discount members. Includes finger food and drinks

To book click here. To pre-purchase a book and pick it up on the day click here and select pick-up.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR