AustLit

'Archibald Meston (b. 1851) is remembered as the framer in Queensland of the 1897 Aboriginal Protection Act, legislation which he later helped to implement as Southern Protector. From 1870 until his death in 1924, he published hundreds of articles, stories, poems and letters in Queensland and New South Wales newspapers. While by no means distinguished as literature, this mass of material invites attention not only for its diverse discourses on Indigenous people, but also because it helped to shape the idea of Queensland held by residents and outsiders. The state's history, natural history and geography are Meston's most frequent subjects. This essay seeks to understand further the ideological significance of his journalistic construction of Queensland by examining the connections cultivated in his writings with the poetry of the Romantics, Byron and Shelley, and their American successors, Longfellow and Poe.' (Extract)

'Visitors to Dunk Island these days can choose to stay at an expensive resort. They may arrive by air at the island's airstrip or by regular boat service from the mainland. They can sail, swim or snorkel. And if they take one of the walking tracks, they may find the cairn that marks the resting place of E. J. Banfield and his wife Bertha, who lived on the island from 1897 to 1923. I would guess that few of those who encounter the site know who Banfield was or what he was doing on Dunk — or even why they should care.' (Extract) 

'Mary Mayne was the mother of Mary Emelia and James Mayne, two of the most significant benefactors to The University of Queensland, and the impulse for their philanthropy can partly be traced directly to her. She was an extremely successful businesswoman in colonial Brisbane, yet her business achievements have been overlooked by assumptions that the family's wealth came only from the foundations laid by her husband, Patrick — even though it was her fortune, as well as his, which funded her children's final bequests to the university. By the time of Patrick's death in August 1865, Mary was experienced in business, which was unusual for married women during this era. Her experience and skills enabled her to take over the administration of his estate and, despite his debts, to preserve most of his property holdings. At the same time, she amassed her own fortune. Although she faced a number of hurdles, her success proves that widows with skills and assets were able to operate as effectively as men in the commercial world, and undermines simplistic assumptions about the impact of gender discriminatory barriers in colonial society.' (Extract)

'Redland Shire lies between the Brisbane City limits and the waters of Moreton Bay and is named after its red soil, which has provided fertile farmland since the establishment of the City of Brisbane. The photographic collection entitled ‘Langafonua’ pictures Pacific Islanders building a new life in Redland Shire. In 2002 it was exhibited in the Redlands Gallery from 16 March to 12 April, and then at the Australian Historical Association Annual Conference in Brisbane in July. The photographs and text explore aspects of cultural life of the Polynesian families who immigrated from the South Pacific in the 1970s. The title ‘Langafonua’ connotes the aspirations of this community as it attempts to build a new life in Australia. The migrant families pictured here work in fields that are often on the cusp of rezoning for residential development. Much of the land is still owned by retired Italian farmers who lease the farms to Tongans and Samoans. In the hands of the Islanders, the farms produce the yams, sweet potatoes and bele so beloved by the Polynesian community.'

'This book takes a hefty swing at Australia's arrogance in its dealings with 'people of colour'. For 340 pages of text, drawing on an impressive 47-page bibliography, the Monash authors relentlessly pursue the signifiers of arrogance and swagger percolating through government, the media, popular literature and academic debate, down to the 'nudge-nudge, wink-wink' treatment of mocking gestures, asides and speech suffered by international students in Australia - experiences that become manifold stories told to families and friends at home and long remembered. The book's message is that Australia will not be taken seriously in Asia if it cannot learn to relate meaningfully to its own or its neighbouring people of colour. It needs to embrace the possibility of treaties between equals to prepare for a genuinely postcolonial world.' (Introduction)