Arthur Calwell's guest appearances

Arthur Calwell

Politics with Michelle Grattan

Aussie History Podcast

The ACRI Podcast

Trust Me, I'm An Expert

Pasha - from The Conversation Africa

The Park Bench Philosophers

Donald Trump

Paul Kelly

Gareth Evans

Robert Kelly

Chris Bowen

IAN McALLISTER

Frank Gardiner

Ned Kelly

Peter Dutton

Peter Jennings

Mark Butler

Mei Fong

Amy King

Malcolm Turnbull

Xie Tao

OwlTail

Robert Menzies

Last week, a very special event took place in Parliament House. The daughters of Sir Robert Menzies and Arthur Calwell - Heather Henderson and Mary Elizabeth Calwell - came together to reflect on their fathers’ legacies, and to offer their perspectives on a different era in Australia’s political history. Michelle Grattan moderated the conversation. The event was organised by the Menzies-Calwell Group, made up of members of parliament from both sides of the political divide. Inspired by the friendship between Menzies and Calwell, the group aims to inject a degree of bipartisanship into our present hyper-partisan politics. Additional audio:  A List of Ways to Die, Lee Rosevere, from Free Music Archive. Image:  Office of Maria Vamvakinou MP

Last week, a very special event took place in Parliament House. The daughters of Sir Robert Menzies and Arthur Calwell - Heather Henderson and Mary Elizabeth Calwell - came together to reflect on their fathers’ legacies, and to offer their perspectives on a different era in Australia’s political history. Michelle Grattan moderated the conversation. The event was organised by the Menzies-Calwell Group, made up of members of parliament from both sides of the political divide. Inspired by the friendship between Menzies and Calwell, the group aims to inject a degree of bipartisanship into our present hyper-partisan politics. Additional audio:  A List of Ways to Die, Lee Rosevere, from Free Music Archive. Image:  Office of Maria Vamvakinou MP

Daughters of Robert Menzies and Arthur Calwell say parliament wasn’t always a “fort”

On 21 June 1966 an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell the leader of the Australian Labor Party and Opposition Leader. It was only the second political assassination attempt in Australian history In this episode we are going to review the life of Arthur Calwell, including the events of June 1966 when an attempt was made on his life by a 19 year old factory worker called Peter Kocan. The common view of Calwell is that he was a racist old style Labor politician. He once said "two Wongs don’t make a White". Calwell was a staunch defender of the White Australia policy, but he also implemented the era of mass migration to Australia in the post-war era.

On 21 June 1966 an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell the leader of the Australian Labor Party and Opposition Leader. It was only the second political assassination attempt in Australian history In this episode we are going to review the life of Arthur Calwell, including the events of June 1966 when an attempt was made on his life by a 19 year old factory worker called Peter Kocan. The common view of Calwell is that he was a racist old style Labor politician. He once said "two Wongs don’t make a White". Calwell was a staunch defender of the White Australia policy, but he also implemented the era of mass migration to Australia in the post-war era.

AWP-82-Arthur Calwell gets shot

Jayne Persian

The White Australia policy, introduced in 1901, placed severe restrictions on the immigration of non-British and non-white persons. Under Arthur Calwell, Australia’s first Immigration Minister (1945-49) these restrictions were relaxed somewhat, but still remained prohibitive to Asian immigrants. What were the reasons behind the implementation of the White Australia policy? What is Arthur Calwell's legacy, and what role did he play in facilitating the policy's eventual abolition? How did Russians and Russian-speaking Displaced Persons enter Australia via Shanghai – the ‘China route’ – in the post-Second World War period, and how were they received? Why were so few Jewish Displaced Persons accepted for entry into Australia? How were ethnically Chinese refugees treated? Jayne Persian, Lecturer in History at the University of Southern Queensland and author of the book ‘Beautiful Balts: From Displaced Persons to New Australians’ ( NewSouth Books, 2017) joins Bob Carr, Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI)at the University of Technology Sydney to discuss the history and effects of the White Australia policy, Arthur Calwell’s immigration policies, and the immigration of post-war Displaced Persons to Australia via the China route.

8. The White Australia policy, Arthur Calwell & immigration via the China route - with Jayne Persian