Articles

The man who renounced Australia

Submitted by Paul Daley on Tue, 26/08/2014 - 12:13pm

Canberra press gallery journalist Jeremy Geia has walked away from his job, given up his passport and belongings and reverted to his tribal name, Murrumu Walubara Yidindji. He tells Paul Daley why he decided to ‘leave Australia’ while remaining on the continent – and why he still loves a cup of English breakfast tea

Last April Jeremy Geia posted his driver’s licence to the chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory, where he was then living, with a polite note explaining why he no longer needed it.

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Why it's time to redefine Australia Day

Submitted by Paul Daley on Thu, 03/04/2014 - 12:42pm

Can we celebrate our nationhood in a spirit of genuine reconciliation? When acknowledgement of past wrongs is accompanied by a monumental gesture of racial progress?

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Restless Indigenous Remains

Submitted by admin on Mon, 10/03/2014 - 9:35am

Paul Daley explores Mitchell’s storage sheds of Australia’s dark history

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Why does the Australian War Memorial ignore the frontier war?

Submitted by Paul Daley on Thu, 12/09/2013 - 2:30pm

The battle between Aboriginal people and settlers is at the heart of nationhood but absent from war dead commemorations

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What became of the Mistake Creek massacre?

Submitted by Paul Daley on Thu, 04/07/2013 - 4:12pm

The Indigenous painting at the crux of Australia's culture wars was famously rejected by the council of the museum that bought it. But that was not where the story ended

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On balance it sits well enough

Submitted by Paul Daley on Sun, 12/05/2013 - 12:00am

Announcing the winner of the design competition for new Parliament House. Photo: Kate Callas

TWENTY-FIVE years. That's more than half my life.

Yes, Parliament House is 25 years old. Or, should that be young?

Buildings are stages for humanity. The best public buildings are practical and aesthetic. They must simultaneously anticipate future needs, contextually incorporate the past and compliment their natural or urban surroundings.

As we blow out the candles for Parliament House, it's fair to ask if it achieves this. For the most part, I'd say yes. But not fully.

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War And Pieces

Submitted by Paul Daley on Fri, 09/11/2012 - 12:00am

The 8th Australian Light Horse breaks in remounts in Palestine in 1917.

A beautiful mosaic pilfered from the Palestinian front during World War I now hangs in Canberra’s Australian War Memorial, shoved awkwardly behind a newly built wall, testament to a growing national embarrassment. The mystery of Australia’s Elgin Marbles.