Eureka: Reclaiming the Southern Cross

Podcast
06 December 2017

Every generation brings the past into the present as it reckons with issues of identity and belonging. The role of symbols becomes critical, and in Australia perhaps no symbol has had more claimants than the Southern Cross.

Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter is a historian and academic specialising in the history of Ballarat. She takes us through the 1854 miners' rebellion on the Victorian goldfields, where the Eureka flag was first raised.

What do people miss about this story? Can the Eureka Stockade be retold in an inclusive way? Is it time to reclaim the Southern Cross from far-right supremacists?

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Fatima Measham is a Eureka Street consulting editor. She co-hosts the ChatterSquare podcast, tweets as @foomeister and blogs on Medium.

Topic tags: Fatima Measham, Anne Beggs-Sunter, Eureka Stockade

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ChatterSquare: Greg Foyster on conservative arguments for climate action

Podcast
24 July 2017

Climate change continues to be politically charged in Australia, even as other countries ramp up their renewable energy investments. It raises questions around salesmanship. Evidence and expertise seem to only be part of the argument for action – so how can we build momentum? Do conservatives in fact have a role? Greg Foyster walks us through the language and approaches that have fallen short, and the conservative arguments that could potentially lead to breakthroughs.

The things we miss about young offenders

Podcast
19 March 2018

Youth detention seems to only attract attention when there's a crisis. What are we not confronting when it comes to young people who run into the law? How do we advocate for them in a hostile political and media environment? We talk to former Victorian children's commissioner Bernie Geary.

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