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Recordings of war-time speeches given by John Curtin, tapes of the Stolen Generation royal commission and even the records of the Bounty mutineers could disappear forever without an injection of cash into the National Archives.
Years of funding and staff cuts have caught up with the archives, which is struggling to prevent the disintegration of unique pieces of Australian history, including the personnel files of RAAF non-commissioned officers from World War II and papers for suffragettes Adela Pankhurst and Celia John.
National Archives Director-General David Fricker stands among the archives boxes at its Canberra repository in 2012.
Credit:Colleen Petch
National Archives funding putting the memory of the nation is at risk brisbanetimes.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from brisbanetimes.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen by Linda Colley review â how the modern world was made
The vital role of war . a virtuoso global study of how nations were formed and constitutions written upends the familiar narrative at every turn
Detail from an illustration of the ceremony for the promulgation of the constitution of Japan in 1889. Photograph: agefotostock/Alamy
Detail from an illustration of the ceremony for the promulgation of the constitution of Japan in 1889. Photograph: agefotostock/Alamy
MilesTaylor
Sat 24 Apr 2021 02.30 EDT
Few documents are venerated as much as the American constitution. Until recently, one million people a year filed past the original copy on display in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in Washington DC. Yet, as Linda Colleyâs brilliant new book shows, viewing constitutions as national tablets of stone tells us more about their contemporary charisma than the complex histories from which they were wrought. In this compelling study of co
The one historical site Norfolk Island s extensive and dramatic British seaside penal ruins form part of the Unesco World Heritage Australian Convict Sites listing. Rivalling Port Arthur, Tasmania, for breadth and being relatively intact, the Kingston and Arthur s Vale Historic Area includes the beautifully-preserved Government House. The 1829 Georgian mansion opens to the public and visitors on select days. See norfolkisland.com.au
LAWRENCE SMITH
Norfolk Island s cemetery in Kingston houses dozens of sunken tombstones belonging to convicts and early settlers, many of whom are descendants off the HMS Bounty. The one stay Norfolk Island, unlike Lord Howe Island to which it s often compared, lacks the distinctive luxury lodge-style accommodation found on the latter isle. Some glamour wouldn t go astray on Norfolk but you won t be slumming it either at secluded King Tide House, a luxury home perched between a forest of pines and a cliff-face overlooking a bluer-than-blue Pacif