Dr André Brett is a historian, researcher and writer who specialises in Australian and New Zealand history, in particular histories of politics, railways, the environment, and the economy. The Wollongong-based New Zealander's latest book, Can't Get There from Here: New Zealand's Shrinking Passenger Rail Network, 1920-2020, traces the expansion and - more commonly - the contraction of New Zealand's passenger rail network over the last century. Indeed, New Zealand now has less than 1500km of track for passenger services - the lowest total since the 1870s - while only Wellington and Auckland have meaningful everyday rail transport. Dr Brett is with us to discuss the new book, the role rail has played in New Zealanders' lives over the years, and how we have been left with an attenuated passenger railway that is unfit for the 21st century.
From colonial times, Australians and New Zealanders have used railway construction to alter not only their economies and polities but also their environments. Although the consequences of large infrastructure projects are vast, they are often understood poorly. 2021 NLA Fellow, Dr André Brett uses the development of railway networks to interrogate the strong and enduring linkages between economic growth and environmental change. His research seeks to redefine our understanding of how railways affected Australasian landscapes, offering a critical perspective on the outcomes of economic growth and resource use. Australasian literature has interrogated how settlers understood nature, how labourers extracted resources, and which producers used these commodities; it is now time to turn to the crucial transportation stage that links extraction to use. Railways were not simply a means of overcoming what Geoffrey Blainey famously dubbed the tyranny of distance; they were agent