
Issue No 31		17 September 1999

History

Labour and Community

A history conference in Wollongong next month will look at the changing role for labour into the next century.

The Federal ALP Shadow Minister for Finance, Mr Lindsay Tanner, will deliver the opening keynote address of the 6th National Labour History Conference, to be held in Wollongong over the Labour Day long weekend, 2 to 4 October 1999.

The theme of the conference is 'Labour and Community', and conference organiser, Associate Professor Ray Markey, anticipated that up to 200 delegates would attend from all over Australia and overseas.

Professor Markey said that the organisers were thrilled to have Mr Tanner as a keynote speaker, because 'he has played a major part in rethinking the program of the ALP for the 21st century.

"This is consistent with our intentions that the conference should not only celebrate the past, but also contemplate the role of Labour and the Community beyond 2000'.

Professor Markey says the Community theme of the conference would be evident in the subject matter, activities and participants of the conference in ways which represented a new departure for conferences of this kind.

He said that 'we mean community in its broadest sense, to include the notions of workplace community, regional and civic community, racial and ethnic community, republicanism and a national community, and the international community of labour - from "workers of the world unite!" to "globalisation".

Whilst we recognise the importance of unions and political parties as an expression of the labour movement, we also wish to broaden the focus to other community organisations such as cooperatives, friendly societies, church groups, and the business community'.

And Professor Markey emphasised that 'we wish to encourage broad community participation, as well as the normal academic style of paper giving. Our fee structure is designed to make attendance affordable for everyone'.

Activities will include formal and informal papers, cultural events, including a 'Songs of Struggle' evening with the Illawarra Folk Club on the Friday night preceding the conference, performances by labour and union choirs, films, a special art exhibition at the Wollongong City Gallery to be launched at lunch time on the first day, local tours of the steelworks, harbour, and significant labour history sites, and book launchings.

'The conference is intended to be a festival - a historic and cultural event in its own right', claimed Professor Markey.

The other keynote speakers are:

- Dr Pat O'Shane, Chancellor of the University of New England and Magistrate of NSW, speaking on 'For the People? Australian Democracy in Crisis - a Layperson's Viewpoint', 9.30 a.m. on Sunday 3 October, and

- Professor Eileen Yeo from the University of Sussex,speaking on 'Labour & Community, Past & Future: or Why Merrie (White, Male) England & Mateship Are not Enough', at 9.30 a.m. on Monday 4 October.

The University of Wollongong has provided extensive financial and logistical support for the conference, especially through the Vice Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton, and the Department of Economics, and the Labour and Human Resource Program of the International Business Reasearch Institute. Sponsors include the AMWU, Australian Education Union, Joint Coal Board, Labor Council of NSW, NSW Nurses' Association, Grand United Order of Oddfellows, Illawarra Arab Sports Association, and Croatian Democratic Unon.

The conference is hosted by the Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, and will be held in the old Wollongong Town Hall and Community Centre, in the centre of the city. Conference registration commences at 9.30 a.m. on Saturday 2 October. Lindsay Tanner will speak at 11a.m. on the Saturday.

Registration brochures and full details may be gained by contacting Rob Hood or Nadyne Smith at: Department of Economics: Phone: 02 4221 4105/4221 4156, Fax: 02 4221 3725

mailto:Robert [email protected]

Or go to the website for registration forms and information: http://www.uow.edu.au/commerce/econ/labcon99.html

   Contributions to the History Page are welcom. Contact History Editor, Dr Lucy Taksa

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  Issue 31 contents

Interview: Sadly Vindicated
Labor�s foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton has spent the past year warning that East Timor would explode without a UN peacekeeping force. Now he�s had to watch his predictions come true.

International: In the Bunker
One of the last reporters to leave East Timor, Workers Online's HT Lee remembers the week that Dili burned.

Republic: Tarred With the Same Brush
Neville Wran asks why it is that the most fervant monarchists are also the most eager union-bashers.

Unions: Hard Labour
Prisoner educators argue more attention needs to be given to rehabilitation through teaching, but they�re facing an uphill battle to convince authorities.

History: Labour and Community
A history conference in Wollongong next month will look at the changing role for labour into the next century.

Review: Bobbin' Up - 40 Years On
Forty years after its first publicaton and several European translations Bobbin Up, a classic of industrial fiction, is coming home.

Satire: East Timor Poll Triumph: Support for Jakarta Up 21 Per Cent
The Indonesian Government has declared that it is pleased with the result of the independence referendum in which 21% of East Timorese voted in support of maintaining links with Indonesia.

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