Guest Speaker:
David Hunt
Girt Nation - The Unauthorised History of Australia, Volume 3
Another rollicking ride with author David Hunt, as he speaks about Girt Nation, the third volume in his prize-winning 'Unauthorised History of Australia' series. The series examines the federation of the Australian colonies into the revered nation we are today; and the key political, social and economic reforms of late nineteenth century Australia.
David unashamedly tramples tall poppies of the past in charting Australia’s transformation from aspiration to nation – an epic tale of charlatans and costermongers, of bush bards (and even bushier beards!), of workers, and of women who just weren’t going to take it anymore!
Thrill as Jandamarra leads the Bunuba against Western Australia... gasp as Essendon trainer Carl von Ledebur injects his charges with crushed dog and goat testicles... weep as Scott Morrison’s communist great-great-aunt Mary Gilmore holds a hose in New Australia... and marvel at how Labor, a party that spent a quarter of a century infighting over how to spell its own name, ever rose to power!
Girt Nation also introduces Alfred Deakin - the Liberal necromancer whose dead advisors made Australia a better place to live in; Sir Henry Parkes - Australia's greatest lothario; Banjo Paterson - the jihadist who called on God and the Prophet to drive the Australian infidels from the Sudan; the Crutchy Push - Australia's most infamous all-amputee street gang against the conventionally limbed; Catherine Helen Spence - the feminist polymath who envisaged a utopian future of free contraceptives, easy divorce and immigration restrictions ‘to prevent the Chinese coming to destroy all we have struggled for’... plus a cast of Australian women who made Australia a better place for everyone!
Yes, you'll meet a colourful cast of characters from the formative period of Australia’s nationhood, and guess what - books will be available to purchase! $20 for Girt and True Girt; $25 for Girt Nation; and $15 for Hunt's kids' picture books.
Find out more, if you dare, at David Hunt’s website...
As always, please keep an eye on our website in case of any last-minute changes.
The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).
It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.
For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.
