Annual Lecture

Professor Katie Holmes, Drought, flooding rains and futures: environmental history in the Murray Darling Basin.

Thursday 14 November, State Library of Victoria (Entry 3, La Trobe Street) | 6pm 

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The cycle of drought and flooding rains provides a dramatic stage for the history of environmental change in the Murray Darling Basin. It is also the backdrop for much of the social, cultural and political history of the Basin. And it is around such histories that storytellers gather, shaping narratives that tell of nature and place, love of Country, conflict, climate, community, family history and survival, technological change, and the contentious topic of water.

This talk draws on recently conducted oral history interviews in the Murray Darling Basin to explore the kinds of stories people tell about environmental change and environmental justice; marginalised narratives of resistance and empowerment; and the ways experiences of the past and present shape imaginings of the future. And I ask: what are the stories historians might tell that can move us forward and frame our futures with imagination, compassion and hope?

Professor Katie Holmes is Professor of History and Director of the Centre for the Study of the Inland at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She lives on unceded Wurundjeri country. Her work integrates environmental, gender, oral and cultural history and she has a particular interest in the interplay between an individual, their culture and environment. Her recent research is on the cultures of drought in regional Victoria, and water cultures and conflicts in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin. Her books include Spaces in Her Day: Women’s diaries of the 1920s-1930s (1995), Between the Leaves: Stories of women, writing and gardens (2011), and the co-authored Reading the Garden: the Settlement of Australia (2008), Mallee Country: land, people, history (2020) and Failed Ambitions: Kew Cottages and Changing Ideas of Intellectual Disability (2023). Katie is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science Australia, and was the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Visiting Chair in Australian Studies, Harvard, 2023-24.

This lecture will be preceded by the award of two major annual prizes.

The Jane Hansen Prize for History Advocacy was established in 2020 to recognise the efforts of a group or individual that has advocated for the value of history, the work of historians and/or the importance of an education in history, and is named in honour of Ms Jane Hansen AO whose passion for history and its advocacy is widely acknowledged. 

The Lynette Russell Prize for First Peoples' History in Schools was established by Professor Lynette Russell AM to encourage the creative engagement and deeper knowledge of a wider number of primary and secondary school students in this area.


Each year, the History Council of Victoria presents a public lecture that shares fresh thinking and new evidence on an historical topic. 

In 2023, Professor Susie Protschky presented on Colonial Pasts and Image Wars.

 


In 2022, Associate Professor Catherine Kovesi presented on Beauty in Response to Plague: the city of Venice. 

 

 


 

In 2021, Dr Carolyn Holbrook explored power and sentiment in the Australian Federation, with a lecture entitled:

‘I don’t hold a hose, mate’: Power and sentiment in the Australian Federation

 


Click HERE to read about the previous lectures presented since 2004 by the History Council of Victoria. 

 

About

The History Council of Victoria Incorporated (HCV) is the peak body for history in the Australian state of Victoria. Its vision is to connect Victorians with history and to inspire engagement with the past, their identity and the world today. The HCV champions the work of historians and the value of history. It recognises that history can be written about any place, any person, any period. The HCV advocates why history matters.


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Our calendar lists all upcoming public events arranged by the History Council of Victoria (HCV), plus events in Victoria, Australia, that are added by our Friends and Members.

If you are organising an event that relates to History, we encourage you to publicise it on our website.


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As the peak body for history in Victoria, the History Council makes submissions on current issues. In doing this, the HCV Board is guided by its Advocacy Policy and by the Value of History, a statement developed co-operatively by the HCV and the History Councils of New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.


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Since 2015, the HCV has been pleased to sponsor the Years 9 and 10 category of the Historical Fiction Competition organised by the History Teachers' Association of Victoria.


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Summary

The HCV was formed as an advisory body in 2001 and incorporated in 2003. It comprises representatives from cultural and educational institutions and heritage bodies; history teachers and curriculum advisors; academic and professional historians; and local, Indigenous, community and specialist history organisations.

As the peak body for history, the HCV has both ‘outward-looking’ roles (including advocacy and representation to government and the wider community, consultation, community education, and networking with allied interest groups) and ‘inward-looking’ roles (including member support, information dissemination, and networking between members).

 
 

Credits

The History Council of Victoria acknowledges the State Library of Victoria and the Public Record Office Victoria for supply of the archival images that appear on this website.

We acknowledge the National Film and Sound Archive for the right to use of the video footage on the home page, titled "Melbourne: Life in Australia (1966)".

Image credits

  • Italian sailors on ship at Port Melbourne 1938, Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs, State Library of Victoria
  • Chinese procession in Collins near Elizabeth Street 1901, Harvie & Sutcliffe, photographers, State Library of Victoria
  • People’s homes, Aboriginal station Coranderrk 1878, Fred Kruger Photographer, State Library of Victoria
  • Chinese nurses at Children’s Hospital under scholarship 1947, Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs, State Library of Victoria
  • Ladies physical culture class VRI Melbourne c1931, Public Record Office Victoria VPRS 12903/P0001, 011/02
  • Melbourne Cup, Derby and Oaks Day, Flemington Racecourse 1936, Public Record Office Victoria VPRS 12903/P0001/4802, 372/30
  • Flinders Street viaduct at foot of Market Street with advertisement for McRobertson’s Chocolate on bridge, Public Record Office Victoria VPRS 12800/P0003, ADV 1342