President's column.

Balnave, Nikola

I write my first President's column with a feeling of optimism and excitement about the future of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH), particularly given the many people at the branch and federal level committed to keeping history alive. One such person who will be sorely missed on the Federal Executive is Lucy Taksa. Lucy decided not to run for office at the November AGM after many years of dedicated service. Lucy has held positions on the Federal Executive since 1990, firstly as Secretary (1990-99), then as Vice President (2000-06) and as President (2006-09). On behalf of the Society, I would like to thank Lucy enormously for her time and commitment over the years, and for the passion she brought to her various positions.

I would also like to extend a big thanks to Melanie Oppenheimer and Sigrid McCausland for their wonderful contribution to the Society and the Federal Executive over past years, and in turn welcome Nick Dyrenfurth, Julie Kimber and Greg Mallory to the team. Welcome also to our new branch representatives: Gary Lockwood (Adelaide) and Jason Stein (Brisbane). Finally, thank you to the returning members of the Federal Executive who have committed to another year of enthusiastically steering our Society forward. The members of the Federal Executive for 2010, as elected at the Annual General Meeting on 27 November 2009 are as follows:

The current branch representatives on the Federal Executive are as follows:

Speaking of branches, all are active in their efforts to provide interesting and engaging events for existing members, with the additional aim of attracting new members. A few examples are provided below.

The Brisbane Labour History Association elected a mix of new committee members at its December AGM including unionists, academics and activists. The branch's annual Flames of Discontent concert at the Woodford Folk Festival held between Christmas and the New Year was a success, as was the Red Green and In-between Conference (organised in conjunction with Griffith University) held in early February. The Brisbane branch will hold its annual Alex McDonald lecture on 20 May at which Ros Kidd will present a lecture on the history of stolen wages in Queensland. A further forum is planned for later in the year focussing on the history of the political objective in Queensland.

By the time this issue of Labour History is published, the Adelaide branch will have hosted a 'Post-Election Forum' on 29 April 2010 with a specialist panel being available to answer questions from branch members and members of the public about the recent South Australian State elections. The panel's facilitator is Greg Stevens, former Deputy President of the South Australian Industrial Commission and a member of the Adelaide Branch Executive. In mid-2010 there will be a major celebration of Muriel Matters, a suffragist and educator who was born in Adelaide in 1877. Although she was based in England from 1905, she gave a lecture tour in Australia, and there will be re-enactment of her 1910 appearance at the Adelaide Town Hall 13 June 2010. The Adelaide Branch of ASSLH will have a membership booth at this event. A further activity of the Adelaide Branch will be a dinner in honour of Labour History Ambassadors in October 2010.

The Sydney Branch has organised two interesting events. On 29 June 2010 the branch will join with the NSW ALP to co-host a celebration of the centenary of the world's first majority Labour Government-the McGowen Government. Then during History Week on 9 September 2010 in the atrium of Unions NSW, there will be a presentation by Terry Irving and Rowan Cahill titled 'On the Street: The Faces of Radical Sydney' based on their recent publication, Radical Sydney: Places, Portraits and Unruly Episodes. The talk will be preceded by a tour of the historic Trades Hall building. The Sydney Branch has launched a new online endeavour called Icons of Labour <www.asslh.org.au/branches/sydney/icons> which seeks to record the often little-known places and objects connected with labour heritage. A number of contributions have already been received. More are welcome.

The Canberra Branch hosted in March what I understand to have been a fascinating talk by Victor Isaacs on the publication of a labour newspaper in William Lane's failed socialist Utopia in Paraguay back in 1893. The branch was also pleased to welcome Senator Kate Lundy who spoke on her experiences working in the building industry. It is also involved in organising a one-day seminar on 8 May 2010 to mark the 60th anniversary of Menzies' attempt to ban the Communist Party. At the time of writing, an expert panel is coming together for what promises to be a lively and interesting discussion.

In other exciting news, the Canberra Branch will be hosting the 2011 National Labour History Conference, What an appropriate location, given that 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of ASSLH, established in Canberra in 1961. The conference will be held from Thursday 29 September to Saturday 1 October 2011. In line with this special anniversary, the 100th issue of Labour History will be published in May 2011. This issue will provide an overview of developments in labour history research and literature, and should be useful for teaching purposes.

Please stay tuned to the new ASSLH website for further developments in the planning of the 2011 National Labour History Conference. Yes, that's right, the new website is up and running. If you haven't already done so, check it out at <http://asslh.org.au>. Many thanks to web designer James Bunton for creating the site, and to Carl Power (from the Labour History Office) for agreeing to take on the role of web administrator. The new site provides a link to each ASSLH branch, and also provides a general notice board for branches to advertise their upcoming events and other news.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the 'Globalisation and Labour in the Pacific: Re-evaluating the 1890 Maritime Strike' Symposium organised by our friends across the Tasman, the Auckland Labour History Group, and the Labour History Project. This one-day symposium (part-sponsored by ASSLH) marks the 120th anniversary of this significant dispute. Please see the call for papers included in this issue for further information about this event. President: Nikola Balnave [email protected] Vice President: Greg Patmore [email protected] Secretary: Nick Dyrenfurth [email protected] Treasurer: Anthony McLaughlin [email protected] Executive Julie Kimber [email protected] members: Greg Mallory [email protected] Andrew Moore [email protected] Adelaide: Gary Lockwood [email protected] Brisbane: Jason Stein [email protected] Canberra: Peter Ellett [email protected] Illawarra: Mairi Petersen [email protected] Melbourne: Peter Love [email protected] Perth: Bobbie Oliver [email protected] Sydney: Sue Tracey [email protected]