The figure of Costante Danesi (1884–1969) stands out as an unrelenting defender of the rights of Italian migrants in Queensland’s history between the two world wars. Although his activism as an anti-fascist is documented in archival records and mainstream and Italian-migrant newspapers of the time, his role has received little more than cursory attention by scholars to date. This has led not only to confusion about his politics but also neglect of an opportunity for a deeper appreciation of the intercultural dimensions of resilience during the interwar years. Arriving in Australia in 1921, Danesi was not alone in speaking up to defend Italian migrants’ contributions to society or in aiding their wellbeing, and his activism in protecting their rights aligned with the principles of democracy. Yet an examination of those struggles reveals how the experiences of Italian sugarcane workers in North Queensland exposed overt and covert racism alongside Australia’s democratic ideals of the time. Drawing from the works of Joan Beaumont and Arjun Appadurai, this discussion repositions an Italian-born British subject as significant not only within the history of Queensland but also, more generally, in the demonstration of a minority community’s resilience over this tumultuous era.

After the Queensland state election of October 2020, many hailed the win for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government as a landmark victory. Principally, that win made Palaszczuk the most electorally successful female leader in Australian politics. It also cemented her position among the ranks of leading Labor figures in Queensland’s political annals. What, then, might Palaszczuk’s appeal and longevity as Labor leader and Premier signify in terms of her political achievements and record in government? This article offers a brief appraisal of Palaszczuk’s standing and leadership compared with recent Labor predecessors, who similarly won multiple terms in office in this state.

The last large group of indentured Asian labourers to arrive in Australia disembarked at Thursday Island, North Queensland in 1958. They were imported from US-administered Okinawa, Japan, by master pearlers hoping to restore the fortunes of the ailing pearlshelling industry. In retrospect, the Okinawans’ arrival coincided with the end of the industry and by 1962 only a few remained. This article examines the men’s relations with the remnant Japanese families living on the island and the Indigenous (Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal) residents of Thursday Island. Using written and oral (ethnographic and genealogical) sources, it argues that a small, short-lived but distinctive Okinawan community developed on the island between 1958 and 1962, overlapping the arrival of a small number of Japanese pearl culture technicians (1961–72). The pre-war Asian communities of Northern Australia, generally descended from labourers in its extractive industries, have greatly influenced the culture, genetics, identity, economy and politics of local Indigenous societies. Indeed, they foreshadowed the largely peaceful multicultural experiment that is contemporary Australia. This article identifies the last of North Queensland’s marinebased Asian communities and discusses the mechanisms by which social capital and social stability were created and maintained by an ethnically heterogeneous population.

The likelihood that climate change may destroy the Great Barrier Reef has been a central motif in Australia’s climate change politics for more than a decade as political ideologies and corporate and environmental activism draw or refute connections between the coal industry and climate change. The media fuel this debate because in this contest, as ever, the news media always do more than simply report the news. Given that the Reef has also been central to the evolution of Australia’s environmental laws since the 1960s, it is not surprising that the Reef is now a leading actor in efforts to test the capacity of our environmental laws to support action on climate change. In this contribution, we examine the news coverage of the Australian Conservation Foundation’s (ACF) 2015 challenge to Adani’s Carmichael coal mine to observe the discursive struggle between the supporters and opponents of the mine. Our analysis of the case shows that while the courts are arenas of material and symbolic contest in the politics of climate change in Australia, public interest environmental litigants struggle both inside and outside the courts to challenge the privileging of mining interests over the public interest.

Corals are good to breathe with. Living painfully far from the ocean during the long COVID-19 lockdowns, I have been relegated to daydreaming about being immersed in salty waters again.

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Introduction

Clare Wright, You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians Who Won the Vote and Inspired the World, Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2018, 553 pp., ISBN 9 7819 2560 3934, A$49.99