Honest History

Honest History promotes balanced consideration of Australian history by offering contesting, evidence-based interpretations to students, teachers, universities, journalists and the public. We challenge the misuse of history to serve political or other agendas.

Heritage Guardians: a campaign against the proposed $498m extensions to the Australian War Memorial

Total Australian spend on Anzac centenary is around $A600 million – or $1.1 billion if you include proposed War Memorial extensions

Senator Steele-John speaks out against arms company donations to the Australian War Memorial

Stephen Clarke reviews Martyn Brown’s book on the politics of forgetting after Greece, Britain and New Zealand fought in Crete 1941

Elizabeth Farrelly, architecture critic, asks whether the ‘dull, wasteful, overblown and smug’ War Memorial expansion is the best Australia can do

From the Honest History vault: Lest We Forget Dr Chau Chak Wing, the War Memorial’s Chinese-Australian connection (picture)

Richard Tanter looks at government papers on the tortuous history of the Pine Gap facility

Diane Bell reviews Bruce Pascoe’s Salt: Selected Stories and Essays

Tony Abbott has form on commemoration but is the wrong choice for the War Memorial Council: David Stephens writes (picture ABC)

But, he’s the pea! And he has said this.

And maybe he is the right choice after all, for an institution like the Memorial is becoming?

Bobbie Oliver in Perth: does the Memorial really deserve this?

Looking back

Australia is more than Anzac – and always has been