Visible participation: Japanese migrants in north Queensland, 1880–1941

Between 1880 and 1941, many Japanese migrants arrived in north Queensland and became active participants in their communities. Despite arriving during an era where a White Australia was broadly envisioned, these migrants formed lasting connections within the unique geographical and cultural climate of north Queensland. Government records and newspapers archives reveal these individuals’ positive contributions to the region through business, civic engagement, and social events. This article focuses on Japanese migrant families’ economic, civic, and social contributions to north Queensland communities to highlight the longevity and depth of their connections within the history of northern Australia

The near north and the far north: The Nikkei community in North Queensland, 1885-1946

Tianna Killoran researched the history of the Japanese community in north Queensland between 1885 and 1946. She found that this community of migrants made substantial contributions to the region's social, cultural, and economic life and played a significant role within Australia's transnational diplomatic and political connections during the twentieth century

Sex, Soap and Silk: Japanese Businesswomen in North Queensland, 1887–1941

Few historians have considered Japanese women in northern Australia beyond their role as impoverished sex workers, overlooking their entrepreneurial activities in the sex industry as well as in laundries and shops. This article adds to research by Su-Jane Hunt (1977) and Yuriko Nagata (2004) about Japanese women who were entrepreneurs and community members in Western Australia and the Torres Strait, incorporating more detail about their business activities throughout north Queensland, both within the sex industry and outside it. A mosaic of newly accessible documentary sources—including newspaper, immigration and internment records—provides the foundation for a more complex history of Japanese women and their roles in the economic life of north Queensland between 1887 and 1941. This material reveals that Japanese women worked in partnership with their husbands, or sometimes as sole operators, to manage and run businesses such as brothels, laundries, stores and even cafes. Not all Japanese women were in business, but discussing those who undertook business activities invites us to cast aside the ‘moral suspicion’ that has loomed over these women’s stories. The reality of their lives was far more interesting

Open for Climate Justice

This is the winning entry in James Cook University's 2022 HDR Open Access Advocate Competition. The competition was open to all JCU Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates, with a prize awarded for the best short communication that answered the question: How does Open Access help the cause of climate justice

The near north and the deep north: relations between Japan and North Queensland

[Extract] This thesis will investigate previously neglected connections between north Queensland and Japan. Prior to WWII, north Queensland had a large population of Japanese immigrants compared to any region in Australia. Many were indentured labourers who worked in the pearling industry as divers or crew, or in the sugar cane industry on plantations or in sugar mills. Some owned businesses such as laundries, grocery stores, and even soy sauce factories as part of their long-term residence in Australia. Their contribution to northern development was significant. However, many of these ties were fractured by WWII. The war most Japanese residents in Australia interned under a ‘collar the lot’ policy

Queensland's History curriculum: negotiating spaces and tensions, 1970-2000

History education is a contentious matter due to its civic and nation-building capabilities. As an explicit statement of intent, History curricula therefore have the power to shape the nation and its identity. Yet these curricula have within them spaces of negotiation and tension as they aim to develop students' historical knowledge and skills. However, the negotiation of these tensions is guided by various political priorities, which demonstrate attempts to create a cohesive grand narrative of Australian history to define the nation's identity. In the process of negotiating History curricula's spaces and tensions, very little attention has previously been given to state history curricula, with Queensland particularly neglected. This thesis historicises Queensland History curricula between 1970 and 2000 and analyses it using a framework of Michael W. Apple's Official Knowledge. Drawing upon History curricula and key policy documents, it identifies significant sources of tension and analyses how these have been dealt with in successive curricula. This thesis argues that the History curriculum's 'unresolvable' nature means that negotiations about its structure and content will remain ongoing. Whilst successive History curricula since the 1970s have made attempts to balance points of tension surrounding histories about Australia and Asia, this has often perpetuated a Eurocentric and celebratory grand narrative. The pervasive power of this grand narrative to define Australian identity has been maintained through a process of 'Mentioning' the histories of minority groups. These rival histories have been included in each curricula's grand narrative, but often framed as 'Other' and insubstantial. This thesis points to the importance of making visible, rather than hidden, the negotiations within History curricula

Internationalising Lilith, localising diverse feminist pasts

The 2023 volume of Lilith is the first to be produced under the Managing Editorship of Alison Downham Moore, a global, medical, sexuality and gender historian from Western Sydney University who took over in September 2022 from Alana Piper. While Lilith has always been open to contributors from different world regions and authors working on any geographical or temporal field of historical studies, this volume evinces an enrichment of Lilith’s commitment to diversity and global scope, while still maintaining its important base for emerging scholarship in Australian feminist historical studies. The past year has seen the Lilith Editorial Collective welcome several new members who have contributed to this introduction and shepherded the articles contained in this volume of the journal. We have also farewelled others, including Rachel Caines, Brydie Kosmina, Lauren Samuelsson, Jennifer Caligari, Kate Davison and Michelle Staff, whom we thank heartily for their service. Moore’s editorial stewardship and the new collective bring both a renewed commitment to encouraging underrepresented voices in historical writing, including First Nations voices, providing additional support for scholars with first languages other than English, and extending a new experimental invitation to consider works of scholarship in novel genres of writing for academic journals