Matt Murphy

‘Impostor’, ‘greedy’, and ‘incompetent’ – Edmund Hammond Hargraves was beloved by few and reviled by many more. Ask Google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get ‘Edward Hammond Hargraves’. Hargraves has, for decades, received the fame, fortune, and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it? What about the two diggers he met on...

Australia and its formation - through the distorted view of a rum bottle. Could the Rum Rebellion have been averted if Major Johnston wasn't hungover? Would the Eureka Stockade have been different if the rebels weren't pissed? How were prisoners to get drunk if Macquarie closed the only pub in the gaol? And why should sailors under fourteen be deprived...

The unofficial history of Australia's national day since the first contentious one, thereby offering 237 other reasons for a day off. Like it or not, 26 January in Australia has become a significant day of both celebration and mourning. Most countries, if not all, have a national day. The reasons to celebrate a national day include independence from a colonial...