About this Event
Join some of the Museum's curators to celebrate Australian History Week, and hear stories of about some objects and vessels from the Museum's collection .
Building a bridge and connecting an empire – the British fleet visit of 1924
Dr Peter Hobbins
In 1924 a ‘Special Service Squadron’ of the Royal Navy arrived in Sydney Harbour. This visit by seven modern warships was meant to unite the British Empire after World War I, but it wasn’t that easy. Australians were being encouraged to trust in the new Singapore naval base and to sink our flagship – the battlecruiser HMAS Australia. And at the same time as the British warships arrived, the contract to build a new Sydney Harbour Bridge was signed. How did these events connect – and how did they play out during World War II?
Good health and gold bars – greeting Vietnamese boat arrivals in the 1970s
Dr Roland Leikauf
What did it mean to be a ‘refugee’ in Australia in the 1970s, and who set those expectations? When refugee vessels from Vietnam began arriving in Australia from late 1976, the political and popular reception was quite different from that given to previous arrivals. Drawing on unexplored records and popular culture of the era, this presentation explores who made it to Australia on a refugee boat like the museum’s Tu Do, as well as the new problems they had to face.
Why not stay on after the talk for one of our special History Week Curator Tours.
Click the links below for more information and to book. ( Spaces are limited)
HMAS Advance Tour
Painting of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Tour
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Theatre, Australian National Maritime Museum, 2 Murray Street, Sydney, Australia
AUD 0.00