7 Surprising Things about Australian History

In Australian History in 7 Questions, historian John Hirst asks and answers the questions that get to the heart of Australia’s history.

Here John shares 7 surprising things about Australian history as found in Australian History in 7 Questions.

1. Australians are a very compliant people: they do what the government says.

2. Who paid for the convicts’ rum? Answer: The British taxpayer.

3. The House of Lords was a friend to democracy in Australia.

4. Who put on the biggest show for the opening of the first Federal Parliament? Answer: The Chinese.

5. The convicts are not the source of Australian anti-authoritarian attitudes.

6. In World War II it was Robert Menzies, not John Curtin, who first said we must look to America.

7. Multicultural society in Australia is becoming less diverse.

You can read about these surprising things and much more in John Hirst's Australian History in 7 Questions, available now in all good bookstores.