'Northern Australia is rediscovered by each new generation of Australian politicians. Dams, mines, large transport projects, a food bowl for Asia and many other projects are promised and sometimes delivered, but then the political momentum fades away and the focus of attention turns to other issues. What is often missing in discussion is the region’s long history of nation-building initiatives and proposals, stretching back to 1901. Without this knowledge we are likely to repeat the mistakes of the past.
'Northern Dreams brings to life the passionate arguments about Northern Australia’s national significance and analyses the political debates that have periodically drawn the public’s attention northwards. It also highlights the role that Australian politicians such as Gough Whitlam, Ben Chifley, Robert Menzies and Bob Hawke played in shaping northern development policies to suit their times. Northern Dreams is the definitive history of the politics of northern development in Australia.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Includes some analysis of Australian writing on northern Australia, particularly in chapter seven.
'Lyndon Megarrity was surprised to discover how often northern Australia has featured in government files as a Commonwealth issue since 1901. The north, he contends, has played a role of national significance in Australia’s political history, but this has been largely ignored by historians. Looking at the period 1901 to 2018, Megarrity examines the policies of federal politicians, as well as the concerns of state and territory politicians, public servants, journalists, and others interested in northern development. Megarrity explains that his aim was to ‘flesh out the human drama at the heart of the national story of northern development’. In this, he can be said to have had some success, detailing the roles played by such diverse politicians as Alfred Deakin, Ben Chifley, Gough Whitlam, Pauline Hanson and John Howard, as well as a range of lesser-known characters.' (Introduction)
'I have often wondered what would have happened if the British had settled Australia from the north, rather than taking the advice of Cook and Banks and settling first at Botany Bay? While modern Australia was established on the backs of sheep herds, suited to the south, and the southern climate was closer to that of a European summer, the real exploitable wealth for the future was in minerals and agricultural potential, both greatest in the tropical north. Lyndon Megarrity’s book examines the politics of attempts to develop the north, the many failures, and the short‐sighted lack of political will on all sides.' (Introduction)
'Lyndon Megarrity was surprised to discover how often northern Australia has featured in government files as a Commonwealth issue since 1901. The north, he contends, has played a role of national significance in Australia’s political history, but this has been largely ignored by historians. Looking at the period 1901 to 2018, Megarrity examines the policies of federal politicians, as well as the concerns of state and territory politicians, public servants, journalists, and others interested in northern development. Megarrity explains that his aim was to ‘flesh out the human drama at the heart of the national story of northern development’. In this, he can be said to have had some success, detailing the roles played by such diverse politicians as Alfred Deakin, Ben Chifley, Gough Whitlam, Pauline Hanson and John Howard, as well as a range of lesser-known characters.' (Introduction)
'I have often wondered what would have happened if the British had settled Australia from the north, rather than taking the advice of Cook and Banks and settling first at Botany Bay? While modern Australia was established on the backs of sheep herds, suited to the south, and the southern climate was closer to that of a European summer, the real exploitable wealth for the future was in minerals and agricultural potential, both greatest in the tropical north. Lyndon Megarrity’s book examines the politics of attempts to develop the north, the many failures, and the short‐sighted lack of political will on all sides.' (Introduction)
