Welcome to the story of Australia. This podcast series by John Ruddick tells the political and geopolitical history of Australia, starting with the fabled "terra Australis" and then tracking the journey from British penal colony to a young federation, a country at war, and today one of the world’s great nations. Episodes released weekly.
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William Wentworth returned to Australia in 1824. He was a man on a mission – to overthrow the ruling clique in the colony who were hostile to even modest democratic reforms.
Wentworth’s weapon of choice in this battle was a free press.
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The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council.
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Produced by Sean Masters
(All voices in this series are AI generated bar the narrator.)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
7 Oct 2026
E43: Wentworth - Australia's Greatest Native Son
William Wentworth was described by Manning Clark as ‘Australia’s greatest native son.’
When Governor Macquarie departed Australia, his campaign to lift the social status of the emancipists was in tatters. All the institutions were lined up to defend the status quo.
William Wentworth was a member of one of Britain’s most distinguished families. He was not a convict … but his mother was and his father, while not an emancipists, too often behaved like one. When it dawned on Wentworth that the current order relegates him permanently to a lower caste he set out to overturn the current order.
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Please leave a comment, share and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustralia
The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council.
johnruddick.com.au
https://www.tiktok.com/@johnruddickmlc
https://x.com/JohnRuddick2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnruddickmlc/
https://www.facebook.com/johnruddickmlc
https://www.instagram.com/john.ruddick/
Produced by Sean Masters
(All voices in this series are AI generated bar the narrator.)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
30 Sept 2026
E42: Australia's First Parliament
Last time the emancipists were on the back foot but then two hammer blows hit with Governor Macquarie’s departure.
The new governor of NSW, Sir Thomas Brisbane, was a tough Major-General who had seen a lot of war. Governor Brisbane immediately sent an unmistakable message that he was a friend of the Exclusives.
A few months later the findings of the Bigge Report hit Australia. Governor Brisbane was tasked with fundamentally reshaping Australia away from Macquarie’s egalitarian direction.
But Bigge opened the door to an Australian legislature and now the genie was out of the bottle. Australia’s first parliament was anti-democratic but the Emancipists now had something to focus their campaign on - democratic reform.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please leave a comment, share and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustralia
The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council.
johnruddick.com.au
https://www.tiktok.com/@johnruddickmlc
https://x.com/JohnRuddick2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnruddickmlc/
https://www.facebook.com/johnruddickmlc
https://www.instagram.com/john.ruddick/
Produced by Sean Masters
(All voices in this series are AI generated bar the narrator.)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
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