Tony Abbott on his new History of Australia: ”A bad history does not produce a good present”

2026-02-18

Do those who denigrate Australia's past hurt Australia's present? On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Tony Abbott to discuss his new book, Australia: A History. An antidote to the 'Black armband' view of our national story, which doesn't downplay the darker aspects of our past, but highlights the overwhelming good. A good we might expect to find if we appreciate the nation that we live in today, and want to understand how it came to be so that we may be better placed to preserve it...

Do those who denigrate Australia's past hurt Australia's present?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Tony Abbott to discuss his new book, Australia: A History. An antidote to the 'Black armband' view of our national story, which doesn't downplay the darker aspects of our past, but highlights the overwhelming good. A good we might expect to find if we appreciate the nation that we live in today, and want to understand how it came to be so that we may be better placed to preserve it.

Tony Abbott served as Australia's 28th prime minister and was the member for Warringah in the Australian parliament between 1994 and 2019. He is a Rhodes Scholar and the author of four books: The Minimal Monarchy, How to Win the Constitutional War, Battlelines, and most recently Australia: A History.

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