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Labor government in this textbook is similar to that in Case studies in Australian history
(Stewart, 1986), providing a consistent, and not necessarily accurate representation to
students that Labor governments care about Indigenous issues, whilst Liberal-National
governments do not.
The Modern World Emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986) contains significant milestones of world
history during the 20 th century. The unit on Australia, which covers approximately a quarter
of the textbook, traces significant political events, including Federation, Australia’s
involvement in WWI, contrasts the 1920s with the Great Depression of the 1930s, Australia’s
involvement in WWII and finishes with a section titled “Australia since 1945” (Lawrence et
al., 1986, p. 359). Throughout the Australian unit, major events which could be considered as
the canon of Australia’s modern history are detailed. The exclusion of Indigenous Australians
throughout this unit is indicative of the little importance placed on Indigenous histories and
events, policies and issues which directly impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. For
example, there is no information about the 1967 referendum, Wave Hill Station Strike or the
Freedom bus ride. When content concerning Indigenous Australians is included, it is clearly
placed on the periphery, as dot point summaries at the end of sections. This is epitomized
through the following extract from a section titled “The first parliament”, the second of three
content areas of Indigenous Australians included in the textbook:
the Franchise Act (1902), giving the right to vote to all people over twenty-one who
were Australian-born, British or naturalized British subjects. Thus Australia was one
of the earliest countries where women won the right to vote. However, at this stage
Aborigines were not allowed to vote. In fact, Aborigines were not even included in
the population census. (Lawrence et al., 1986, p. 282, emphasis added)
Similar to The modern world emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986) in representing Indigenous
Australians on the peripheral of history, the only visual representation of Indigenous
Australians in Junior secondary History for Queensland schools (Crisswell & Deoki, 1982) is
out of context to any written text. Here, Indigenous Australians are represented through one
male dressed in traditional clothing of a loin cloth and headdress in a traditional dance pose in
a street parade. The question and statement that act as the caption to the photo require
students to respond with knowledge that they could not have gained from the textbook, nor
been directed to by the textbook (see image at Source 7.59). By doing this, the authors are
positioning Indigenous Australians as a token inclusion—as a curiosity or way to
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