Inspiring Australian Women


Book Description

This landmark book profiles six of Australia's most inspiring women, each a leader and trailblazer in their own right. From the basketball courts of Seattle Washington, to the operating theatres of a Perth Hospital, through the corridors of power in Canberra and to the stages of the world via a child's safe haven in Phnom Penh these women have changed and continue to change lives every day. Illustrated with photos from their private collections and accompanied by lavish portraits painted especially for the book by renowned Canberra artist Margaret Hadfield-Zorgdrager, this book details the journeys of Helen Reddy, Geraldine Cox, Natasha Stott Despoja, Dr Fiona Wood, Lauren Jackson and Matilda House-Williams. It explores their lives, their loves, their losses and their triumphs. Their stories will move and inspire every Australian.




Operation Babylift


Book Description

In late March 1975, as the Vietnam War raged, an Australian voluntary aid worker named Rosemary Taylor approached the Australian Embassy seeking assistance to fly 600 orphans out of Saigon to safety. Rosemary and Margaret Moses, two former nuns from Adelaide, had spent eight years in Vietnam during the war, building up a complex of nurseries to house war orphans and street waifs as the organisation that built up around them facilitated international adoptions for the children. As the North Vietnamese forces closed in on their nurseries, they needed a plan to evacuate the children, or all their work might count for little ... Based on extensive archival and historical research, and interviews of some of those directly involved in the events described, Operation Babylift details the last month of the Vietnam War from the perspective of the most vulnerable victims of that war: the orphans it created. Through the story of the attempt to save 600 children, we see how a small group of determined women refused to play political games as they tried to remake the lives of a forgotten generation, one child at a time.




Women of the Land


Book Description

True stories of ordinary women achieving extraordinary things in rural Australia. The inspiring bestseller now with new material. Making your living from the land in Australia is not for the faint-hearted. Isolation, hard physical work, long hours and the vagaries of drought, floods and fire make it a challenging environment for any farmer. But how do you cope when you are a woman in what is traditionally a man's world? Women of the Land brings together the heart-warming stories of eight rural women spread across Australia who run their own farms, capturing their ways of life, their personal struggles and their remarkable achievements. Often juggling the demands of raising a family, they have overcome tragedy, personal fears, physical exhaustion and more than a little scepticism to build vibrant futures that sustain them and their families. Despite their diverse backgrounds, they all share several things in common - genuine humility, a passion for farming, and a deep, spiritual connection to the land which sustains them. This is the inspiring story of eight rural women and their remarkable everyday lives. 'Inspiring stories of women from across [Australia] who run farms, capturing their ways of life, their personal struggles and their remarkable achievements' - Queensland Country Life 'An entertaining read, full of intimate details of inspiring, hard-working, and rewarding lives' - The Weekly Times 'Great yarns about real Australian women' - Pittwater Life 'An honest snapshot of Australian history and rural life' - 4 X 4 Australia 'You will be moved by their stories' - Toowoomba Chronicle




Trailblazers


Book Description

Australia's first female prime minister. The country's first female judge. The first woman to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Australia's first female chief diplomat. The nation's first female winemaker. These women were all trailblazers, but they have something else in common - every one of them was South Australian. And they are just a handful of the 100 remarkable women whose stories are told in this beautiful book, illustrated with hundreds of photographs. Written by historian Carolyn Collins and journalist Roy Eccleston, Trailblazers shines a light on the lives of these extraordinary women whose feats inspired their state, nation and, often enough, the world. Now they can inspire a whole new generation.




Fighting for Freedom


Book Description




The Land Girls


Book Description

A moving story of love, loss and survival against the odds by bestselling author of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, Victoria Purman. It was never just a man's war... Melbourne,1942 War has engulfed Europe and now the Pacific, and Australia is fighting for its future. For spinster Flora Atkins, however, nothing much has changed. Tending her dull office job and beloved brother and father, as well as knitting socks for the troops, leaves her relatively content. Then one day a stranger gives her brother a white feather and Flora's anger propels her out of her safe life and into the vineyards of the idyllic Mildura countryside, a member of the Australian Women's Land Army. There she meets Betty, a 17-year-old former shopgirl keen to do her bit for the war effort and support her beloved, and the unlikely Lilian, a well-to-do Adelaide girl fleeing her overbearing family and theworld's expectations for her. As the Land Girls embrace their new world of close-knit community and backbreaking work, they begin to find pride in their roles. More than that, they start to find a kind of liberation. For Flora, new friendships and the singular joy derived from working the land offer new meaning to her life, and even the possibility of love. But as the clouds of war darken the horizon, and their fears for loved ones - brothers, husbands, lovers - fighting at the front grow, the Land Girls' hold on their world and their new-found freedoms is fragile. Even if they make it through unscathed, they will not come through unchanged... MORE PRAISE 'a well-researched and moving story' - Canberra Weekly




Shout Out to the Girls: A Celebration of Awesome Australian Women


Book Description

Shout-outs to 50 awesome Australian women with easy-to-read biographies of their incredible achievements. From Cathy Freeman to Turia Pitt, Edith Cowan to Julia Gillard, Mum Shirl to Vali Myers, plus rally car drivers, molecular biologists and more, this book is a celebration of women in all fields, from all walks of life, and from Australia's past and present.




Heroic Australian Women in War


Book Description

Profiles the grit, determination and selflessness of 11 outstanding Australian women serving in the two World Wars. This book focuses not only on the outstanding courage these women displayed in battle, but also on their personal struggles and accomplishments - proving they were as heroic in life as they were in war.




Cooee to the Ladies


Book Description

A selection of 20 women in Australian history from the early 20th Century - words and illustrations




The Climb


Book Description

Iconic journalist and television presenter Geraldine Doogue turns her attention to an issue central to our times. How are we, as women, represented at the top levels of power in Australia? In candid and personal conversations with fourteen women leading the way in fields as wide-ranging as business, politics, religion, education and the armed forces, Doogue gets to the heart of what it means to be a woman in power in Australia. Inspiring and insightful, The Climb reveals a varied and at times quite unexpected picture of contemporary Australia.