Quakers Hill Press
Encyclopedia
Quakers Hill Press is a small press
Australia
n publishing company. It was founded in 1990 by Peter Day, a former US correspondent for The Australian
.
Authors published include Geoffrey Partington, David Stove
, James Franklin
, Roger Sworder, Patrick Morgan and R. J. Stove
.
Especially noteworthy are the events surrounding the June 1996 publication of the QHP book Hasluck Versus Coombs: white politics and Australia's Aborigines, by Flinders University scholar Geoffrey Partington. The book was launched in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra by John Herron
, the then Federal Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. This generated front-page publicity (see The Australian
newspaper of 17 June 1996) and much controversy. It signalled a renewed interest by the recently elected Howard
Government in the then-unpopular assimilationist policies associated with Paul Hasluck
, in contrast to the separatist policies of H.C. ('Nugget') Coombs. This was one of the first steps in the reversal of indigenous policy that eventually led to the 'Intervention'
of 2007. While the policies advocated by Partington are now more or less commonplace in Australian indigenous policy circles, in 1996 they produced outrage. This included a petition signed by 66 Australian academics, led by Dr Suvendrini Perera of La Trobe University, demanding that the Australian media cease publicising the book. Two printings quickly sold out. The book is still out of print, but may now be downloaded in digital form from the website of the Bennelong Society
, including a new Preface by Gary Johns
, Special Minister of State and Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations in the Australian Labor Government of 1993–1996.
Another notable QHP publication was Cricket versus Republicanism by Sydney philosopher David Stove. While Stove had for many years enjoyed a strong international reputation among philosophers, this provocative little book helped take his work to a wider audience, both internationally and in Australia. Recent well-received republications of Stove's work in the US include Against the Idols of the Age (ed Roger Kimball
, Transaction Publishers
); and Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution, published by Encounter Books
. Both these volumes include essays that appeared in QHP's Cricket versus Republicanism.
Small press
Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n publishing company. It was founded in 1990 by Peter Day, a former US correspondent for The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
.
Authors published include Geoffrey Partington, David Stove
David Stove
David Charles Stove , was an Australian philosopher of science.His work in philosophy of science included detailed criticisms of David Hume's inductive skepticism, as well as what he regarded as the irrationalism of his disciplinary contemporaries Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, and Paul...
, James Franklin
James Franklin (philosopher)
James Franklin is an Australian philosopher, mathematician and historian of ideas. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, New South Wales. His undergraduate work was at the University of Sydney , where he attended St John's College and he was influenced by philosophers David Stove...
, Roger Sworder, Patrick Morgan and R. J. Stove
R. J. Stove
Robert James Stove is an Australian writer, editor, composer and organist.-Biography:Born in 1961 in Sydney, but later resident in Melbourne, Stove graduated from Sydney University in 1985...
.
Especially noteworthy are the events surrounding the June 1996 publication of the QHP book Hasluck Versus Coombs: white politics and Australia's Aborigines, by Flinders University scholar Geoffrey Partington. The book was launched in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra by John Herron
John Herron (Australian politician)
Dr. John Joseph Herron , Australian politician, ambassador and surgeon, was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1 July 1990 to 5 September 2002, representing Queensland. From 2002 to 2006 he was the Australian Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See.Dr...
, the then Federal Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. This generated front-page publicity (see The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
newspaper of 17 June 1996) and much controversy. It signalled a renewed interest by the recently elected Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
Government in the then-unpopular assimilationist policies associated with Paul Hasluck
Paul Hasluck
Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck KG GCMG GCVO KStJ was an Australian historian, poet, public servant and politician, and the 17th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...
, in contrast to the separatist policies of H.C. ('Nugget') Coombs. This was one of the first steps in the reversal of indigenous policy that eventually led to the 'Intervention'
Northern Territory National Emergency Response
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in 2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern...
of 2007. While the policies advocated by Partington are now more or less commonplace in Australian indigenous policy circles, in 1996 they produced outrage. This included a petition signed by 66 Australian academics, led by Dr Suvendrini Perera of La Trobe University, demanding that the Australian media cease publicising the book. Two printings quickly sold out. The book is still out of print, but may now be downloaded in digital form from the website of the Bennelong Society
Bennelong Society
The Bennelong Society is as a conservative think-tank dedicated to Indigenous Australian affairs. The society was named after the Eora man, Bennelong, who served as an interlocutor between the Indigenous Australian and British cultures, both in Sydney and in the United Kingdom almost from the start...
, including a new Preface by Gary Johns
Gary Johns
Gary Thomas Johns is a former Australian politician.Johns was born in Melbourne, Victoria and received a Bachelor of Economics and a M.A. from Monash University. He was elected as the member for Petrie in 1987, and held it for the Australian Labor Party until his defeat in 1996...
, Special Minister of State and Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations in the Australian Labor Government of 1993–1996.
Another notable QHP publication was Cricket versus Republicanism by Sydney philosopher David Stove. While Stove had for many years enjoyed a strong international reputation among philosophers, this provocative little book helped take his work to a wider audience, both internationally and in Australia. Recent well-received republications of Stove's work in the US include Against the Idols of the Age (ed Roger Kimball
Roger Kimball
Roger Kimball is a conservative U.S. art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he took a BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and Yale University...
, Transaction Publishers
Transaction Publishers
Transaction Publishers is a New Jersey-based publishing house that specializes in social sciences books. Some of its books have been published with the imprint "Transactions Publishers".-Overview:...
); and Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution, published by Encounter Books
Encounter Books
Encounter Books is an American conservative book publisher. It is an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc. Encounter Books draws its name from Encounter , the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and Stephen Spender....
. Both these volumes include essays that appeared in QHP's Cricket versus Republicanism.
Publications
Publications include:- Geoffrey Partington, Hasluck Versus Coombs: White politics and Australia’s Aborigines ISBN 0-646-27245-4
- James Franklin and Albert Daoud, Proof in Mathematics: An introduction ISBN 1-876192-00-3
- David Stove, Cricket Versus Republicanism and Other Essays, ISBN 0-646-21328-8
- Peter Shrubb, The Weston Men's Tennis Club ISBN 0-646-14488-X
- R.J. Stove, Prince of Music: Palestrina and his world ISBN 0-7316-8792-2
- Patrick Morgan: Folie a deux': William and Caroline Dexter in colonial Australia ISBN 1-876192-05-4
- Roger Sworder: Mining, metallurgy and the meaning of life: the hidden roots of the great debate over mining and the environment ISBN 0-646-22836-6