Wilson's Blogmanac: Please read if you love literature and history

Why is a free educational resource being rejected by a Federal Government 'cultural' agency?

Surely not because (in part) it chronicles early progressive politics in Australia? Surely not political censorship!

The Wilson's Almanac Louisa and Henry Lawson Chronology (by far the biggest chronology on the Net covering Australian culture, literature and history of the period -- probably any period) has for months repeatedly been rejected for inclusion at the Australian Government's Culture and Recreation Portal, the 'Directory of Australian cultural organisations and resources'.

Some of the excuses offered have been bizarre to say the least, such as "The extraneous material which is not Australian content and links which are not directly related to Henry and Louisa Lawson make it difficult for us to categorise this as either Australian History or Literature." Other excuses have been even weirder (available on request if I could be bothered digging them up).

Don't take my word for it: Suck it and see

You might find it instructive to compare at random my FREE, 100,000-word, Australian-made, non-profit, high-Google-ranking resource for schools and scholars with some of the sites that have been included on various subjects in the government portal.

Many of the sites the portal links are miniscule, trivial and (unlike my chronology) very commercial and with lots of advertisements. But don't take my word for it, it might just be my sour grapes. See for yourself. For example, use the 'Blue cattle dog' search box (click here and scoll down) (it says "Find Australian cultural material with Bluey!") -- search any subject you like, eg foreign-owned brands like Westinghouse, Microsoft, Kodak, Shell Oil, Caltex, Ford Motor Company, etc. Try any "extraneous material which is not Australian content" you can think of, but the Louisa and Henry Lawson Chronology is not there -- it has been banned. Not Australian enough, you see.

If you think this is unfair, even if you are not Australian, please take a minute to contact the Minister, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, giving reasons in support of The Louisa and Henry Lawson Chronology http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/lawsons/lawson_chronology.html as an aid to research in Australia and overseas.

And if you would pass on the link of this post to other individuals and groups who oppose political censorship, I would be very grateful. If you will tell webmasters, Members of Parliament, media, e-groups, anyone at all, so much the better. Thank you very much.

The permalink to this post is http://wilsonsalmanac.blogspot.com/2006/03/please-read-if-you-love-literature-and.html

Pip Wilson