News

History of the Australian Liberal Party wins prestigious award for author

Media Release, Friday 9 July 2004

The History Department at the University of Melbourne has announced Judith Brett as the winner of the 2004 Ernest Scott History Prize.

Dr Brett, who is a member of the Department of Politics at LaTrobe University, has been awarded the prize for her book “Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class”, published by Cambridge University Press.

The Ernest Scott Prize for History is awarded annually to the book judged to be the most distinguished contribution to the History of Australia or New Zealand published in the previous year.

The Prize is based on a bequest given to the History Department of the University of Melbourne by Mrs Emily Scott in memory of her husband, Sir Ernest Scott, who held a professorship in the department for 23 years. The prize commemorates in particular particular his interest in the development of Australian historical studies.

This year the two judges were Professor Stephen Garton of the University of Sydney and Professor Margaret Tennant of Massey University.

In awarding the prize, the judges said that although path-breaking is an overused and much abused phrase, Dr Brett’s study of the Australian Liberal Party and its complex relationship with an evolving middle class was innovative in the best sense of the word.

They said that “Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class” uncovered hitherto hidden dimensions to Australian political culture.

“This book challenges the boundaries of political history, incorporating as it does broader insights into civil society, volunteerism, religion, morality, class, gender and a sense of nationhood. It represents a significant shift away from seeing political history as the history of power elites, sectional interests or voting patterns and instead embeds political processes and ideologies in a rich social and cultural context.

The judges said that in a year when there were many outstanding books to chose from, “Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class” stood out as an exemplary instance of Australian scholars being at the cutting edge of the discipline of history, genuinely opening up new avenues for future enquiry.

Other shortlisted books this year included:

Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand
Penguin Books, 2003

Bain Attwood, Rights for Aborigines
Allen & Unwin, 2003

For further enquiries please contact:
Anne Lewis
Department of History

Tel:(613) 8344 5961
Fax: (613) 8344 7894
Email: alewis@unimelb.edu.au