Denis Murphy, the University of Queensland and Labour History, 1966–83: A Reassessment

Abstract

Labour History • Number 110 • May 2016 published five edited books, either alone or in collaboration, and two sole-authored biographies. 4 This opus of work caused Murphy to be regarded, Frank Bongiorno records, as "one of the giants of labour history in this country." 5 Unsurprisingly, given his place in labour history's pantheon, Murphy's contribution has previously been discussed at length. After Murphy's death, Brian Costar, who studied for his PhD when Murphy was on staff, recorded that Murphy wrote history "to equip the modern Labor party for the task of making Australia a just society." 6 In 1985, Verity Burgmann made a more critical judgement, identifying Murphy (along with Bede Nairn and D. W. Rawson) as one of the "conservative labour historians" who understated socialism's role in Labor's formation. 7 During 2006, the Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland (JRHSQ) dedicated a special edition to Murphy's work with articles from Bongiorno, Kay Saunders, Ray Evans and Joanne Scott. Of these contributors, both Saunders and Evans were long-term colleagues of Murphy at UQ. Bongiorno's account drew on Murphy's personal papers. 8 Even the History Department's machinations under Gordon Greenwood (Head, 1949-78) are well-recorded with reflections from both Greenwood's sympathisers (Hudson, Moses, Shaw and Siracusa) 9 and critics (Radi, Saunders and Scott). 10 Despite the research encompassing both Murphy's career and the UQ History Department, there is nevertheless room for reassessment. Rather than it being simply a case as Evans has suggested, that "to all intents and purposes, Denis Murphy was Queensland Labour History," 11 this study-drawing upon the Departmental records and personal papers located within UQ's Gordon Greenwood Collection, Murphy's personal papers and the University of Queensland Press (UQP) archives 12-argues that labour history's achievements and failings were shaped, in addition to Murphy's personal efforts, by a confluence of four complex and unstable factors. The first was Murphy's relationship with the Labor Party. This most benefited the writing of labour history when Tom Burns served as State Secretary (1965-72). Burns not only