Tom Frame

Tony Eggleton AO CVO was intimately involved in the advent of Australian television; the loss of HMAS Voyager; the drowning death of Harold Holt; the hugely successful 1970 Royal Tour; the end of John Gorton's tumultuous prime ministership; the reconfiguration of the British Commonwealth; the dismissal of the Whitlam Government; re-electing the Fraser Government; the Coalition's 'wilderness years'; international humanitarian crisis intervention; commemorating Australian nationhood; and, the nurture of Asia-Pacific democratic institutions.This biography reveals his private thoughts as press secretary to four Australian prime ministers, Federal Director of the Liberal Party, Secretary-General of CARE International and CEO of the National Council for the Centenary of Federation. It explores the management of public opinion, the design of election strategies and the influence of political journalism on government policy.Professor Tom Frame AM works in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNSW Canberra. A former naval officer and Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, he was the inaugural Director of the John Howard Prime Ministerial Library at Old Parliament House and the Public Leadership Research Group. He is the author or editor of more than 50 books including Where Fate Calls: the HMAS Voyager Tragedy, The Life and Death of Harold Holt, and a four volume series on the Howard Government.

The Brereton report — the findings of a long-running inquiry into war crimes allegations involving members of the Australian Special Operations Task Group during their 2005–13 deployment to Afghanistan — was publicly released on 23 November 2020.Veiled Valour, from one of Australia's most respected military affairs analysts, explores the background to these allegations — the gradual demise of the Afghan state and society, the decision to deploy Special Forces personnel to Central Asia after 2001, the inquiries into apparent mistakes and alleged misconduct, and the shocking hearsay and rumours that led to a formal inquiry.Ending the day before the Brereton report's public release, Veiled Valour sheds light on why the inquiry was necessary, how its investigations were conducted, where the media influenced its direction and what the public expected to be told about its military elite.

Philip Ruddock was commended for conviction and condemned for cruelty in his management of Australia's Immigration program between 1996 and 2003. As Australia's longest-serving Minister for Immigration and second longest-serving Federal parliamentarian, he won praise in the 1970s and 1980s for his strong commitment to human rights and refugee resettlement but in the 1990s and 2003 drew sharp criticism for offshore processing and the mandatory detention of asylum seekers. A reserved man, Ruddock did not display his emotions when confronted with human tragedy or angry protests. His reserved manner led to allegations he was uncaring and callous. This book is the first extended treatment of Ruddock's political career, focussing specifically on Immigration and the place of compassion in the development and administration of public policy. It will interest students of Australian politics, particularly the Howard era, and engage anyone committed to the exercise of moral virtues and ethical values in national life.

In the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre on 28 April 1996 – when a gunman killed 35 people and seriously wounded another 21 in a quiet town in Tasmania – John Howard, a conservative prime minister who had been in office for just six weeks, moved swiftly to revolutionise Australia’s gun control laws. The National Firearms Agreement, produced just twelve days after the massacre, with support from all levels of government and across the Australian political divide, but derided by Howard’s natural political allies in the US, is now held up around the world as a model for gun control.Gun Control draws on interviews with those who supported and opposed the new laws, and asks whether the aftermath of the tragedy might have been a lost opportunity to achieve much more than simply preventing a repeat of Port Arthur – vitally important though that was. Tom Frame argues that the mechanisms for amending national firearms agreement are in need of substantial revision alongside the agreement itself. Frame analyses whether the Australian Government achieved its intention, and what it might have done in response to the massacre, and didn’t. The book also traces the history of Australian gun usage and control, and compares this with the US experience.

The complete and authoritative account of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney, and the finding of her wreck in 2008.

"This short book focuses on Harold Holt's political philosophy and its expression in what I have termed 'liberal imagination'. It is an attempt to show how a man of genuinely liberal instincts applied his initiative and creativity - the essence of imagination - to a range of political issues and practical challenges during the middle decades of the twentieth century... The life of Harold Holt provides some useful illustrations of political imagination and, later in his career, political stagnation. Notwithstanding the passage of fifty years, there is much to be learned from what Holt did and didn't do, and why." - From the Introduction

Since 1967 more than 25,000 students have graduated from UNSW after studying at Duntroon, HMAS Creswell, the RAAF College and UNSW Canberra. In Widening Minds, Tom Frame examines the productive 50-year partnership between University of New South Wales and Australian Defence Force.In a candid exploration of the highs and lows of the longest educational partnership in Australian history, Frame produces an ‘uncensored’ account that explains the need for tertiary education that emerged during the Vietnam conflict and the professional outlook of those leading Australia’s various military campaigns. He traces the evolution of officer education, the controversial decision to create the Australian Defence Force Academy, the subsequent development of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the response to cadet controversies and the University’s efforts to raise educational standards and the quality of intellectual debate across the Defence community.

The Long Road analyses the ADF’s ‘train, advise, assist’missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea,Bougainville, the Solomon Islands, South Vietnam andUganda. With contributions from media commentatorsChris Masters and Ian McPhedran, politicians KevinAndrews and David Feeney, academics, aid workersand military personnel, The Long Road evaluates thesuccesses and failures of Australia’s efforts to help itsneighbours and partners avoid armed conflict.

In this challenging and provocative book, Tom Frame, one of Australia’s best-known writers on religion and society, examines diminishing theological belief and declining denominational affiliation. He argues that Australia has never been a very religious nation but that few Australians have deliberately rejected belief – most simply can’t see why they need to be bothered with religion at all. He contends that vehement campaigning against theistic belief is the product of growing disdain for religious fundamentalism and a vigorous commitment to personal autonomy. Losing My Religion contends that God is certainly not dead but that Australia’s religious landscape will continue to change as the battle for hearts, minds and spirits continues. Published on the sesquicentennial of the first release of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), this book will provoke debate about what matters to Australians.Winner Australian Christian Book of the Year 2010

Charles Darwin liked and loathed Australia. The father of evolution paid the continent a flying visit during in 1836, and was glad to put the place behind him. Yet Australia's astonishing wildlife influenced him deeply, and his revolutionary theories still resonate profoundly in Australian society. Two hundred years after Darwin's birth, at a time when evolutionary theory is facing challenges from those who believe in intelligent design, award-winning writer and Anglican bishop Tom Frame explores Darwin's life and times, and asks whether it is possible for us to believe in God and Darwin at the same time. Drawing on years of exhaustive inquiry and a unique point of view, Evolution in the Antipodes is a fascinating and thoughtful account of Charles Darwin's significant and enduring influence on Australian life.

Children on Demand examines the ethics of various forms of alternative parenthood, focusing specifically on adoption and assisted reproductive technologies, and the moral dilemmas they create for both individuals and the state. Tom Frame discusses the ethical challenges that arise when scientific possibilities get ahead of community consensus. The central question of this comprehensive, careful and challenging book is what is best for the child?

In Anglicans in Australia, bishop and theological commentator Tom Frame identifies the faultlines and tensions that exist within the contemporary Anglican Church, describes continuing debates over doctrine and their effect on the Australian Churchs relationship with the global Anglican Communion, and outlines problems, prospects and possibilities over the next twenty-five years. This thoroughly researched and carefully constructed book, written by a perceptive and judicious insider, will help Anglicans understand their own complex religious institution and illuminate it for outsiders as well.

In 1901 Australia's fledgling Federal Government assumed the responsibility for the new nation's defence. Their first task was to take the aged and obsolete remnants of the colonies' navies and create a national navy to defend our island's coastal waters and overseas trade routes. For the first 40 years the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was designed to serve alongside the Royal Navy, and resembled it in everything but scale. After the Second World War the RAN developed along US lines but, despite these overseas ties, the RAN has developed its own proud character and tradition and has entered the twenty-first century as a confident and independent force in its own right.In No Pleasure Cruise, Australia's best-known naval historian, Dr Tom Frame, charts the RAN's emergence as one of the world's strongest and most respected navies, and its evolving relationship with the Australian public, press and parliament.

'Living by the Sword' is the first critique of the Australian military experience from a Christian ethical perspective. It surveys attitudes towards war and warfare from ancient to modern times, considers the moral status of the nation-state and international sovereignty, asks whether the just war tradition was relevant to campaigns against Iraq, assesses recent emphasis on collective security and suggests some difficulties associated with recognising conscientious objection.