Agriculture, mining and related rural industries have been central to the development of Australia's economy. This book details the role that the Australian Government has played in the making of rural and regional Australia, particularly since World War II. The book reviews these policies and evaluates them with regards the commitments undertaken by the Government to contribute towards vibrant, rural communities. Policy areas addressed include agriculture, water, education, welfare and population, natural resource management, resource extraction, Indigenous and affairs, localism, rural research and regional innovation, Youth Affairs and the devolution of regional governance. Overall two distinct policy strategies can be observed: one wherein the government saw its role as part of the entrepreneurial state and a sector wherein government has increasingly taken itself out of industry development, leaving this role to the market. Having considered these strategies and their impacts, the book concludes that policy over the past 40 years has not in fact contributed to a more vibrant, prosperous rural and regional Australia. Rural and Regional Futures concludes with several chapters looking to the future. One chapter explores what the role of the state can be within a social market economy while the final chapter gives consideration to the initial steps rural communities will need to take to begin the process of revitalisation. While these materials present as a case study of developments in Australia, the policy shift from the Government as entrepreneur to a focus on markets is an international one and as such, the insights offered by this book will have wide appeal.

The purpose of this book is to challenge people (service providers, people with a hearing disability and those who advocate for them) to reconsider the way western society thinks about hearing disability and the way it seeks to 'include them'. It highlights the concern that the design of hearing services is so historically marinated in ableist culture that service users often do not realise they may be participating in their own oppression within a phono-centric society. With stigma and marginalisation being the two most critical issues impacting on people with hearing disability, Hogan and Phillips document both the collective and personal impacts of such marginality. In so doing, the book brings forward an argument for a paradigm shift in hearing services. Drawing upon the latest research and policy work, the book opens up a conceptual framework for a new approach to hearing services and looks at the kinds of personal and systemic changes a paradigm shift would entail.

The purpose of this book is to challenge people (service providers, people with a hearing disability and those who advocate for them) to reconsider the way western society thinks about hearing disability and the way it seeks to 'include them'. It highlights the concern that the design of hearing services is so historically marinated in ableist culture that service users often do not realise they may be participating in their own oppression within a phono-centric society. With stigma and marginalisation being the two most critical issues impacting on people with hearing disability, Hogan and Phillips document both the collective and personal impacts of such marginality. In so doing, the book brings forward an argument for a paradigm shift in hearing services. Drawing upon the latest research and policy work, the book opens up a conceptual framework for a new approach to hearing services and looks at the kinds of personal and systemic changes a paradigm shift would entail.

Agriculture, mining and related rural industries have been central to the development of Australia's economy. This book details the role that the Australian Government has played in the making of rural and regional Australia, particularly since World War II. The book reviews these policies and evaluates them with regards the commitments undertaken by the Government to contribute towards vibrant, rural communities. Policy areas addressed include agriculture, water, education, welfare and population, natural resource management, resource extraction, Indigenous and affairs, localism, rural research and regional innovation, Youth Affairs and the devolution of regional governance. Overall two distinct policy strategies can be observed: one wherein the government saw its role as part of the entrepreneurial state and a sector wherein government has increasingly taken itself out of industry development, leaving this role to the market. Having considered these strategies and their impacts, the book concludes that policy over the past 40 years has not in fact contributed to a more vibrant, prosperous rural and regional Australia. Rural and Regional Futures concludes with several chapters looking to the future. One chapter explores what the role of the state can be within a social market economy while the final chapter gives consideration to the initial steps rural communities will need to take to begin the process of revitalisation. While these materials present as a case study of developments in Australia, the policy shift from the Government as entrepreneur to a focus on markets is an international one and as such, the insights offered by this book will have wide appeal.

In the late 1950s, a flourishing musical culture began to emerge in major UK cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London. This was particularly true in the Merseyside area, where an estimated 350 different groups were active, often playing ballrooms, jive hives concert halls and clubs. This new music became known as Merseybeat. Local author and historian Anthony Hogan has chronicled the fascinating and little-told stories of many of the characters from that era; the people and the bands who made a big contribution to the region's rise to rock 'n' roll prominence. The Beat Makers describes the often-overlooked black music scene in Liverpool and its importance to Merseybeat, as well as the amazing story of the Liverbirds, who became the first all-girl beat band, and Derry Wilkie, the black singer who fronted a number of different bands and was the first Merseybeat artist to play in Hamburg and to release a record along with the Seniors. And with chapters on the great names such as Ted Kingsize Taylor, Johnny Guitar and Geoff Nugent, The Beat Makers is essential reading for all self-respecting lovers of rock 'n' roll history.

Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were one of the top bands in Liverpool between 1959 and 1962, bigger even than The Beatles. They shared the bill with the Fab Four on many occasions in their home city and in Hamburg, and their first drummer was none other than Richard Starkey - better known as Ringo Starr - who left the Hurricanes to join the Beatles. The Hurricanes were leading lights of the burgeoning 'Mersey Sound' and a pulsating live act, led by their charismatic front man, Rory Storm. Born Alan Caldwell, Rory was a natural performer who wooed crowds with his stage antics, once even diving from a swimming pool high board halfway through a song. But, despite the band's huge local following, fame somehow passed them by. Frontman Rory suffered from a crippling stammer and, though unaffected while on stage, it seemed to deter record companies. As their fellow Liverpudlians enjoyed huge international success, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes drifted into obscurity, finally ending in tragedy. Anthony Hogan has painstakingly researched the lives and careers of Rory Storm and The Hurricanes in this fascinating and moving account of one of the great untold rock 'n' roll stories, featuring over 100 photographs, many unseen before in public.