Telling the stories of those that came before us is the best way to remember and pay tribute to our past, according to local historian Dr. Michael Macklin.
Michael has lived in Yeronga for 25 years and he has made it his business to learn and tell the stories about of the community through the ages.
He has researched and recorded what life was like from the time of the area’s original indigenous inhabitants, through to the more recent 1900s.
He has written countless books and articles about members of his own family, dating back for generations and taking into account the two World Wars; and has also written about the history of his family home that was built in 1903.
Michael is a regular contributor to Village News, providing the community with fascinating and informative Yeronga history instalments every month.
“I do believe that we have an obligation to recognise and tell the stories of our past,” he says. “It is easy to say we remember the anniversaries of things like wars, or remember people from the past; but the real way to recognise them is to tell their stories so those stories survive and we understand the causes and effects important to their and our own lives,” he says.
Michael’s own history is one that is rich and varied.
With a background in education, specifically the philosophy of education, he is most well-known for his role as Senator for Queensland in the Australian Parliament and founding member of the Australian Democrats.
Michael held parliamentary offices continuously from 1981-1990 during five parliaments as the Senate Whip and then Deputy Leader and Leader of his party.
After more than 10 years in politics, Michael presented 79 bills to the Federal Parliament and drove change in areas including saving the Daintree Rainforest, establishing a Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service, reforming Parliamentary Privilege and preventing sand mining on Moreton Island.
He has also led teams in private practice focussed on educational consulting and is a former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New England; and a former adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology.
Michael and his wife Jennie have three, now grown-up children and four grandchildren.
The couple loves Yeronga for its rich history and community.
“We have a beautiful area down on the river and a lot of cyclists that pass through the area, as they have done for more than 100 years,” he says.
“It is also lovely how the main road bypasses our suburb, so we have a real village feel.”
