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Judging Panel's Report Thirty-seven postgraduate students submitted a total of thirty-eight essays in 2009, covering a wide range of topics, periods and contexts. This was a significant increase over the 2008 total of twenty-eight students. Our first reader, Emeritus Professor Marian Quartly (Monash University), selected seven articles in Australian and European history for further reading by a panel of three: Dr Nicholas Brown (Australian National University), Dr Fiona Paisley (Griffith University) and Professor Mark Peel (Monash University). The panel decided to make a joint award of the prize, and one special commendation. Lisa Curtis-Wendlandt, 'Beating Around (In) the Bush: Corporal Punishment and Moral Reform at Hermannsburg Mission in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Australia' and Claire McLisky, 'The Location of Faith? Power, Gender and Spirituality in the 1883-4 Maloga Revival Citations The first joint winning article is Lisa Curtis-Wendlandt's 'Beating Around (In) the Bush: Corporal Punishment and Moral Reform at Hermannsburg Mission in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Australia.' This article provides a subtle, astute analysis of the relationship between corporal punishment and the practices of Lutheran missionaries in Australia, most particularly those of Carl and Freida Strehlow's Hermannsburg Mission in Central Australia. Conceptually rich and making careful, probing use of archival sources, the author traces the interdependence between Lutheran proselytisation, an ostensibly benevolent patriarchal mode of missionary authority, and the mutually reinforcing tendency of this 'protectionist agenda' and practices of 'indigenous male violence' among the Aranda and Loritja people. In insisting that 'the image of the missionary and his whip deserves a closer look', and mining mission records for the gendered impact and legitimacy accorded to abuse within cultures fostered by the missions, the author has brought a powerful new dimension to themes in Australian Indigenous history, and a offered a perspective with considerable resonances in contemporary debates. The second joint winning article is Claire McLisky, 'The Location of Faith? Power, Gender and Spirituality in the 1883-4 Maloga Revival.' This essay is thoroughly researched, well written and with a clear set of aims and objectives. The question of conversion is of course an interesting one, and the judges were particularly impressed by the ways in which this article understood the lessons of prior studies and also showed a way forward. This is an engaging, serious and demanding exploration that sparks questions about method, approach and explanation in this specific field and in the broader territory of social and cultural history. The mission records themselves offer particular insight into these issues, and their promise is fulfilled. The author has put a great deal of thought into her project, and the result is a very strong combination of close archival research and an engagement with some of the big and pressing questions concerning Aboriginal and mission history and, indeed, the entire colonial encounter. One article received a special commendation: Samuel Furphy, '"Our Civilisation Has Rolled Over Thee": Edward M. Curr and the Tide of History,' which the judges agreed made a critical contribution to debates about the relationship between legal and historiographical approaches to knowing the past. By giving this special commendation, the judges were keen to encourage Samuel to seek publication of his article in its current form. Overall, the shortlisting judge and the panel were again impressed with the quality of the entries, and we think the AHA and CAL should be very pleased with both the increased number and the continuing high standard. After two years, the prize is clearly attracting some of the best postgraduate writing within Australian universities. The concentration of the winning and commended entries in the area of indigenous histories was a striking feature of this year's award. Although there were impressive essays in imperial history, European history and historical theory, the bulk of the entries were on Australian topics. It is important, we think, for the AHA to continue commending this very important prize to History department heads, and to supervisors across the full range of historical approaches and areas, ensuring that the community of historians working in Australia understand its importance and breadth. 
Mark Peel 9 September 2009
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