Hurley is charged with murder, the first time a police officer had been charged over an Aboriginal death in custody. Poor Man’s Orange is my favourite of the three, although it’s a most emotional read. Life is hard and grief is rife throughout the lives of these characters but the ending is perfect, if not perfectly bittersweet. With her final exams looming and her father suddenly on the scene, she grapples with first love, loss, friendship and long-buried family secrets, admist a trio of headstrong Italian women.

The bush is a social construct as well as an ecological one: as much as the things that grow and live there, we define it by the people who inhabit it. Read more: Kathryn Heyman on writing her ‘white hot’ memoir – and finding refuge on the Timor Sea Dark As Last Night by Tony Birch The novel follows the lives of a group of people in Melbourne, Australia, as they come to terms with the impending doom of radioactive fallout that will inevitably reach them. The characters include a submarine captain, his crew, and various civilians who are trying to make the most of the time they have left.The settlers in their ignorance, regularly downplayed and disrespected Australia’s Indigenous peoples economy, knowledge and relationship with country. William is a young boy who is orphaned and sent to live with his uncle on a remote property called “White Earth.” As he navigates the unfamiliar landscape and encounters the local Aboriginal people, he becomes increasingly entangled in a world of myth, spirituality, and cultural clashes.

Rough Guides' rundown of Melbourne, Bondi Beach, Victoria and Tasmania's best sights and top experiences helps to make the most of each trip to Australia, even in a short time. While the writing is accessible, there are many challenging ideas in this, merely because they go against how many of us fundamentally see the world and our place within it. It’s no secret, of course, that the Great Barrier Reef faces a number of threats. Yet from coral planting dive trips to Indigenous-led reef tours, there are more opportunities than ever to experience this fragile ecosystem sustainably, helping to ensure that this incredible slice of nature can be enjoyed for generations of visitors to come. 4. Find freedom on the Great Ocean Road

Energy

Tasmania is gorgeous but it’s got a toxic secret – the billion-dollar Big Salmon industry, which is in bed with Tasmanian government and doing untold environmental damage to what once was a pristine environment. Her brother JC is the Premier of Tasmania. Strangely, sister Max is the leader of the opposition party. Accommodation is in ranger-supervised camps with architect-designed huts that are almost as good looking as the eye-popping coastal scenery.

Being largely about twenty-somethings, the story has everything you’d expect it to have. Communal living, drugs, financial woes and everyone banging each other constantly.With a witty and irreverent tone, Hunt navigates the twists and turns of Australia’s history, from its Indigenous roots and early European encounters to its transformation into a modern and diverse nation. Watson is a country boy, long drawn to the bush. As the title promises, he does travel as part of the research for this history book.