Australia and the Birth of the International Bill of Human Rights 1946–1966 by Annemarie Devereux, Federation Press, Leichhardt, 2005

‘Human rights’ is a language and an ideal that many people readily accept as fundamentally correct — to support human rights is good, while to oppose human rights is bad. Devereux’s book studying Australia’s historic international practice on human rights is a compelling and significant review of how Australian politicians and policy makers understood and negotiated ideal ‘human rights’ in the 20 years following World War II. It highlights the fundamental ambiguity of the term and is a strong reminder that states, communities and individuals can adopt practices that discriminate, blight and harm, while mouthing platitudes of ‘protecting human rights’.