Francesca Beddie asserts that "history … currently plays little part in governmental processes and does not meet its potential as a contributor to wider policy debate." Adopting a book-ends approach in analysing two critical periods of time four decades apart--1974-81 and 2011-16--this paper examines key issues in Australian VET teacher education in the 1970s and compares them with the present. It aims to address the question: What has been learnt over that time? Through comparative historical research, a method of social science that examines historical events in order to seek explanations by comparison (in this instance) with the present day, it also seeks to understand the reasons for the rise and decline of university VET teacher education over this time. Sources include significant conferences, reports and other writings, as well as the lived professional experiences of the author in VET teacher education over those 40 years.