Culture of Australia

The primary basis of Australian culture up until the mid-20th century was Anglo-Celtic, although distinctive Australian features had been evolving from the environment and indigenous culture. Over the past 50 years, Australian culture has been strongly influenced by American popular culture (particularly television and cinema), large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking countries, and Australia’s Asian neighbours. The vigour and originality of the arts in Australia - films, opera, music, painting, theater, dance, and crafts - are achieving international recognition.

Australia has a long history of visual arts, starting with the cave and bark paintings of its indigenous peoples. From the time of European settlement, a common theme in Australian art has been the Australian landscape, seen in the works of Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd and Albert Namatjira, among others. The traditions of indigenous Australians are largely transmitted orally and are closely tied to ceremony and the telling of the stories of the Dreamtime.

Australian Aboriginal music, dance and art have a palpable influence on contemporary Australian visual and performing arts. Australia has an active tradition of music, ballet and theatre; many of its performing arts companies receive public funding through the federal government’s Australia Council. There is a symphony orchestra in each capital city, and a national opera company, Opera Australia, first made prominent by the renowned diva Dame Joan Sutherland; Australian music includes classical, jazz, and many popular music genres.

Australian literature has also been influenced by the landscape; the works of writers such as Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson captured the experience of the Australian bush. The character of colonial Australia, as embodied in early literature, resonates with modern Australia and its perceived emphasis on egalitarianism, mateship, and anti-authoritarianism. In 1973, Patrick White was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Australian to have achieved this; he is recognised as one of the great English-language writers of the twentieth century. Australian English is a major variety of the language; its grammar and spelling are largely based on those of British English, overlaid with a rich vernacular of unique lexical items and phrases, some of which have found their way into standard English. (more…)

Demographics of Australia

Most of the estimated 20.4 million Australians are descended from nineteenth- and twentieth-century immigrants, the majority from Great Britain and Ireland. Australia’s population has quadrupled since the end of World War I , spurred by an ambitious immigration program. In 2001, the five largest groups of the 27.4% of Australians who were born overseas were from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Vietnam and China. Following the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973, numerous government initiatives have been established to encourage and promote racial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism. Australia’s population has increased by about 60 times since European settlement.

The self-declared indigenous population - including Torres Strait Islanders, who are of Melanesian descent - was 410,003 (2.2% of the total population) in 2001, a significant increase from the 1976 census, which showed an indigenous population of 115,953.Indigenous Australians have higher rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education and life expectancies for males and females that are 17 years lower than those of other Australians. Perceived racial inequality is an ongoing political and human rights issue for Australians.

English is the official language, and is spoken and written in a distinct variety known as Australian English. According to the 2001 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Chinese (2.1%), Italian (1.9%) and Greek (1.4%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of first European contact. Only about 70 of these languages have survived, and all but 20 of these are now endangered. An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50,000 (0.02%) people. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 6,500 deaf people.

Australia has no state religion. The 2001 census identified that 68% of Australians call themselves Christian: 27% identifying themselves as Roman Catholic and 21% as Anglican. Australians that identify themselves as followers of non-Christian religions number 5%. A total of 16% were categorised as having “No Religion” (which includes non theistic beliefs such as Humanism, atheism, agnosticism and rationalism) and a further 12% declined to answer or did not give a response adequate for interpretation. As in many Western countries, the level of active participation in church worship is much lower than this; weekly attendance at church services is about 1.5 million, about 7.5% of the population. (more…)

Economy of Australia

Australia has a prosperous, Western-style market economy, with a per capita GDP slightly lower than those of the UK, France and Germany in nominal terms, but thanks to the lower cost of living, slightly higher in terms of Purchasing Power Parity. The Australian economy is dominated by its services sector (68% of GDP), yet it is the agricultural and mining sectors (8% of GDP combined) that account for 65% of its exports. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly grains and wool, and minerals, including various metals, coal, and natural gas. A downturn in world commodity prices can thus have a large impact on the economy.

Australia’s competitive advantage in primary products is a reflection of the natural wealth of the Australian continent and its small domestic market; 20.3 million people occupy a continent the size of the contiguous United States. Service industries have expanded in recent decades at the expense of the manufacturing sector, which now accounts for just under 12 percent of GDP.

Australia’s emphasis on reforms is a key factor behind the continuing strength of the economy. In the 1980s, the Australian Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating, commenced the modernisation of the Australlian economy by floating the Australian dollar in 1983, leading to full financial deregulation.

Current areas of concern to some economists include Australia’s chronically high current account deficit and also the high levels of net foreign debt owed by the private sector.

The Australian economy has not suffered a recession since the early 1990s. As of January 2006, unemployment was 5.3% with 10,034,500 persons employed. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, comprises 69% of GDP. Agriculture and natural resources comprise 3% and 5% of GDP but contribute substantially to Australia’s export performance. Australia’s largest export markets include Japan, China, the United States, South Korea and New Zealand. Areas of concern to some economists include the high current account deficit and also high levels of net foreign debt.

Microeconomic reform

Other key reforms include unilaterally reducing high tariffs and other protective barriers; floating the Australian dollar exchange rate; deregulating the financial services sector– including a decision in late 1992 to allow liberal access for foreign bank branches; rationalizing and reducing the number of trade unions; efforts to restructure the highly centralized system of industrial relations and labour bargaining; better integrating the State economies into a national federal system; improving and standardizing the national infrastructure; and privatizing many government-owned services and public utilities.

Since 1996, the Coalition government, led by Prime Minister John Howard, continued to implement microeconomic reform policies. The microeconomic reforms of the Howard government have focussed on the labour market, and has attempted to reduce union power and involvement in the workplace. The Coalition government deregulated numerous other industries, including the telecommunications sector, and privatised many of the pre-existing monopolies. Since the recession of the early 1990s, the Australian economy has not suffered a recession in over 14 years. As of September 2005, unemployment had fallen to a level of 5.0 per cent, the lowest level since the late 1970s. The price of shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange has also grown significantly since the early 1990s.

Many raw materials (including resources postulated to exist but yet to be discovered) remain mostly unexploited. Economists often refer to Australia as the “world’s farm”. The agriculture and natural resources sectors contribute significantly to GDP, both directly and indirectly, through associated services like road and rail transport networks, which in some areas exist entirely based on an industrial need, and supporting rural economies. In recent years the Australian government has been focusing on the development of the tourism, education and technology markets. The Australian government funds scientific research and development through universities, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and through joint ventures between the public and private sectors called Cooperative Research Centres.

Economic growth

The ultimate goal is for Australia to become a competitive producer and exporter, not just of traditional farm and mineral commodities, but of a diversified mix of value added manufactured products, services, and technologies. While progress has been made on this economic reform agenda–such as in opening the telecommunications market to competition–much remains to be done, particularly in the domestic arena.

While the near-term outlook is for continued economic expansion, Australia’s longer term prospects depend heavily on continued fundamental economic reform. There is a general consensus among the major political parties, management, and labour on the necessary features of this reform but significant divergence of views on the methods, pace, and degree of change required.

The influence of China’s economic growth has also fuelled Australia’s export growth in mineral and energy resources, with the recent Western Australian Liquified Natural Gas contract worth potentially $25 billion over the life of the project . China’s industrialisation has resulted in an export boom for resource corporations, and thus contributed to increasing the Australian Federal Government’s revenue stream from increased Company Tax takings. Australia’s trade with China is currently the fastest growing in the past decade, to become the third largest trading partner overall. (more…)

Fauna of Australia

The fauna of Australia consists of a huge variety of unique animals; some 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians that inhabit the continent are endemic to Australia.This high level of endemism can be attributed to the continent’s long geographic isolation, tectonic stability, and the effects of an unusual pattern of climate change on the soil and flora over geological time. A unique feature of Australia’s fauna is the relative scarcity of native placental mammals.

Consequently the marsupials, a group of mammals that raise their young in a pouch, including the macropods, possums and dasyuromorphs, occupy many of the ecological niches that elsewhere in the world are filled by placental mammals. Australia is home to the two of the five known extant species of monotremes, and has numerous venomous species, which include the Platypus, spiders, scorpions, octopus, jellyfish, molluscs, stonefish, and stingrays. Uniquely, Australia has more venomous than non-venomous species of snakes.

The settlement of Australia by Indigenous Australians more than 40,000 years ago, and by Europeans from 1788, has had a significant impact on the fauna. Hunting, the introduction of non-native species, and land-management practices involving the modification or destruction of habitats have led to numerous extinctions. Some examples include the Paradise Parrot, Pig-footed Bandicoot and the Broad-faced Potoroo. Unsustainable land use continues to threaten the survival of many species.

In recognition of the threats to the survival of its fauna, Australia has passed wide-ranging federal and state legislation and established numerous protected areas. However, many people believe that these measures fail to address the imminent threats to the survival of many species.

Origins of Australian fauna

Both geologic and climatic events helped to make Australia’s fauna unique. Australia was once part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, which also included South America, Africa, India and Antarctica. Gondwana began to break up 140 million years ago (MYA); 50 MYA Australia separated from Antarctica, and was relatively isolated until the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Asia in the Miocene era 5.3 MYA.

The establishment and evolution of the present-day fauna was apparently shaped by the unique climate and the geology of the continent. As Australia drifted, it was, to some extent, isolated from the effects of global climate change. The unique fauna that originated in Gondwana, such as the marsupials, survived and adapted in Australia.

After the Miocene, fauna of Asian origin were able to establish themselves in Australia. The Wallace Line-the hypothetical line separating the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Australasia-marks the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian and Indo-Australian plates. This continental boundary prevented the formation of land bridges and resulted in a distinct zoological distribution, with limited overlap, of most Asian and Australian fauna, with the exception of birds. Following the emergence of the circumpolar current in the mid-Oligocene era (some 15 MYA), the Australian climate became increasingly arid, giving rise to a diverse group of arid-specialised organisms, just as the wet tropical and seasonally wet areas gave rise to their own uniquely adapted species.

Mammals

Australia has a rich mammalian fossil history, as well as a variety of extant mammalian species, dominated by the marsupials. The fossil record shows that monotremes have been present in Australia since the Early Cretaceous 145-99 MYA , and that marsupials and placental mammals date from the Eocene 56-34 MYA , when modern mammals first appeared in the fossil record. Although marsupials and placental mammals did coexist in Australia in the Eocene, only marsupials have survived to the present.

The placental mammals made their reappearance in Australia in the Miocene , when Australia moved closer to Indonesia, and bats and rodents started to appear reliably in the fossil record. The marsupials evolved to fill specific ecological niches, and in many cases they are physically similar to the placental mammals in Eurasia and North America that occupy similar niches, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution. For example, the top predator in Australia, the Tasmanian Tiger, bore a striking resemblance to canids such as the Gray Wolf; gliding possums and flying squirrels have similar adaptations enabling their arboreal lifestyle; and the Numbat and anteaters are both digging insectivores.

Monotremes and marsupials

Monotremes are mammals with a unique method of reproduction: they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Two of the five known living species of monotreme occur in Australia: the Platypus and the Short-beaked Echidna. The Platypus - a venomous, egg-laying, duck-billed, amphibious mammal - is one of the strangest creatures in the animal kingdom.

When a Platypus pelt was first presented by Joseph Banks to English naturalists in the late 1700s, they were convinced it must be a cleverly created hoax. Another strange monotreme is the Short-beaked Echidna; covered in hairy spikes, with a tubular snout in the place of a mouth, it has a tongue that can move in and out of the snout about 100 times a minute to capture termites.

Australia is also home to the world’s largest and most diverse selection of marsupials, mammals with a pouch in which they rear their young. The marsupial carnivores - order Dasyuromorphia - are represented by two surviving families: the Dasyuridae with 51 members, and the Myrmecobiidae with the Numbat as its sole surviving member. The Tasmanian Tiger was the largest Dasyuromorphia and the last living specimen of the family Thylacinidae; however, the last known specimen died in captivity in 1936.

The world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial is the Tasmanian Devil; it is the size of a small dog and can hunt, although it is mainly a scavenger. It became extinct on the mainland some 600 years ago, and is now found only in Tasmania. There are four species of quoll, or native cat, all of which are threatened species. The remainder of the Dasyuridae are referred to as ‘marsupial mice’; most weigh less than 100 g. There are two species of Marsupial Mole - order Notoryctemorphia - that inhabit the deserts of Western Australia. These rare, blind, earless carnivores spend most of their time underground; little is known about them.

The marsupial omnivores include the bandicoots and bilbies, order Peramelemorphia. There are seven species in Australia, most of which are endangered. These small creatures share several characteristic physical features: a plump, arch-backed body with a long, delicately tapering snout, large upright ears, long, thin legs, and a thin tail. The evolutionary origin of this group is unclear, but they share characteristics from both carnivorous and herbivorous marsupials.

The marsupial herbivores are classified in the order Diprotodontia, and further into the suborders Vombatiformes and Phalangerida. The Vombatiformes include the Koala and the three species of wombat. One of Australia’s best-known marsupials, the Koala is an arboreal (tree-dwelling) species that feeds on the leaves of some 120 species of eucalyptus. Wombats, on the other hand, live on the ground and feed on grasses, sedges and roots. Wombats use their rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws to dig extensive burrow systems; they are mainly crepuscular and nocturnal.

The Phalangerida includes possums and macropods. The possums are a diverse group of arboreal marsupials, including six families and 26 species. They vary in size from the Little Pygmy Possum, weighing just 7 g, to the cat-sized Common Ringtail and Brushtail possums. The Sugar and Squirrel Gliders are common species of gliding possum, found in the eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia, while the Feathertail Glider is the smallest glider species. The gliding possums have membranes, called “patagiums,” that extend from the fifth finger of their forelimb back to the first toe of their hind foot. These membranes, when outstretched, allow them to glide between trees.

There are about 52 recognised species of macropods in Australia, they are divided into three subfamilies: the Hypsiprymnodontidae, with the Musky Rat-kangaroo as its only member; the Potoroidae, with 10 species; and the Macropodidae, with at least 40 species; some species are extinct. Macropods are found in all Australian environments except alpine areas.

The Potoroidae include the bettongs, potaroos and rat-kangaroos, small species that make nests and carry plant material with their tails. The Macropodiae include kangaroos, wallabies and associated species; size varies widely within this family. Most macropods move in a bipedal, energy-efficient hopping motion. They have powerfully muscled tails and large hind legs with long, narrow hind feet. The hind feet have a distinctive arrangement of four toes, while the short front legs have five separate digits. The Musky Rat-kangaroo is the smallest macropod and the only species that is not bipedal, while the male Red Kangaroo is the largest, reaching a height of about 2 m and weighing up to 85 kg.

Placental mammals

Australia has indigenous placental mammals from two orders: the bats, order Chiroptera, represented by six families, and the mice and rats, order Rodentia, family Muridae. Bats and rodents are relatively recent arrivals to Australia. Bats probably arrived from Asia, and they are present in the fossil record only from as recently as 15 MYA. Although 7% of the world’s bats species live in Australia, there are only two endemic genera of bats. Rodents first arrived in Australia 5-10 MYA and underwent a wide radiation to produce the species collectively known as the “old endemic” rodents. The old endemics are represented by 14 extant genera. About a million years ago, the rat entered Australia from New Guinea and evolved into seven species of Rattus, collectively called the “new endemics.”

Since human settlement, many placental mammals have been introduced to Australia and are now feral. The first was the Dingo; fossil evidence suggests that people from the north brought the Dingo to Australia about 5000 years ago. When Europeans settled Australia they intentionally released many species into the wild, including the Red Fox, Brown Hare, and the European Rabbit. Other domestic species have escaped and over time have produced wild populations including the cat, Fallow Deer, Red Deer, Sambar Deer, Rusa Deer, Chital, Hog Deer, Domestic Horse, Donkey, Pig, Domestic Goat, Water Buffalo, Blackbuck and the Dromedary. Only three species of Australia’s nonindigenous placental mammals were not deliberately introduced: the House Mouse, Black Rat and the Brown Rat.

Forty -six marine mammals from the order Cetacea are found in Australian coastal waters, but since many of these species have a global distribution, some authors do not consider them Australian species. There are nine species of baleen whale, including the enormous Humpback Whale. There are 37 species of toothed whale, which include all six genera of the family Ziphiidae (Beaked whales), and 21 species of oceanic dolphin, including the Australian Snubfin Dolphin, a species first described in 2005. Some oceanic dolphins, such as the Orca, can be found in all waters around the continent; others, such as the Irrawaddy Dolphin, are confined to the warm northern waters.

The Dugong is an endangered marine species that inhabits the waters of northeastern and northwestern Australia, particularly the Torres Strait. It can grow up to 3 m long and weigh as much as 400 kg. The dugong is the only herbivorous marine mammal in Australia, feeding on sea grass in coastal areas. The destruction of sea grass beds is a threat to the survival of this species. Ten species of seals and sea-lions (superfamily Pinnipedia) live off the southern Australian coast and in Sub-Antarctic Australian territories.

Birds

Australia and its territories are home to over 800 species of bird; about 350 of these are endemic to the zoogeographic region that covers Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The fossil record of birds in Australia is patchy; however, there are records of the ancestors of contemporary species as early as the Late Oligocene.[6] Birds with a Gondwanan history include the flightless ratites (the Emu and Southern Cassowary), megapodes (the Malleefowl and Australian Brush-turkey), and a huge group of endemic parrots, order Psittaciformes. Australian parrots comprise a sixth of the world’s parrots, including many cockatoos and galahs. The Kookaburra is the largest species of the kingfisher family, known for its call, which sounds uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter.

The passerines of Australia, also known as songbirds or perching birds, include wrens, robins, the magpie group, thornbills, pardalotes, the huge honeyeater family, treecreepers, lyrebirds, birds of paradise and bowerbirds. The Satin Bowerbird is a fascinating bird that has attracted the interest of evolutionary psychologists: it has a complex courtship ritual in which the male creates a bower filled with blue, shiny items to woo mates. (more…)

Flora of Australia

The most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it covers a diverse range of habitats, from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. Because of the great age and consequent low levels of fertility of the continent, its extremely variable weather patterns, and its long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia’s biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.

Many of Australia’s ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is a legal framework used for the protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created to protect and preserve Australia’s unique ecosystems, 64 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention, and 16 World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked thirteenth in the World on the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index.

Flora of Australia

Australian flora, in order to cope with the extreme conditions present in much of Australia, has evolved to cope with a common set of conditions, namely the ubiquitous presence of fire; soils low in nutrients (due to a lack of recent - geologically speaking - volcanic and glacial activity); and a lack of water. Many plants adapted special features to cope with these extreme conditions. Symbiosis and sclerophylly are very common, as are plants with sunken stomata and large root stock. The plants are very hardy, and are generally able to quickly establish themselves so as not to miss available nutrients.

Australia is the home of more than 40 per cent of the world’s carnivorous plants.

These are some Australian native trees and shrubs.
acacia (wattle)
Australian Blackwood
Cootamundra wattle
Golden wattle
Silver wattle
Acacia coriacea
Acacia cyclops
Acacia kempeana
Acacia saligna
Acacia translucens (more…)

Geography of Australia

The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being the world’s smallest continent but the sixth-largest country. The population of Australia is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. Australia is in a continental tectonic plate of the Indo-Australian Plate.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,250 mi). The world’s largest monolith, Mount Augustus, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, although Mawson Peak on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island is taller at 2,745 metres (9,006 ft).

By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest, and has the oldest and least fertile soils. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. The northern part of the country, with a tropical climate, has a vegetation consisting of rainforest, woodland, grassland and desert. Climate is highly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Nino southern oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

Climate and terrain

By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid - 40% of the landmass is covered by sand dunes. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part grasslands, and part desert.

Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons. Occasionally a duststorm will blanket a region or even several states and there are reports of the occasional large tornado. Rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas is ravaging the landscape.

Australia has had a relatively stable geological history. Geological forces such as Tectonic uplift of mountain ranges or clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in Australia’s early history, when it was still a part of Gondwana. Because of its peaceful nature, erosion and weathering has heavily weathered Australia’s surface and it is one of the flattest countries in the world.

Australia is situated in the middle of the tectonic plate, and therefore has no active volcanism, although it may sometimes receive minor earthquakes. The terrain is mostly heavily weathered, low plateau with deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in southeast. Tasmania and the Australian Alps do not contain any permanent icefields or glaciers, although they may have existed in the past. The Great Barrier Reef, by far the world’s largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast. Mount Augustus, in Western Australia, is the largest monolith in the world.
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Foreign relations of Australia

The foreign relations of Australia have spanned from the country’s time as Dominion and later Realm of the British Empire to its position as a steadfast ally of the United States throughout the Cold War to its engagement with Asia as a power in its own right. Its relations with the international community are influenced by its position as a leading trading nation and as a significant donor of humanitarian aid.

Australia’s foreign policy is guided by a commitment to multilateralism and regionalism, as well as to strong bilateral relations with its allies. Key concerns include free trade, terrorism, integration with Asia and stability in the Asia-Pacific. Australia is active in the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Foreign policy actions

Its first major independent foreign policy action was to conclude an agreement in 1944 with New Zealand dealing with the security, welfare, and advancement of the people of the independent territories of the Pacific (the ANZAC pact). After the war, Australia played a role in the Far Eastern Commission in Japan and supported Indonesian independence during that country’s revolt against the Dutch (1945-49). Australia was one of the founders of both the United Nations and the South Pacific Commission (1947), and in 1950, it proposed the Colombo Plan to assist developing countries in Asia. In addition to contributing to UN forces in Korea–it was the first country to announce it would do so after the United States–Australia sent troops to assist in putting down the communist revolt in Malaya in 1948-60 and later to combat the Indonesian-supported invasion of Sarawak in 1963-65.

Australia also sent troops to assist South Vietnamese and U.S. forces in Vietnam and joined coalition forces in the Persian Gulf conflict in 1991. Australia has been active in the Australia-New Zealand-United Kingdom agreement and the Five-Power Defense Arrangement–successive arrangements with Britain and New Zealand to ensure the security of Singapore and Malaysia.

International agencies, treaties, and agreements

One of the drafters of the UN Charter, Australia has given firm support to the United Nations and its specialized agencies. It was a member of the Security Council in 1986-87, a member of the Economic and Social Council for 1986-89, and a member of the UN Human Rights Commission for 1994-96. Australia takes a prominent part in many other UN activities, including peacekeeping, disarmament negotiations, and narcotics control. Australia also is active in meetings of the Commonwealth Heads of Government and the South Pacific Forum, and has been a leader in the Cairns Group–countries pressing for agricultural trade reform in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations–and in the APEC forum.

Australia has devoted particular attention to relations between developed and developing nations, with emphasis on the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)–Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Brunei–and the island states of the South Pacific. Australia is an active participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which promotes regional cooperation on security issues. In September 1999, acting under a UN Security Council mandate, Australia led an international coalition to restore order in East Timor upon Indonesia’s withdrawal from that territory. Australia was a particpant at the inaugral ASEAN sponsored East Asia Summit in 2005. Australia’s place at the summit was only secured after it agreed to reverse its policy and sign ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Australia had been reluctant to sign the treaty out of concerns regarding how it would effect Australia’s obligation under other treat arrangements including ANZUS.

Australia has a large bilateral aid program (about $1.3 billion for 1997-98, mostly in the form of grants) under which some 60 countries receive assistance. Papua New Guinea (PNG), a former Australian trust territory, is the largest recipient of Australian assistance. In 1997, Australia contributed to the IMF program for Thailand and assisted Indonesia and PNG with regional environmental crises. From 1997-99 Australia contributed to IMF program for Thailand and assisted Indonesia and PNG with regional environmental crisis and drought relief efforts.

Australia is party to the Australia, New Zealand, United States security treaty (ANZUS). It has also been a party of the Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom force (ANZUK).

Foreign missions

Australia has diplomatic representatives in most countries. Australia has official relations with a number of countries, with these countries it maintains an embassy or in the case of Commonwealth countries, a high commission. Australia has consulates in many countries where there are no official government ties, these serve primarily to assist Australian travellers and business people. A number of Canadian missions provide consular assistance to Australians in countries in Africa where Australia does not maintain an office. Australia also maintains a Representative Office in the Palestinian Authority.

Bilateral relationships

Australia maintains significant bilateral relations with several countries.
Anglo-Australian relations
Australia-New Zealand relations
Australia-Indonesia relations
Franco-Australian relations
Sino-Australian relations
United States-Australia relations

International disputes

Australia has a number of ongoing international disputes. Its territorial claim to Antarctica in the form of the Australian Antarctic Territory is suspended by the Antarctic Treaty. Australia’s role in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq without UN sanction has been a cause of protest. Presently, there is tension in Australia’s relations with Indonesia over the death penalty as well as Australia’s recent decision to grant temporary protection visas to 42 West Papuans, after which Indonesia’s ambassador was recalled.

Several very large drug caches worth many millions of dollars have been intercepted in coastal ambushes of drug shipping. Tasmania is in fact, one of the world’s suppliers of licit opiate products. The government maintains strict controls over areas of opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate.

Politics of Australia

The politics of Australia take place within the framework of parliamentary democracy. The government of Australia is a federation, and Australians elect state and territory legislatures as well as a bicameral Parliament of Australia based on the Westminster System.

At the national level, elections are held at least once every three years. The Prime Minister can advise the Governor-General to call an election for the House of Representatives at any time, but Senate elections can only be held within certain periods prescribed in the Constitution. The last general election was in October 2004. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia consists of two chambers:
The House of Representatives has 150 members, elected for a three year term in single-seat constituencies with a system of alternative vote known as preferential voting.

The Senate has 76 members, elected through a preferential system in 12-seat state constituencies and two-seat territorial constituencies with a system of single non-transferable vote. Electors choose territorial senators for a three-year term. The state senators serve for a six-year term, with half of the seats renewed every three years.

Political parties and elections

Three political parties dominate Australian politics. Of these, two govern together in a Coalition:
The Liberal Party is a party of the centre-right which broadly represents business, the suburban middle classes and many rural people.
Its junior coalition partner is the National Party of Australia, formerly the Country Party and now known for electoral purposes as “The Nationals”, a conservative party which represents rural interests.
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a social democratic party founded by the trade union movement and broadly represents the urban working class, although it increasingly has a base of middle class support.

Minor parties include:

The Australian Democrats, a party of middle-class liberals
The Australian Greens, a left-wing and environmentalist party
The Country Liberal Party, a party which only represents the Northern Territory. It is part of the Liberal/National Coalition
The Family First Party, a party appealing to conservative Christians.

The proportional representation system allows these parties to win seats in the Australian Senate and in the state upper houses, but they have usually been unable to win seats in the House of Representatives (the Greens won a House seat at a 2002 by-election, but lost it in the 2004 general election).

The Liberal/National coalition came to power in the March 1996 election, ending 13 years of Labor government and making John Howard Prime Minister. He was subsequently re-elected in October 1998, November 2001 and October 2004. The coalition now holds a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the Liberal/National coalition was in a minority until the 2004 election, but from July 2005 it has a working majority there. Until 2004, lacking a majority in the Senate, the Liberal/National coalition relied on negotiations with the smaller parties and independents to secure the passage of legislation.

Since its election, Howard’s conservative coalition has moved to reduce the government’s fiscal deficit and the influence of organised labour, placing more emphasis on workplace-based collective bargaining for wages. The Howard government also accelerated the pace of privatisation of government-owned enterprises that began with the Hawke Labor government.

During its first two terms, the government’s most sweeping change was the introduction of a goods and services tax. With the re-election of the Howard government in 2004, several significant and controversial bills have been passed, due to the government’s newly-acquired Senate majority.

These major changes have included a radical revamp of industrial relations laws, an introduction of voluntary student unionism, and the full privatisation of telecommunications company Telstra. These changes have sparked major debate within Australia, forcing many critics to question whether the Howard government has lived up to its promise to use its Senate majority wisely.

The Howard government has reversed the foreign policy of its predecessor, placing renewed emphasis on relations with Australia’s traditional allies, the United States and Britain and downgrading support for the United Nations in favour of bilateralism. Both major parties support maintaining good relations with regional powers such as China, Japan and Indonesia, although issues such as the independence of East Timor have sometimes made this difficult. Australia has become increasingly involved in the internal difficulties of its smaller neighbours, such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Nauru.

The list of political parties in Australia comprises the names and federal leaders of significant political parties as well as the names of other parties, including formerly significant parties.

Administrative divisions

In the states and territories, elections are held at least once every four years (except in Queensland, which has three-year terms).

In New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, election dates are fixed by legislation. However, the other state premiers and territory Chief Ministers have the same discretion in calling elections as the Prime Minister at the national level. (See Main articles: Australian electoral system, Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories).

Regional or local government within each state is handled by Local Government Areas and unlike other equivalent forms of local government such as those of the United States, have relatively little power compared to the state governments.

Government of Australia

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a federation and a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement between what were previously six self-governing British colonies. The terms of this agreement are embodied in the Australian Constitution, which was drawn up at a Constitutional Convention and ratified by the people of the colonies at referendums.

Structure of the government

The structure of the Australian Government may be examined in light of two distinct concepts, namely: Federalism: Australia has both a federal government called the Commonwealth Government as well as state and local governments; and
Separation of powers into legislative, executive and judiciary branches of government. Separation of powers is implied from the structure of the Constitution which breaks down the branches of government into separate chapters.

Federalism

States and Territories of Australia: 1. ACT; 2. NSW; 3. Victoria; 4. Queensland; 5. SA; 6. WA; 7. Tasmania; 8. NT

The Australian Constitution (The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900) creates a federal legislature known as the Parliament of the Commonwealth (Section 1). The bicameral parliament consists of the Queen and two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives (Section 1). Section 51 of the Constitution provides for the Commonwealth Government’s legislative powers and allocates certain powers and responsibilities (known as “heads of power”) to the Commonwealth government. All remaining responsibilities were retained by the six colonies, which under the Constitution became States of the Commonwealth of Australia. Further, each state has their own State Constitution so that Australia actually has seven sovereign state Parliaments, none of which can encroach on the functions of the other. The High Court of Australia arbitrates on any disputes which arise between the Commonwealth and the States, or among the States, concerning their respective functions.

The Commonwealth Parliament can propose changes to the Constitution which must receive the support of a majority of those voting in a referendum and a majority of voters in a majority of States, what is called the “double majority” or “dual criteria”, and also the majority of voters in each affected State.

The Commonwealth Constitution also provides that the States can agree to refer any of their powers to the Commonwealth if they choose. This may be achieved by way of an amendment to the Constitution via referendum (a vote on whether the proposed transfer of power from the States to the Commonwealth, or vice versa, should be implimented). More commonly powers may be transferred by passing other acts of legislation which authorise the transfer and such acts require the legislative agreement of all the state governments involved. This “transfer” legislation may have a “sunset clause”, a legislative provision that nullifies the transfer of power after a specified period, at which point the original division of power is restored.

In addition, Australia has three self-governing territories: the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island. These Territories do not have their own Constitutions. Instead, the legislatures of these territories exercise powers delegated to them by the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Parliament retains the power to override territorial legislation and to transfer powers to or from the territories.

The federal nature of the Commonwealth and the structure of the Parliament of Australia was the subject of protracted negotiations among the colonies during the drafting of the Constitution. The House of Representatives is elected on a basis which reflects the differing populations of the States. Thus New South Wales has 50 members of the House while Tasmania has five. But the Australian Senate is elected on a basis of equality among the States: all States elect 12 Senators, regardless of population. This was intended to prevent the Parliament being dominated by the interests of the two most populous States, New South Wales and Victoria, as the Senators of the smaller States could form a majority and amend or even reject bills originating in the House of Representatives.

The third level of government after the Commonwealth and the States is local government, in the form of shire, town or city councils. These bodies administer the provision of services such as local roads, sanitation, libraries, dog registration etc. Councils are composed of elected representatives, usually serving on a part time basis.

Separation of Powers

Government is undertaken by three inter-connected arms of government:
Legislature - The Commonwealth Parliament
Executive - The Sovereign, whose executive power is exercisable by The Governor-General, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers, Ministers and their Departments
Judiciary - The High Court of Australia and subsidiary Federal courts.

The Separation of Powers is the principle whereby the three arms of government undertake their activities separate from each other:
the Legislature proposes laws in the form of Bills, and provides a legislative framework for the operations of the other two arms.
the Executive enacts the laws by Royal Assent, administers the laws and carries out the tasks assigned to it by legislation;
the Judiciary hears cases arising from the administration of the law, using both statute law and the common law. The Australian courts cannot give advisory opinions on the constitutionality of laws. the other arms cannot influence the Judiciary.

Until the passage of the Australia Act 1986, and associated legislation in the parliament of the United Kingdom, some Australian cases could be referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for final appeal. With this act, Australian law was made unequivocally sovereign, and the High Court of Australia was confirmed as the highest court of appeal. The theoretical possibility of the British Parliament enacting laws to override the Australian Constitution was also removed.(Act:pdf)

Head of state

Because the Australian Constitution dates from 1900, when the Dominions of the British Empire were not independent states in their own right, the term “head of state” is not used in the Australian Constitution. Australia, like the other Dominions, became in practice independent from the United Kingdom following the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 (although the Statute was not adopted in Australia until 1942). The effect of the Statute was to sever all legislative links between the United Kingdom and Australia, leaving the Crown as the only remaining connection, thus formalising Australia’s status as an independent state. Recognising this, the Australian Parliament in 1973 gave the Queen the title Queen of Australia, thus confirming her status as Australia’s head of state.

Section 61 of the Constitution provides that ‘The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen’s representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth’.

Section 2 of the Australian Constitution provides that a Governor-General shall represent the Queen in Australia and the Governor-General carries out virtually all the functions of a head of state, without reference to the Queen. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia. The current Governor-General, Major General Michael Jeffery, said in 2004: “Her Majesty is Australia’s head of state but I am her representative and to all intents and purposes I carry out the full role.” However the Governor-General does not represent Australia internationally. Where he travels, he travels as the representative of the Queen of Australia, and it is she, not he, for example, who is toasted by international leaders at state dinners, etc. See De facto head of state.

Although it is the both the official view of the Australian Government and the view of the majority of constitutional experts that the Queen of Australia is Australia’s head of state, some Australians maintain that since the Governor-General carries virtually all the functions of a head of state, the Governor-General ought to be regarded as Australia’s head of state.

Under the conventions of the Westminister system the Governor-General’s powers are almost always exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister or other ministers. The Governor-General retains reserve powers similar to those possessed by the Queen in the United Kingdom. These are rarely exercised, but during the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975 Governor-General Sir John Kerr demonstrated a willingness to use them independently of the Queen.

Australia has periodically experienced movements seeking to end the monarchy. In a 1999 referendum, the Australian people voted on a proposal to change the Constitution. The proposal would have removed references to the Queen from the Constitution and replaced the Governor-General with a President nominated by the Prime Minister, but subject to the approval of a two-thirds majority of both Houses of the Parliament. The proposal was defeated. The Australian Republican Movement continues to campaign for an end to the monarchy in Australia, opposed by Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.

Legislature

The Legislature makes the laws, and supervises the activities of the other two arms with a view to changing the laws when appropriate. The Australian Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the Queen, a 76-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. Twelve Senators from each state are elected for six-year terms and two from each territory are elected for three-year terms using proportional representation and the single transferable vote (known in Australia as “preferential voting”: see Australian electoral system), with half elected every three years.

The members of the House of Representatives are elected by preferential voting from single-member constituencies allocated among the states and territories roughly in proportion to population. In ordinary legislation, the two chambers have coordinate powers, but all proposals for appropriating revenue or imposing taxes must be introduced in the House of Representatives. Under the prevailing Westminster system, the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that wins a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives is named Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are responsible to the Parliament, of which they must be elected members. General elections are held at least once every three years. The Prime Minister has a discretion to advise the Governor-General to call an election for the House of Representatives at any time, but Senate elections can only be held within certain periods prescribed in the Constitution. The last general election was in October 2004.

Executive

Executive Council

The Federal Executive Council consists of the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and Ministers. It is a formal body which exists to give legal effect to decisions made by the Cabinet, and to carry out various other functions. Members of the Executive Council are entitled to be styled “The Honourable”, a title which they retain for life. The Governor-General usually presides at Council meetings, but a Minister with the title Vice-President of the Executive Council serves as the link between the government and the Council.

Cabinet

The Constitution of Australia does not recognise the Cabinet as a legal entity, and its decisions have no legal force. All members of the ministry are also members of the Executive Council, a body which is chaired by the Governor-General and which meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. That is why there is always a member of the ministry holding the title Vice-President of the Executive Council.

Until 1956 all members of the ministry were members of the Cabinet. The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding Cabinet rank. This practice has been continued by all governments except the Whitlam Government. (more…)

History of Australia

The history of Australia began when humans first migrated to the Australian continent from the north, at least 40,000-45,000 years before present. This period is referred to as the prehistory of Australia. The written history of Australia began when European explorers first sighted the country. It has been divided into two periods: before and after Federation in 1901. The interpretation of the history of Australia is currently the matter of contention, particulary regarding the treatment of Indigenous Australians. These debates are often known as the History wars.

The first undisputed recorded European sighting of the Australian continent was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Jansz, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the seventeenth century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Britain. The expedition’s discoveries provided impetus for the establishment of a penal colony there following the loss of the American colonies that had previously filled that role.

The British Crown Colony of New South Wales started with the establishment of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to become Australia’s national day, Australia Day. Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Australia in 1829. Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory (NT) was founded in 1863 as part of the Province of South Australia. South Australia was founded as a “free province” - that is, it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded “free”, but later accepted transported convicts. The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1864.

The Indigenous Australian population, estimated at about 350,000 at the time of European settlement,[3] declined steeply for 150 years following settlement, mainly because of infectious disease combined with forced re-settlement and cultural disintegration. The removal of children, that some historians and Indigenous Australians have argued could be considered to constitute genocide by today’s understanding,[4] may have made a small contribution to the decline in the indigenous population. Such interpretations of Aboriginal history are disputed by some as being exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological reasons.[5] [6] This debate is known within Australia as the History Wars. Following the 1967 referendum, the Federal government gained the power to implement policies and make laws with respect to Aborigines. Traditional ownership of land - native title - was not recognised until the High Court case Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the notion of Australia as terra nullius at the time of European occupation.

Prehistory of Australia

The prehistory of Australia is a term which may be used to describe the period of approximately 40,000-45,000 years (or more, as is contended by some studies) between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the first known sighting of Australia by Europeans in 1606, which may be taken as the beginning of the recent history of Australia. This era is referred to as prehistory rather than history because there are no written records of human events in Australia which pre-date this contact.

History of Australia before 1901

Records of the discovery of the Australian continent by European expeditions date back to the early 17th century. The first known sighting was in 1606 by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who in his ship Duyfken navigated the Gulf of Carpentaria, sighting and making landfall on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. Some writers have argued that Portuguese navigators may have discovered Australia in the 16th century (see Theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia), but there is no firm evidence to support this theory. Other 17th century European voyagers (predominantly Dutch, but also French and English) were to follow suit, and by the start of the 18th century the western and northern coastlines of what had become known as “New Holland” had been charted. No attempts to establish settlements were made, however.

In 1770, the expedition of the Endeavour under command of British Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook navigated and charted the east coast of Australia, making first landfall at Botany Bay on April 29, 1770. Cook continued northwards, and before leaving put ashore on Possession Island in the Torres Strait off Cape York on August 22, 1770. Here he formally claimed the eastern coastline he had discovered for the Crown, naming it New South Wales. Given that Cook’s discoveries would lead to the first European settlement of Australia, he is often popularly conceived as its European discoverer, although he had been preceded by more than 160 years. (more…)