Although they were basically criminals, bushrangers in Australia developed a sympathetic image rather like heroes. Because they were sometimes the descendants of convicts, had been hard done by, by the authorities, and eeked out a hard-earned living in the bush, they were supported by the population. As some of these bushrangers also shared their spoils with the poorer people around them, they developed associations with the legendary Robin Hood, and their following increased accordingly.
But in reality, they were more often than not, hard and tough criminals who stole for their own benefit, and were prepared to kill if necessary. Rather than a romantic period of Australian history, it was in reality a terrifying period for most citizens and a black period of the nation's past.
As only a few of the Australian bushrangers are well known, modern Australians are generally unaware just how many bushrangers there were and how widespread this criminal class was. But the bushranging industry went for longer than America's "wild west" period; there were more bushrangers per capita in Australia than outlaws in America, and Australia's bushrangers carried more guns per head than their American counterparts.
The main period of Australia's bushranging spanned 100 years from the first bushranger, Black Caesar, to the capture of the Kelly gang in 1880. There were 6,000 bushrangers during this period and most of these felons carried an average of two firearms.
In comparison with America, the Australian west was in fact far wilder than that portrayed in Hollywood.
\BDescription:\b Wingfield bushranger - British pepperbox revolver, around \J1836\j-60 \I(Mitchell Library)\i
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"Robin Hood and Dick Turpin Tradition",3,"0","g","0"
These criminals were following a tradition laid down by the legendary English highway robbers Robin Hood and Dick Turpin.
Robin Hood, with his band of merry-men, used bows and arrows to hold up coach or horse travellers on the roads passing through Sherwood Forest, stealing their money and valuables and distributing this to his followers and poor people in the district.
As a result, Robin Hood developed a wonderful image as a "knight in shining armour", and a model to be emulated.
Centuries later, Dick Turpin then developed a glamorous image for stopping stage coaches on the highway by standing in front of the coach in the middle of the road and calling out "Stand and Deliver", with his gun pointed straight at the driver. Having got away with it for some time, he became the model for would-be thieves with courage and flair.
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"Convict Traditions",4,"g\3\rsmh61.jpg","c","0"
Many of the convicts transported to Australia had been convicted for highway robbery in the classic English tradition of Robin Hood and Dick Turpin, so they brought the habit with them. When released they continued to steal in the way they knew best. Old habits die hard.
The most famous of the Australian convicts apprehended for highway robbery was Mary Broad, who robbed Agnes Lakeman on the King's Highway in 1787, with two other women Catherine Shepherd and Margaret Fryor. Mary stole a silk bonnet and when caught was sentenced to be hung. After this was commuted to seven years imprisonment, she served her time in the New South Wales penal colony before escaping back to England - adding glamour to the image of the bushranger. And Mary was only one of many highway robbers sent to Australia.
\BDescription:\b Prison hulk \ISuccess (Courtesy SMH)\i
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"1788: Black Caesar - The First Bushranger",5,"g\3\rsmh60.jpg","c","0"
The first known bushranger in the Australian experience was a seven foot black Madagascan called John \JCaesar\j, but known as "Black \JCaesar\j". Convicted in London for stealing, and transported to the colonies on the First Fleet, he developed a reputation as a fierce fighter and hungry eater who had the appetite of three men. As the colony was always short of food and all the convicts were on rations, he escaped and joined the Aborigines.
Black \JCaesar\j set up a base in a cave outside of Sydney and led armed Aboriginal raiding parties into the settlement, stealing goats, sheep, chickens and other food. He also held up lone travellers and stole all their possessions until he was eventually betrayed by his adopted Aboriginal gang and shot dead.
\BDescription:\b Government gaol gang \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Convicts on the Run",6,"g\3\king0006.jpg","c","0"
From \J1788\j onwards, a number of convicts escaped on a regular basis heading into the bush where they set up headquarters. They somehow stole guns and organised themselves into gangs of escaped convicts, living off the bush and their takings from unsuspecting travellers.
These unnamed escaped convicts hid in camps outside Sydney to begin with, but their plans were often to raise enough funds to buy their passage on a visiting foreign ship that would take them back to Europe or to America, India, or China - where these ships were normally going.
Some of these escaped convicts believed China was just over the \JBlue Mountains\j, and so robbed people on the roads toward the \JBlue Mountains\j to get enough money for supplies so they could walk to China.
The New South Wales Corps eventually caught, shot or hung most of these escaped convicts on the run, thus ending an early period of bushranging.
\BDescription:\b Bushrangers hold up a mail coach \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1813-18: Michael Howe - The First Recorded White Bushranger",7,"f\8\king0054.jpg","c","0"
The first recorded white bushranger was Michael Howe, a classic case of the highway robber from England, who carried on the tradition in the colonies.
Howe had served in the Yorkshire Army as a soldier. After some years of training, he deserted and was caught robbing a stage coach on the King's Highway.Transported to Van Diemen's Land at the age of 24, he soon escaped and created a private army of disciplined convicts whom he had also helped escape. Howe then declared himself "The Governor of the Ranges" and sent a letter to the Governor of Hobart declaring he now controlled the bush outside the settlement. As his gang was so well regimented, they successfully waged war on the settlers on the outskirts of Hobart for some years. They captured black women and forced them to become their mistresses.
For a while it appeared they could not be stopped.
Michael Howe had become so powerful after some years that he sent a demand to the governor of Hobart that he be set free and given a pardon.
In an effort to stop Howe, the governor of Hobart agreed to his request, granting him a free pardon. Howe returned to Hobart and resumed a normal life until the governor was not able to have the pardon ratified by higher authorities and so had to revoke the pardon. Howe fled back into the bush with his gang to resume his war on society.
The governor declared him an outlaw and put a price on his head. Two "ticket of leave" men tried to capture Howe while he was asleep, but he outfought them, killing both.
Then on 21 October \J1818\j, three men surprised him while he was resting under a tree and beat him to death on the spot with their rifle butts.
\BDescription:\b Michael Howe is beaten to death \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1822: Matt Gabbitt - The Cannibal Bushranger",8,"g\3\740048.jpg","c","0"
One of Australia's worst bushrangers was Matt Gabbitt, who escaped into the bush with a group of fellow convicts from the Macquarie Harbour convict colony, which was one of the most cruel penal settlements in Australia.
Gabbitt and his men raided the outlying settlers and stole from travellers on the tracks striking fear into the hearts of the colonists. But unfortunately there were not enough settlers and so Gabbitt and his men ran out of food. Gabbitt began to kill and eat his small gang, one by one. The different gang members helped him, hoping they would survive, but after some months in the bush hideout, Gabbitt had killed and eaten them all. Eventually he ran out of human flesh to eat, and weak and half-crazy from his wild life on the run, he returned to Macquarie Harbour penal settlement and gave himself up - still with a half-eaten arm sticking out of his jacket pocket.
\BDescription:\b Painting of a bushranger holdup \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
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"1824: Matthew Brady - The Gentleman Bushranger",9,"e\6\bushrang.jpg","c","0"
\JMatthew Brady\j was transported to Macquarie Harbour at 27 years of age for forgery, arson, horse stealing, and murder. He escaped in \J1824\j into the bush with a gang of thirteen men where he set up a gang headquarters.
His gang robbed travellers and outlying settlers, gaining wealth and a reputation. He was nicknamed the "gentleman bushranger", because he was so polite to women, thanked those he robbed, and never killed free men. He attacked the prison at Sorell, 14 miles east of Hobart, and released all the convicts and put the guards behind bars.
Brady shot and killed a series of policemen who tried to capture him, losing his own men in the battles. Eventually one of his men betrayed him, and the troops ambushed him, wounding Brady in the battle. Although he escaped into the bush, he was forced to surrender, after which he was tried, found guilty, and hung.
"Musquito - The Black Outlaw",10,"g\3\gun.jpg","c","0"
A Tasmanian Aboriginal-turned-criminal, "Musquito the Black Outlaw", followed the example of the white bushranger Michael Howe, whom he had actually helped track down and kill in \J1818\j, but afterwards he became a bushranger himself.
Musquito resented the way Howe and other whites treated black women, and so campaigned against the bushrangers and settlers who raped and kidnapped Aboriginal women. He stole from travellers and outlying settlers to get food and money. He murdered a stockman, William Hollyoak, in November \J1823\j and was pursued, caught, tried, and hung on 25 February \J1825\j in Hobart.
This put an end to one of the most famous Aboriginal bushrangers in Australian history.
\BDescription:\b Wingfield bushranger - British pepperbox revolver, around \J1836\j-60 \I(Mitchell Library)\i
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"1825: Song Hero - Bold Jack Donohoe",11,"f\8\king0015.jpg","c","0"
Australia's most celebrated bushranger through song was bold John (Jack) Donohoe - also known as Jack Doolan - "the wild colonial boy".
He was transported to Australia for life in \J1825\j. After working on a road gang and then as an assigned servant for two years in New South Wales, he escaped and formed a gang of three bushrangers, robbing bullock drays on the Sydney-Windsor road for some time. When the troopers surprised them, capturing his two mates, Donohoe escaped and created another gang of bushrangers in south-east NSW for another five years, until he was tracked down and shot by a trooper in \J1830\j.
The song that still sings his praises is "The Wild Colonial Boy", which exercises poetic licence in transferring the location in the first couple of lines:
"There was a wild colonial boy Jack Donohoe was his name,
Of poor but honest parents he was born in Castlemaine".
\BDescription:\b "Wild Colonial Boy" - bushrangers on St. Kilda Road - painted by William Strutt \I(Jonathan King)\i
Edward Davis was transported to Australia in the \J1830\js for crimes committed in England, arriving in New South Wales to serve out his seven years. However, within months he escaped into the bush and formed a gang of escaped convicts. He was one of only two known Jewish bushrangers.
Davis and his gang operated in the Hunter Valley and Maitland area.
After two successful years, the Jewboy's gang shot and killed a shop assistant in Scone, and so the troopers increased their efforts to track him down. The gang was caught soon after, tried, found guilty, and hung in 1841.
\BDescription:\b Bushrangers hold up a mail coach - painted by S.T. Gill \I(Jonathan King)\i
A former convict from Tasmania, Frank McCallum, moved to the mainland to start a new life in Victoria but found his old habits died hard. Short of money and tempted by the goldrush, he resumed his life of crime forming a gang in the Mount Macedon region. Calling himself Captain Melville, he rode out from Mount Macedon hideouts to attack travellers going to the gold fields.
Caught by the troopers after some time, he was sentenced to the Hobson's Bay Hulk for twelve years hard labour. He escaped in \J1856\j with a group of prisoners who killed the soldier in charge of the work gang. Caught again, he was sent to Melbourne where he evaded the death sentence but was found strangled with a handkerchief.
\BDescription:\b Death mask of Captain Melville \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"Late 1850s: Frank Gardiner",14,"f\9\king0029.jpg","c","0"
A Goulburn settler, \JFrank Gardiner\j, was caught stealing horses in \J1850\j and sentenced to five years. He escaped after five weeks however, but was caught and put back in prison. On his release in \J1859\j he resumed his horse stealing profession until apprehended by three police officers whom he shot and wounded. Although they managed to recapture him, he escaped once again.
Gardiner held up the Lachlan gold escort between Forbes and Orange and stole fourteen thousand pounds - one of the largest hauls even stolen by a bushranger in Australia.
Although some of his gang were caught and hung, he escaped to Queensland where he managed a pub in Apis Creek under another name, until betrayed two years later by an ex-convict and sentenced to 32 years in prison.
Gardiner was released after ten years on the condition he left Australia and migrated to San Francisco, where he opened another hotel - becoming one of the few bushrangers to survive and live to a ripe old age.
"1863: The French Bushrangers",15,"f\9\king0030.jpg","c","0"
Although most bushrangers came from England, three bushrangers born in France started up business in \J1863\j copying the English tradition. Louis Deuchef, Charles Robardi and Auguste Rivet migrated to Australia after the goldrush started, but failing to find gold decided to take it from others who had found gold.
The three Frenchmen eventually grew desperate and murdered one of the carriers driving a coach full of gold, Daniel Crotty, in western New South Wales. The three were caught; Robardi was hung, Rivet was given life imprisonment, and Louis Deuchef was tried - five years afterwards he was hung as the main murderer.
\BDescription:\b Lambing Flat goldfields where bushrangers used to strike \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1860s: Daniel Morgan",16,"e\10\king0028.jpg","c","0"
One of Australia's most terrifying bushrangers was \JDaniel Morgan\j. The 1970s film \IMad Dog Morgan\i labelled Daniel Morgan as 'Mad Dog' although reports indicate that he was never called 'Mad Dog' when he was alive. He was born in Campbelltown in \J1830\j and began holding up coaches around Wagga Wagga in \J1862\j. Morgan lasted till August \J1863\j when the police raided his camp and killed his mate "German Bill" in a shoot-out which also cost police lives. Morgan escaped to continue bushranging.
The police next caught him at Tumbarumba, but Morgan shot his way out of the ambush and continued his bushranging.
On 8 April \J1865\j, Morgan held up Peechelba Station owned by the Macphersons, forcing everyone to stay put overnight. A servant girl escaped and told neighbours who came back next morning and shot and killed Morgan as he left the homestead.
"1860s: Ben Hall - The Successful Bushranger",17,"g\3\king0008.jpg","c","0"
From the early \J1860\js onwards, the New South Welsh bushranger \JBen Hall\j and his gang held up sixty travellers on the Jugiong to \JGundagai\j Road, amassing a small fortune and developing a reputation as an invincible bushranger. Hall's gang even ambushed and held up the official mail coach between \JGundagai\j and Yass, despite it being heavily armed. They feared nothing.
\JBen Hall\j held up the township of Canowindra, forcing the townsfolk to stay indoors while he took what he needed, and entertained the locals with games and yarns, winning their respect.
Eventually on 5 May \J1865\j, a large party of police caught up with \JBen Hall\j and shot him dead on the Lachlan Plain - but not before he developed a reputation as the most successful bushranger up to that time.
\BDescription:\b The death of \JBen Hall\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1860s: John Gilbert - The Canadian Bushranger",18,"g\3\king0009.jpg","c","0"
John Gilbert was born in Canada and migrated to Australia seeking his fortune during the goldrushes. Proving to be unlucky he turned to bushranging in the early \J1860\js. He joined both \JFrank Gardiner\j's gang and then \JBen Hall\j's gang, acquiring a great deal of valuable experience. He put this to good use, robbing mail coaches and travellers successfully, until the reward on his head increased to such an extent that he was betrayed.
One night as he stayed in the Binalong region with an old man who had offered him friendship as a surrogate grandfather, the old man sneaked out of the hut and tipped off the police, who came and shot Gilbert before he could leave the house.
\JBanjo Paterson\j, who grew up in the region soon afterwards, was so disgusted with this betrayal he wrote a poem exposing the deceit - \IHow Gilbert Died.\i
\BDescription:\b The death of John Gilbert - he was shot dead by police in 1865, one week after one of his gang members, \JBen Hall\j was also shot dead by police \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1860s: Brotherly Bushrangers - The Clarke Gang",19,"f\9\king0031.jpg","c","0"
Two brothers, John and Thomas Clarke, teamed up with a gang of bushrangers who robbed travellers on the roads and held up stage coaches in New South Wales for many months in the mid \J1860\js.
By \J1866\j they had held up at least twenty coaches or travellers and were wanted for a range of crimes and so the reward increased. A party of police who tracked them down in \J1867\j fought them in a fierce gun battle in which four police aides were killed. With the net getting tighter, the brothers gave themselves up and were tried, found guilty, and hung in \J1867\j at Sydney's Darlinghurst gaol.
\BDescription:\b The Clarke brothers \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1867: Police Bushranger - Tom Griffith",20,"g\3\king0011.jpg","c","0"
With all the gold being discovered in the colony, the temptation was too much for some people and Thomas Griffith, who was a Police Magistrate and a Gold Commissioner, turned to crime to pay his debts. Having gambled for many years and lost, he could not resist stealing the gold he had been entrusted with. He took to the roads and held up escorted coaches which he knew would be carrying gold.
Things went well for a while. Then Griffith met his match when two troopers put up a fight on a gold escort in \J1867\j and he had to kill both of them to get the gold.
Within weeks, the search for this police traitor succeeded and Griffith was caught, tried, and hung for murder.
\BDescription:\b Here we see gold commissioners issuing licences - Tom Griffith was a gold commissioner turned bushranger \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"Captain Thunderbolt - His Early Days",21,"g\3\thunderb.jpg","c","0"
\JCaptain Thunderbolt\j was born at Windsor, NSW, in 1835, although there is no record of his birth. He spent his younger days at Wilberforce, NSW.
Fred Ward had been sent to Cockatoo Island for seven years after being falsely accused of horsestealing. After spending a number of years on Cockatoo, Ward was put on a Ticket of Leave, but, because he never reported to the police at Mudgee, he was sent back to Cockatoo. It was this time that Ward escaped from Cockatoo Island with Fred Britton, on September 11th, 1863. It is said that they escaped with the help of Ward's lover, Mary Ann Bugg.
The first days of bushranging for Fred Ward were about to begin. It is known that the first offence of Ward's bushranging career was the hold-up of the toll-keeper at Maitland on the Rutherford Road.
Mary Ann Bugg spent a lot of time with Thunderbolt on his robberies, dressing up as a man and staying out of sight to act as a lookout. Mary and Ward were married and they had four children.
Three other bushrangers, McKay, Long and McIntosh, worked with Thunderbolt in robberies in the far west of NSW. They had a hideout in the hills of the Nandewar Ranges near Narrabri.
\IThis information and photo supplied courtesy of Noel Sadler, author of the book The Life and Legend of Thunderbolt.\i
\JCaptain Thunderbolt\j, whose real name was Frederick Ward, started life in New England as a stockman where he learnt to ride hard and fast. In \J1864\j he began robbing stagecoaches and travellers in the far west New South Wales district of Bourke. He also robbed inns, banks, and shops and was accumulating a small fortune and developing a formidable reputation. He succeeded in robbing mail coaches on the Liverpool Plains for five years.
Thunderbolt's style was to lie in wait behind a large boulder by the road, and then rush out like a bolt from the blue and attack the unsuspecting mail coach, get the money and disappear back into the bush - like a thunderbolt.
After a successful robbery at Uralla, Thunderbolt drank, danced, and made merry in the local hotel, not realising the locals had betrayed him, tipping off the police. Two policemen chased him as he escaped from the pub; Constable Walker shot Thunderbolt's horse from under him, and then shot Thunderbolt dead as he tried to swim across a river.
"Captain Moonlite - A Lay Preacher",23,"f\1\king0027.jpg","c","0"
A Lay Preacher, Andrew George Scott from Gundagai, decided to forsake God's cloth and take to the roads as a bushranger in the 1860s. In 1869 he disguised himself in a cloak and mask and stole 1,000 pounds from a bank at Egerton in Ballarat, full of gold from the nearby goldfields.
Although two of his gang were charged, he escaped until caught later for suspected fraud. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to two years. Then he was found guilty of the Egerton robbery and sentenced to ten years.
After getting out of prison, he and his gang continued robbing travellers and mail coaches, until the police caught them; they killed one policeman in a gun battle that also claimed two of Moonlite's gang.
By \J1880\j the net had tightened on the former man of God and he was caught, tried, and hung in Darlinghurst gaol.
"1878: Kelly Gang - Introduction",24,"e\9\king0032.jpg","c","0"
Australia's most famous bushrangers were the Kelly Gang. They were one of the last big gangs, succeeded for longer than most, were better organised and had flamboyant style in their mode of operations and appearance - especially the armour they used.
If any bushranging gang picked up the traditions of England's highway robbers Robin Hood and Dick Turpin, it was the Kelly Gang. They were poor settlers who were hard done by at the hands of local authorities, as an Irish underclass in a predominantly English power structure. They also shared their stolen wealth with the people around them. Like Robin Hood and Dick Turpin, they developed a mythological image as larger-than-life heroes - even though they were still common thieves and murderers.
"Kelly Gang Profile",25,"g\3\king0035.jpg","c","0"
\JNed Kelly\j was born in Beveridge in \J1855\j, son of Irish parents from Killarney and County Antrim. His father John was transported for stealing two pigs. Kelly grew up with horses in the bush and became a good rider of his own and other people's horses, getting into trouble with the authorities from time to time for his free-wheeling style.
Dan Kelly was born in \J1861\j and grew up along side Ned as a close friend. He also rode well and had an eye for other people's horses.
Joe Byrne was born in Woolshed near Beechworth in \J1857\j and unlike the others, was well-educated, which enabled him to become deputy leader of the gang. He began his life of crime by cattle stealing.
Steve Hart was born near Wangaratta in \J1860\j and had many a brush with the police before joining the gang.
\BDescription:\b Steve Hart was part of the Kelly gang \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1878: Kelly Gang - The Start of a Life of Crime",26,"g\3\king0036.jpg","c","0"
The Kelly family grew up in central Victoria like any other rural family struggling to make ends meet until April \J1878\j, when a local trooper named Fitzpatrick tried to arrest Dan Kelly for suspected horse stealing. \JNed Kelly\j would not hear of the police laying hands on his brother or of him being arrested, so shot Fitzpatrick in the wrist.
To avoid reprisals, Ned and Dan then fled into the Wombat Ranges where they set up camp in the hills they knew well. Two of their mates then joined them - Steve Hart and Joe Byrne.
The police raided their camp at Stringybark Creek on 26 October \J1878\j - but the Kelly gang fought back. \JNed Kelly\j shot and killed three of the policemen - Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlon - but a fourth officer, McIntyre, escaped.
From that moment on, the government declared the four Kelly gang members outlaws, and put a high price on their heads.
\BDescription:\b Constable Scanlon was killed by the Kelly gang \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1878: The Kelly Gang Adventures",27,"e\9\kelly.jpg","c","0"
To support themselves, the Kelly gang began a life of crime in the district. To equip themselves, they manufactured suits of armour from metal ploughshears to protect themselves from police bullets during their armed hold-ups. They also set up a "bush telegraph" system among their widespread family and friends to inform them of all police activities and plans.
Their first job was raiding Euroa on 10 December \J1878\j, stealing food and money from the banks and shops in the town. On 8 February \J1879\j they raided Jerilderie, holding up banks and shopkeepers and locking all the townsfolk up, after which they helped themselves to what they wanted.
The gang then retreated to their hideout in the Wombat Ranges where they lived off their takings until they needed more.
On June 27 \J1880\j, Joe Byrne rode down to the house of Aaron Sherritt and shot him as he opened his door, because Sherritt had gone to the police and betrayed the gang's place of hiding.
The gang raided the town of Glenrowan, helping themselves to food and money and locking the locals up in the local hotel where they entertained them in the usual style, not realising they were about to be betrayed - and the police would come in great numbers.
"1880: Kelly Gang - The Betrayal",28,"g\3\king0033.jpg","c","0"
After three years on the rampage, the Kelly gang established a base at the Glenrowan Hotel, deciding to fight it out with the police when they came to get them. They drank and talked with the local townspeople they held captive, and played games with them while they waited.
Anticipating the troopers would come by rail, Kelly planned to derail the train by lifting the rails off to the side near a hill top, hoping the troop-train would roll down the hill, killing the police. He told his captives his plans, and a school teacher, Thomas Curnow, who asked to be allowed to go home to his sick wife, actually went to the railway track and warned the police train by waving a lantern before it got to the spot. The train stopped just in time and the troopers dismounted and, led by Curnow, advanced on the Glenrowan Hotel .
\BDescription:\b Dan Kelly \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1880: Kelly Gang - The Shootout",29,"g\3\king0034.jpg","c","0"
Led by Superintendent Hare, and assisted by local Constable Bracken, the troopers who had travelled up from Melbourne decided on arrival at Glenrowan to attack the Kelly gang at the local Glenrowan Hotel.
They started surrounding the hotel taking up positions before midnight. The Kelly gang, seeing the police coming, shot at them through the windows, wounding Superintendent Hare in the wrist and forcing him to retire. A gun battle developed between the 37 police surrounding the hotel and the four members of the Kelly gang.
The Kelly gang allowed the civilians to leave the hotel whenever there was a lull in the fighting.
Although a few police were hit, \JNed Kelly\j was also shot in the foot, arm and thumb, forcing him to retreat into the bush while it was still dark, from where he hoped to attack the police from behind. Despite their armour, the other members of the gang were killed. Joe Byrne was shot in the groin and died. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart were both shot dead, leaving the Glenrowan Hotel empty of bushrangers and enabling the police to set fire to the hotel and burn it to the ground.
\BDescription:\b Joe Byrne was shot and killed by the police \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1880: Ned Kelly - The Last Stand",30,"g\3\king0037.jpg","c","0"
As the dawn broke, \JNed Kelly\j in all his armour approached the police line from their rear and began shooting at them. Rather than escape, he had tried to win the fight by this rear guard attack. Despite his wounds, he fought them for half an hour before being shot in his unprotected legs and brought to the ground.
The police stripped Kelly of his armour, took him to the local doctor for treatment, and then sent him to Melbourne for trial and punishment. Although he wrote a long letter to the authorities demonstrating the discrimination against poor Irish settlers, he was tried and found guilty of the murder of the three police officers, Kennedy, Lonigan, and Scanlon, and sentenced to be hung.
Before he died, Kelly told the Judge, Mr Justice Barry, that he, Barry, would shortly follow him to the gravet. Despite public protests, Kelly said his last words "Such is Life" and was hung on 11 November \J1880\j. Justice Barry died of a heart attack two weeks later.
Thus ended the period of bushranging in Australia.
\BFor more information on \JNed Kelly\j, see Famous Australians.\b
\BDescription:\b Glenrowan shooting of Kelly gang \I(Jonathan King)\i
Although occupied by Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years, Australia was the last major continent to be discovered by Europeans.
Even though scholars believed there must have been "a Great South Land" to balance the northern continents they already knew about, nobody was sure of its existence until the sixteenth century when the first European explorers ventured far enough south and found a land mass which they named "Terra Australis" (land in the south), from which Australia eventually took its name.
\BDescription:\b Navigation of Aborigines \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"1400s - Early Visitors",2,"g\3\0328.jpg","c","0"
For centuries, Europeans searched for a continent they called "the Great South Land". The Malays knew about it, having fished for trepang along the north coast, and stayed on shore, trading with Aborigines who painted their ships on cave walls.
Chinese navigators may also have sailed south and visited the northern coast line. Arab traders may also have sailed across the Indian ocean and investigated the west coast. Early Portuguese ships may also have sailed over the Indian Ocean to the west coast, and Spanish ships may have sailed across the Pacific in the wake of Magellan and visited the east coast before \JCaptain Cook\j.
\BDescription:\b Illustration \I(RAHS)\i
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"Henry the Navigator",3,"g\3\king0115.jpg","c","0"
The greatest explorers in the fifteenth century were the Portuguese and the Spanish, who competed like contemporary "super powers" for new discoveries and wealth from the lands in the far east. In 1494, the Pope divided the undiscovered world between Portugal and Spain by drawing a line down the centre of the north Atlantic. Spain was awarded new lands west of the line and Portugal new lands to the east.
The greatest visionary was Prince Henry of Portugal, known as Prince Henry the Navigator, who established a maritime academy at Sagres, Portugal where sailors were taught navigation and all the necessary exploration skills. His aim was to discover and explore the land immediately to the south, Africa, and then, whatever lands lay beyond so that he could solve the puzzles of the world and find gold and other wealth for Portugal.
\BDescription:\b First known attempt to portray an imaginary Terra Australis from Nicholas Vallard's Atlas \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1490s - Golden Age of Exploration",4,"g\1\pl8.jpg","c","0"
Once Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz sailed down the coast of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope, discovering a new route to the Indian Ocean and the riches of the far east, a golden age of exploration began. In 1498 Vasco da Gama followed Diaz and reached the spices of India.
Soon after Diaz found this shortcut to Asia for the Portuguese, the Spanish sent Christopher Columbus west across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 to find a shorter route to the far east. Although he did not reach the East, Columbus' voyages did open up the American continents to European colonisation.
\BDescription:\b Vasco da Gama \I(Peter Luck)\i
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"1519: Magellan Opens Up the Pacific",5,"f\8\king0118.jpg","c","0"
One of the biggest factors in the European discovery of Australia was Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the world in 1519, when he sailed west around the south of the South American land mass, discovered by Columbus, and entered the Pacific. This first circumnavigation across the oceans of the world pioneered the way for others including \JCaptain Cook\j, who later discovered the east coast of Australia from this same direction.
Although Magellan was killed and lost four ships during the voyage, his one remaining vessel, \IVittoria,\i returned safely with the news that it was possible to sail to the riches of the far east by heading west from Europe and then on around the world.
\BDescription:\b Early explorers \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1605-1616: Early Navigators Who Reached Australia",6,"g\3\67smh.jpg","c","0"
The Spanish navigators Pedro Fernando de Quiros and Luis Vaez de Torres set off from the Spanish colonies in South America searching for "the Great South Land" and reached the strait above Australia, visiting an island they named Austrailia del Espirito Santo (South Land of the Holy Spirit). Torres sailed along the south coast of New Guinea and sighted Cape York - which he thought was just another island.
The Dutch took over the lead from the Spanish and Portuguese under the leadership of the Dutch East India Company, searching for wealthy goods in the far east, in the early seventeenth century. Dutchman Willem Jansz explored the Cape York area of Australia in his ship \IDuyfken.\i
In 1616 a Dutch captain, \JDirk Hartog\j, sailed across the Indian Ocean in his ship \IEendracht\i and landed on an island off the west coast of Australia at Shark Bay, where he nailed an inscribed plate to a tree. This represented the first known European calling card ever left in Australia. From then on, most Dutch ships sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and headed westwards before turning north for trading colonies like Java.
Sometimes by accident Dutch ships were blown on to the Western Australian coast but they were unimpressed by the land they saw and made no settlements there.
"1629: First European 'Settlers'",7,"f\10\king0117.jpg","c","c"
The heavily laden luxury Dutch trading ship \IBatavia\i ran aground on the Abrolhos islands off the west coast of Australia. The survivors clambered ashore on the islands and set up camp. The Captain, Francois Pelsaert, sailed to Java in a small boat to hire another ship to pick up survivors. While he was away, rebel leaders took over and killed many of the survivors in the camp.
Others escaped this slaughter by taking refuge on the mainland of Australia where eventually these refugees married into the Aborigines creating half-castes, discovered generations later by other explorers. On the captain's return, he tried and hung the rebel leaders before returning to Holland.
\BDescription:\b \IBatavia\i ran aground off the west coast of Australia \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1642: Abel Tasman",8,"g\3\king0039.jpg","c","0"
Dutch captain \JAbel Tasman\j sailed south of the new land being discovered by the Dutch East India traders, hoping to find a southern passage across to America. On route he discovered the west coast of Tasmania, which he called Van Diemen's Land after the Governor of Batavia. Tasman sailed east and discovered New Zealand which he thought was more of the Great South Land. He then headed north-east back to the Dutch colony at Batavia passing by New Guinea.
Later, he tried to find the straits from Batavia between Cape York and New Guinea so he could explore the east coast of "the Great South Land", but could not work out how to get past the Gulf of Carpentaria. Although he did not chart them completely, Tasman had established the existence of two land areas, Tasmania and New Zealand, that would help Cook and other explorers in later years.
Although many navigators visited Australia, there was little interest until it was publicised by the English privateer \JWilliam Dampier\j, who wrote books about his visits to Australia in the \ICygnet\i in 1688 and then the \IRoebuck\i in 1699. Dampier explored the north-west coast on his first voyage. On his second voyage he tried to approach the east coast by sailing west around the Horn, but adverse winds stopped him from being the first to reach the fertile east coast, which he would have found 70 years ahead of Cook. Instead, he returned to Australia by another route and explored more of the west and north west coast. But his books fired the imagination of Europeans.
\BDescription:\b \JWilliam Dampier\j \I(RAHS)\i
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"1769: Louis Antione De Bougainville",10,"f\7\king0065.jpg","c","0"
The last navigator to just miss the east coast of Australia was the French captain Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who sailed north-west across the Pacific looking for the "Great South Land". After visiting and discovering a number of islands including Tahiti, he found the Great Barrier Reef. He turned north to avoid the dangerous coral and so never found the great land mass on the other side of the reef.
The French had now become a great maritime nation, and had they discovered the east coast of Australia, could have claimed possession ahead of the English.
\BDescription:\b Louis Antione de Bougainville \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1770: Cook Discovers and Promotes East Coast",11,fp2-148.jpg,c,0
It was the Englishman Captain James Cook who became the first European to explore the east coast of Australia. When he sailed west around Cape Horn into the Pacific on the \IEndeavour,\i in the wake of Magellan, he sailed first to New Zealand which he charted properly. He then sailed on in search of the east coast of the "Great South Land" that had been seen by the Dutch and Dampier and others.
On 20 April 1770, Cook's crew member Lt. Zachary Hicks finally sighted the east coast of Australia that had been eluding navigators since Magellan had sailed cross the Pacific much further to the north in 1519ù250 years earlier.
Cook charted the east coast of the continent and took possession of it in the name of the English King.
Although Cook's \IEndeavour\i was damaged on the way back to England, he still managed to return safely and give good reports about the east coast that led to settlement.
\BDescription:\b Captain James Cook \I(Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)\i
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"1788: First Fleet Discovers Port Jackson",12,"g\3\r6424.jpg","c","0"
After the first party of settlers arrived on the First Fleet on 26 January \J1788\j, the officers of the expedition began exploring Australia from their new land base.
To begin with, Captain Phillip rejected Cook's suggestion of Botany Bay for the new settlement, settling in Port Jackson instead, because it was a safer and more sheltered harbour, and boasted a fine stream of fresh water - the Tank Stream.
Before long, the Europeans discovered the features of their new environment including the Hawkesbury, Nepean and then Hunter Rivers, and to the west the formidable \JBlue Mountains\j which represented a barrier to settlement and which took many years to cross.
\BDescription:\b Cook's first landing \I(RAHS)\i
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"1798: Bass and Flinders Discover Bass Strait",13,"f\8\king0071.jpg","c","0"
The first major discovery of the new settlers in Australia was the \J1798\j discovery, by the explorers \JMatthew Flinders\j and \JGeorge Bass\j in the \INorfolk,\i of the strait between Tasmania and the mainland, as this meant ships could save days by sailing straight along the south coast rather than around the bottom of Tasmania. Bass and Flinders had earlier explored the south-eastern coast of Australia as far as Westernport Bay leading them to suspect the existence of a strait.
They sailed around Tasmania in their sloop \INorfolk,\i built especially for the voyage, and explored the Derwent River on their way back to Sydney, where they reported the discovery that shortened the distance to England by days.
\BDescription:\b \JGeorge Bass\j (left) and \JMatthew Flinders\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1802: Discovering Port Phillip Bay",14,"f\8\king0158.jpg","c","0"
Lt. James Grant was the first to sail through Bass Strait on an outward voyage from London in \J1800\j, pioneering this passage for ships. Then in \J1802\j, Lt. John Murray in the \ILady Nelson\i sighted and explored a bay which he called King's Bay after the Governor of New South Wales, who changed its name to Port Phillip Bay.
It was discovered fresh water entered the bay from the Yarra River, which was explored by Charles Grimes in \J1803\j. Grant recommended settlement of this safe harbour which in time became the site of Melbourne.
\BDescription:\b The \ILady Nelson (Courtesy Jonathan King)\i
From \J1801\j to \J1803\j, Flinders sailed around Australia on the \IInvestigator,\i charting the coastline to create the first comprehensive chart of the new continent. Starting his survey off the west coast, he sailed east through the Great Australian Bight and then north along the east coast, completely circumnavigating the island continent which he mapped thoroughly as he went.
Flinders proved Australia was not a series of islands, but one island, and created such accurate charts that they were used for many years afterwards.
But he had great problems getting these charts back to England as his ship was wrecked on route. He had to go off in a new boat for help to save his crew, who were marooned on a desert island. Later his replacement ship was taken prisoner by the French when he called into Mauritius. He was detained for several years as a spy before being allowed to go free and continue to England. By the time he arrived there and published his charts, the French had already published theirs, and he only just published his book the day before he died in \J1814\j. In this, he was the first one to recommend the name Australia, which was adopted in \J1824\j.
"1813: Crossing the Blue Mountains",16,"a\1\rsmh73.jpg","c","0"
From \J1788\j onwards, the new settlers had attempted to cross the \JBlue Mountains\j. Many explorers had tried but failed, including the navigator \JGeorge Bass\j in \J1796\j, a French army officer Ensign Francis Barrallier in \J1802\j, and George Caley in \J1802\j and \J1804\j.
A team of three explorers, \JGregory Blaxland\j, \JWilliam Charles Wentworth\j and \JWilliam Lawson\j finally crossed the \JBlue Mountains\j in May \J1813\j after many years of failed attempts by others. They managed to find a route through the dense undergrowth by following the ridges.
The fertile plains beyond enabled the settlement to spread out, because other explorers including \JGeorge Evans\j in \J1813\j, and then \JJohn Oxley\j in \J1818\j, followed up the Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson crossing, pioneering new roads through to the Macquarie River and the Liverpool Plains.
Wentworth went on to become a political leader helping build a new democratic government.
\BDescription:\b Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson find a way over the \JBlue Mountains\j \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"1817: John Oxley Finds New Northern Grazing Lands",17,"0","g","0"
The New South Wales surveyor-general, \JJohn Oxley\j, extended the area of fertile grazing grounds by exploring land up to the Lachlan River, and drawing maps extending as far as the Murrumbidgee River. He then blazed a trail across to the Liverpool Plains and across the Dividing Range through to Port Macquarie. In \J1823\j, Oxley explored the Brisbane River 80 kilometres from its mouth in the \IMermaid,\i showing settlers where they could settle along the banks of this fertile fresh water source.
In \J1825\j, Major Edmund Lockyer explored the Brisbane River further, sailing up it for 195 kilometres in the same \IMermaid,\i and recommended settlement in this fertile area.
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"1824: Hume and Hovell Find Southern Grazing Lands",18,"e\9\hume.jpg","c","0"
Although the new settlers now knew Bass Strait was the southernmost limit of the mainland, nobody knew what the character of the land was between Sydney and the Strait. \JHamilton Hume\j and William \JHovell\j set off from the Lake George area to explore the land as far south as possible. They discovered the Australian Alps and the Murray River and eventually reached Port Phillip Bay, which had already been discovered by Lt. Murray in \J1802\j.
As Hume and \JHovell\j miscalculated their navigational position, they described Port Phillip Bay as Westernport Bay, and this confused settlers and delayed the eventual settlement of this new fertile harbour area for some years.
\BDescription:\b \JHamilton Hume\j \I(Gum Tree Graphics)\i
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"1827: Stirling Finds New Lands in the West",19,"f\8\king0144.jpg","c","0"
Captain \JJames Stirling\j discovered the Swan River and a fertile grazing area for new settlers at the opposite end of the continent to Sydney. If English settlers claimed this area they would control the whole continent, which was necessary as the French were still showing interest in different ports and rivers in Australia.
In June \J1829\j, Stirling fixed the sites for Fremantle and Perth and the settlement began, giving the British possession of the whole of the island continent.
"1829: Charles Sturt Solves River Puzzles",20,"f\1\king0045.jpg","c","0"
In the eastern part of Australia the direction and layout of the rivers still remained a mystery. Captain \JCharles Sturt\j began a series of expeditions to solve the mystery of the rivers once and for all, by starting at the humble sources of rivers and following them till they flowed into other bigger rivers or the sea.
In \J1829\j he traced the Macquarie River to its source in the Darling River, which he discovered. Then in \J1830\j he investigated the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers, tracing them down into the "broad and noble" Murray River. With six explorers in two open boats, they sailed down the Murray past the junction where the Darling River flowed into the Murray, all the way to South Australia and Lake Alexandrina at the mouth of the Murray. Sturt survived sinking boats, attacking Aborigines, and months in cramped conditions, rowing and sailing little boats in the hot sun that sent him temporarily blind. But he worked out how most of the rivers connected up and flowed into the Murray, thus giving the new settlement the first comprehensive map of its major south-eastern river system.
"1831: Thomas Mitchell Opens Up Victoria",21,"e\10\king0077.jpg","c","0"
The Scottish explorer Thomas Mitchell, who succeeded \JJohn Oxley\j as surveyor-general in New South Wales, explored vast areas of south-eastern Australia opening up new grazing lands in the southern parts of Victoria which he called "Australia Felix."
Mitchell led three main expeditions during which he had to fight Aborigines frequently, killing some of them and losing a few of his members as well. The first expedition was across the Liverpool Plains exploring the Namoi, Barwon, and Gwydir Rivers, the second along the Upper Darling River and Darling River, and the third down the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers to Portland Bay, where much to his surprise in \J1834\j he met the Henty Brothers, who had settled this part of Victoria ahead of anyone else. On his return to Sydney, Mitchell gave such good reports of Australia Felix that this area was soon settled. Melbourne was founded by Batman and Fawkner in \J1834\j.
\BDescription:\b \JSir Thomas Mitchell\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1837: Hawdon and Bonney Pioneer Overland Stock",22,"g\3\king0043.jpg","c","0"
A good deal of the inland of Australia was explored by graziers and cattle farmers, who drove stock overland from one settlement to another, looking for new grazing land.
In November \J1836\j, John Gardner, Joseph Hawdon, and John Hepburn drove a mob of cattle from New South Wales to Port Phillip Bay.
In March \J1837\j, Charles Bonney became the first to overland sheep, when he drove a mob of 10,000 of Ebden's flock to a station on the Goulburn River.
In January \J1838\j, Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney drove cattle from New South Wales to newly-established Adelaide - which had been founded by the surveyor Col. Light in \J1836\j. On this trip they covered land previously unknown to Europeans and fought their way through Aboriginal areas to cross from New South Wales to South Australia, ahead of any explorers. Thus the overlanders also discovered and reported on much of the Australian continent.
\BDescription:\b The overlanders \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1839: John Eyre Walks From South to Western Australia",23,"f\1\king0044.jpg","c","0"
Edward \JJohn Eyre\j discovered a great deal of Australia on a series of expeditions. First he found Lake Torrens, north of Adelaide, in \J1839\j while searching for grazing land. Then in \J1840\j he set out from Adelaide to explore the unknown regions north of Lake Torrens. After many false starts across the deadly desert, he gave up saying it was too difficult to travel north.
He then set out west instead, and walked from Fowler's Bay, west of Port Lincoln, all the way to Western Australia, stopping at King George's Sound on 8 July \J1841\j - becoming the first white man to cross the continent from South Australia to Western Australia. Two of the Aborigines in his party murdered his overseer Baxter, but the remaining black man \JWylie\j stayed loyal to the end.
\BDescription:\b Eyre and the native boy \JWylie\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
The Polish-born explorer Count \JStrzelecki\j crossed the Australian Alps to Gippsland and en route discovered and climbed Australia's highest mountain - Mt. Kosciusko, which he named after democratic political leader, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, in Poland. In March 1997, the Geographical Names Board announced that Mt. Kosciusko would now be spelt with a 'z' - Kosciuszko.
He then explored Gippsland, recommending settlement of this fine grazing area which he named after New South Wales Governor Gipps.
German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt set off on the first of his expeditions in October 1844, crossing from Brisbane across the central north-west of Queensland to the Gulf of Carpenteria, through to Port Essington, returning to Sydney in March 1846. He covered 5,000 kilometres on horse, camel, and foot and wrote reports that taught people much more about the interior.
Leichhardt then set out again from Brisbane to cross the whole continent from east to west with seven members in his exploring party. Sadly they disappeared in the vast interior of Australia and despite many searches by explorers like A.C. Gregory, they have never been heard of since.
Leichhardt's disappearance is one of the greatest mysteries of Australian exploration.
\BDescription:\b Leichhardt's camp during his first expedition \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1860: Stuart - Australia's Greatest Inland Explorer",26,"f\1\700014.jpg","c","0"
First from south to north who lived to tell the tale, \JJohn McDouall Stuart\j set off to be the first explorer to cross the continent from south to north in March \J1860\j, supported by the South Australian government. He was competing against the Victorian government's expedition led by \JBurke and Wills\j who also set out in \J1860\j.
By April, he had reached the centre of Australia, where he climbed Mount Stuart and planted a flag on the top. Having run out of water by June he decided to return to Adelaide.
He tried a second time, but only got another 160 kilometres further before having to turn back because of exhaustion and water shortages.
In December \J1861\j, he tried for a third time, setting off from Adelaide in December, arriving after great hardship at the northern coast of Australia at Chambers Bay, becoming the first European to cross from south to north and survive.
"1860: Burke and Wills Expedition",27,"g\3\king0052.jpg","c","0"
\JBurke and Wills\j became Australia's most famous explorers because they died crossing from south to north in tragic but unnecessary circumstances after going through hell.
On 20 August \J1860\j, Robert O'Hara Burke and John Wills left Melbourne with a large expedition to cross the continent from south to north, sponsored by the Victorian government in a race against the South Australian government. Establishing a depot at Coopers Creek, Burke, Wills, King and Gray then set off in "a dash for the gulf". Riding camels or horses and walking, they reached the mangrove swamps of the Gulf of Carpentaria on 11 February \J1861\j, becoming the first to cross the continent. Gray died on the return journey and the other three reached Coopers Creek on 21 April \J1861\j - seven hours after the base party had themselves departed for the settled districts.
\JBurke and Wills\j then died waiting to be rescued and only King survived - thanks to the help of the Aborigines - till the rescue party eventually returned.
\BDescription:\b Burke, Wills and King return to Coopers Creek \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1869: Forrest Brothers Explore Western Australia",28,"e\8\king0055.jpg","c","0"
\JJohn Forrest\j led an expedition to Central Australia to explore the interior and look for any traces of Leichhardt. Then in \J1870\j, he and his brother Alexander became the first to cross the continent from the west to the east, travelling overland from Perth to Adelaide - the opposite direction to that taken by Eyre some years earlier.
"1870: Overland Telegraph Line Built",29,"g\3\king0148.jpg","c","0"
The government began building the Overland Telegraph line along the route pioneered by \JJohn McDouall Stuart\j from the south of Australia to the north. When this was finished in \J1872\j it provided the first communications link across Central Australia, and also the first guide for explorers and settlers crossing from south to north.
This technological utilisation of the work of explorers showed for the first time the value of the heroic expeditions that had cost so many lives and caused so much hardship.
"1873-1879: The Last of the Explorers Explore the West",30,"g\3\700025.jpg","c","0"
With the interior of west Australia still a mystery, a series of expeditions set out to cover this area towards the end of the nineteenth century.
In \J1873\j, Col Peter Warburton explored a good deal of the area from \JAlice Springs\j across to Perth, before retreating from exhaustion and starvation.
Then William Gosse led an expedition from \JAlice Springs\j to the Macdonnell Ranges, and later discovered the world's largest monolith - \JAyers Rock\j.
In \J1875\j, \JErnest Giles\j crossed the western half of Australia from Beltana in South Australia to the west, and then back again to South Australia. He then tried to find a route from the Central Australian desert across to the Western Australian coastline, losing his colleague Alfred Gibson on the way, after whom he named the desert.
Finally in \J1879\j, Alexander Forrest explored the remaining areas including the Kimberleys, where he recommended settlement, and discovered the Ord River which later became a successful irrigation source.
\BDescription:\b \JErnest Giles\j explored the western half of Australia \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
So, from the time of the voyages of early navigators of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, led by Columbus, Magellan, and Cook, through to the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries land explorers like Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson, and \JBurke and Wills\j, the "Great South Land" was finally discovered and explained to Europeans.
\BDescription:\b Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson memorial \I(RAHS)\i
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26,0
"Introduction to the History of Gold",1,"a\10\1_0048.jpg","c","0"
As gold had been sought after through history as a source of wealth, it not surprising that Europeans would seek it on arrival in the new continent of Australia.
Although small traces were found in the early years after European settlement, it was not until \J1851\j that real gold was officially discovered.
Australia is a country rich in a wide variety of minerals, but no other single event had such a large impact on the settlement of Australia than the discovery of gold. Suddenly there was a good reason to migrate to the colony at the other end of the earth. This discovery started a goldrush like those experienced in the American colonies.
As a result, the population doubled then tripled, and the foundations of multicultural Australia were established - bringing reformist ideas and demands for democratic governments.
Australia developed rapidly. Gold was the single biggest reason for change in the nineteenth century.
In later years, Australia also benefited greatly from other minerals found in abundance on this island continent.
\BDescription:\b The Maitland Bar \I(DFAT)\i
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"First Reports of Gold",2,"0","g","0"
Although there were reports from escaped convicts of gold discoveries in \J1788\j, they normally turned out to be a false alarm. The convicts hoped to get a pardon or special treatment for helping "enrich" the colony, but they were caught lying when they could not lead the Marine Guards to the gold they claimed to have seen.
In September \J1797\j, Lt. John Shortland found the first coal on the banks of the Hunter River near Newcastle. It was nicknamed "black gold" because it was valuable for domestic fires and factories.
\JGovernor King\j declared all the coal discovered to be property of the Crown - although the area was eventually bought by the Australian Agricultural Company in \J1828\j.
By \J1801\j, the Hunter coal fields had been opened up and this "black gold" was being shipped as export to India and the Cape Colony.
In February \J1823\j, New South Wales Surveyor James McBrien made the first authentic report of gold being discovered in Australia. He recorded in his official Field Study report that he believed he saw "numerous particles of gold" near the Fish River, east of Bathurst.
The discovery was hushed up by government officials however, and his report was not widely published for some years.
McBrien himself did not exploit the discovery as he had no rights to it, being on government business.
It was in Bathurst in \J1851\j that Edward Hargraves later discovered the first significant gold.
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"1839: Governor Gipps on Count Strzelecki's Find",3,"g\3\king0079.jpg","c","0"
In \J1839\j the intrepid explorer Count \JStrzelecki\j found gold near Hartley in NSW.
\JGovernor Gipps\j, when he was told about the discovery, begged the Count not to tell anybody as it would destabilise the convict colony - perhaps inspiring mass breakouts - and distract the settlers from their work.
The Count agreed, as he had his mind on other matters. He rode off to discover and climb Australia's highest mountain - Mt. Kosciuszko - which he named after his political hero in Poland who was fighting for democracy. Later, Rev. W.B. Clarke found gold at the same spot, but swore to hush up his find after the Governor said "put it away Mr Clarke or we shall all have our throats cut".
Despite his lofty ideals, the Count also then found gold in Gippsland in the hills of the Great Dividing Range - so there was plenty of gold in "them there hills".
But as the government owned all the gold found, there was no incentive, apart from the chance of a reward - so this, plus the fact that the settlers did not know anything about gold - delayed the goldrush.
In \J1848\j, mineralogist William Tipple Smith found another gold deposit at Yorky's corner near Bathurst. Although he kept the location secret, so he could return and get rich, he showed his find to the Colonial Secretary, who refused to give him a reward, and thus discouraged him from digging around any further.
The same year McGregor found quartz gold deposits at Wellington, which he sent to London where it was assayed at 800 grams to the tonne.
\BDescription:\b Present-day Bathurst \I(DFAT)\i
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"1851: Edward Hargraves Starts His Search",5,"f\9\king0047.jpg","c","0"
Although Edward Hargraves was at least the third person to have found gold near Bathurst, he promoted it more than others - thus starting the first big goldrush.
Although he was born in England and migrated to Australia where he worked in different positions, he was bent on finding gold and was prepared to travel to find it - even across the Pacific to America, with the "forty-niners" goldrush. Having found gold in \J1849\j in California, he knew where to look for it by the time he came back to Australia on 7 January \J1851\j.
He borrowed money for a horse and equipment, travelled over the \JBlue Mountains\j, and teamed up with two young bushmen out at Bathurst - John Lister and William Tom. They started prospecting at Ophir, on the junctions of the Summer Hill and Lewis Ponds Creeks 32 km north of Bathurst, and then moved along the Macquarie River valley - finding gold not long after they started.
Hargraves returned to Sydney in \J1851\j with his first gold and requested the reward in return for telling the Colonial Secretary Dean Thomson where he found it. Hargraves asked for 500 pounds and after negotiating for some time with a reluctant government, which had asked him to "just trust the government's generosity", he got his 500 pounds.
As the news spread fast of his discovery, a goldrush soon started, and this became so big with such benefits to the state of New South Wales that Hargraves was later granted another 10,000 pounds and appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands. As he then spread the word in Victoria that gold could be found down there, starting another goldrush down south, the Victorian government gave him 2,381 pounds as well.
So not only did his discovery consequently inspire the goldrush, but Hargraves did very well out of his find as well.
\BDescription:\b The discovery of gold by Edward Hargraves \I(Jonathan King)\i
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"1851: Hargraves Starts the Goldrush",6,"f\9\19smh.jpg","c","0"
Back at Ophir, the two assistants working for Hargraves - John Lister and William Tom - had made their first real strike on his behalf on 1 April \J1852\j while he was still lobbying in Sydney. According to a local newspaper report, they found their gold in a creek after they "stepped along a prominent bar of rock towards a pool of water in a creek bed, and found on the lower side of this rock a fissure, where Lister heard from his friend an exclamation, and, hastening to his side learned the cause. There, lifted by the swirling waters of an earlier flood and deposited like a prisoner in this fissure, was the gold shining with a bright lustre - what they had been seeking was found".
Once Hargraves promoted his find, the goldrush started from Bathurst and from Sydney. Men left their jobs in droves to try their luck and the government was powerless to stop them. Within three months, 400 people had arrived and within eight months 2,000 were in the region.
Gold was soon found in other areas nearby, and diggers then flocked to these spots. Nearby, Sofala, where gold was discovered, attracted 4,000 men by the end of 1851.
\BDescription:\b Off to the goldfields \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Victoria Fights Back",7,"g\3\30smh.jpg","c","0"
Although very small amounts of gold had been discovered in Port Phillip Bay region in 1847, and 1,000 grams of gold by a small boy named Chapman on Glenmona Station 160 km north east of Melbourne - nothing significant to that date had been discovered. In 1851, therefore, the Victorian Government offered a reward for gold found in Victoria, to attract settlers and stimulate the economy. The government was worried that all the able-bodied workers were leaving Victoria for the New South Wales goldfields. Businessmen put pressure on the government and formed a Gold Discovery Committee which put up a reward of 200 pounds for anybody finding payable gold within 320 km of Melbourne.
James William Esmond then found gold at Clunes, north of \JBallarat\j, on 29 June \J1851\j, which was more substantial than earlier finds. Esmond started a goldrush with another miner, W. Campbell, finding gold in the Clunes area soon after, and other diggers finding gold in the Buninyong ranges near \JBallarat\j. Other finds were made in the \JBendigo\j area, and before long gold was discovered at Warrandyte; by the end of \J1851\j Esmond had started the Victorian goldrush and more people were flocking to the Victorian fields than anywhere else. The government's ploy had succeeded.
"1851: Social Upheavals",8,"g\3\44smh.jpg","c","0"
As the government had feared, the goldrushes had a big impact on the economic and social life in the cities and towns, as able-bodied men deserted their jobs and homes for the diggings, often leaving their families behind to cope for themselves. Such was the lure of gold.
The \IBathurst Free Press\i of 17 May \J1851\j reported this dislocation, "the discovery of gold by Mr Hargraves has produced tremendous excitement in the town of Bathurst and surrounding districts. For several days after our last publication, the business of the town has been utterly paralysed. A complete mental madness seems to have seized almost every member of the community - and as a natural consequence, there has been a universal rush to the diggings."
People of all trades, callings and pursuits were quickly transformed into miners, and many a hand which had been trained to kid gloves, or accustomed to wield nothing heavier than a pen, was employed to clutch the pick and crowbar, or rock the cradle at the infant mines. The town blacksmiths could not turn out the picks fast enough. The roads to the diggings became alive with hopeful miners from every quarter, some armed with picks, others shouldering crowbars or shovels with washbasins, tin pots and swags swung over their shoulders.
The government's fear had proven correct. Life would never be the same again for ordinary people anxious to get rich quick.
The Governor of Victoria, Charles La Trobe, even complained to the British authorities "within the last few weeks the towns of Melbourne and Geelong and their large suburbs have been emptied of many classes of their male inhabitants. The streets which were crowded with people loading drays for the diggings for a week or ten days are now deserted".
"Not only have the idlers and day labourers, shopmen, artisans and mechanics of every description thrown up their employment, and in most cases left their employers and their wives and families to take care of themselves and run off to the diggings - but also responsible tradesmen, farmers, clerks of every grade and even a few of the superior classes have followed".
It was like a revolution, and the biggest change in the old convict colony since its formation.
\BDescription:\b Miners often hid when officials came to check their gold licences \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Impact of the Goldrush",9,"g\3\horse.jpg","c","0"
In \J1851\j, Victoria's Governor La Trobe reported widespread desertions following the goldrushes, saying in his report back to the British authorities, "cottages are now deserted, houses are all to let, business is at a standstill and even schools are closed. In some of the Melbourne suburbs not a man is left and the women are grouping together for protection to keep house."
The ships in the harbour were deserted and did not have crews to sail, let alone load or unload goods. All building works and contracted works, government and private, without exception, came to a standstill. Supplies were running short and the price of provisions was rising alarmingly.
Suddenly, cities like Melbourne were desperately short of people to continue basic services, and the city would suffer for months before diggers returned, disillusioned from the goldfields to resume their normal occupations.
\BDescription:\b Whole towns were deserted as men flocked to the goldfields \I(Mitchell Library)\i
#
"Day in the Life at the Diggings",10,"g\3\king0018.jpg","c","0"
Most miners were inexperienced and ill-prepared for the life of a gold digger. They had to carry their belongings and equipment on their backs to the diggings and sleep under the stars or in a tent - although some built a hut for better shelter.
Digging could also be expensive, as they had to buy equipment which they normally would not have, like picks, shovels, pans, cradles etc. Miners also had to buy a Mining Licence from the government, which could be quite expensive, and this only covered four square metres in which there may be no gold at all. Most miners hoped to find alluvial gold of which in the early years there was plenty.
But when the alluvial gold ran out they had to dig a shaft straight down, perhaps to 50 feet, shore this up, and build a winch and pulley system with buckets, ropes and ladders.
In the end, digging for gold could be expensive and exhausting, and although some struck it rich, many did not, and they returned home disappointed.
\BDescription:\b Scenes from a goldfield \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Finding Gold: Digging a Shaft",11,"g\3\king0089.jpg","c","0"
There were different techniques for finding gold.
Miners needed a pick, shovel, pan, hoe, crowbar, puddling tub, cradle and axe to find gold, no matter how they did it. Most miners formed partnerships to share costs, pool knowledge and protect their claim.
The easiest technique was to pan for gold on the surface in the creek waters, or look for it in the surface soil. But most diggers had to mine a shaft through the alluvial top, straight into old pipeclay and slate beds underneath. Then from this main shaft that could go 50 feet down, they dug out horizontal dives or cross cuts in all different directions hoping to find gold.
One miner worked above, with the windlass of bush timber erected over the top of the shaft, and winched up to the top the buckets of dirt, dug out by his mate.
\BDescription:\b Deep shaft mining at \JBallarat\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
They then had to wash this dirt ,"puddling" it in a large tub, swirling it around with a shovel to wash away the mud leaving only the sand, and if they were lucky, some gold. This residue was then shovelled into a cradle and they rocked the cradle to sift the fine sand and gold, if there was any, through into a vessel below, which caught it. The sand was washed in a tin pan at the creek until the fine sand washed away, leaving any specks of gold glittering in the tin pan - or that was what all the diggers hoped.
Digging for gold was hard and often unrewarding and many gave up before long.
\BDescription:\b Puddling was one method for finding gold \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Finding Gold: Crushing Quartz",13,"0","g","0"
Other techniques for finding gold included crushing quartz. As some of the gold was not alluvial (on or near the surface and able to be washed out in water), different techniques had to be developed. The reef or lode gold was embedded in the quartz veins and the miner had to dig out this quartz and crush the quartz to free the gold. The quartz had to be pounded by hand in a dolly (a steel or iron pot which acted as a mortar).
But as this was hard work, some miners carried the quartz to a battery (or crushing machine) where steam-powered stampers crushed the quartz for them - at a price.
#
"Striking It Lucky",14,"0","g","0"
Some miners made small fortunes and others lost everything. But once they found gold, they sold it to the government represented on the goldfields by the Gold Commissioners. They received their cash and the government sent the gold to the cities under escort, to avoid bushrangers hoping to get the gold the easy way.
Many miners then used their money to start a business or build a home, but some drank it all in the local town pub, going on a spending spree or binge showing off their wealth.
Although the stories were exaggerated about getting rich quick, few miners succeeded, and this bred resentment and anti-government feelings that led to conflict.
#
"Welcome Stranger",15,"f\9\king0048.jpg","c","0"
A famous gold discovery was made by Richard Oates and John Deason, who arrived from England in \J1854\j and settled on land in central Victoria at Dunolly. They worked the land full-time and looked for gold part-time.
On 5 February \J1869\j, while Oates was working in a paddock nearby, Deason worked the claim removing four loads of washdirt for puddling. On the fourth load his pick broke when it struck something hard just under the earth's surface. Thinking it was a boulder, he tried to prise it out of the earth but broke the handle trying to get it out.
When he eventually got it out of the earth, he discovered it was a large nugget - 61 cm by 31 cm. Afraid of theft, he and Oates hid it in their hut under the fireplace till dark, then took it to the bank manager's office where everyone was amazed at its size. The local blacksmith had to be called in to break it into two, so that it could be weighed on the scales that were not big enough.
Oates and Deason were paid 19,068 pounds for the nugget, the largest alluvial gold ever found in the world, which became known as "Welcome Stranger".
\BDescription:\b The famous Welcome Stranger being unearthed \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Miner's Licence and Rebellions",16,"f\9\18smh.jpg","c","0"
Miners who did not find gold were annoyed at having to pay the government large licence fees; this caused the main problem on the goldfields that led to riots and then a rebellion at the \JEureka\j Stockade.
The government claimed they had to pay for their administration costs including the commissioners, police, clerks escorts, roads, bridges, government offices etc. They introduced the Miner's Licence to pay these costs, charging 30 shillings per miner, per month.
The miners resented this fee, as 30 shillings was a lot of money if they had not found any gold, and they had to pay it whether or not they found gold.
The first protests against the licence were in February \J1853\j in Turon, New South Wales, where miners revolted, forcing the government to reduce the fee from 30 to 10 shillings per month.
The \JBendigo\j miners' riots followed, and in Victoria where the government had threatened to increase the fee, miners began to organise themselves into political opposition groups. The Victorian miners formed the Red Ribbon Movement to fight the government. After heated debates and confrontations, the Victorian government reduced its fee to 20 shillings per month.
\BDescription:\b Anti-Chinese riots at the goldfields \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"The Chinese on the Goldfields",17,"0","Chinese on the goldfields","film16i.avi"
The miners were also upset by Chinese diggers who kept flocking unchecked to the goldfields, because they worked so much harder and spent so much more time combing the earth, that in the end they got richer.
The miners did not like the Chinese because they were different - wearing strange clothes, speaking strange languages, smoking opium, playing strange gambling games, and sticking together without talking or mixing with the Europeans. Eventually this resentment broke out into conflict.
By the \J1860\js the miners had had enough, and having bottled up their anger for years, they attacked the Chinese at Lambing Flat, driving them from the goldfields in a bloody battle in which the miners killed and scalped a number of Chinese who resisted. The miners hung the Chinese scalps around their waists on a belt, and boasted back at the pubs, where they drank after the fight, of how many scalps they had collected.
There were other attacks and massacres. By \J1877\j the hatred had become so strong that the Chinese were banned from Queensland goldfields, and by \J1888\j all the colonies met at the Intercolonial Conference on Chinese Immigration to develop plans for expelling the Chinese from Australia, or at least stopping them from coming.
\BViddescription:\b Chinese on the goldfields (Film World)
#
"1854: Eureka Stockade - The Background",18,"g\3\1878coal.jpg","c","0"
In \JBallarat\j, where the miners were better organised and had come from many different nations, they organised the biggest rebellion of all - the battle of the Eureka Stockade.
These were the early days of the unions, and in \J1854\j the Hunter River coal miners had already formed their own union and were fighting for better conditions - and set an example to the gold miners.
In August \J1854\j, Victorian Governor Sir Charles Hotham toured the goldfields and found them prosperous, so decided to increase the government's revenue by catching miners who were not paying their fees. He increased the police inspections to twice a week, which infuriated the miners, who decided to fight back.
\BDescription:\b Here we see some coal miners - who had formed a union in 1854 - so the gold miners wanted to form one too \I(Mitchell Library)\i
#
"1854: Eureka Rebellion - The Causes",19,"g\4\eureka.jpg","c","0"
The miners accused the government of allowing the owner of the \JEureka\j Hotel, James Bentley, to go free after he and his bouncers killed a drunken miner, James Scobie, on 6 October \J1854\j outside the hotel. The angry miners wanted justice, so took the law into their own hands on 17 October, burning down Bentley's hotel. The miners then formed the \JBallarat\j Reform League on 11 November at Bakery Hill, electing a seven man committee to represent them in their negotiations with the government over the punishment of Bentley and other matters, such as licence fees.
Eventually the government agreed to try Bentley, who was sentenced for manslaughter, but as a quid pro quo, the government imprisoned three miners for burning down Bentley's hotel. The miners were infuriated.
Their representatives visited the Governor, but the government refused to release the three miners, and sent more troopers to the goldfields to maintain order.
So on 29 November \J1854\j, the miners burnt their licences and hoisted a flag of their own - the \JEureka\j flag - declaring they would govern themselves. The Gold Commissioner ordered a spot check of licences next day and tried to round up those who had burnt their licences - the miners refused to go. He read the Riot Act. The miners decided to fight it out.
"1854: Eureka Stockade - The Battle",20,"g\4\king0051.jpg","c","0"
The miners elected an Irish gold digger, \JPeter Lalor\j, to lead them in their fight. Five hundred miners gathered under his leadership, swearing allegiance to their new \JEureka\j flag - symbolising the Southern Cross in the night sky above (an especially Australian image).
On 2 December, Lalor ordered a stockade to be built to serve as a fort for their defence, and called for muskets, pistols, pikes and any other weapons they could muster. Once the stockade was completed, the rebel miners assembled inside. Lalor asked them to repeat the \JEureka\j Oath: \IWe swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties. Amen.\i
The miners then waited for the inevitable attack.
Not being trained for fighting, many miners left their stockade on the Sabbath to go to church or relax. The government troops not only struck on the Sabbath, but at 3.00am, took the 120 remaining miners totally by surprise, killing 22 of them, wounding 12 others - including \JPeter Lalor\j - and taking 100 prisoners and capturing the stockade in twenty minutes. The police outnumbered the miners three to one.
Lalor complained of the "well known inhuman brutalities of the police" but the \JEureka\j Stockade rebellion was over.
\BDescription:\b The first onslaught - \JEureka\j Stockade \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Eureka Rebellion and Government Reforms",21,"g\4\king0016.jpg","c","0"
Although Lalor's miners lost the battle, they eventually got the reforms they fought for.
A Melbourne public meeting immediately condemned the police action, forcing the Colonial Secretary to resign. A Royal Commission was held into the affair and found the miners had just cause. The new Colonial Secretary, W.C. Haines, introduced the reforms the miners had been fighting for.
Miners were given licences for one pound a year, which gave them the right to mine anywhere for that fee. Miners were also given the right to vote, and finally miners in prison for "treason" were freed.
The \JEureka\j rebellion had cost 22 lives, but they had not died in vain as they helped win the reforms.
The miners also helped introduce reforms in government. Because so many of them were from Europe or America, where conditions were better, they refused to live in a post-convict society where government was by the dictatorship of a British Governor. The miners helped native-born Australians along the road to democratic reforms.
The miners and native-born Australians pressed the colonial government to break away from Britain and create their own constitutions and self-government. They fought universal suffrage, so everybody could vote, even if they did not own property. The miners also wanted to vote by secret ballot so that citizens could elect somebody they preferred, without intimidation.
They also fought for electoral redistribution to give people on the goldfields the vote and have power shared equally around Australia, and they fought for triennial parliaments.
By \J1856\j, most of these reforms had been introduced in most of the colonies, which became self-governing that year.
\BDescription:\b \JEureka\j monument at \JBallarat\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Changes Created by the Goldrush",22,"g\4\32smh.jpg","c","0"
The goldrushes brought millions more people to Australia. The population increased from 400,000 in \J1851\j to two million by \J1871\j.
This increased population created more demand for housing, food, roads, bridges, factories and so on, stimulating unprecedented growth in building and transport industries, with new infrastructure created to cope with the new population. The demand for goods and services rose increasingly, especially for the miners on the goldfields. When the miners came back to the cities they also needed food, clothing, shelter and jobs.
The gold itself increased the wealth of the colonies, as reserves were built up, more currency was minted, and banks opened to cope with the demand created by this new public wealth.
The miners also changed the class structure forever, as most were ordinary working-class people, and as they now far outnumbered the original upper-class, landed gentry and officer-class, they created a society that was more egalitarian. The old divisions between the convicts at the bottom, and the officers and pastoralists at the top, continued to be watered down and evened out. At the same time, the treatment of Chinese had demonstrated an anti-Asian mood that would eventually culminate in the white Australia policy.
"1858: Gold Discovered in Queensland",23,smh06.jpg,c,0
After the New South Wales and Victorian goldrush reached its peak, miners began to look for gold elsewhere, as it was getting too hard to find on the existing goldfields.
There was a minor gold rush in Canoona in 1858, but it was a failure. Richer goldfields were discovered at Gympie in 1867 and then Mount Morgan in 1870. Gold was discovered at Charters Towers in 1872 and on the Palmer River in 1873.
Mount Morgan developed into a major mine after 1882. The Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company formed with one million shares costing one pound each, and three years later the gold finds were so rich they were yielding company dividends of 100,000 pounds a month.
"1882: Gold Discovered in Western Australia",24,"g\4\pipes.jpg","c","0"
Other major finds were at Cossack, Western Australia, and then further north when the Kimberleys goldrush began. The best finds were at \JCoolgardie\j and \JKalgoorlie\j, which turned out to be the richest in Australian history, and this started the biggest and longest goldrush of all.
But the real rush westward did not start till \J1887\j, when gold was found at Yilgarn and Southern Cross, east of Perth. This brought miners like Arthur Bayley and William Ford into the region, who in \J1892\j found large deposits of gold at \JCoolgardie\j. In \J1893\j, Patrick Hannan then found gold at \JKalgoorlie\j, starting the biggest exodus from the eastern states to Western Australia ever.
\JKalgoorlie\j eventually yielded 100,000 million pounds of gold and attracted diggers on a larger, more modern scale, like two Adelaide prospectors W. Brookman and S. Pierce. These two staked out hundreds of hectares and employed big teams to dig for gold in what became known as "the golden mile" - the biggest gold discoveries in Australia up to that time.
At its peak in \J1903\j, Australia had become the world's largest producer of gold - half of which came from Western Australia. From that point on, the gold discoveries petered out, and the industry declined to a point where discoveries were minor and occasional. In the twentieth century gold is mined by large companies using modern technology.
\BDescription:\b The WA goldfields water supply was one of the engineering wonders of its day. It was a 350 mile channel with 60,000 28-foot pipes, finished in \J1903\j. \I(WA State Law Publisher)\i
#
"Gold Around Australia",25,"g\4\king0002.jpg","c","0"
Gold was also discovered in South Australia from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, until the last find at Teetulpa and Waukaringa in \J1886\j. But although these goldrushes were substantial, they did not last as long or yield as much gold as other colonies.
Gold was discovered in Tasmania in the early colonial days, and at Mt Lyell in \J1884\j, and this started a smaller goldrush which lasted some years, although companies tended to mine the discoveries.
\BDescription:\b New chums at the diggings \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"BHP Opens Silver Mines at Broken Hill",26,"f\3\smh15.jpg","c","0"
Although much gold had been discovered and many fortunes were made, the real wealth in the long term was generated by other minerals mined by large companies like \JBroken Hill\j Proprietary (BHP). BHP was founded in the late nineteenth century to search for, and exploit a range of minerals including iron ore, copper, silver and lead, found in \JBroken Hill\j and other regions.
Starting with the "syndicate of seven", BHP came into operation in the late 1880s and was mining and smelting in Broken Hill on 6 May 1886. By 1939, when BHP closed the "Big Mine", it had yielded 6,000 million grams of silver, and 1.6 million tonnes of lead and other minerals.
In the end, this was where Australians really made their money - from the seemingly limitless supply of a wide range of minerals, gas, and oil to be found in Australia. Exploitation of these resources continued to be an important part of the Australian economy.
\BDescription:\b BHP mines at \JBroken Hill\j in the late 1800s \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
4#
23,0
"Introduction to Depressions and Recessions",1,"g\4\10smh.jpg","c","0"
Although the Great Depression of the late \J1920\js and early \J1930\js is the most talked about economic downturn, there have been many other slumps in Australian history which have also caused great hardship.
It is important to realise the Great Depression fitted into a context of boom and bust cycles that are part of everyday life in modern capitalist economies. Thus the Great Depression was a variation of other depressions, but one that was much worse than any before, or since.
A depression is a period during which economic activity slows down because investors have lost confidence and will not spend on developing new business nor maintain existing investments, preferring to sell businesses instead. As a result, there are less jobs, less income and less spending money, with consumers losing confidence and not spending.
\BDescription:\b During the Great Depression \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Australia's Periods of Depressions",2,"g\2\12smh.jpg","c","0"
Australia has suffered a series of depressions since \J1788\j European settlement, including four really crippling periods:
* the \J1840\js, when investment stopped and people lost their jobs, slowing down and undermining economic activity for the first time since settlement,
* the \J1890\js, when a ten year drought ruined rural industries, trade union strikes undermined production, investment stopped, workers lost their jobs and land prices crashed down to an all time low,
* the \J1930\js, when the New York Stock Exchange share prices crashed, undermining economic confidence around the world discouraging investment, which meant people lost their jobs and without income could not spend, even on essentials,
* the late \J1980\js, when the Australian Stock market crashed in \J1987\j discouraging investment, creating the worst unemployment since the Great Depression, bringing down consumer spending, house prices, and lowering the standard of living.
Admittedly they have all been different, but all these economic downturns fit into a pattern.
\BDescription:\b A refuge during the Great Depression \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1788: First Boom",3,"f\7\r6930.jpg","c","0"
From the start, Australia has enjoyed growth because the capitalist economy was introduced to a country rich in pastoral and agricultural land and minerals, with a strong and healthy labor force in good climatic conditions. Exports were quickly produced and sold at competitive prices abroad, adding to the wealth of the economy which had a guaranteed market for its produce in England.
The first "boom" was generated by merino sheep, developed by pastoralists like Macarthur, who "got rich quick" through successful wool industry investments generating growth and employment.
By the early \J1800\js, Macarthur had exhibited wool in England and by \J1821\j had won the Royal Society gold medal, putting the Australian wool industry on the map. Minerals like coal (which was commercially produced from \J1801\j in the Hunter River Coal Fields), and then gold, which was discovered in the 1850s, also generated wealth and exports attracting a larger population, creating an expanding labor force and larger consumer market.
\BDescription:\b Sydney Cove \J1788\j \I(RAHS)\i
#
"1807: First Busts",4,"g\4\rsmh84.jpg","c","0"
Although the conditions were good for growth from the start of European settlement, economic conditions were also very unstable because the new arrivals did not know how to grow crops, beef or mutton, and lacked manufacturing capital and skills.
The government-run economy in the very early years even depended on outside imports for food, so when this was not forthcoming, early settlers came close to starving to death. If the government had supplies to hand out, conditions were good, and if the government had not received these supplies or could not grow them, severe rationing was introduced.
The first real busts happened when outside forces upset the New South Wales colonial economy. Jealous American traders imposed trade embargoes in \J1807\j which drove up the price of goods in the colony, creating an economic crisis. Then British overseas suppliers withdrew credit in \J1812\j because of a commercial crisis in Britain, forcing the colonial economy into a liquidity crisis. For the next three years New South Wales suffered its worst economic recession to that time.
This bust cycle happened again in \J1827\j when overseas capital dried up after an economic crisis in Britain; this affected production and as the British could not pay as much for Australian wool, the economy slumped again - confirming how dependent it was on overseas forces.
\BDescription:\b Millers Point from Flagstaff Hill \I(RAHS)\i
#
"1820: Another Boom",5,"a\4\r2435.jpg","c","0"
With wool exports booming, the colonial economies expanded even further when wheat crops outstripped local needs, enabling the colony to export surplus wheat from new fields that had started up in Van Diemen's Land.
The favourable conditions had attracted so much overseas capital that investment in the agricultural and pastoral industries created unprecedented expansion and a business boom.
When the government sold off crown land in the \J1830\js, this provided for greater agricultural and pastoral production, and as the government used the funds raised to assist migrants to come to Australia, the labor force increased to work this land. Wool prices also skyrocketed at the same time, adding to export earnings. As overseas capital flooded into the colonies on the back of these economic attractions, conditions boomed.
Nature dealt the expanding New South Wales economy a blow in the late \J1830\js and early \J1840\js by handing out two years of severe drought. Wheat crops failed over these two years and the economy moved into recession.
British investments in the Australian wool industry collapsed, because British investors refused to pay the rising costs of post-convict labor. These investors also became frightened they had oversubscribed the industry which they feared might not grow as much as they thought. It was a loss of confidence.
The government made matters worst by increasing land prices 100 per cent, and investors refused to pay the increase because of lack of confidence in the future.
Without funds from land sales and less revenue from declining exports, the government could not afford to assist migrants, so the labor supply dwindled to a halt as a serious recession set in.
To get the colony out of the recession, the government had to pass the Insolvency Act, abolish imprisonment for debt, and lend graziers money against the future sales of their wool clip.
\BDescription:\b Sydney in the \J1840\js \I(Mitchell Library)\i
#
"1851: Gold Ushers in a Business Boom",7,"g\3\30smh.jpg","c","0"
Once gold was discovered by Edward Hargraves in Bathurst, precipitating a series of goldrushes, the colonial economy developed rapidly. The increased population created an enlarged consumer market and a new demand for the supply of food, clothing, housing, goods and services, transport and infrastructure. The economy now had the necessary consumer demand to stimulate production for a growing market.
Suddenly the colonies had a solidly-based consumer goods market, and a continuing supply of and demand for foodstuffs, durables, clothing, building and a wide range of services.
The economy had come of age and reached a new 'Take Off' stage, so the growth potential was now unlimited.
\BDescription:\b The economy started to develop rapidly once gold was discovered. \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1860-90: The Long Boom",8,"g\4\r1430.jpg","c","0"
The economic successes stimulated by the goldrush continued into the 1860s and lasted for thirty years. Many new industries were established creating new jobs. There were only 3,500 factories in 1871 employing 48,500 workers, but by 1891 there were 8,700 factories employing 133,000 - mainly supplying the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people who had come for the goldrushes; many of whom had now moved to the cities creating larger more concentrated markets.
The government helped new manufacturing industries establish, and Australia was by now supplying half of its own manufactured goods, which meant that import costs were getting less every year. The post-goldrush industries that boomed included metals and machinery, clothing and textiles.
This boom period peaked with the \J1888\j Centennial International Exhibition, at which Australia showed the world how far it had come economically in the first 100 years.
\BDescription:\b Sydney \J1870\js \I(RAHS)\i
#
"The 1890s Depression - Causes",9,"0","g","0"
After the post-goldrush boom years, Australia suffered one of its worst economic depressions in the \J1890\js - the second worst on record after the Great Depression of the \J1930\js.
It started with widespread drought, which lasted for ten years, and undermined the rural industry, sending farmers bankrupt. In turn, the farmers sacked workers, creating widespread unemployment. They had to reduce stock because they could not feed them, and sheep numbers dropped from 106 million in \J1891\j to 72 million in \J1901\j.
Wool prices also dropped nearly 50 per cent, and wheat prices fell as well, undermining the remaining incomes of farmers who still had sheep and crops.
#
"The 1890s Depression - Strikes",10,"g\4\720027.jpg","c","0"
The newly emerging trade unions made matters worse by organising industrial action throughout the decade. In the outback, starting in Queensland, the unions organised shearers' strikes in \J1891\j and \J1894\j that crippled the shearing industry. The army was called in to break up the strikes and force shearers back to work. The unions also organised widespread maritime strikes that crippled the shipping industry.
Unemployment was more than 25% for skilled workers, and closer to 30% for unskilled workers in some areas. Men took to the outback track, becoming swagmen looking for work from town to town. The poet \JBanjo Paterson\j wrote \IWaltzing Matilda,\i about their adventures - thus enshrining this period of Australian history in verse.
Investment stopped as investors lost confidence (especially overseas investors from Britain). Banks also collapsed because the depositors suddenly wanted their money back and entrepreneurs and speculators could not pay back the borrowings. Farmers went deeper and deeper into debt as well, unable to pay back their borrowings.
The price of land - especially in Victoria - crashed, and valuable properties became worthless overnight with a glut of homes on the market and nobody with capital to buy land or houses.
"1901: Labor Versus Capital",11,"g\4\750089.jpg","c","0"
The depression of the \J1890\js drove the different social classes further apart.
The workers realised to survive tough economic times they would have to become more organised, so they formed nationwide unions. These unions created the great strikes of the nineties in shearing and maritime industries. The strikes failed, but paved the way for the creation of a political party to represent the trade unions - the Australian Labor Party.
The new Australian Labor Party and trade unions put pressure on the government, and in \J1904\j the new Labor Government established the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, helping to protect workers in their claims for better wages and conditions. The unions from then on had the power to demand more wages, which in turn forced the price of goods and services up, and while that was good for the working class, it made Australian industry less competitive.
Even though unemployment remained around 10%, wages and conditions were good compared to those in many European countries and Australia became known in the earlier twentieth century as "the Workingman's Paradise".
\BDescription:\b Workers formed nationwide unions \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"1926: Great Strikes Undermine the Economy",12,"0","g","0"
In \J1917\j, Lenin organised the communist revolution against the Russian Tsar and created the first communist government in history. This sent a shockwave around the world because the Bolsheviks (communists) abolished private property and the state took over all property and all means of production. Capitalists around the world became worried that private enterprise could end in their own countries if communism spread.
When the Communist Party of Australia was founded in the early \J1920\js, workers were encouraged to fight harder for better wages and conditions. In \J1926\j, the Great Strike in England paralysed industry and showed the English speaking world the power of organised Labor. Strikes followed in Australia, crippling industry, and in \J1929\j there were strikes in timber and coal industries that undermined economic production.
#
"1929: The Great Depression - The Start",13,"0","Depression scenes","film11i.avi"
The Great Depression started in \J1929\j when the share prices at the Wall Street stockmarket collapsed overnight. Investors lost confidence in the future of stocks and shares, and altogether withdrew their funds. Historians believe the investors felt the market had been talked up too high to start with and was now overinflated. The share market collapse affected economies around the world including Australia.
The prices of goods around the world fell, undermining Australia's exports. The prices for primary and secondary products dropped, and these industries became unprofitable. Investment stopped and entrepreneurs stopped developing new projects. Workers were sacked across the board.
By \J1930,\j unemployment had rocketed to 19%, which was nearly as bad as the \J1890\js depression.
\BViddescription:\b Great Depression years (Film World)
#
"1930: The Great Depression Gets Worse",14,"g\4\6smh.jpg","c","0"
By \J1930\j, the Great Depression had become acute in Australia as export prices dropped even lower and producers in all industries, from pastoral to secondary and tertiary, lost money on the production of their goods and services. More and more people were dismissed and even the basic wage for those still in jobs had to be cut.
Workers who had no jobs were thrown out of their homes because they could not pay the rent. They had to live in makeshift shelters such as tin and canvas humpies in parks, or caves by the beach. The roads in the bush filled up with tramps drifting from place to place, looking for work or handouts, and sleeping by the track or around billabongs.
By 1932, with over one third of the workforce out of work, 337,000 men were unemployed. Those who still had jobs were only paid 20% of what they had been paid before the Great Depression.
Australia was reaching its lowest economic ebb since \J1788\j settlement.
\BDescription:\b Pier Street Hostel during the Depression \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"The Great Depression - British Experts",15,0328.jpg,g,0
The British, who still controlled lots of financial institutions and investments in Australia, sent their Bank of England expert Sir Otto Niemeyer, and T.E. Gregory, to Australia to examine the economic problems and create solutions. These experts called a conference of premiers of different state governments and recommended balancing government budgets no matter what, called for deflationary policies, a reduction in all government spending, and asked the governments to cut the basic wage down by 10 per cent. The British experts also wanted Australia to pay back the funds it owed Britain.
By \J1931\j the premiers - except the New South Wales Labor Premier \JJack Lang\j - had accepted the plan (called by now the Premiers' Plan), and cut the basic wage down by 10%. Australia's currency was also devalued. Before long this policy began to succeed and Australia began to crawl out of the Depression.
\BViddescription:\b Australians during the Depression (Film World)
#
"1932: The Great Depression - New Politics",16,"e\7\25smh.jpg","c","0"
By \J1932,\j conservative elements in society were so worried by the radical forces taking over (like \JJack Lang)\j, that they formed the New Guard to fight the Left and especially the Communists. Whenever one of the two groups held meetings on street corners or in pubs and meeting halls to explain their plans for solving the Depression, the other group came and broke up the meetings. The New Guard hunted down and fought the Communists, vowing to purge Australia of the communist pest.
In \J1932,\j the New Guard stopped the Premier \JJack Lang\j from officially opening the new Sydney Harbour Bridge by sending a horseman - Captain de Groot - along the bridge at the last minute to slash the ribbon with a sword, demonstrating their intense dislike of Lang and his government.
\BDescription:\b Arrest of de Groot \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1932: The Great Depression - Jack Lang",17,"e\9\king0134.jpg","c","0"
The Great Depression drove the Left and the Right Wing elements in society further apart in Australia than before.
Labor Premier of New South Wales \JJack Lang\j refused to accept the Premiers' Plan and fought against all the other premiers and the British experts. He did not want to pay back the British and, defending his workers, did not want to cut their wages.
Lang called for another economic policy that postponed paying back the British bondholders and abandoned the gold standard, and would reduce interest rates.
By \J1932\j he was so out of kilter with the other governments that the Governor, Sir Philip Game, dismissed Lang from office because he claimed he was breaking the constitutional rules of government by not repaying Britain, did not have the funds to continue governing New South Wales, and lacked the support of the parliament and the people.
"1932: The Great Depression - Social Effects",18,"g\4\8smh.jpg","c","0"
By \J1932\j, with unemployment stuck on 30% and nearly one third of the workforce out of work, Australians were in the worst economic situation they had ever been in.
Most unemployed people managed to survive on unemployment benefits known then as Sustenance or "Susso," and in later years referred to as the "dole". This was a weekly allowance that enabled the bread winner to buy bread and milk and basic essentials, but was not enough to deter them from looking for other work.
The social effects were widespread misery and depression. People lost confidence in Australia, the economy and themselves. Some turned to drink with what little they had, buying methylated spirits, and others left home never to be seen again - a few committed suicide. It was a black hour for the young Australian nation.
\BDescription:\b During the Great Depression \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1933: The Great Depression - The Recovery",19,"g\4\52smh.jpg","c","0"
By \J1933\j, the new Conservative force - the United Australia Party - which had formed Government in \J1931\j, was really helping Australia out of the Depression. By curtailing government spending and stimulating domestic primary, secondary, and tertiary production with government assistance, the conservatives got the economy going again.
By \J1934\j, these conservative economic policies had succeeded and production was increasing at an exponential rate, the government restored the basic wage to the level it was before, and export prices were also rising.
The economic recovery was here to stay - at least till the next bust, which as it turned out was not far away.
\BDescription:\b Back to work after the Depression \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1939: War Economy Setback",20,"e\7\king0135.jpg","c","0"
The Second World War once again affected the Australian economy because of the drain on resources. The economy was reorganised to produce war equipment and this taxed the manufacturing industry. The labour force was also affected, as so many men left to go overseas and fight. Wartime conditions ensured full employment and many men who had been unemployed since the Depression found jobs in the army.
The Federal Government took over control of the economy and especially taxation, and conserved resources and goods by rationing and other restrictions. From the war onwards, all income tax had to be paid to the Federal Government.
To alleviate suffering, the Curtin Labor Government introduced a national welfare scheme in \J1943\j, and by \J1945\j there was a social welfare system in place that provided "cradle to grave" provisions.
"1951: Wool Boom Starts Long-term Prosperity",21,"0","Australians start looking to the future","film36i.avi"
During the Second World War, the Conservative forces formed the Liberal Party, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Bob Menzies, came to power in \J1949\j where they stayed for 23 years - thanks largely to economic prosperity. In \J1946,\j many wartime restrictions had ended, and in \J1950\j the rationing ended and the economy was set to expand.
Australia started on a boom cycle, with post-war wool prices increasing, and then in \J1953\j the discovery of oil in Western Australia. By the \J1960\js exports increased with wheat sales to China, and iron ore was found in Western Australia.
Australia, it seemed, could grow every primary product and had every mineral under the sun, and the economy benefited - at least for a couple of decades till the next crash.
\BViddescription:\b The Aussie dream (Film World)
#
"1965: Mineral Boom",22,"a\10\a3_0023.jpg","c","0"
In \J1965\j so much iron ore was discovered that a new boom began in minerals. Australia became the world's largest exporter by the end of the decade.
By the early \J1970\js, so many minerals had been found that Australia was soon exporting 21% of the world's minerals. Australia was now riding not only on the sheep's back, but the miner's back as well.
In \J1969\j, nickel was discovered by the Poseidon Company in Western Australia, starting a nickel boom in which many investors made small fortunes as the company shares rose from 80 cents to $400 each.
By \J1975\j, the gross domestic product of the mining sector of the economy had grown three times faster than the rest of the Australian economy, as exports were sold to mineral-hungry nations like Japan. Minerals had created the boom of all booms.
\BDescription:\b Open cut mine, Newman WA \I(photo by Ken Stepnell - Random House)\i
#
"1987: Stockmarket Crash",23,"0","'The Recession We Had To Have'","mhist2ii.avi"
In \J1987\j there was a mini-Wall Street crash in Australia, when the stockmarket became overheated and investors all decided to sell overnight, which brought the prices down dramatically. This discouraged other businesses and investment in development slowed down. House and land prices fell dramatically and a recession started to develop.
By \J1989,\j a serious recession was crippling Australian business. Unemployment reached 11% - its worst level since the Great Depression, and the government developed a social welfare system, this time known as the "dole," which was distributed to nearly one million Australians.
Various government leaders changed policies, and eventually by following a low inflationary plan, economic recovery had begun by the mid \J1990\js.
\BViddescription:\b 'The recession Australia had to have' (ABC)
#
!,!,!,!,!
5#
23,0
"Introduction - WWI",1,"g\4\psfp0013.jpg","c","0"
Australians had been involved in a series of wars before 1914, but never as a nation, and the First World War was the first time Australia had fought under the name Australia. Australians had fought for Britain in the \J1854\j Crimean War; the \J1864\j Maori War; \J1885\j Sudan War; and the \J1899\j Boer War in their different colonial contingents.
But the First World War was much more serious than any of these earlier conflicts and was so devastating that historians called it the war to end all wars. It lasted longer than previous wars Australians had fought in (from \J1914\j-\J1918\j), and 61,720 Australians were killed in the war. The participation of soldiers in the First World War was voluntary, and they fought in the European theatre rather than in Australia's Pacific region.
\BDescription:\b Australian troops salvaging ammunition from the enemy during WWI \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"The Causes of the First World War",2,"g\4\psfp0010.jpg","c","0"
On 28 June \J1914\j a Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as a protest against the annexation of Bosnia by Austria-Hungary. The Serbian Government had encouraged such nationalist movements and had allowed Bosnian Serb nationalists to train in Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian Government used the assassination as a pretext to crush Serbia.
A crisis that should have remained localised escalated into a world war that involved all the major empires. Tension between the major powers had been growing for several years before 1914, but a series of crises had been solved by diplomatic means. All the powers became involved in 1914 because they were linked to each other in a series of defensive alliances.
When threatened by Austria-Hungary, Serbia appealed to Russia for help. Austria-Hungary was supported by Germany in her threats against Serbia.
In the years before the war, Austria-Hungary and Germany and Italy had joined in one defensive allianceùthe Triple Alliance; and Britain, France and Russia joined in an opposing allianceùthe Triple Entente.
When Austria-Hungary, encouraged by Germany, declared war on Serbia on 28 July, Serbia's protector Russia was already mobilising. Fearful of an attack by Russia on her east and by Russia's ally, France, on her west, Germany put a prearranged defensive plan into action. Germany attacked France through a neutral country, Belgium. This immediately brought Britain into the war to protect Belgium. Within a week all the major alliance powers except Italy were at war. When the European Empires were at war, their colonies were also involved.
\BDescription:\b Death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"World War I - The Early Contestants",3,"0","g","0"
\BThe Allies\b
* British Empire, including Australia and New Zealand
* French Empire, including her colonies
* Russian Empire
* Serbia
* Belgium
\BThe Central Powers\b
* German Empire and her colonies
* Austro-Hungarian Empire
* Turkish Empire
* Bulgaria
Both sides, but especially the Allied Powers, were joined by many other countries during the course of the war.
Once Britain had declared war on Germany for invading neutral Belgium, Australia was automatically at war with Germany, as the nations shared a common defence policy.
Not all Australians shared the desire to fight Germany alongside Britain, but as the nation had a very high proportion of British-born citizens, there was considerable enthusiasm at the time. Within days of the August \J1914\j British declaration, the Australian government offered to equip and furnish 20,000 troops for the British war effort, and transfer the Australian Navy to British control.
Thousands of young Australians flocked down to government recruitment offices and signed up as volunteers for the war.
\BDescription:\b Australians and New Zealanders in the First World War \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. A883)\i
#
"1914: Opposition to War",5,fairfax2.jpg,g,0
Although there was general support for the war there was some opposition Socialist groups opposed to it and they held rallies to denounce Australia's part. The Peace Society of NSW voiced its opposition.
The \IInternational Socialist\i summed up its point of view in an 8 August, \J1914\j edition with the view that these Australian volunteers would sail off to the other end of the world. "They will march, freeze, starve, fall ill and die for glorious war. They will either be killed or kill other men whom they have never seen before, and who have never done them any injury".
\BViddescription:\b Signing up for war (Film World)
#
"1914: First Actions",6,"g\4\psfp0005.jpg","c","0"
The first Australian army formed after Federation - the Australian Imperial Force - First AIF, was soon raised with 20,000 troops joining up and setting off for England escorted by HMAS \ISydney.\i On route, in November 1914, the \ISydney\i destroyed the troublesome and notorious German raider \IEmden\i off the Cocos Islands, giving Australia a great victory in its first action. As the \IEmden\i had sunk many allied ships and caused havoc, this was an important kill.
In September 1914 another Australian expeditionary force had sailed to New Guinea led by the Australian battle cruiser \IAustralia,\i and captured all the German-held ports and forces based there. Although the Australians won this battle, taking German prisoners of war and occupying German New Guinea till the end of the war, and capturing Rabaul and Nauru Islands, one of Australia's two submarines was sunk by the enemy off New Britain.
\BDescription:\b Australian troops during WWI \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1914: Early German Victories Turn Sour",7,"g\4\1914roo.jpg","c","0"
Striking again after they had invaded Belgium and begun advancing on France, the Germans turned and attacked Russian troops whom they defeated at the Battle of Tannenberg on the eastern front.
As the Germans were doing well, Turkey, which had strong pre-war links with Germany, decided to join them, signing an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, strengthening the Central Powers greatly.
The German invasion of France succeeded in getting to positions just short of Paris. The Germans were following the Schlieffen Plan, which directed their troops to encircle Paris from the north. After occupying Paris it was hoped France would surrender and Germany would be able to direct all her forces against Russia.
The Germans were stopped at the battle of Marne in late \J1914\j. The Schlieffen Plan had failed. This was the start of the end of the war for Germany, because against her wishes she was now fighting on two fronts - a classic mistake in any war.
But the British and French had only just managed to stop the Germans and badly needed the Australian reinforcements, who began arriving towards the end of \J1914\j in Egypt as a first base. By December, the 20,000 troops of the first AIF were training in Egypt and were joined by 10,000 New Zealanders who merged into the same fighting force to become the ANZACS - Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.
\BDescription:\b Australian 9th and 10th battalions at Mena Camp, Egypt \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. C2588)\i
#
"1915: Gallipoli - First Hand Account",8,"0","Ted Matthews - Gallipoli survivor","diggerv.avi"
At the end of 1996 there was only one survivor of the first landing at Gallipoli -- Ted Matthews -- whose first hand account is reproduced here.
Ted Matthews, who turned 100 on Remembrance Day 1996 was 99 when he gave this interview in which he confirms he was the sole surviving soldier from the thousands that landed on the beach on 25 April 1915. More than 60,000 Australian soldiers fought there for eight months, of which 8,709 died. It was one of the worst battlefields of the First World War for Australia which lost approximately 60,000 soldiers and support staff between 1914-18.
Ted Matthews was an 18 year old Sydney carpenter when he enlisted in the First Division Australian Imperial Forces. Because he had served in the Citizens Military Forces and knew morse code, he joined the Signals Corps. Although he lost many mates and was hit by shrapnel at Gallipoli he survived till the retreat on 19 December 1915.
He then went on to France where he fought in the worst battles along the Somme River and was part of the Australian army forces that liberated the French village of Villers-Bretonneux winning the battle that helped end the "war to end all wars" as these soldiers called it.
Ted then returned home, married, had two daughters and lived to 100 to tell the tale.
\BViddescription:\b Ted Matthews on Gallipoli (Webster Publishing)
#
"1915: Gallipoli - The Landing",9,"f\4\1910se.jpg","c","0"
After Turkey's entry into the war in late 1914, the Middle East became an important theatre of war. The first mission for the Australians was Gallipoli. The British wanted to capture the land either side of the Straits of the Turkish-owned Dardanelles to control ships that went in and out of the Black Sea. It was necessary to open the Straits to get suppliers into Russia and Constantinople could be attacked. The British and French ships had tried to shell Turkish positions but had failed, so a land attack was planned.
\BDescription:\b First brigade signals section landing at Gallipoli, 25 April \J1915\j \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. P35/01/01)\i
#
"1915: Gallipoli - The Landing - (2)",10,0,c,galipoli.avi
On 25 April, British ships transported the troops to the Gallipoli Peninsula, when they planned to land them on a flat beach where they could dash inland to shelter quickly and dig in to attack the Turks. As it was dark, however, the British officer made a mistake and landed the ANZACS at the wrong beach where the cliffs were twice as steep and twice as rough. Turkish soldiers were waiting at the top with machine guns pointing straight down at them. This was then called ANZAC Cove.
Two thousand three hundred troops died as they waded ashore at first light, and although the rest of them managed to land, there was nowhere for them to go without being shot at.
As the Gallipoli veteran Albert \JFacey\j said in his \J1981\j book \IA Fortunate Life,\i "Bullets were thumping into us in the rowing boat. Men were being hit and killed all around me. The Turks had machine guns sweeping the strip of beach where we landed - there were many dead already when we got there and wounded men were screaming for help. We couldn't stop for them".
"1915: Gallipoli - The Fighting",11,"f\4\1910sg.jpg","c","0"
The fighting was non-stop for the first week after the landing, as the ANZACS tried to inch their way up the cliffs held by the Turks. More troops were put ashore at night and the wounded taken off. Trenches were dug in which the troops lived and fought for nine months.
Fighting broke out again week after week whenever the ANZACS dared to advance further up the cliff. The most famous battles were those of Baby 700, Gaba Tepe, the Nek, and Lone Pine and Sari Bair (where seven Australians won VCs). Here ANZACS defeated Turkish soldiers based at the cliff tops against all odds. But the situation was hopeless and the Turks were too well entrenched for the peninsula to be taken.
Yet it was the stuff of legends as the \IOfficial History of Australia in the War\i says "Never during the war was tenser effort concentrated or so momentous an issue fought out in so narrow a theatre; never was a campaign richer in pure heroism and conscious self-sacrifice - and never was it clearer that no fighters can surpass Australians."
"1915: Gallipoli - The Retreat",12,"g\4\psfp0006.jpg","c","0"
On 28 December \J1915\j, the British ships evacuated the remaining troops including 35,000 men, 3,700 animals and 127 guns. With the Suvla evacuation, a total of 80,000 men were saved.
They left behind 65,000 Allied soldier's bodies - 8,000 of whom were Australians. The Turks lost 125,000 in the fighting.
Gallipoli had been a marvellous demonstration of Australian and New Zealand courage that put Australian fighters on the world map. They had fought long and hard in the most terrible conditions without complaining. Sadly however, it was unnecessary. The whole campaign had been a mistake, and less would have been killed if the officers had admitted they got the wrong beach and agreed to retreat some eight months earlier.
The Australian government praised the efforts of the Gallipoli diggers, who became heroes with the people as well. Ten ANZACS won the Victoria Cross at Gallipoli. \JBilly Hughes\j, who had replaced Fisher as Prime Minister, used their achievements to urge increased war effort.
The last remaining Australian submarine \IAE 2,\i also managed to force her way through the Dardanelles successfully, but as she was damaged in the process, her captain scuttled her and surrendered his crew to the enemy, becoming prisoners of war.
\BDescription:\b ANZACs in Gallipoli \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1915-1916: European War Escalates",13,"g\4\75069.jpg","c","0"
Meanwhile in Europe, the German attacks escalated as they used air warfare for the first time, deploying zeppelins to bomb Britain. The Germans also sunk a passenger liner \ILusitania,\i frightening civilian travellers who had previously thought they were safe. The Central Powers also invaded Serbia.
The British answered back by beating German ships in the Battle of Dogger Bank, but they were still underpowered and undermanned.
Italy joined Britain and France in \J1915\j, and in \J1916\j Romania joined the Allies, bolstering the Allied forces against the enemy, counter-balancing Bulgaria joining the enemy.
Britain in 1916 introduced conscription to get more soldiers, and Australian Prime Minister \JBilly Hughes\j visited Britain to help the war effort by confirming Australia's support, and to visit Australian soldiers on the Western Front.
Hughes returned to Australia convinced that Australia would have to introduce compulsory conscription for overseas service if troops were to be sent to replace casualties being sustained in the huge battles being fought on the Western Front.
\BDescription:\b Thousands of men were killed or injured during the war \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"1916: The Bloody Battle of the Somme",14,"g\4\king088.jpg","c","0"
In July \J1916\j the worst battle of the whole war began with the fight to break the stalemate near the Somme River in France. The Battle of the Somme started in July \J1916\j, and continued until November \J1916\j with enormous losses on both sides.
Still short of troops, the British transferred some of the Gallipoli troops (Australia's crack AIF or what was left of them) to the Western Front where they had to fight in France, basically for the rest of the war, many of them in the dreaded Somme Valley. Four Australian battalions were transferred to France.
More than 28,000 Australian troops were killed in the Somme Offensive - nearly four times more than Gallipoli - in the most dreadful conditions of rain, mud, filth, disease and privation. Australian troops were often used as shock troops on the Western Front.
On 19 July 1916, Australian troops fought the Germans at the Battle of Fromelles, then on 23 July they fought their worst battle so far, the fight for PoziΦres, which one survivor of the 23,000 Australians killed there described as, "simply murder".
The Western Front was a battleground of trench warfare with trenches stretching from the Belgium coast 500 kilometres across to Switzerland, in a line dividing the Allies-held land and the German-held land. The Allies were on one side in trenches, and the Germans on the other side. From its trenches each side launched attacks across "no man's land," covered in barbed wire, trying to force the other side to retreat backwards. It was a stalemate that lasted from the end of 1914 until it was broken in 1918.
\BDescription:\b The 12th battalion, AIF, on its way to the Somme \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Heavy Casualties",15,"g\4\king0169.jpg","c","0"
In the Battle of the Somme in July \J1916\j, at least 60,000 Allied soldiers were either killed or wounded on the first day. By the time the battle for the Somme was over, the Allies had lost 620,000 (British, French, and Australian) and the Germans lost 450,000 - yet the battle decided nothing, and neither side won because the stalemate was not broken.
Australians distinguished themselves at the battles of Ypres, Passchendaele, Fromelles, PoziΦres, Bullecourt, Villers Bretonneux, Hamel and Mont St. Quentin.
Of the 330,000 Australians who fought overseas in the First World War, 295,000 fought on this Western Front - where they achieved a great reputation as brave and intelligent fighters capturing far more positions than any other nation on a per capita basis. Of these 295,000, 65 per cent were killed.
It was a hopeless way to fight a war through trench warfare, with no winners and just a way of killing off foot soldiers in the front lines. But against this back-drop, the one and only all-volunteer army - the Australian AIF - came through with flying colours.
\BDescription:\b Artillery in World War I \I(Jonathan King)\i
When they left Gallipoli at the end of 1915, some of the Australian troops returned to the Middle East to fight in Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia, against the Senussi Arabs and Turks who had initially won in Mesopotamia. The soldiers of the Light Horse returned to Egypt where they were organised under General Harry Chauvel as part of the Desert Column force.
Australians distinguished themselves in this theatre of war, as great horsemen, led by among others, the legendary Major \JBanjo Paterson\j, who was in charge of the horses that he loved so much and had celebrated in ballads like \IThe Man from Snowy River\i (\J1895\j). A Camel Corps was formed to cope with desert warfare conditions.
\BDescription:\b 7th Light Horse Brigade in Egypt \I(RAHS)\i
After three attempts, the Australians succeeded in capturing Gaza from the Turks in \J1917\j. They also captured other positions from the Turks including Romani in the Sinai, El Arish and Rafa. Australians distinguished themselves in battles at Beersheba Wells, Jerusalem, Jericho, Nablus, Semaka and Amman, and finally Damascus - always driving the Turks back ahead of them, forcing them to retreat to Turkey.
With the invention of fighter planes, the Australian Flying Corps was created to fight in Palestine and France.
By February \J1917\j the Germans started a last desperate attempt to win the war through a submarine campaign unmatched by Allied technology. However the use of unrestricted submarine warfare brought the United States into the war on the side of the Allies in April 1917.
\BDescription:\b Australian troops writing home, Middle East \I(RAHS)\i
#
"1916: Australians Torn Apart Over Conscription",18,"g\4\refer.jpg","c","0"
The British were still short of troops, so \JBilly Hughes\j tried to force Australians to enlist by holding the first conscription referendum in October \J1916\j. This was defeated by the people who had heard how terrible the conditions were in Europe, and had seen the mutilated diggers returning from Gallipoli. In fact 1,160,033 voted against it, compared to 1,087,557 who voted for it.
This conscription debate split the Labor party with factions going in different directions. Prime Minister \JBilly Hughes\j formed the National Labor Party to fight for conscription, because the Labor Party was against conscription. He was keen on it because the Imperial British War Cabinet had just been formed and he was representing Australia and needed to offer more troops.
Then in \J1917\j, Conservative forces united to support conscription, and the NLP merged with Liberals creating the Nationalist Party, voted into government by the people under \JBilly Hughes\j as Prime Minister - it now looked as if conscription could be introduced.
\BDescription:\b Australian referendum advertisement \I(Random House)\i
#
"1917: The War Turns in Allies Favour",19,"g\4\psfp0020.jpg","c","0"
By \J1917\j, the Allies were winning some battles on land and the Germans were on the retreat - both in Europe and in the Middle East.
In Europe, the Allies were winning in the Somme Valley battles thanks to Australian victories at Villers Bretonneux, which were consistently defeating German offensives. In the Middle East on 31 October, the Allies attacked Beersheba, starting a new campaign to win Gaza.
The European fighters were then shocked to hear that in March the Russian Czar abdicated, leaving the way open for a new government to take charge of his nation. In October the Bolsheviks (later the Communist Party) organised a successful revolution in Russia and overthrew the Provisional Government. Communist activist Vladimir Lenin travelled to Russia to organise that revolution, and became the leader of a new nation to be called the Soviet Union. Russia withdrew from the war and made a separate peace with Germany.
\BDescription:\b A 5000lb Tim Catton mine laid and fired by the Australian Third Division - WWI \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1917: Australia Agonises Over Conscription",20,"0","Billy Hughes in favour of conscription","mfilm8ii.avi"
Meanwhile back in Australia, the number of volunteers for the war dropped off dramatically as the horror stories of the Somme Valley fighting were reported. Prime Minister \JBilly Hughes\j became desperate and campaigned for conscription.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix, led another campaign against conscription, however, and this persuaded many people against the \JBilly Hughes\j claims that Australia must send more men.
In December, the second conscription referendum was defeated, this time 1,181,747 voted against it and 1,015,159 voted for it - so even with the \JBilly Hughes\j propaganda machine supporting conscription, Australians voted against it with an even bigger majority. The Prime Minister lost, and so those men who did not want to fight stayed at home. The Australian population had been severely divided and the bitterness it caused remained for many years.
\BViddescription:\b Billy Hughes and conscription (Film World)
#
"1918: German Spring Offensive Blocked",21,"g\4\psfp0064.jpg","c","0"
The Germans made a desperate and successful effort to break the stalemate in March \J1918\j, in what was called the Spring Offensive, achieving significant advances.
But with the Australians and Allies on the Western Front, now supported by the United States, increasingly winning in the Somme area, the German victories were short-lived. \JSir John Monash\j formed a new army out of the five Australian divisions fighting in the French campaigns, and began to organise them even more effectively.
On 4 July the Australian troops captured Hamel and then Villers Bretonneux in a battle that was the start of the end for the German army, despite its Spring Offensive.
By August, the Allies, under General Foch, began the last offensive for war, and after a series of victories, including capturing the Hindenburg line, separating France and Germany - at long last it was clear the European war was ending.
By 11 November \J1918\j, the Germans had run out of options. Surrounded on all sides and running out of men, they surrendered. The Austro-Hungarians had surrendered early in November and sought an armistice. The European war was over.
In the Middle East, Australians had helped capture thousands of demoralised Turks who wanted to stop fighting, and this brought the Middle Eastern war to an end as well. Turkey signed an armistice in October 1918.
\BDescription:\b Armistice Day 1918 - Allied and German troops shake hands \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"The Treaty of Versailles",22,"f\10\29smh.jpg","c","0"
The leaders of the victorious nations held a conference in Versailles, France, to draw up an agreement to guarantee peace for the future. It had been a terrible war, and they hoped with so many millions dead it would be the war to end all wars.
The Treaty confiscated territories from Germany, such as the controversial Alsace-Lorraine, which was returned to France, and her African colonies like German New Guinea, transferring them to other nations like Australia to manage as mandates. Australia was represented at the Peace Conference by Prime Minister Hughes who insisted Australia be allowed an individual vote.
The Treaty cut back the German army to 100,000 soldiers and scaled down its military equipment, forbidding battleships, planes or tanks etc.
The Treaty also demanded Germany pay back reparations including thousands of pounds worth of gold and goods, and give all the coal she produced in the Saar valley to France for the next five years. Australia claimed over 100,000,000 pounds but only about 5,500,000 was actually ever paid.
Many scholars believed these conditions were too tough, as Germany had not actually started the war, the other countries had also been responsible, and some critics warned these conditions would inspire angry Germans to start another war soon to get out of this crippling and ignominious situation and get revenge.
One such angry German was a young man named Adolf Hitler who never accepted defeat in the first place, let alone the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles.
\BDescription:\b 7,000 Sydney schoolchildren gather at the SCG to celebrate the Versailles Peace Treaty \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1920: The League of Nations",23,"g\4\31smh.jpg","c","0"
The war ended with the positive creation of an international body for the discussion and government of world affairs in the future - the League of Nations. Australia became a member state of the League of Nations but Hughes had been responsible for successfully opposing the inclusion of a racial equality clause in the League's Covenant. He feared it might have had an effect on Australia's immigration policy.
This long overdue body was inspired by the Allied powers who hoped it would maintain peace. They invited all nations to join, eventually including Germany and those who had started the \J1914\j war.
It was a step in the right direction, but as the story of the Second World War demonstrates, the League had too many shortcomings to be effective.
The world had to wait till after the Second World War before a better global police officer could be created with more power - the United Nations.
\BDescription:\b William Hughes making a speech about the war \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
Although the Second World War was fought on a larger scale than the First World War, involving more nations, being fought over a larger geographical area, and involving worse weapons, including the Atomic bomb, Australia lost less soldiers than in the First World War.
Australia fought in the Second World War from 3 September \J1939\j to 15 August \J1945\j. There were two main theatres of war - the war against Germany and the war against Japan.
Nearly one million Australians served in the war in the different defence forces, out of a population of less than seven million. Of these, 39,366 were killed and 66,553 were wounded. In addition, 8,184 were captured and held prisoner by the Germans, of whom 265 died. As well, 22,376 were captured and held prisoners of war by the Japanese of whom 8,031 died in Japanese camps.
\BDescription:\b "Join the Women's Land Army" recruiting poster \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1919: Treaty of Versailles",2,"g\4\king0177.jpg","c","0"
The seeds of the Second World War were really sown in \J1919\j at the Treaty of Versailles when the victorious Allied powers created and forced Germany to sign a treaty which punished her too severely.
The Germans believed they had been discriminated against, because other nations like the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not being punished as much, yet they had also started the war. The Allied powers had also demanded Germany pay back reparations to the Allied powers to compensate them for losses. The Allied powers forced Germany to give up lands which the Germans believed were traditionally theirs and were especially humiliated when France occupied the Ruhr in \J1923\j. But Germany could not do anything about this as the Allies forbade Germany from rearming. Most seriously of all, the Treaty ruined the German economy and the nation went bankrupt.
It was an ignominious treaty, especially for a proud military nation like Germany, and the Germans resented the punishment so much they wanted to get revenge.
\BDescription:\b Signing the Treaty of Versailles \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1922: Rise of Fascism",3,"g\4\king0141.jpg","c","0"
Although the post-war European governments mostly established democratic systems, Italy, from 1922, acquired a Fascist government under Mussolini and thus began a new period of right-wing non-democratic governments that would eventually include Germany and Japan.
In \J1923\j Adolf Hitler attempted to organise a putsch (or rebellion against the government) in Munich, but failed. This was the first appearance of the clever political activist who would become a military fanatic and take over Germany, leading her into a war that would become worse than any other, and embroil more nations in conflict than ever before, including Australia.
By the \J1930\js, military fascists also took over in Japan which meant there were two major threats to world peace - the Italians and Germans in Europe, and the Japanese in the Pacific.
But in the 1920s, Germany remained law-abiding and in \J1925\j the people elected Hindenburg president of Germany. In \J1926\j Germany was admitted to the League of Nations on the condition she would obey the Treaty of Versailles. The rest of the European nations were so determined to avoid war again, that 65 nations signed the Kellogg Pact in \J1928\j condemning aggressive war.
In \J1923\j the German economy collapsed, borne down by the weight of the reparations. Rampant inflation made currency almost useless and the nation was bankrupt. A drastic solution was needed. A new currency was established and the German economy rebuilt largely with the aid of loans from the United States.
In \J1926\j the world's worst industrial strike crippled Britain - the General Strike - which forced the government to legislate curbing union power.
In \J1929\j New York's Wall Street Stockmarket collapsed, precipitating the Great Depression that impacted on all western nations from Australia to Germany. The German economy was particularly affected because of its dependence on American loans.
The climate for war was setting in, especially in Germany where in \J1930\j the last French troops left Germany's Rhineland. In \J1931\j, the world stood by as Hirohito's Japan invaded Manchuria for economic reasons. With her banks collapsing that year, Germany began to look for more radical solutions to her economic problems.
\BDescription:\b The General Strike \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1932: Hitler's Rise to Power",5,"g\4\psfp0044.jpg","c","0"
Against the background of economic bankruptcy, Adolf Hitler began to have more success with his public campaign to rebuild Germany economically through rearmament, and building public works.
Hitler led a National Socialist or Nazi Party which won 230 seats in German parliament in \J1932\j, campaigning on rebuilding Germany through the military strength the Germans all knew and loved. By \J1933\j Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.
In this position Hitler gained dictatorial powers. He then began to concentrate on building up German military might, and banned trade unions and any other forces that opposed him including some of the Nazi Party itself which Hitler purged in \J1934\j.
Germany then left the League of Nations, as did Japan, sounding warning bells to all former Allied powers.
\BDescription:\b Hitler receiving flowers from children in the Tyrol \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"1934: The Axis Powers Unite",6,"g\4\king0171.jpg","c","0"
Hitler and Mussolini met in Venice to plan a war alliance which became the basis of the fascists campaign against democratic nations in the Second World War. By \J1936\j Germany and Italy had signed a pact to fight together.
Bolstered by their combined strength in \J1935\j, Germany repudiated the military restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, making it clear she was on the warpath. Mussolini's Italy invaded Ethiopia which it conquered by \J1936\j as part of an Italian move to establish an empire in North Africa.
The League of Nations was unable to stop Germany from rearming, but imposed sanctions against Italy. The stage was set for the start of the Second World War.
\BDescription:\b Mussolini \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1936-39: Acts of Aggression Leading to War",7,"g\4\king0170.jpg","c","0"
In 1936 Germany occupied the demilitarised Rhineland, claiming it was her right to keep forces on German territory. Hitler had issued his first military challenge and got away with it.
Germany sent pilots and other fighting personnel to fight in the Spanish Civil War which had just broken out, so they could gain experience for later campaigns. Germans used this war to try out not only fighter planes, but also bombing techniques.
By \J1937\j, as Germany built up more and more military hardware against the wishes of the League of Nations, Italy showed its contempt by leaving the League of Nations.
Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Japan flouted the League of Nations still further, and invaded China.
It was now clear the League of Nations was powerless to stop aggressive nations from breaking the rules, and democratic western nations were in danger.
In \J1938\j, using the excuse of linguistic affinity, Germany incorporated Austria into "a union of German speaking peoples" taking over Austrian resources for its growing war effort.
Despite protests from the western world, Germany then claimed the Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia. This inspired France and Britain, led by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, to fly to Germany and try and stop Hitler, by holding talks in Munich. This Munich crisis was a turning point. Chamberlain claimed he had won "Peace in our time". On the other hand, Hitler ignored the Treaty he signed, invading Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and then Poland; at the same time his ally Italy annexed Albania.
Poland, however, proved to be the last straw for Hitler because the two great World War One Allies, Britain and France, warned Hitler that if he invaded Poland they would declare war on Germany.
\BDescription:\b Hitler (left) and Chamberlain \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1939: German Invasion of Poland Starts WWII",8,"0","Australia At War","film27i.avi"
After Germany invaded Poland, Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September \J1939,\j as she had promised to do. Hours later, Australia's Prime Minister \JRobert Menzies\j announced that Australia was also at war with Germany because Britain had declared war. Although Menzies did not consult his cabinet, let alone the parliament, his unilateral decision reflected the wishes of the people of Australia.
Australians did not get involved in defending Poland against Germany, because that battle was all over before Australia got onto a war footing. On 15 September, the Australian government called for 20,000 men for active service in Europe and the Second AIF was formed. Menzies offered the Royal Australian Navy to Britain, and sent the first squadron of the RAAF to train in England, and in January \J1940\j despatched the first AIF contingent (6th Division) under Lt. General T.A. Blamey to the Middle East.
So within four months, all three Australian defence forces had joined the war effort. In January \J1940,\j the government introduced compulsory military service for men 21 years of age.
Because there was no land fighting after the declaration of war once Poland had fallen, until April \J1940\j when the Germans invaded Norway, this period was called the "Phoney War". Germans expelled Jews from Poland during this period, and the USSR invaded Finland, and the Allies built up their forces.
This Phoney War period was helpful for Australia as it enabled the nation to organise for a war for which it was poorly prepared. Australia increased its AIF force, and the government ordered all Aliens in Australia to be interned. However in these early days the war made little difference to the lives of ordinary Australians.
The government introduced National Security regulations including censorship, price control, etc. A Home Defence force was created with conscription for home service. The Department of Labour and National Service was established to direct manpower to wherever the government wished.
\BViddescription:\b Australia declares war (Film World)
#
"World War II Escalates",9,king0114.jpg,c,0
After the Phoney War was over, when Germany invaded Norway to secure iron ore supplies in April \J1940,\j the first opportunity was provided for European action for a small number of Australians involved with the British forces. The British Navy tried in vain to stop the Germans at the Battle of Narvik.
As the situation became more serious Britain's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and the tougher Winston Churchill took over until the end of the war. Then on 11 June \J1940,\j Italy declared war on Britain and France and invaded Greece, so Australia declared war on Italy in line with the national policy of assisting Britain and her Allies. The government also banned the fascist groups in Australia, along with communist parties. Compulsory military training was extended to men up to 24 years of age.
After they occupied Norway, in May \J1940\j the Germans then invaded Holland, which fell after four days fighting, and then Belgium which fought on for some time, backed by Allied troops including some Australian soldiers, before it too fell.
Germany then invaded Denmark and Luxembourg which offered little resistance, and the Allies realised the German war machine would be hard to stop with its "Blitzkrieg" style of lightning attacks with tanks, armoured cars and motorised infantry, backed up by fighter planes and bombers. This was the first time such modern equipment had been used in war, and the European countries had failed to develop a response.
Although some Australians helped fight the Germans in these battles in the Lowlands, most of the troops were local or British. During this period in Australia, the government increased the AIF to an Army Corps under the command of Lt. General Blamey. The 7th Division was then formed under the command of Major General J.D. Lavarack and Australia was really on a war footing. The government controlled all resources, production and manpower, and introduced petrol rationing.
The dreaded invasion of France happened in May \J1940,\j and the war took yet another turn for the worse. The Germans moved so fast that the Allies could not stop their "Blitzkrieg" attack. The Allied troops rushed into position to defend France along the northern Belgium border, expecting Germany to come that way. The French also had a Maginot line of underground forts and gun emplacements to hold off German attacks further south, but they did not defend the middle border, with France thinking the Ardennes forest would protect them because they thought it was impassable for tanks.
But the Germans surprised the Allies, crashing through the Ardennes forest with their powerful tanks supported by Stuka dive bombers, and swept into France where it was least guarded. Within a month, by 14 June, Hitler's forces captured Paris and the Swastika flag flew from the Eiffel Tower. France surrendered on 22 June, \J1940.\j
The Germans fought the Allies right across France to the coast line, trapping them against the English Channel. With the fall of France, the Allies organised the largest ever evacuation of troops from a foreign soil from the port of Dunkirk.
The British government and people had heard their Allied soldiers were trapped on the beaches of France across the channel, so government and private boats were quickly despatched to pick up the soldiers before the Germans killed them. As it was, 68,000 Allied troops had been killed, wounded or captured. Already the German planes were bombing the soldiers along the beaches.
Over a number of days and nights between 27 May and 4 June \J1940,\j official and private boats managed to pluck the soldiers off the beach and out of the water, and ferry them across to Britain where they were fed and cared for, enabling them to regroup and prepare to fight back.
In all, 340,000 British, French, and other Allied troops were saved. It was one of the greatest miracles of the Second World War and gave the Allied forces great heart.
\BDescription:\b The evacuation of Dunkirk \I(Jonathan King)\i.
#
"July 1940: Battle of Britain",10,"g\4\psfp0019.jpg","c","0"
In July \J1940\j, the next attack the Allies had been waiting for came when Germany attacked Britain by air, in what became known as the Battle of Britain.
The Germans code-named their attack "Operation Sealion". It aimed at destroying the British planes above Britain, and then once that opposition was out of the way, invading by sea, bringing their "Blitzkrieg" tanks, armoured cars, and motorised infantry onto the land to occupy and control Britain. It was a do or die effort by Hitler and a fight to the death.
As it turned out, the Royal Airforce planes stopped the German invasion of Britain, but not until a great battle had been won, and a battle in which Australian pilots fought and distinguished themselves.
The Battle of Britain was a close fight because the Germans had superior numbers. The Luftwaffe (German Air Force) had 2,500 aircraft (969 bombers; 336 dive bombers; 869 ME 109 fighters and 268 twin engined ME 110 fighter bombers). The British and Allied forces only had 820 fighters.
Fortunately, the bombers were not used in the battle, which meant the fighters were really the planes fighting it out, so numbers were more evenly balanced. The British also had the best planes - the Spitfires - and although the Hurricanes were not as manoeuvrable as the German fighters, they were also good fighters. Even though the German pilots had more experience - having fought in the Spanish Civil War, Poland, and France - the British were fighting for their own country, and had a home ground advantage. As well, the German planes had nearly run out of fuel by the time they got to London, and only had 20 minutes to fight before their fuel ran out. The British also had a better system of radar, which helped them locate the German planes faster.
The Battle of Britain had four different stages, as the Germans planned to start at the outer edges of Britain and then move in for the kill.
The Germans started the battle from 10 July to 10 August by bombing British ships in the Channel and then the ports themselves. Then secondly from 8 to 23 August, the Germans bombed radar stations and forward fighter bases, destroying many airports. Thirdly, between 24 August and 6 September, the Germans bombed inland fighter bases and aircraft factories - where the British were building up to 500 fighter planes a month. Fourthly, from 7 to 30 September, the Germans tried to bomb London into submission.
The Battle of Britain climaxed on 15 September \J1940\j when the Germans launched one final massive air attack, with hundreds of planes aimed at destroying London. The British were ready however, and shot down 60 planes on the 15th September alone, winning a decisive battle over London, that from that moment on, began to turn the war against the Germans. By the end of September, Germany postponed Operation Sealion indefinitely.
The British and their Allies, including Australian pilots, who had played an important part in the Battle of Britain, had shown Germany could be beaten. RAAF pilots remained fighting in the European theatre of the war. They were involved in many bombing raids over Germany including the one to destroy the German dams.
\BDescription:\b Battle of Britain scenes, September 1940 \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Australian Ships Fight Early Battles",11,"0","Australians sail off - WWII","film29ii.avi"
The Royal Australian Navy achieved some great successes during the early part of the war which helped the European war effort. HMS \IManoora\i intercepted and scuttled an Italian liner \IRomolo\i in the Solomon Islands. HMAS \ISydney\i and five Australian destroyers bombarded Italian positions on the Libyan coast. HMAS \ISydney, Stuart, Vampire\i and \IVoyager\i fought in the battle of Calabria and later sank the Italian cruiser \IBartolomeo Colleoni.\i
In July \J1940,\j HMAS \IAustralia\i helped attack the Vichy French at Dakar and HMAS \IHobart\i covered the evacuation of Berbera in August when the Italians were overrunning British Somalia.
In \J1941,\j HMAS \IPerth, Stuart\i and \IVendetta\i fought in the great battle of Matapan. HMAS \I\JCanberra\j\i intercepted German vessels \IKetty Brovig\i and \ICoburg,\i scuttling both.
\BViddescription:\b Australians off to war (Film World)
#
"Germany Occupies Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete",12,"g\4\king0061.jpg","c","0"
In March \J1941\j, although unable to stop them invading Yugoslavia, the Allies attempted to stop the German invasion of Greece. British and Australian troops were shipped to Greece to fight the Germans. The Australian 6th Division was transferred across from North Africa where they had been successful against the Italian forces.
After a series of fierce battles in Greece, the German Army defeated the Allies and so they withdrew, leaving 3,000 Australian prisoners of war behind.
HMAS \IPerth\i evacuated some of the Australian troops before being hit by a bomb, killing several crew members. Many Australian soldiers in Greece escaped to Crete when they continued to oppose the German paratroops landing there until they were forced to flee Crete.
In June \J1941\j, the Australians then beat the French Foreign Legion in Syria as part of the British invasion of Syria, which was held by the pro-German Vichy French at the time.
\BDescription:\b Ruins during WWII \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Rats of Tobruk",13,"g\4\king0058.jpg","c","0"
In March \J1941\j, after the Allies had beaten the Italians, the Germans, led by Rommel, launched their great North African offensive against the Allies, who held positions there defending the Mediterranean ports. The Germans pushed back the Allies including the Australians, who played a leading part with their forces at Tobruk, which they defended against all odds.
It was in this British North African war against the Italians and then the Germans that Australians really helped most, as the AIF's 6th Division won a series of battles in North Africa and the 9th Division defended Tobruk in Libya against repeated German attacks. The Royal Australian Navy also assisted with the retreat from Tobruk, after Axis forces were starting to close in on Tobruk, and HMAS \IParramatta\i and \IWaterhen\i were sunk with great loss of Australian lives.
In April 1941, the Germans fought their way along the North African coast as far as the town of Tobruk in Libya, but they could not take it because the fighters defending Tobruk were so fierce - and more than half of the 24,000 soldiers defending Tobruk were Australians.
"Rats of Tobruk - (2)",14,"g\4\king0059.jpg","c","0"
The defenders of Tobruk were like rats, caught in a trap laying low in desert shelters, and surviving on cunning and they were named the Rats of Tobruk by the Germans. They were to stop the Germans getting to the Persian Gulf oil fields and the Suez Canal, so it was an important last stand.
The Rats held out from April to when the siege was lifted. The Germans had attacked the Australians daily by air and by land, killing thousands, but they could not move the defenders and had to abandon the attack. A German Commander reported "the Australians are extraordinary tough soldiers, with great courage and with extreme cunning and our men fall into their traps".
Most of the Australian forces in Tobruk were replaced in August and September 1941 after the Australian General Blamey requested they be relieved. One Australian battalion remained until December 1941.
\BDescription:\b Tobruk - an outpost position \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"October 1942: El Alamein",15,"f\4\salvage.jpg","c","0"
When the Pacific War began in December 1941 the 6th and 7th Divisions of the AIF were withdrawn from the Middle East to fight the Japanese.
After the successful Australian defence of Tobruk, the Australian 9th Division was selected to help fight the Germans in Egypt to prevent them penetrating further.
The Australians fought long and hard against the Germans. The Allied armies finally took a stand in a 12 day battle known as the Battle of El Alamein, in which Australians once again distinguished themselves through bravery.
This was one of the first significant battles the Germans lost, and was a turning point of the Second World War. After the Battle of El Alamein, Allied armies pushed the Germans back in North Africa until they captured the last Axis position there in May 1943, but by then Australian troops had been brought back to the Pacific area.
\BDescription:\b Salvage crew with AIF in October \J1942\j \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. ME1809A)\i
Although Britain and her Allies defeated the German invasion of Britain in \J1940\j and checked the Germans for the first time in the war, the real turning point was from June to December \J1941\j, when the Russians withstood the German invasion of the Soviet Union. This bogged the Germans down for years, and wiped out more of their soldiers than any other campaign. At least 75% of the German war machine was deployed in the USSR, including 5,250 tanks and four million German soldiers. It was Hitler's biggest mistake and the start of the end of the European War. It made it easier for Britain and her Allies, including Australians, to win other battles against Germany in other areas.
Although they had signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR, the Germans attacked the USSR to destroy communism, get access to the wheatfields of the Ukraine in the south, which were needed to feed the German Army, and to occupy the oil fields in the northern Caucasus region, which were needed for the mechanised army.
The German attack on Russia was codenamed "Barbarossa". The Germans sent three million soldiers in three directions to Leningrad in the north, to Moscow in the centre, and to Stalingrad in the south.
From \J1942\j-44, although the Germans' plan of encircling areas of the USSR worked, and the Germans captured a number of cities and took over a million prisoners, they had bitten off more than they could chew. They captured towns in the western part of the Soviet Union including Kiev and Smolensk, but they could not capture Leningrad at first, or Moscow or Stalingrad.
In late \J1941\j once the Russians got over the shock, they began to reorganise. Their leader, Joseph Stalin, mobilised far more soldiers than the Germans had anticipated. The severe winter set in, undermining the German soldiers. Despite the odds against them, Hitler demanded the Germans concentrate on capturing Stalingrad and the Caucasus oil fields at the same time. This was the final straw, as it split the German army and the Russians defeated the two smaller divisions both in the Caucasus and in Stalingrad, where the Russians fought for every street and house with determination.
By January \J1944\j the Germans had to abandon their invasion of the USSR - and in fact any other invasions, and were now retreating everywhere. It was only a matter of time before the Allies mustered all their freedom-loving forces and counter-attacked from Britain.
\BDescription:\b World War II in the winter months \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Pacific War - Japan Attacks America",17,"g\5\weekly.jpg","c","0"
During the European war against Germany, a second war broke out in December \J1941\j when the Japanese attacked the American port of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At the same time, Japanese troops invaded North Malaya and began to advance down the peninsula. This created a new war fought by the Allies at the other end of the world to Europe, in the Pacific.
But by bombing the American port, the Japanese inspired the Americans to join the war. Not only did they fight Japan in the Pacific, but they also declared war on the Axis Powers in the European war, increasing the Allies strength out of all proportion.
Japan had been fighting its own wars since the mid \J1930\js in Manchuria and China, but the Allies had not been involved - although the geographically closer Australians were worried. But once Japan attacked the USA, then Japan's military activities caught the attention of the world.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was in fact one of the major turning points of the war, because although Hitler may have been able to defeat the USSR at the same time as Britain, the Germans could never defeat the Americans as well. So the Japanese had done Hitler a disservice by attacking the USA, which had been neutral till then. USA, Britain and Australia immediately declared war on Japan.
Once Japan had attacked America, the new Labor prime minster \JJohn Curtin\j, who had taken over as prime minister in October \J1941\j, when the conservative prime minister \JRobert Menzies\j had been forced to resign, announced Australia would change course.
From now on he said, Australia would look to America for support, not Britain. America was closer and would be fighting the Japanese in the Pacific, so they were more likely to defend Australia than Britain, which was grappling with the Germans at the other end of the world.
This represented the biggest shift in Australian foreign policy ever. From that moment on, Australia's ties with Britain began to weaken and as it turned out, Curtin was right. The American troops did come, led by General Douglas Macarthur in \J1942\j, to defend Australia from the planned Japanese invasion.
Curtin pulled Australian troops back from the European war and used them to fight the new war in the Pacific against Japan. Australia had weaned itself from mother England.
\BDescription:\b General Douglas Macarthur led the American troops to defend Australia in the Pacific war \I(Women's Weekly)\i
#
"Pacific War - Early Japanese Successes (1941-42)",18,"f\10\king0152.jpg","c","0"
Japan, which controlled Manchuria and much of China, wanted control of the oil and rubber and other resources in South East Asia, so it quickly took Hong Kong, Philippines, and then Malaya, before the Americans or Australians could get organised. It was quite a feat, as the British colonies had been a formidable stronghold for years, defended by 130,000 British troops.
The Australian naval ships were still fighting the Germans. In fact the pride of the Australian fleet, HMS \ISydney,\i was blown up and sunk while fighting the German raider \IKormoran,\i 300 miles off the coast of Western Australia. All 645 crew members on the \ISydney\i died, but although the German ship sunk, 317 Germans survived, becoming prisoners of war.
In late \J1941\j things looked bad for Australia. Most of Australia's soldiers, ships and planes were fighting the Germans in Europe. At this rate the Germans would use up all Australian ships and men so it was time for the Labor government to redirect the war effort to the Japanese invasion from the north - long feared by Australians and expected at any moment.
The Japanese next attacked the vitally important British naval base at Singapore, which controlled most of the shipping routes in the region. Although it had been a formidable stronghold for years, defended by British land and sea forces, the Japanese in February \J1942\j invaded and defeated the British colony, capturing 15,000 Australians (mainly troops of the 8th Division) defending Singapore.
The Japanese now sent a message of terror to Australia - perhaps this would be their next invasion. In the meantime they invaded Burma and the Dutch East Indies, just that little bit closer to Australia. In the Sunda Strait HMAS \IPerth\i and HMAS \IYarra\i were sunk and Australian troops on Amben Island were forced to retreat.
\BDescription:\b Fighting during the Pacific war \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"February 1942: Japan Attacks Australia",19,"0","Japanese attack Australia WWII","film34ii.avi"
By February \J1942,\j Japan had conquered much of South East Asia and was turning her eyes to Australia. The Americans were busy organising their own defences and preparing for war. Australia, with Britain preoccupied with the Germans, was on its own.
Then the dreaded moment came. On 20 February \J1942\j the Japanese began dropping bombs on Darwin. Although largely unprepared, the Australians fought back shooting at Japanese aircraft from the ground. But it was little use - the raids continued and after a series of air attacks, the Japanese had killed 243 Australians and wounded many others. In March, Broome and Wyndham were also bombed.
\BViddescription:\b Darwin is attacked (Film World)
#
"May 1942: Japan Attacks Australia",20,g\5\midget.jpg,c,0
In May \J1942\j the Japanese sent submarines down to Newcastle and Sydney, and they shelled the cities from the sea. Before being destroyed, three midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour killing 19 naval ratings on a training ship in Sydney and damaging property.
For all Australians the war had now really arrived.
\BDescription:\b A midget submarine entered Sydney Harbour and fired a torpedo at the barracks ship \IKuttabul\i (shown here), killing 19 men. The incident occurred May 31st-June 1st 1942. \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. 12422)\i
#
"Americans Turn Tide Against Japan",21,"f\10\king0062.jpg","c","0"
The Japanese may have been initially successful, but as soon as the Americans mobilised, the tide of battle began to turn.
In May \J1942\j, the American fleet sailed out into the Pacific and won the Battle of the Coral Sea. In the Battle of the Coral Sea a Japanese fleet which was carrying troops to make a landing near Port Moresby in Papua was intercepted by planes from the American fleet. The battle was waged between planes from the two fleets. The Japanese fleet was severely enough damaged that the planned invasion had to be called off. In June, the American fleet even more severely defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Midway.
These American victories were as important as the defeat of the Germans by the Russians in the European war, and signalled the start of the end of the Pacific war.
\BDescription:\b Oil storage tankers at Darwin burn fiercely soon after the first Japanese air raid \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1942: Australians Beat Japanese on Kokoda Track",22,"g\5\king0104.jpg","c","0"
Inspired by the leadership of the American General Macarthur, now based with his troops in Australia, Australians began to win decisive victories against the Japanese. They could leave their own country knowing it was being protected by the Australian Home Defence bolstered by the Americans, who had drawn an imaginary line - the Brisbane Line - from Brisbane to Adelaide, behind which they would protect everything and everyone while letting the Japanese have the rest of the country if necessary.
But if the Japanese were to be stopped, it had to be in New Guinea, so this became a vital front line. It was here Australians achieved one of their greatest victories by driving the Japanese back up the Kokoda Trail which they had come down, from north, to south, New Guinea.
The Australians defeated the Japanese at Milne Bay in Papua in August \J1942\j and then Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea in mid \J1943\j and eventually drove the Japanese from New Guinea altogether.
\BDescription:\b Nurses tending soldiers wounded on the Kokoda Track \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1943: European Allies and Their War Victories",23,"g\5\king0150.jpg","c","0"
Just as the Australians and Americans were winning in the war against Japan, the European Allies were also now winning. After the Russians defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, the British defeated the Germans and Italians in North Africa. This enabled the Allies to invade Italy via Sicily in August \J1943\j.
Mussolini then resigned and fled to the north. In September Italy surrendered. However German troops continued to oppose the Allies in Italy.
In October, Italy declared war on Germany and at the same time the Russians advanced towards Germany.
Germany was now surrounded with the Russians beating her on her eastern side, her former Ally Italy and the Americans attacking her from the south, and the British, Australian airmen and now Americans attacking her from her western side. By \J1944\j the Allies had advanced greatly. Russians liberated Romania and Poland and the Allies had captured Rome.
It was now time for the final big offensive.
\BDescription:\b Troops during World War II \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"1944: D-Day Allies Invade France",24,"0","g","0"
History's biggest invasion took place with all the freedom-loving Allies mounting the final assault from Britain - including Britain, America and Australia. The Russians at the same time invaded Germany from the east, and the plan was to liberate the countries in between and meet in the middle.
On 4 June \J1944\j the Allies landed at Normandy and swept across France clearing German soldiers and their supporters out of the way. They liberated Paris and went on to liberate all the European countries occupied by Germany, finally in \J1945\j reaching Berlin where Hitler was found dead, having committed suicide in his headquarters.
The Allies then liberated the German death camps, where six million Jews had been killed by the Germans, but where there were still some survivors.
Finally, the western liberation force had met up with the eastern liberation force from USSR, and Germany had been defeated.
On 8 May \J1944\j, Germany surrendered.
#
"1945: The End of the European War",25,"0","Celebrating the end of WWII","film35i.avi"
The Allied leaders met at Yalta to plan a peaceful settlement - Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Together they planned a peace settlement and divided up Europe in a way that would not cause another war like the Treaty of Versailles had.
They created a new European order that was based on stability.
Before long, however, this stability would develop into a new conflict called the "Cold War," as the Russians insisted on controlling the countries they had "liberated," and installed communist governments in them which were opposed to the free democratic capitalist nations liberated by the Allies - but that is another story.
\BViddescription:\b End of war celebrations (Film World)
#
"1945: The Atom Bomb Ends the Pacific War",26,"e\8\sanfran3.jpg","c","0"
By the end of \J1944\j the Australians had almost completely liberated New Guinea and the Americans continued to defeat the Japanese in the Pacific.
After her sea battle successes, America drove the Japanese troops out of the islands of the Pacific and American troops worked their way west towards Japan, capturing the Philippines and the Japanese Island of Okinawa. As the Americans moved north, Australian troops carried out 'mopping up' operations in North New Guinea, Bougainville and New Britain. In \J1945\j Australian troops landed in Borneo.
Rather than risk any more American lives in these jungle battles, American President Franklin Roosevelt encouraged his scientists to develop an atom bomb through the Manhatten Project, that could end the war quickly, as the Japanese refused to surrender.
His successor, President Truman, made the decision to drop this bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August \J1945\j, killing 150,000 Japanese. When they would still not surrender, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing a further 75,000.
After the second bomb, the Japanese surrendered and on the 15 August \J1945\j, the Pacific war ended.
The United Nations was formed soon after, and Australia signed the charter in the hope this new international body would uphold peace better than the previous efforts of the League of Nations.
\BDescription:\b \JFrancis Forde\j, Deputy Prime Minister, signing the Charter of the United Nations \I(United Nations)\i
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7#
11,0
"Australia's Part in the Maori Wars 1863-64",1,"g\5\n_zealnd.jpg","c","0"
By the 1860s the good relations that had existed off and on between the British settlers and the natives in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maoris in 1840, broke down. Disputes over the ownership and the sale of tribal land led to a full scale Maori revolt in 1860. The British Army, finding the Maori resistance more than they had anticipated made an appeal to for help among their colonies.
Moved by loyalty to the British Empire and a sense of adventure, several thousand Australians from the colonies of NSW and Victoria volunteered to help suppress the rebellion. Enlistment was on an individual basis, not organised by the colonial governments. Between 1863 and 1864 these volunteers became part of the Waikato Militia which was employed mainly in scouting operations and protecting while settlers from Maori raids.
\BDescription:\b Map of New Zealand
#
"Sudan Campaign 1885",2,"g\5\sudan.jpg","c","0"
After 1880 the British presence in North Africa was threatened by a Muslim rebellion in Sudan. The famous British General Gordon and his Egyptian troops had been massacred by the rebels in Khartoum early in 1885. This received great publicity throughout the Empire and the British were determined to avenge Gordon's death. For the first time an Australian colonial government, that of NSW, committed an army to help Britain overseas. Amid scenes of wild patriotism a contingent of 734 troops left Sydney for the Sudan in March 1885. Many thousands more volunteered for the contingent than were needed.
After they landed at the Sudanese port of Suakin the Australian troops were attached to British regiments. They fought several skirmishes with the rebels in the desert. However the British decided to abandon the campaign shortly afterwards and the Australian troops arrived back in Sydney in 1886. The only deaths had been caused by disease. The \ISydney Morning Herald\i noted at the time that in sending troops to the Sudan the colony had put forth its claim to be an integral part of the empire.
\BDescription:\b Map of Sudan
#
"Boxer Rebellion 1900",3,g\5\china.jpg,g,0
Britain and other European powers that had been establishing spheres of influence in China during the nineteenth century found themselves faced with a major revolt against the presence of foreigners in 1899. The revolt was led by a secret society called the Boxers and supported by the Ching (Chinese) Government. The foreign powers were besieged in their embassies in Peking and Christian missionaries were executed. In support of British forces in China, the NSW, South Australian and Victorian governments sent an Australian Naval Contingent of 560 volunteers who performed mainly garrison duties around the port of Tientsin.
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"Boer War 1899-1902",4,"g\5\75058.jpg","c","0"
The Boer War began in 1899 when Britain and the Boers (farmers of Dutch descent) clashed over the control of Southern Africa and especially over the exploitation of the gold mines in Transvaal.
All the Australian colonial governments offered to send troops to help the British forces although there were some including the poet Henry Lawson and the \IBulletin\i magazine who opposed Australian participation. By the end of the war in 1902, over 16,000 Australian troops had gone to fight in South Africa and over 600 had been killed. A group of Australian nurses accompanied the forces to South Africa.
The war developed into guerilla warfare and mounted Australian troops were used for hit-and-run missions against the Boers who proved to be a formidable enemy. Most of the Boer towns had been captured by mid-1900 but the guerilla forces still held out in the countryside. In an attempt to break Boer resistance, civilians were put in concentration camps and Boer farms and herds destroyed. The direction the war had taken, and the execution by the British of two Australian soldiers, Harry 'Breaker' Morant and Peter Handcock, for shooting Boer civilian prisoners, led to a growing concern in Australia about the war.
The Boers surrendered in May 1902, and Australian troops returned home with over 1,000 casualties, but a reputation for tough fighting, guerilla warfare, independence, horsemanship and bravery.
Memorials to those who were killed in the Boer War were erected in cities and country towns throughout Australia. Loyalty to the Empire and support for the idea the 'Empire is one nation' were behind the enthusiasm with which most Australians had greeted the war.
\BDescription:\b Boer War scenes \I(J. King)\i
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"Korean War 1950-1953",5,"g\5\s_korea.jpg","c","0"
\BBackground\b
At the end of World War II North Korea had been occupied by the Russian troops and South Korea by American troops when the Japanese surrendered. A border between the two was established at the 38th parallel. The Russians withdrew in 1948 leaving behind a communist government in the newly-formed North Korean Democratic Peoples' Republic. In 1950, after United Nations supervised elections in the South, the Americans withdrew, having overseen the establishment of the anti-communist government of the republic of South Korea. Both governments felt they had a claim to the whole country.
\BThe Beginning of the War\b
In June 1950 North Korean troops, trained and equipped by the Russians, attacked South Korea which was militarily unprepared to meet such a challenge.
The capital of South Korea, Seoul, fell within days and by September the North Korean forces had occupied almost the whole of South Korea. Only a small area around the port of Pusan was still in control of the South Korean troops, supported by U.S. forces who had been rapidly moved across from the occupying forces in Japan.
The United States took the dispute to the United Nations and in the absence of the U.S.S.R from the Security Council, it was decided to send a combined United Nations force, including Australia, to relieve South Korea. About twenty nations eventually participated in this force but the greatest input was from the United States. The United Nations force, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, immediately began a counter offensive and within a month the North Korean forces had been pushed back beyond the 38th parallel into north Korea.
\BThe War Continues\b
General MacArthur decided to take the advance into North Korea and crush the communists. By November 1950 the United Nations forces had fought their way almost to the border with China, occupying the North Korean capital Pyongyang on the way. At this point the Peoples' Republic of China intervened in the war on behalf of North Korea. Early in November the Chinese launched a full-scale attack on the United Nations forces who were forced to retreat to the South. The Chinese forces consisted of thousands of well-trained fighters who attacked in human waves. Although the United Nations launched a counter attack late in November it was defeated by the Chinese and North Korean troops who pushed their advantage and forced the United Nations forces to defensive positions well south of Seoul which had fallen to the communists again in January 1951.
General MacArthur was replaced in April 1951 as commander because he wanted to use atomic bombs on China to force it to withdraw from the war. It was considered by the American President Truman that this might lead to Russian intervention and perhaps a third World War, so MacArthur was replaced by General Ridgeway. The Chinese launched a huge offensive which was held by bitter fighting and incurred heavy losses on both sides, especially to the Chinese. The war moved back and forth until June 1951 when the fighting reached a stalemate along the 38th parallel and truce talks began. Sporadic fighting took place for the next two years as talks continued. Finally in July 1953 a truce was signed leaving the country divided almost as it had been before the war, with a border and a demilitarised zone separating the two states.
\BAustralian Involvement in the Korean War\b
Australian troops fought in the Korean War as part of the British Commonwealth contingent of the United Nations Forces. As soon as it was decided to commit United Nations forces in Korea, ships of the Royal Australian Navy and planes of the R.A.A.F, which were in Japan as part of the occupying forces, were sent to South Korea. By September 1950 about 500 specially recruited volunteers joined the Australian battalion for Korea.
The British Commonwealth Brigade joined with the American Eighth Army in its push into North Korea. When the Chinese entered the war the Australian troops encountered the 'human wave' attacks of the Chinese for the first time. As the war continued during the bitter winter, reinforcements were sent from Australia. One of the most ferocious battles fought by the Australians was against a Chinese offensive on the Kapyong River in April 1951. In the two years that truce talks were taking place and the war became more static, Australian troops participated in many patrols, raids, ambushes and bombardments.
Fighting in Korea was difficult because of the mountainous nature of the region and the lack of good roads. Much of the fighting was in the nature of guerilla warfare or infantry warfare of the type Australian troops were used to in World War II. The bitter winters where temperatures dropped to 46 degrees below freezing provided a special problem in Korea, with troops having to wear padded uniforms and many soldiers suffering from frostbite.
Over 1,200 Australians were wounded in the Korean War and 339 were killed.
The war had the support of the majority of the Australian population who saw it as a necessary part of the policy to contain the spread of communism.
\BDescription:\b Map of South Korea
#
"Malayan Insurgency 1955",6,"0","g","0"
Soon after the end of World War II Australian troops found themselves fighting in Malaya but against a different enemy. When the British returned to Malaya after the Japanese defeat in 1945 it was decided some preparation for eventual self government was needed. Malayan Communists, many of whom had been trained and armed by the British to fight against the Japanese, were proving to be extremely disruptive. The formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948 was followed by armed communist revolt.
Australians were alarmed by any spread of communism in Asia and offered troops to support the British forces in Malaya. The R.A.A.F was involved in the campaign from 1950 and ground troops were used from 1955 to 1962. These troops were volunteers who had finished their service in Korea and were experienced and used to guerilla warfare. Eventually the communist forces were neutralised and only small groups remained when the Federation of Malaysia was inaugurated in 1963.
At this time, however, Indonesia began a confrontation policy against the formation of the state of Malaysia. Indonesian guerilla forces began to infiltrate that part of Borneo which had been incorporated into Malaysia. The British moved troops into the area to oppose the Indonesians. British forces were joined in 1965 by Australian troops sent by Prime Minister Menzies who wanted a continued British presence in South East Asia. Australian troops were withdrawn after Sukarno was overthrown in Indonesia in 1967 and Australian-Indonesian relations began to improve.
#
"Vietnam War - Introduction",7,"g\5\vietnam.jpg","c","0"
Australia's involvement in the Vietnam conflict lasted from 1962 when a group of military instructors was sent to advise the South Korean Army, until the end of 1972 when the Australian Government decided to stop all defence aid to South Vietnam. Australian involvement in Vietnam against the North Vietnamese communist forces and the South Vietnamese communist guerilla troops caused much controversy within the Australian community.
Reasons for the Australian entry into the Vietnam War were complex but were dominated mainly by a fear of the spread of communism throughout Asia in the Cold War period, and a desire to ensure the support of the United States if Australian security should be threatened in the future.
The Vietnam War had important social and political effects on Australian society.
\BBackground to the Vietnam War\b
The area known as Indo ChinaùVietnam, Cambodia and Laos, had been a French colonial possessions from the mid 1850s. There had always been some resistance to French rule but this increased in the 1930s when a communist wing of the independence movement developed. During World War II Vietnam was taken over by the Japanese in 1940 as part of the push into Asian countries. In the period of Japanese occupation until 1945 resistance was spearheaded by the communists under their leader, Ho Chi Minh. When the Japanese retreated Ho Chi Minh took over in the North and established the independent republic of Vietnam.
At the end of 1945 the French returned to Indo China and attempted to reincorporate the area into the French Empire. A bitter colonial war followed in which the French were supported by United States aid as part of its policy of containing the spread of communism. After eight years of intensive guerilla warfare the French were defeated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu by the Viet Minh (North Vietnamese Communist forces) under Ho Chi Minh and General Giap.
At a conference held in Geneva just after the French defeat in 1954 it was proposed in the Geneva Accords that Vietnam would be divided into two states, the North led by Ho Chi Minh and the South led by Ngo Dinh Diem, for two years until elections were held. The border between the two and a demilitarised zone were set up at the 17th parallel.
However the elections were not held and relations between the communist North and Diem's Government in the South deteriorated. The United States supported the Diem Government for its anti-communist stand despite its corruption and its severe repression of all political opponents, including Buddhists. Opposition to the Diem Government increased from within its own military and from the Viet Cong (The Nationalist Liberation Front) which had developed from communist guerilla groups operating in the South. The Viet Cong were aided by arms and guerilla groups from the North.
#
"Vietnam War - Military Involvement",8,"g\5\laos0107.jpg","c","0"
\BIncreased United States Involvement\b
United States aid to the French forces before 1954, and to the Diem government in South Vietnam after 1954 was substantial. American policy was based on the implementation of the Truman Doctrine to contain the spread of communism anywhere in the world. In 1961 President Kennedy declared the United States would help South Vietnam in its struggle against the communists and in 1962 sent military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Army. After Diem was assassinated in 1963 the United States stepped up its involvement. In August 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred in which the USS \IMaddox\i was attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats. This led to US President Johnson ordering the bombing of North Vietnam and a new phase of American involvement began.
\BReasons for Australian Involvement\b
The Menzies Liberal Government was returned to power in the 1961 elections on a strongly anti-communist platform. Australia's 'Forward Defence Policy' was to contain communism in Asia. A belief in the 'domino theory' was common, that if one or more Asian countries were allowed to fall to communism others would also fall and Australia would be in imminent danger. The establishment of the Communist Peoples' Republic of China in 1949 had heightened Australian fears. The Australian Government was also concerned that United States involvement in the South East Asian area should be encouraged and supported in case of future threats in the region.
\BAustralia's Military Involvement\b
The number of Australian military advisors was increased from 30 in 1962 to 100 in 1964. As the war escalated, the Australian Government decided to commit regular army troops to the fighting. Over 4,000 members of the RAAF and almost 3,000 members of the RAN were sent to Vietnam. The First Battalion Royal Australian Regiment plus support groups left for Vietnam in May 1965 amid general public support for the venture. The Australian forces came under overall United States command and were located in Bien Hoa to secure the air base there. They were involved in 'search and destroy' missions in conjunction with US forces. There was some difference between the Americans and Australians over tactics, especially the use of preliminary bombing.
RAAF units built up a helicopter squadron, a bomber squadron and a transport squadron. A naval diving team and RAN helicopters also played active roles in Vietnam.
In 1965 conscription had been introduced in Australia so when the war intensified in 1966 two new battalions of regular troops and conscripts were sent to Vietnam. This new force, known as the First Australian Task Force, was given responsibility for the region of Phuoc Tuy, between Saigon and the port of Vung Tau. This force was more independent of American control. The province had for a long time been a centre of Viet Cong and Viet Minh activity. The Australian troops had the job of clearing the area of communist troops and helping the civilian population.
\BDescription:\b Vietnamese B40 rocket found on the Ho Chi Minh Trail \I(Terry Collins)\i
#
"Vietnam War - Battle of Long Tan",9,"0","g","0"
On 18 August, 1966 Australian troops fought one of the most significant battles of their time in Vietnam.
Viet Cong forces laid an ambush in Phuoc Tuy province. The 6th Battalion D Company were surrounded by a much larger force of Viet Cong and Viet Minh fighters in the rubber plantation of Long Tan.
The surrounded soldiers were eventually relieved after the weather cleared up and air support became possible. The total force of the Vietnamese has been estimated at over 2,000. Of these at least 245 were killed and many more wounded. Seventeen Australians were killed and 21 wounded in the battle. President Johnson awarded D company a citation for bravery.
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"Vietnam War - the End",10,"g\5\laos0097.jpg","c","0"
\BThe Nature of the Fighting\b
The Vietnam War was different to other wars that Australians had fought in, in the sense that it was almost entirely guerilla warfare and the enemy were very difficult to identify. The Australians and the Americans had vastly superior firepower but the communists had local knowledge and often local support from the civilian population, many of whom regarded it as a war of national independence. The terrain favoured the guerilla forces so chemicals were used to destroy trees and vegetation which provided cover for the enemy.
Bombing of jungle targets was not very successful and the helicopter became one of the most effective pieces of weaponry. Helicopters were used for attack as gunships, for transport of troops and for moving wounded to medical services. In an attempt to remove support for guerillas and to destroy their bases, many villages were destroyed. The Vietnamese civilian population suffered terribly from the tactics of both sides in the war.
\BThe Home Front and the Conscription Issue\b
In 1964 there had been general support for Australia's involvement in the war as many Australians saw communism as a real threat. However from the beginning there had been some criticism of Australia's participation, for example in a speech made by the Labor Leader of the Opposition, Arthur Calwell, in May 1965. Most newspapers, except the Australian, supported the government policy.
In 1965 national service (conscription) was introduced for certain 20 year olds who would be selected by ballot according to their birth dates. There was little opposition at first to conscription but it came to be seen as the 'ballot of death'. As the war dragged on and conscripts began to be killed in Vietnam, the full horror of the fighting was given daily publicity in newspapers and on television. More people began to question the necessity and the morality of Australia's participation. Conscripts eventually made up 40% of the army's strength.
In 1966 President Johnson visited Australia and was given almost unqualified support by Prime Minister Harold Holt - "All the way with L.B.J" - but the anti-conscription and anti-war movement was gaining momentum and there were some demonstrations against the United States President.
Various protest organisations were formed from 1965 onwards, such as the Youth Campaign Against Conscription, S.O.S (Save our Sons), The Draft Resistance Movement, Students for a Democratic Society and the Monash Pacifist Society.
Even though oppostion to the war grew, the Liberal Party still won the elections of 1966 and 1969. However from 1969 anti-war feeling had increased greatly and gained support from a wide range of peopleùthe Labor Party, academics, trade unionists, students, some religious groups and ordinary citizens who questioned the 'justness' of the war.
In May 1970 the first Moratorium (protest stoppage) Campaign took place involving 200,000 people throughout Australia. This was followed by another huge stoppage and demonstration in October 1970 and a final one in June 1971 when Jim Cairns, a Labor MP led a march of 100,000 people in Melbourne. Public opinion had turned decisively against the war. The war had become a real issue in the 1972 election in which the Labor Party was elected to office. After this, conscription was abolished.
\BThe End of Australian Involvement\b
During the 1960s participation in the Vietnam War became increasingly unpopular in the United States as in Australia. Despite their superior technology it did not seem the Americans would be able to achieve an outright victory. As a result the United States determined to build up support for the South Vietnamese Army and begin a 'phased withdrawal' of American troops. This policy was also adopted by the Australian Government in 1970. By the end of 1971 the Australian Task Force withdrew from Vietnam. Remaining military advisers were withdrawn during 1972 and after Labor won the 1972 elections it announced the end of all military aid to South Vietnam. Australian involvement in a most controversial war was over.
The Australian troops had had success in clearing the enemy from Phuoc Tuy province but many Viet Cong still remained. After the withdrawal of all United States and Australian troops, North Vietnamese forces overran South Vietnam and united the country under a communist government in 1975.
\BThe Effect of the War on Australia\b
The war had a considerable effect on Australian society. The country had been divided on the issue of involvement and conscription. The unpopularity of the war had been one of the factors in bringing the Labor Party to power in 1972. It was also a factor in the vote being extended to 18 year olds.
The war had led to a huge refugee problem in Vietnam, and Australia accepted a large number of Vietnamese refugees as migrants. The growth in the anti-war feeling during the conflict meant that the combat troops did not have the same moral support given to soldiers in previous wars. Veterans did not receive the same recognition on their return home as soldiers in other wars and they did not receive a welcome home parade until 1987 for services to their country. This led to a feeling of bitterness among many of the returned soldiers.
Between 1965 and 1971 nearly 50,000 Australian troops were sent to Vietnam, of whom 520 were killed and over 2,000 were wounded.
\BDescription:\b Sandbagged bomb for demo found on the Ho Chi Minh Trail \I(Terry Collins)\i
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"Gulf War",11,"g\5\vwar0120.jpg","c","0"
Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, sent his forces into Kuwait in August 1990 to secure the oilfields there. He ignored United Nations condemnation of the invasion. Hussein attempted to extend the war by missile attacks on Israel in 1991. The USA, arguing against the unprovoked attack on Kuwait and concerned about the supply of oil from the Middle East, led a coalition of Arab and Western States under United Nations control against Iraq.
The Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke immediately offered US President Bush military support and two ships of the Royal Australian Navy were sent to the Persian Gulf. The Navy maintained a presence as part of the United Nations force overseeing the implementation of sanctions against Iraq until 1996.
\BDescription:\b US Marines watching US naval jets bombing Oman in practice for the Gulf War assault \I(Terry Collins)\i
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11,0
"Australia's International Relationships - Introduction",1,"g\5\r5520.jpg","c","0"
For the first 150 years after European settlement, Australia's relationships with other countries were dominated by Britain and a sense of loyalty to the British Empire. Until 1941 Australia became involved in overseas conflicts because Britain was involved, not because the country was directly threatened. Australia followed Britain's foreign policy closely and until World War II Britain was Australia's major trading partner. Britain was perceived as the 'mother country' and it was to England that most Australians travelled when they went overseas.
A dramatic change in the direction of Australia's international relations took place during World War II. Australia turned to the United States for help in the war, marking the beginning of a close relationship with that country both culturally and militarily. In the years after the war there was a weakening of the ties with Britain. More independence was shown by the Australian Government in their dealings with foreign powers. The American connection remained strong while at the same time Australia began to participate more closely in the political and economic affairs of the South East Asian region which has become the focus for Australian foreign policy.
Asian countries, in particular Japan, provide the main area for Australian trade. By 1991, 2/3 of Australia's trade was with the Asia Pacific region, and relations have been strengthened by migration, tourism and cultural exchange programs.
Since 1945 Australia has participated in a series of international agreements designed to enhance its security. They include the ANZUS Pact, SEATO (the Manila Treaty), the Five Power Agreement, and the Australia-Indonesia Agreement on Maintaining Security.
Australia's relationship with Britain in the nineteenth century was extremely close. Most white migrants to Australia were British. British laws and Parliament governed Australian colonial policy. English became the official language of the country and British customs, lifestyle and dress were followed in Australia whether they were appropriate to the conditions of the country or not. Wealthy Australians were often educated in England which was regarded as the 'mother country' by Australians of British stock. The exception tended to be Australians of Irish descent.
Until the 1850s, when some degree of representation was allowed in colonial parliaments, all important decisions had to be enacted by the British Parliament. Early governors were provided with autocratic powers within the colony by the British Government.
In the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries the majority of Australians were intensely loyal to Britain and proud to belong to an empire they felt was the greatest in the world and one of the great civilising influences as it spread the British way of life and values. This loyalty found tangible expression in the participation by Australians in Britain's wars, and that participation was voluntary and enthusiastic despite the fact that, as one legal entity internationally, when Britain was at war her empire was automatically at war.
Australians volunteered to help Britain in the Maori Wars 1863-64, the Sudan Campaign 1885, the Boer War in South Africa 1899-1902, The Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, World War I 1914-18 and World War II 1939-45. Even though Australia was not officially committed to fight for Britain after World War II, Australian troops fought as part of the Commonwealth Force in the Korean War in 1950-53 and supported Britain in Malaysia from 1955 to 1962 in her fight against communist guerillas there.
During the late nineteenth century there was a growth in Australian nationalist sentiment and even a small republican movement, but when Australia federated in 1901, it remained very much part of the British Empire. The new Commonwealth Government established in 1901 controlled internal affairs, but the final Court of Appeal remained the Privy Council in England and Britain continued to control Australia's foreign affairs including trade policy. Britain continued to be Australia's main source of trade, investment, migration and defence. Links with the 'mother country' were supported by a series of Royal visits from members of the royal family, beginning with Prince Alfred, Duke of York in 1869 and continuing into the 1980s. The most successful Royal Tour was that of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in 1954 which was attended by great displays of celebration and loyalty. Empire Day was celebrated with ceremonies and fireworks until after World War II.
From the end of World War I in 1918, increased independence was noticeable in Australia's relations with Britain. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Australian Prime Minister W. M. Hughes argued that the dominions (Britain's self-governing colonies) should be allowed separate and equal representation and that the size of their participation on Britain's behalf in World War I entitled them to this.
By the Statute of Westminster, passed by Britain in 1931, British laws were no longer to apply to the dominions unless they voluntarily accepted them. Australia by this time had the power to become fully independent in foreign affairs if it wished but the Commonwealth did not ratify this bill until 1943.
In the 1930s Australia followed British foreign policy closely and depended for defence in the Pacific on the British Navy and its base in Singapore. When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, Australia immediately joined Britain in declaring war on Germany. Australian volunteers enlisted to defend British interests in Europe and the Middle East. But from the time of the entry of Japan into the war in 1941 and the fall of the British base in Singapore, Australia's dependence of Britain as an ally changed. The Australian Government asserted its independence by appointing its own ambassadors, making its own declaration of war on Japan, formulating a military alliance with New Zealand and, most importantly, turning to the United States for help, "without any inhibitions of any kind...free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom." (P.M. Curtin 27 Dec 1941).
In the post World War II period Australia grew further from Britain despite the fact that R. G. Menzies, Prime Minister from 1949 to 1966, was very pro-British. Australia still continued to have trade, migration and defence links with Britain but these were weakening. Australia supported the British in Malaya in the 1950s and Borneo in the 1960s, and was a partner with Britain in the SEATO Pact, but in the Cold War climate Australia leaned more towards the United States.
At the end of World War II Britain was still Australia's main trading partner but by 1970 was third in importance after the USA and Japan. Britain's role in Australia's economy continued to decline, especially after Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973 and markets for Australian primary products were adversely affected.
The nature of the relationship with Britain was changed dramatically too by the decreasing percentage of British migrants in Australia's migration intake. Migrants from Europe, the Middle East and Asia had no links with Britain or the monarchy.
From the 1970s Australian passports no longer carried the words British Citizen on them. After the 1972 election of a Labor Government, the British honours system was replaced. Australia has remained, with Britain, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and has retained the Queen of England as the official Head of Government as Queen of Australia. However the later part of the twentieth century has seen a considerable growth in the republican movement. Ties with Britain were further cut when the Australia Act was passed in 1986. Under this act, British migrants were no longer given preferential treatment, the High Court of Australia became the final court of appeal, and 'Advance Australia Fair' became the official national anthem replacing 'God Save the Queen'.
\BDescription:\b Opening of Federal Parliament in Melbourne, January 1, 1901 - painting by Tom Roberts \I(National Library)\i.
#
"Australian/American Relationships",3,"0","g","0"
From the early days of white settlement there was contact between Australians and Americans who came as traders and whalers to the South Pacific. Many miners, when gold ran out in the Californian gold fields, joined the rush to Australia in the 1850s. The American Fleet was given a rousing reception when it visited Australia in 1908 as it was seen as a potential defence against the power of Japan. Relations were generally friendly despite a serious disagreement between Prime Minister Hughes and US President Wilson, at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, over Australian control of New Guinea and a proposed racial equality clause in the League of Nations Charter.
The turning point in Australia's relationship with the United States came during World War II and the war with Japan. P.M. Curtin appealed to the United States for help in the war and Australia became the base for the combined US-Australian operations in the South Pacific. This had a huge impact on Australian society, which was exposed to US culture and US industries and technology began to enter the country to help in the war effort. The presence of huge numbers of US troops in Australia was generally welcomed but sometimes also led to friction as the conditions and pay of Australian troops were less then those of the Americans.
After World War II the alliance continued and the United States replaced Britain as the major power in the Pacific area. Australia joined with the United States in the ANZUS Pact in 1951 and SEATO in 1954 in an attempt to protect her position in case of communist attack. Australia supported the US-dominated United Nations forces in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and the United States involvement in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1972. Both countries feared the spread of communism in Asia. The end of he Cold War in 1989 removed much of the reason for a strong US alliance. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Hawke offered immediate assistance to the US stand in the Gulf War in 1991.
United States cultural and economic influence in Australia grew after World War II. Australian society copied American dress, music and eating habits with the introduction of the big American food franchises. With the introduction of television in 1956, American influence became even stronger as American programs dominated.
In 1949 General Motors established itself in Australia, followed by Ford and Chrysler. During the 1950s US investment in Australia began to expand into many areas e.g. mining and pastoral ownership. By 1970 the United States had become Australia's second most important trading partner. In spite of disagreements over US competition in Australian overseas markets, especially the wheat market, the American alliance remains crucial to Australian defence policy.
Indonesia (the Dutch East Indies) was ruled by Holland from the seventeenth century. A nationalist movement developed in the early years of the twentieth century and was encouraged during the period of Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945.
When the Japanese were defeated, the peoples of the Dutch East Indies were unwilling to reinstate Dutch rule and the Independent Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed in August 1945. However its position was very insecure and Dutch officials and the military began to resume control of the area. Relations between the two groups deteriorated and fighting broke out. As Indonesia is its nearest northern neighbour in Asia, Australia was vitally interested in developments there.
Disapproving of the Dutch attitude and actions, Australia had taken the matter of Dutch 'police action' in Indonesia to the Security Council of the United Nations in 1947. Indonesia chose Australia to represent it on the Committee of Good Offices that was set up to negotiate a settlement. When the Dutch resorted to force again in 1948 they were strongly condemned by the Australian Government and Dutch planes, ships and goods were banned in Australia. The Dutch finally granted independence to Indonesia in 1949 and the new state was immediately recognised by the newly-elected Menzies Government. At that stage Australia was one of Indonesia's closest allies.
However Australia disagreed with Indonesia's policy to incorporate Dutch West New Guinea when this was attempted in the 1950s. Australia supported the Dutch in this dispute and did not get involved in the military confrontation by which Indonesia took over West New Guinea (West Irian) in 1963. Although there was criticism in Australia about what many saw as a betrayal of the Dutch and the West Irian people, the Australian Government did not wish to antagonise Indonesia, or Britain and the USA, which supported Indonesia on this point.
But confrontation between Australia and Indonesia did increase during the 1960s, especially over the question of Malaysia. The Federation of Malaysia had been formed in 1963 despite the opposition of Indonesia. In 1964 Indonesian attacks were made on Sarawak and North Borneo. Australian troops were sent to North Borneo and a serious situation developed. The Indonesian leader, Sukarno, made an agreement with the Peoples' Republic of China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Cambodia and talked of obtaining nuclear weapons. Australia was deeply concerned that a pro-communist belligerent state was emerging so close to her northern borders and began to increase her defence capabilities.
In 1965 Sukarno was overthrown by a coup and replaced by a military leader, Soeharto, who was strongly anti-communist and ended the confrontation over Malaysia. Relations between Australia and Indonesia began to improve again although they have been strained over several issues since then.
The invasion of East Timor in 1975 by Indonesia, and during it, the deaths of five Australian journalists, led to a lot of criticism of Indonesia by public opinion in Australia. The Timorese independence movement, Fretilin, still continues to oppose the takeover. The Australian Government recognises Indonesia's right to rule East Timor despite the presence in Australia of many refugees from East Timor.
Relations were further strained in 1986 when the \ISydney Morning Herald\i criticised corruption surrounding the Indonesian leader and his family. The Indonesian Government retaliated with an official protest and banned Australian journalists. Most concern has come over the Dili massacre in 1991 in East Timor of over 100 unarmed civilians by the Indonesian military.
In spite of these political problems, trade with Indonesia has increased substantially and Australia has continued to give aid to Indonesia under various programs.
In December 1994 Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating signed the Australia-Indonesia Agreement on Maintaining Security. Under this, both countries agreed to consult on 'adverse challenges' to either one and to consult if their common security interests are threatened and, if necessary, to consider appropriate action in accordance with the processes existent in each country.
Australians had always been fearful of an attack from the north and after the development of a modern army and navy in Japan, which proved their effectiveness against China and Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, the greatest threat was seen as coming from Japan. Britain concluded a treaty with Japan in 1902 but this did not allay Australian fears about Japan, especially when Britain, under pressure from Japan, forced Australia to modify some of the wording of the Immigration Restriction Act.
When World War I broke out in 1914 both Japan and Australia were on the side of the Allied powers. Japan was able to strengthen its position in Asia during the war, compounding Australian fears. There was a small amount of trade between the two countries in the years before World War II.
In December 1941 Japanese attacks on United States and British possessions in South East Asia brought Australia and Japan into direct conflict. A bitter war was fought until the Japanese surrendered after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Australian commanders took the Japanese surrender in the areas were they had fought them most, New Guinea, the East Indies and Borneo. During the World War II over 22,000 Australian soldiers were taken prisoner by the Japanese and of these more than one third died in captivity. Three thousand of the prisoners died building the Burma-Thailand railway for the Japanese. Conditions in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps were horrific. Prisoners suffered from starvation, disease, overwork and torture. This left a legacy after the war of many years of intense hatred and bitterness towards the Japanese. The Australian Government insisted on a harsh peace treaty with Japan, but accepted more moderate terms when pressured by the United States which felt that a weak Japan would leave Asia susceptible to the spread of communism. Australian troops remained as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces in Japan until the 1950s. The Peace Treaty was signed in 1951.
Gradually relations with Japan improved as trade between the two countries developed. The first post-war trade agreement was signed in 1957. By 1966 Japan had become Australia's best export market importing primary products, minerals and coal. In 1970 about one quarter of all Australia exports went to Japan. During the 1980s trade and investment by Japan in Australia continued to grow. Cultural exchanges became more common and the teaching of Japanese language was introduced into many Australian schools. Japanese banks were established in Australia after 1983. In the 1990s Japan is Australia's major trading and investment partner and Australia has become a major destination for Japanese tourists.
\BDescription:\b Japanese Prime Minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, and his wife, on a visit to Australia in April 1997. \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
Thousands of Chinese miners came to Australia during the gold rush period from 1850 onwards. On the goldfields they met with prejudice and discrimination and often physical violence. Eventually most of those miners returned to China but a considerable number established themselves and remained in Australia. Fear of large-scale Chinese migration led to the passing of anti-Chinese Immigration Acts by colonial parliaments and was one of the factors behind the implementation of the White Australia Policy of 1901.
Although Australia sent a small force to China to help Britain suppress the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, fear of China was replaced by fear of invasion by Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. Australia watched with concern as Mao Tse Tung's communist forces were successful in China in 1949 and the Communist People's Republic of China was set up. The Nationalist Government was forced to withdraw and re-establish itself on the island of Taiwan. Successive Liberal Party Governments in Australia refused to acknowledge the Communist Governement as the legitimate government of China and supported the Nationalist Government in Taiwan as being the sole representative of the Chinese people in the United Nations. Australian fear of the spread of communism in Asia was intensified by Chinese support for the communist governments of North Korea and North Vietnam in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
After 1960, in spite of the lack of formal recognition and the existence of major political differences, trade continued and exchanges of cultural and sporting groups took place. China became one of the best customers for Australian wheat. In 1971 the Labor Opposition leader, Gough Whitlam, visited China and one of the first acts of the Labor Government, when it was elected in 1972, was to recognise the government of the Peoples' Republic. This greatly improved relations and led to the establishment of an Australian Embassy in Peking, a three year trade agreement and another visit by Whitlam to China.
Mao Tse Tung died in 1976 and China opened more to foreign contacts. Cultural and study visits to China, especially by teachers, increased. There was an increase in trade.
The relationship suffered a setback when the Australian Government severely criticised the suppression of the pro-democracy movement and the killing of protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Many Chinese students studying in Australia at the time were allowed to stay as refugess. As the Chinese Government allows more capitalistic enterprises to establish, the number of Australian businesses setting up in China is increasing. Many Australians visit China as tourists and trade with both the Peoples' Republic and Taiwan is seen as being very important, now worth over $16 billion annually.
#
"Colombo Plan 1950",7,"0","g","0"
The Colombo Plan was an aid plan established originally by Commonwealth countries to develop Asian countries and thereby slow down the spread and appeal of communism. The wealthier Commonwealth countries were to provide capital aid, student education and technical help to the poorer countries of South East Asia. Australia became one of the most active donor members.
Capital aid was given in the form of technology and machinery, buses, tractors, radio and x-ray equipment to be used in development projects. Commodities e.g. wheat and fertilisers were provided to be sold by the governments of the recipient countries. Many thousands of Asian students were trained in Australian universities to take their skills back to their own countries. Australian technical experts, especially in the fields of agriculture and engineering, were provided to advise on projects in such countries as Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Cambodia and Burma. The Colombo Plan did help to foster good relations in the Asian region at a time of the White Australia Policy which gave offence to many Asian nations.
#
"ANZUS Pact 1951",8,"0","g","0"
The ANZUS Pact signed in September 1951 between Australia, New Zealand and the United States was a military assistance alliance which provided Australia with the security of a strong ally in the event of a military revival by Japan or the spread of communism in South East Asia. This seemed a possibility after the communist takeover of China in 1949 and the attack by North Korea on South Korea in 1950. The need for a strong ally became more urgent as British interest in the Asian-Pacific area waned.
The terms of the Pact were rather vague and member countries were committed only to consult and consider assistance for each other in the event of aggression against one of them by either a communist or non-communist power. Nevertheless the Pact was at the core of Australian defence policy for many years. It gave Australia access to American military planning, and it was within the spirit of cooperation engendered by the Pact that the Menzies Government permitted the building of United States missile bases in Australia. In the 1980s and 1990s the Australian Government has remained fully committed to the Pact even though New Zealand clashed seriously with the United States over its refusal to accept in its ports US ships that might be carrying nuclear armaments.
#
"South East Asia Treaty Organisation 1954",9,"0","g","0"
To further ensure its security against the danger of communist aggression, Australia combined with the United States, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines to form SEATO in 1954. The organisation was established by the Manila Treaty.
This military assistance alliance was specifically designed to counter the spread of communism in South East Asia. Many Asian countries would not join as they mistrusted the intentions of the colonial powers involved. The wording of the Treaty allowed for similar conditions to those of the ANZUS treaty but with the important difference that action could be considered in the case of a communist subversion as well as aggression. The number and disparity of member countries often made decision making difficult and differences of opinion arose between members over such issues as American involvement in Vietnam.
SEATO was disbanded in 1975 but the Manila Treaty, together with its commitments, remains in force.
#
"Five Power Agreement",10,"0","g","0"
In the late 1960s an agreement was signed by Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Malaysia and Singapore which was to guarantee the security of any partner if attacked. Under the agreement RAAF planes were stationed at Butterworth in Malaysia for many years. The agreement is an example of Australia's basic commitment to the South East Asian region in practical terms.
#
"Australia and the United Nations",11,"g\5\07220012.jpg","c","0"
Australia was an enthusiastic foundation member of the United Nations Organisation which came into existence in 1945 to prevent another world war and to improve social conditions and human rights around the world. Dr. H. V. Evatt, Labor Minister for External Affairs, made important recommendations on the content of the Charter of the United Nations when it was being discussed and gained recognition for Australia's efforts at the final conference on Charter details in San Francisco in 1945. Dr. Evatt became President of the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948.
Australians were part of the United Nations forces who fought against the invasion of South Korea by the communist North during 1950- 53. They have also undertaken peace-keeping duties as part of United Nations contingents in Cyprus, the Middle East, Somalia, Mozambique, and in 1993 in Cambodia and Rwanda. Support has been given to many programs under the auspices of the United Nation agenciesùUNESCO, UNICEF, WHO and FAO. Since 1994 Australia has been part of the United Nations force overseeing the establishment of democracy in Haiti.
In the 1950s and 1960s suport for the United Nations policies was secondary to Australian support for British and American policies, which were seen as more directly vital to Australia's interests. For example in 1956 Australia supported Britain in the Suez Crisis despite condemnation of British actions in the United Nations. Australia was stung by the United Nations criticism of the slowness of the development in the trusteeship territory of Papua New Guinea. The United Nations pressured Australia to set a date for New Guinea independence.
Support for the United Nations policies has tended to be stronger since Labor governments came to power in 1972.
In 1996 the newly-elected Liberal Government was responsible for bringing forward the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
\BDescription:\b General Assembly of the United Nations \I(Graeme Gee)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
9#
22,0
"Traditional Life of Aboriginal Women",1,"g\5\37smh.jpg","c","0"
There were approximately five hundred countries or groups in Aboriginal Australia, each with its own history, dialect and culture. The religious beliefs of each group were based on their spiritual ties with the land. Within these tribal areas, people moved across the landscapes in small living groups or clans. Aboriginal women were important and valued members of this society as besides caring for children, they provided the basic food and nutrition for the clan. Aboriginal men hunted large animals but such creatures were often scarce and men also spent a lot of time preparing and participating in religious ceremonies.
It was the women who provided the regular food supplies. They had skills which involved an expert knowledge of their particular environment. Groups of women with young children and older daughters who were learning their skills, followed the seasonal ripening of fruits, roots and seeds, the habitation and breeding of small mammals, reptiles, shellfish and insects. The movements of the women's food gathering groups determined the camp sites of the clan and it was the women who divided up the food within the clan. Some of these women's groups, especially in the central areas of Australia, had their own religious secret rituals which were taboo to men. Older women were powerful within the clan as they arranged marriages according to ancient totemic or religious law.
\BDescription:\b Sketch of an early Aboriginal woman \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"European Effects/Influences on Aboriginal Women",2,"g\5\king0067.jpg","c","0"
The greatest impact of European settlement on Aboriginal Australia was the loss of land. Each group was defeated through the use of European weapons and the contracting of European diseases. Denied their land, Aboriginal groups were forced to live on the outskirts of European settlements to obtain food sometimes by begging or through slave labour. With the breakdown of tribal life, Aboriginal women lost their importance as food gatherers and were treated without respect by Europeans. From the very earliest colonial days they were kidnapped and ill treated by European men and made to work in European households and on farms. This continued into the twentieth century.
In Darwin as late as the \J1920\js, an Aboriginal compound was set up for the hire of cheap labour, the women being mostly unpaid domestic servants. Many Aborigines refused to leave their old tribal lands even if they had to work as slaves. In the mid twentieth century, Aborigines worked for tea, flour, and sugar rations on the cattle stations of Northern, Central, and Western Australia. Aboriginal women on cattle stations often had to work harder than the men who were mostly stockmen. The women not only had hard domestic chores such as washing, cleaning, cooking, child minding etc., but also worked as cattle drovers, with camel teams, as shepherds, fencers, road repairers, water carriers, house builders, and gardeners. If they escaped they were captured and flogged.
It was the women however, who were responsible for keeping Aboriginal groups together in camps on these properties. They cared for their children and menfolk, the older women often teaching traditional skills and customs. This process is still going on today both in country and city areas.
\BDescription:\b Explorers at Broken Bay try to win the friendship of an Aboriginal woman \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Aboriginal Women and Rights",3,"g\5\69smh.jpg","c","0"
From the \J1940\js to the \J1960\js, a government policy of assimilation meant that many Aboriginal mothers had their children taken from them by missionaries or government officials to be trained as cheap labour. Many Aboriginal women have written about being snatched as children from their families and put into domestic service. However, Aboriginal women refused to give in to government attempts to assimilate and destroy Aboriginal culture.
A referendum in \J1967\j gave the vote to Aboriginal people and ended the policy of assimilation. The Land Rights legislation of the \J1970\js further boosted Aboriginal culture and status. Aboriginal women today work to promote pride in Aboriginal tradition as well as education and training for Aborigines. Many have trained as professional workers.
Such women as \JPat O'Shane\j, (\J1941\j- ) a respected magistrate, feminist and fighter for the disadvantaged against racism and sexism; Bobbie Sykes (\J1944\j- ), a poet, activist and journalist who has campaigned continuously for the rights of Aboriginal women; Marcia Langton (\J1951\j- ) who, as an anthropologist has devoted her working life to the advancement of Aboriginal people, and was the head of the Aboriginal Issues Unit of the Northern Territory Section of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody; \JEssie Coffey\j,(\J1940\j- ) who helped found the Aboriginal Legal Service, a singer, songwriter and member of the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation; and sportswomen like Evonne Goolagong and \JCathy Freeman\j are examples to all Australian women.
\BDescription:\b Man and woman elders \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Convict Women",4,"e\6\king0073.jpg","c","0"
When the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove on the 26th January \J1788\j, after eight months at sea, it was at least another week before approximately 191 female convicts were able to leave the sweltering hulks of the ships \ILady Penrhyn, Friendship, Charlotte\i and \IPrince of Wales\i and set foot on Australian soil. The night after they were finally brought ashore, the women were left to the mercy of the men, by whom they were greatly outnumbered in the new colony. It was because of this that Governor Arthur Phillip organised a mass marriage ceremony to take place on Sunday, 10th February \J1788\j.
The convict women themselves ranged in ages from 13 to 82, with the majority being in their twenties, and although some of them were women of ill repute, others were servants, milliners, barmaids, dairymaids and dressmakers etc. who had been transported to Australia for various crimes such as larceny, theft of clothing, theft of animals, robbery and receiving, wilful destruction and vagrancy, lesser crimes usually than those of their male counterparts.
Women convicts were assigned as servants to officers of the New South Wales Corps and to free settlers and whilst some were lucky enough to be treated as members of the family, others were not treated well at all. While a woman convict could appeal against her master, the case was often dismissed through lack of evidence or because the magistrate favoured the woman's master.
\BDescription:\b \JMargaret Catchpole\j (1762-1819) - a convict girl \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Women Convicts: Marriage and Work",5,"e\10\king0069.jpg","c","0"
By \J1838\j there were Female Factories at Parramatta in New South Wales and outside Hobart Town and \JLaunceston\j in Tasmania where those convicts who could not be assigned, the old and sick, the unskilled, pregnant, unemployable and criminal offenders as well as those waiting to be reassigned, were sent. These institutions were more like prisons and the women were given sewing and washing to do which was hard labour for them and revenue for the government.
Marriage brought a clear advantage to a convict woman because she was automatically assigned to her husband. While some husbands may have taken advantage of their wives' convict status to keep them in order by occasionally having them recommitted to the Female Factory, most convict wives seem to have been treated as well or as badly as other wives.
Two women who arrived in New South Wales as convicts, one becoming a very wealthy businesswoman and the other a trusted servant and midwife, were \JMary Reibey\j (1777-\J1855\j) and \JMargaret Catchpole\j (1762-\J1819\j).
There were also 28 women other than convict women in the First Fleet who were marine officers' wives with their 21 children. Although there is not much information known about conditions for marine wives and their children, it is clear, however, that the families were provided for from the public store and thus, would have suffered greatly with the shortage of supplies in the colony until the arrival of the \IMatilda\i in August \J1791\j. Also, an oversight in the supply of provisions to the colony meant that there was no clothing for the marine wives and children until the new supplies finally arrived.
#
"Women Free Settlers and Their Difficulties",7,"0","g","0"
Life was hard for the 18th and 19th century woman in early Australia especially if she could not afford servants as she had to be wife and mother in times when inadequate medical knowledge about difficulties in childbirth, infant diseases, nutrition and good health practices meant that many children did not reach adulthood. She also had to organise the family and home without the labour-saving devices of today. Cooking was done on an open fireplace with gathered wood as fuel and washing was hauled to and from the nearest stream, river or well. If she lived in the country she also had to help her husband in the fields and lived a very isolated life.
If a woman's husband died or deserted her, she was often left in desperate circumstances as a husband's property did not automatically go to his wife and if she had children she would find it hard to find a man who would be prepared to support them too. Finding work was also difficult as women were discriminated against and worked in poor conditions with limited opportunities and unequal pay, even when they were the sole breadwinners for the family.
#
"Successful Women Settlers",8,"g\5\king0072.jpg","c","0"
However, some women did manage to flourish despite these problems. One such woman was Elizabeth Macarthur (1767-\J1850\j). Elizabeth was a notable businesswoman who made a great impression on the economic development of colonial New South Wales. Elizabeth arrived in New South Wales, along with her husband, Lieutenant \JJohn Macarthur\j and baby Edward in \J1790\j on board the \IScarborough,\i one of the ships of the Second Fleet.
In June \J1791\j the Macarthurs moved to Parramatta, then named Rose Hill. By August \J1794\j, their house "Elizabeth Farm" (which still stands at Parramatta) had been built and their property extended to 101.25 hectares.
During \JJohn Macarthur\j's frequent long absences to England (\J1801\j-\J1805\j after a duel with Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson and \J1809\j-\J1817\j after an attempt to depose Governor Bligh) and his frequent illnesses in Australia, it was Elizabeth who was responsible for the establishment of the newly-acquired Cowpastures property (called "Camden Park") and the expansion of the merino flock at both Elizabeth Farm and Camden Park. In doing this she coped with high prices, wheat crops burned, and troublesome natives, and even managed to be the first farmer to make hay and sell it, and pull out tree-stumps from cleared land. \JGovernor Macquarie\j granted her 243 hectares of land in her own name in the Parramatta district in recognition of her achievements.
\JJohn Macarthur\j eventually went mad and ordered her out of Elizabeth Farm and when he died the properties went to their sons. She died in \J1850\j, aged 83 and was buried at Camden Park.
Other women who managed to achieve during this period include Eliza Furlong who was important in the sheep industry. Eliza Walsh became the first woman in Australia to be granted land in her own right in \J1824\j after she had pestered \JGovernor Macquarie\j for five years. Also Anne Drysdale and Caroline Newcomb became successful squatters in the Port Phillip District.
\BDescription:\b Elizabeth and \JJohn Macarthur\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Women and Early Immigration",9,"e\7\chisolm.jpg","c","0"
Women were greatly outnumbered by men during the early years of Australia's colonisation, and so during the mid-\J1830\js when the British Government established an emigration scheme whereby labourers' passages were paid, widows and single women were a targeted group. However, although single girls were supposed to be assigned to a married couple, this did not always happen and many girls found themselves hungry, homeless and afraid on arrival. One of the people who came to the aid of such girls was Caroline Chisholm (\J1810\j?-77) who walked the streets and talked to the girls, found work for some and took as many as she could into her own cottage. Later she sought and received government backing.
"Women in the Goldrush Era",10,"g\5\king0019.jpg","c","0"
When Edward Hargraves found gold in Summer Hill Creek in \J1851\j, the Australian goldrushes began. Although some women accompanied their husbands to the diggings, others found themselves and their families deserted and many of these deserted wives grouped together to share houses for their own protection, taking in washing and doing housework to support themselves.
Women were scarce on the goldfields with one woman to every four men. For those women who went with their husbands life was indeed hard. They had to help push barrows and pull carts, rock the cradles for gold, sometimes act as lodging house-keepers, cooks and nurses and take care of their children. Many died of the goldrush diseases, fevers, and infections from the putrid water.
However, some people were able to see that there were ways of becoming rich at the goldfields other than digging for gold. One such person was Agnes Butine who, along with her husband, Hugh Butine, had a large property near Bruthen in Victoria where they also ran a pub and a general store. Mrs Butine became a bullock driver and carrier who never missed a chance to trade and also operated pack horses between Melbourne and the \JBendigo\j goldfields. She was the first to take a packhorse team into the isolated settlement at Walhalla, the first to slaughter a beast there, and acted as butcher for some years. After her husband's death in \J1867\j she continued the bullock teams and died in \J1896\j. The sly grog shops that provided alcohol for the miners were often run by women. Entertainers such as Lola Montez also performed for the miners when small theatres were built.
\BDescription:\b A hairdressing saloon in a goldrush town \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Women at Work in the Colonial Era",11,"g\5\king0068.jpg","c","0"
Colonial women's work, besides the unpaid essential labour of child rearing, cooking and housework, was often connected with family businesses and housewifely and business skills were often used in such occupations as shopkeeping and running inns and boarding houses. Many women also made meagre livings as dressmakers, milliners, cooks, schoolmistresses and laundresses. Young single working-class women went into domestic service where they lived hard, restricted lives at the mercy of their mistresses. Many single lower middle-class women immigrants worked as governesses but their work was also poorly paid and their lives severely restricted. Middle-class women quite often managed large households, servants, gardens, book keeping and often entire farming properties. These women also were involved in charities that ran soup kitchens, hospitals, and homes for the poor. Pioneer women worked on isolated farming properties which involved hard housework, cooking, laundering, nursing, gardening, animal care, water carting, wood cutting as well as child rearing in primitive conditions.
\BDescription:\b A woman of NSW and officer of NSW Corps \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Women at Work in the Colonial Era After 1850",12,king0084.jpg,c,0
The rapid growth of scientific invention meant that as the nineteenth century progressed, women's paid work changed. The opening up of factories allowed some young women to leave the restriction of domestic service and work at machines. The growth of industry created a shortage of domestic servants and eventually led to the invention of "labour saving" machines for the "modern" middle-class housewife. Women's work, however, was downgraded and always kept separate from men's. Women were paid much less on the premise that their work was only temporary. Their true vocation in life was deemed to be that of wife and mother and as having a male supporter. This ideology (i.e. social stereotyping), gave males apprenticeships, entry to trade guilds and better wages than women.
After the goldrushes, industry flourished, factories sprang up, and young women often became "learners" by twelve years of age. They worked chiefly in the woollen mills, clothing, footwear, brush and broom making, printing and book binding, tobacco and food industries. The practice of "outwork", or "sweated" women's labour, taking work home for very poor pay, also flourished. Factory Acts were introduced into state legislature in Victoria as early as 1873 but only affected larger factories and although some hours were shortened and conditions improved, rates of pay and outwork were not addressed. The Factory Acts of the 1890s in most states improved this situation. The Victorian Tailoresses Union was formed in 1882 and had 2,000 members. They conducted the first successful strike in Australia, gaining better conditions and pay. However, outwork and the severe depression of the 1890s left many women unemployed and depleted the union. The Australian Workers' Union allowed unskilled women workers to join but did not encourage equal pay or women's entry into skilled "male" occupations.
Retailing prospered after the depression and employed a large percentage of women. By the \J1900\js, legislation to improve the long hours of shop work had been passed in most states. From the \J1870\js onwards there was some growth in women entering professions such as teaching and nursing. These became chiefly "female" occupations, although they were dominated by male administrators. As a rule middle class women did not work in paid employment.
\BDescription:\b Women working in Victoria - the first colony to install a telephone service \J1878\j \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Women at Work After Federation",13,"g\5\54smh.jpg","c","0"
After Federation, the Federal Arbitration Court passed a series of Acts that affected women workers. The \J1907\j Harvester Award drew up a male basic wage sufficient for a man to keep a wife and three children. Women were left without a basic wage until \J1950\j because it was considered their main role was at home as wife and mother and they would be supported by a man. The Fruit Pickers Award of \J1912\j legislated on the difference between male and female wages. The needs of women workers were judged to be those of a single woman, whilst a man's wages, (whether married or not) were according to the married male basic wage. This Act also decided that women working in what were deemed "female" occupations should receive lower minimum rates than those in "male" occupations (such as the fruit pickers). This discrimination against women workers on the grounds that they should marry, led to a long and difficult struggle by women to gain equal pay for equal work.
\BDescription:\b Women university graduates \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Role of Women in Australia During World War I",14,"0","g","0"
During World War I some women were sent overseas as nurses but most stayed in Australia and took up voluntary war work, such as that for the Red Cross. Their duty was seen as maintaining a family home and sending their sons and husbands to the 'front'. The huge loss of young men during the war made motherhood an important duty in order to maintain the 'White Australia' Policy. During the war, the employment of young women in offices as typists and secretaries became widespread.
During World War I women in Australia assumed a very supportive role but many were not allowed to contribute to the war effort in the way they would have liked. When war broke out many women offered their services to the government as cooks, drivers or orderlies for the forces. But the government rejected their offers and was interested only in sending Australian women overseas as nurses. The Australian Army Nursing Service had been formed in 1902 and over 2,000 nurses served overseas during the war in Gallipoli, Egypt and Mesopotamia but most of all on the Western Front in France.
An Australian Women's Service Corps was formed in 1916 at the height of the fighting but again the government rejected their offers to serve in any capacity.
Unlike their counterparts in England and Germany, Australian women did not work in factories in large numbers. Some Australian women did enter paid employment in banks and offices but they were paid much less then the male wage and it was expected they would fill these positions only until the men came back from the war.
The role played by most women was voluntary and unpaid. Women worked for the Red Cross, knitted socks and wrote letters for the men in the trenches, made up food parcels, raised money for the war effort and helped look after wounded soldiers being rehabilitated. They joined organisations such as the Australian Comforts Fund, the League of Soldiers' Friends, the Blind Heroes' Fund and many others.
For the first time many women became politically involved during World War I and the women's vote was specifically targeted during the two referendum campaigns. Posters issued by both 'Yes' and 'No' supporters were directly aimed at women, and women-only rallies were held on the issue.
Although the majority of women were intensely patriotic and gave their support to the war effort by encouraging their husbands and sons to enlist, others showed their opposition to the war and especially to conscription. One of the anti-war organisations was the Women's Peace Army formed in 1915 and led by the radical campaigners Vida Goldstein and Adela Pankhurst.
#
"Women at Work During the 1920s",15,"f\10\king0101.jpg","c","0"
Although many women who had taken over men's positions in offices and stores in World War I lost their jobs when soldiers returned from the war, many more Australian women were entering the paid workforce during the 1920s. Women were discriminated against even though they were an important part of the workforce. Their participation in it was seen as temporary, filling in time until they were married.
Acts of Parliament passed between 1918 and 1924 had cleared any legal problems from the path of women entering any profession they wished but in practice very few women attempted to enter male employment areas and those who did had an extremely difficult time. In any area of employment where men and women did the same work, as in offices or teaching, women were paid less than men. The most acceptable and common jobs for professional women were teaching and nursing. In the Public Service women were banned form working after they were married and in general the practice was frowned on. This meant that there were almost no women in management positions. The availability of factory work for women increased greatly during the 1920s with the greater application of mass production techniques and protective tariffs.
Trade unions did little to try and improve working conditions or wages for women and in fact often hindered women going into the workforce as it was seen as a threat to men's jobs.
Household appliances such as electric toasters, jugs and water heaters, and gas stoves, made work in the home easier for middle class women who could afford them. Australian women did not have access to a large pool of domestic servants as in England and an attempt was made by the Australian Government to entice 'the British Domestic Girl' to immigrate. Wages were one pound per week plus accommodation for a 56 hour working week. Domestic service was one of the largest areas of employment open to women in the 1920s.
\BDescription:\b Women at work in a canning factory at Shepparton, Victoria in the \J1920\js \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Women at Work During the 1930s and WWII",16,shearing.jpg,c,0
Many women lost their positions in the Great Depression of the early \J1930\js. During the late \J1930\js the Council for Action for Equal Pay was formed by Muriel Heageney (qv) and Jessie Street (qv). Lucy Woodcock \J(1889\j-\J1968)\j of the NSW Teachers' Federation was also a founding member. Lucy worked all her life to promote equal pay justice for women. She was a long time Vice President of the Federation and her involvement in the Federation's Equal Pay Committee made it the first predominately female union to achieve equal pay for equal work.
The move towards equal pay for women was given encouragement by the employment of women during the Second World War. Because of the shortage of male workers, the wartime Federal Manpower Commission encouraged women to enter "male" jobs to help the war effort. Women entered the heavy metal, transport, machining, farming and building trades. Many of these women were only paid 54% of the male rate.
The Women's Employment Board was finally set up to award women in men's occupations no less than 60% of the male wage. This was to protect men's jobs when they returned from war. Women were also employed in the armed forces as drivers, typists, cooks, stewardesses etc. They operated much of the communication networks vital to the Australian forces and were responsible for search-lights and signalling. They received 57% of the male wage.
Some women went overseas and saw active services as nurses. Women also carried on a huge amount of voluntary work. At the conclusion of the war, however, women were encouraged to return to housewifely duties, and the "male" jobs were given to returning servicemen. Once again women were told that being a wife and mother was their patriotic duty. However women did not move out of the paid workforce as much as they had done after World War I.
\BDescription:\b Australian women shearing sheep during WWII \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. 9783)\i.
#
"Women at Work in the Services WWII",17,"0","g","0"
Women were able to participate in the war effort during World War II much more so than they had done during World War I. Various women's services were establishedùthe Australian Women's Auxiliary Service (AWAS), the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and the Women's Royal Australian Navy Service (WRANS). Single women joined these services and worked as telegraphists, signallers, de-coders, drivers, mechanics and clerks. Women were not paid as much as servicemen doing the same work. Most of these servicewomen worked within Australia, although towards the end of the war some were sent overseas.
Other women served in the army, navy or air force nursing units, or joined the Women's Land Army. Nurses were sent overseas with the forces and served in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and England, and parts of Asia and New Guinea. Some were killed and some were taken prisoner of war. Those serving in the Women's Land Army worked on farms and properties doing the work of men who were then released for the army. During the Second World War nearly 78,000 women were enlisted in the various women's services.
#
"Women at Work After World War II",18,"0","Women in traditional roles after WWII","film37i.avi"
The booming economy of post-war Australia, however, meant that women worked in factories, offices, shops, schools and hospitals. An increased immigration program from Europe meant that migrant women workers joined the work force. Equal pay for equal work was fought for, but achieved only gradually. NSW State public servants, teachers and transport workers received equal pay by \J1963,\j but most women workers had to wait for legislation passed in \J1975\j by the Federal Labor Government, and implemented only slowly after that. During the 1950s and 1960s many more women began to receive university education and gradually they began to remain in the workforce after they married.
\BViddescription:\b Women returning to traditional roles (Film World)
#
"Women at Work After World War II - (2)",19,"g\5\2_0076.jpg","c","0"
Many women workers today have not achieved equal economic status. Women's average wages are generally below the average male wage. This is because women's work is still to some extent looked upon as temporary (although maternity leave is common in the public sector). Some work, such as that in clothing factories, is still badly paid because it is considered women's work. Men still dominate the managerial levels of business and the public service although women are making inroads into these levels. Equal opportunity legislation has been drawn up by the Federal Government but many private companies do not act decisively to give women workers the same chances to succeed as men. However, the numbers of women with influential powerful jobs in every arena of society is growing. Women are now more determined than ever to find jobs as rewarding as those of their male counterparts.
\BDescription:\b \I(DFAT)\i
#
"Bibliography - Aboriginal Women",20,"0","g","0"
Atkinson, Ann, (ed) \IThe Dictionary of Famous Australians,\i Allen and Unwin, Sydney, \J1992\j.
Arnold, John and Morris Deirdre, (eds), \IMonash Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth Century Australia,\i Reed Reference Pub, Australia, \J1994\j.
Barwick, Diane E.- And the Lubras are Ladies Now in \IWomen's Role in Aboriginal Society\i ed Fay Gale, \JCanberra\j \J1978\j.
Bell, Diane, \IDaughters of the Dreaming,\i McPhee Gribble/George Allen and Unwin, Sydney, \J1983\j.
Berndt, R. M. and C. H., \IThe World of the First Australians,\i Lansdowne Press, Sydney \J1964\j.
Broome, Richard, \IAboriginal Australians, Black Response to White Dominance \J1788\j-\J1980\j,\i George Allen and Unwin, Sydney \J1984\j.
Gale, Fay, (ed.), \IWomen's Role in Aboriginal Society, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies,\i \JCanberra\j, \J1978\j.
Hamilton, Annette, Aboriginal Women - The Means of Production in \IThe Other Half - Women in Australian Society,\i ed Jan Mercer, Penguin Books, Victoria, \J1975\j.
Jopson, Debra, People of the "Bleaching", Spectrum,\IThe Sydney Morning Herald,\i Saturday July 8th \J1995\j.
Larbaleister, Jan, Black Women in Colonial Society in \IRefractory Girl,\i Double Issue NOs 13-14, March \J1977\j.
McGrath, Ann, Spinifex Fairies - Aboriginal Women Workers in the Northern Territory, \J1911\j-\J1939\j in \IWomen Class and History,\i ed E. Windshuttle, Fontana, Melbourne, \J1980\j.
Reynolds, Henry, \IThe Other Side of the Frontier - Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia,\i Penguin Books, Victoria, \J1982\j (first published James Cook University, Queensland, \J1981\j).
Sykes, Bobbie, Black Women in Australia in \IThe Other Half - Women in Australian Society, \ied Jan Mercer, Penguin Books, Victoria, \J1975\j.
White, I., Barwick, D., Meehan, B., (eds) \IFighters and Singers - The Lives of Some Aboriginal Women,\i Allen and Unwin, Sydney, \J1985\j.
#
"Bibliography - Colonial Women",21,"0","g","0"
Anderson, Mark & Ashton, Paul, \IFocus on Australian History\i Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd, South Australia, \J1994\j.
Barnard, Marjorie, \IA History of Australia\i Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, \J1986\j.
Arnold, John and Morris, Deirdre, (eds) \IMonash Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth Century Australia,\i Reed Reference Pub., Australia, \J1994\j.
Bevege, M., James, M., Shute, C.,(eds.), \IWorth Her Salt - Women at Work in Australia,\i Hale and Iremonger Pty Ltd., Sydney, \J1982\j.
Burton, Claire, "Equal Employment Opportunity Programmes: Issues in Implementation." in \IAustralian Women: New Feminist Perspectives,\i N. Grieve and A. Burns (eds), Oxford University Press, Melbourne, \J1986\j.
Carter, J., \INothing to Spare: Recollections of Australian Pioneer Women.\i
Daniels, K. and Murnane, M.,(eds) \IUphill All the Way - A Documentary History of Women in Australia,\i University of Queensland Press, \J1980\j.
Dixon, Miriam, \IThe Real Matilda,\i Penguin, Aust., \J1976\j.
Mackenzie, Norman, \IWomen in Australia,\i F.W. Cheshire, Sydney,\J1962\j.
Mackenzie, Norman; Norman, Encel; Tebbut, Margaret; \IWomen and Society: An Australian Study,\i Cheshire, Melbourne, \J1974\j
McKernon, Michael, \IAll In! Australia During the Second World War,\i Thomas Nelson, Aust., Ltd. Melbourne, \J1983\j.
Ryan, E., and Conlon, A., \IGentle Invaders,\i Penguin, Aust. Ltd., \J1975\j.
Ryan, Edna, \ITwo Thirds of a Man: Women and Arbitration in NSW \J1902\j-08,\i Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, \J1984\j.
Shute, Carmel, "From Balaclavas to Bayonets - Women's Voluntary War Work, \J1939\j-41" in \IWomen Class and History\i Windshuttle, Elizabeth (ed), Fontana, Aust., \J1980\j.
Summers, Anne, \IDamned Whores and God's Police,\i Penguin, \J1975\j.
#
!,!,!,!,!
10#
11,0
"First Feature Film?",1,p51c.jpg,c,0
Australian film-makers were responsible for what many consider to be the worldÆs first \Jfeature film\j û \IThe Story of the Kelly Gang\i in 1906. With a budget of ú400, it took six months to shoot and used more than 1200 metres of film. The screening of this film was such a success that it eventually made more than six times its budget. While \IThe Story of the Kelly Gang\i was more than likely the birth of feature films in Australia, film-making was around quite a few years earlier.
\BDescription:\b Scene from \IThe Story of the Kelly Gang (NFSA)\i
#
"Birth of Moving Images in Australia",2,birth.jpg,c,0
On the 30 of November 1894, Australians were witness to moving images in a shop front in Pitt Street, Sydney. This was also more than a year before motion pictures were projected in Paris by pioneer film-makers, the LumiΘre brothers. The device used to display these images in Sydney was a Thomas Edison invention known as the Kinetoscope. These æpeep-showÆ machines (as opposed to projection machines) allowed paying customers to view various circus and vaudeville acts on a continuous 50-foot loop of 35mm film. The moving images were captured on another Edison invention known as the Kinetograph.
The race was on to bring films and film-making to Australia. The first person to project film publicly in Australia was an American, Carl Hertz, on 22 August 1896. The venue was the Melbourne Opera House. About one month later, a representative from the French film-making company, LumiΘreFrΘres, shot some footage of ferry passengers in Manly. The same film-maker, Marius Sestier, then shot the 1896 Melbourne Cup a couple of weeks later. These were some of the first images filmed in Australia. Carl Hertz wanted to film the Melbourne Cup but he didnÆt have a camera. So Sestier, with the help of an Australian partner, Walter Bennett, shot the horse race on the LumiΘrecinematographe.
Thomas Edison applied for patents in 1891 for his marvellous inventions the Kinetoscope viewer, and the Kinetograph camera. By 1893 a Kinetoscope viewing studio was opened in New Jersey and a year later the Kinetoscope had made it to Australia. The peep-hole viewer proved more profitable and stable than projection-based viewing and it wasnÆt long before more and more studios and Kinetoscope viewing parlours were opened. 25,000 people viewed the Kinetoscope in Sydney in the first month of it becoming operational in this country.
The LumiΘre brothers of Paris were able to patent their film-making and screening device in February 1895. This device, the Cinematographe, was able to film, print and project films, and soon gained public acclaim. By mid-1895 the Kinetoscope had lost its attraction and the world of film was heading in a more sophisticated direction.
For more than ten years after Marius Sestier filmed the Manly Ferry and the Melbourne Cup, film-making in Australia remained in the hands of amateurs and enthusiasts. The novelty of these film-making machines meant that, all over the world, film-makers began to film what was around them. This was the beginning of film-making throughout the world.
In September 1896 the Salon LumiΘre opened in Pitt Street, Sydney and was the only public film venue in Australia. Other film presenters, such as Carl Hertz, travelled the country to bring films to the people. The lack of film venues and film-makers in these early days meant that exhibitors toured with films bought from overseas film-makers.
\BDescription:\b Carl Hertz gave Australians their first public demonstration of projected motion pictures on 22 August 1896 \I(Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre)\i
#
"Early Australian Film Producers",3,salvo.jpg,c,0
One of the first local film producers in Australia was Ernest Jardine Thwaites. He custom-built his own camera and with his photographer friend, Robert Harvie, he began filming local events and continued producing films until mid-1898.
Another photographer, Mark Blow, opened the Sydney Polytechnic in 1897, which was the same as an American nickelodeon, and showed his own films until fire destroyed his equipment in 1899.
The Salvation Army was one of AustraliaÆs first film production companies and very successful for the time. It supplemented lectures with slides, music, and moving images. The ArmyÆs film \ISoldiers of the Cross\i (1900) premiered to four thousand people in Melbourne. The Limelight Department (as the film production arm of the Salvation Army was known) was headed up by Major \JJoseph Perry\j (1862-1943) and made films to fund the religious and social work of the Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army filmed snippets of the Federation of Australia celebrations on 1 January 1901. The film segments were processed at 69 Bourke Street Melbourne, which was the first processing lab in Australia. The Salvation Army then combined the short rolls of film to create a film called \IInauguration of the Australian Commonwealth.\i This became the first full-length documentary made in Australia. The Salvation Army was soon able to show films to people all over Australia and by 1905 it was AustraliaÆs largest film producer and exhibitor. By 1909 the Salvation ArmyÆs Limelight Department could no longer afford to continue making films and was dismantled.
\BDescription:\b Major \JJoseph Perry\j with the 'motorgraph' on a tripod, a Wrench projector, eighteen metre reels, still cameras and a tri-unial slide projector \I(Salvation Army)\i
#
"Advent of Cinemas",4,tent.jpg,c,0
After ten years of film exhibition in Australia, and the establishment of cinemas and movie houses, it was evident that moving images had a place in our lives. Places similar to the American nickelodeons appeared in major cities; film exhibitors cashed in on the post-Federation excitement and optimism.
From Federation on, there seemed to be a cinema boom in Australia, and two rival chains owned by competitors T.J. West and Cozens Spencer appeared. In 1909 West opened the New Olympia Theatre in Melbourne. This had the capability to seat 4000 people and was the largest cinema in the world at that time. T.J. West and Cozens Spencer became so successful that it wasnÆt long before they were millionaires.
A Canadian entrepreneur, J.D. Williams, opened The Colonial Theatre on George Street in Sydney in December 1909. This theatre offered more screenings, cheaper prices than both the West and Cozens operated theatres and in a much more luxurious atmosphere. In two years Williams owned three more cinemas in Sydney, one in both Melbourne and Brisbane and four in New Zealand.
The West, Spencer, Williams domination period of film exhibition in Australia in the early 1900s also saw the emergence of smaller chains. Arthur Russell began Hoyts in 1909 and the J.C. Williamson, Tait family, and Fuller theatrical firms all moved into exhibition. It wasnÆt long before pressure from overseas film distributors, particularly from Hollywood, meant that theatres were being built bigger and brighter. The years leading up to the 1920s saw the dominance of Hollywood as a major movie centre, which in turn influenced what we saw at the movies and the types of theatres we viewed the movies in.
However, there did seem to be a significant backlash to the American invasion and influence. Movies werenÆt just being shown in the big cities. More and more cinemas, away from the big city mentality, were being opened in the suburbs - far from the American influence. Before the First World War, cinema attendances in the suburbs sometimes outnumbered the city attendances and ads for the movies began to appear in the local papers.
Because of AustraliaÆs climate and lifestyle, outdoor cinemas also became a popular place to watch a movie. Some proprietors went to the extent of creating luxurious gardens with waterfalls, shrubs and lawns to enhance the outdoor movie-going experience.
\BDescription:\b Interior of McIntyres Picture tent, 1910 \I(Film Australia)\i
#
"Australian Versus American Influence",5,thring.jpg,c,0
In 1913, a company called Australasian Films (also known as the æcombineÆ) was formed by the merging of all major exhibitors in the country. This influential company was responsible for exhibition, production, and distribution and held great influence over the Australian film industry until the 1920s. By this stage, American control started surfacing, with distribution branches for most Hollywood film companies and studios having offices in Australia. The collapse of Australasian Films was not far off. They had turned their back on Australian films and film-makers and were more concerned with importing foreign films, although the First World War effectively cut off most of the import markets.
Many Australian producers at this time pushed for protection of the Australian film industry by trying to reduce the number of imported films. The æcombineÆ was much against this, as importing foreign films was how they made their money. The lack of imports during the war meant that Australians started making films again.
Although Australians basically lost control over their own film distribution industry this did not stop people going to the movies. In a 1927 Royal Commission into the motion picture operation business, it was established that ninety per cent of films seen in Australia were American.
American control and the battle between the Hoyts and Union theatres also saw the demise of independent exhibitors and smaller chains.
\BDescription:\b Manager of Hoyts Theatres, Frank Thring \I(Film Australia and Bryce Higgins)\i
#
"Longford and Lyell",6,lottie.jpg,c,0
By the end of the First World War, producer \JRaymond Longford\j (1878-1959), along with his actor partner, \JLottie Lyell\j (1890-1925), had made many films and this couple were the success story of the silent film era. With films like \IThe Woman Suffers\i (1917) and \IThe Sentimental Bloke\i (1919), Longford films became increasingly popular and successful. When \IThe Woman Suffers\i was banned, Longford accused the æcombineÆ (the filmÆs distributor) of trying to sabotage his success for his attempts at introducing film import tariffs years earlier.
The films Longford made as head of a studio owned by the Carroll brothers of Queensland were extremely successful in Australia, yet the Carrolls still shut the studio down as overseas profits were low. They later discovered that the films had done extremely well overseas, particularly in the US, but they had been cheated out of the profits by the American distributor. Longord and Lyell set up their own company with continued success.
\BDescription:\b Lottie Lyell \I(Film Australia and Dr Gordon Smith)\i
#
"The New Guard",7,love.jpg,c,0
By the mid-1920s new stars of the Australian film industry began emerging. There was the acting sensation, Louise Lovely, who made a name for herself in Hollywood; \JCharles Chauvel\j (1897-1959), who made \IThe Moth of Moonbi;\i and the MacDonagh sisters, three extremely talented women. Between 1926 and 1930 they made \IThose Who Love, The Far Paradise,\i and \IThe Cheaters\i with Paulette (?-1978) as director, Phyllis (?-1978) as set designer and business manager, and Isobel (?-1981) as actor (under the name Marie Lorraine).
There was also a bunch of experienced American or Hollywood people working in the industry at this time. The director, F. Stuart-Whyte, had ten years in Hollywood up his sleeve and film-maker Norman Dawn \I(For the Term of His Natural Life\i (1927)) was American. The MacDonagh sisters were even copying filming and acting methods seen in Hollywood films.
In 1934 Frank Thring (1926-94) led a bunch of producers to force the NSW government to hold an inquiry into the film industry. From this inquiry it was established that five per cent of all films seen had to be Australian. From this decision a big film studio, the National, was built in Sydney and went straight into producing movies.
When the ætalkiesÆ (movies with sound) appeared from overseas it wasnÆt long before they were being made in Australia. In 1928, the \ISpur of the Moment\i premiered in Australia, and two weeks later Frank Thring unleashed his first talkie, \IDiggers.\i
Thring made and released a number of films in the early 30s under the name Efftee Productions and was a strong believer in government assistance for the film industry. However, years earlier, Thring had sold his interests in the Hoyts chain of theatres to the Americans.
\BDescription:\b \IThose Who Love\i 1926 \I(Dick Collingridge)\i
#
"Successful Director",8,cine1.jpg,c,0
One of the most successful movie directors was \JKen G. Hall\j (1901-94). He made a number of films from the 1930s and in 1932 he established the \JCinesound\j Review newsreel, which won him an Oscar in 1942 for the documentary \IKokoda Front Line.\i Cinesound productions made at least 17 financially successful films in a row. When CinesoundÆs parent company, Greater Union, dropped Stuart Doyle, Hall made only one more feature with Cinesound.
\BDescription:\b Cinesound \I(Joy and Sheridan Jobbins)\i
#
"Post-Second World War",9,giorgio.jpg,c,0
After the Second World War the Federal Government established a documentary unit. From this, a man named \JLee Robinson\j (1924- ) teamed up with \JChips Rafferty\j (1909-71) to be the leading film producers of the fifties. Robinson made one of the first colour films in Australia û a documentary called \INamatjira the Painter\i (1947). Ken Hall also made another successful film around this time, called \ISmithy,\i about aviator Charles Kingsford Smith.
Other films of note after the Second World War were \IThe Overlanders,\i (made by British director Harry Watt), \IBush Christmas,\i and \JCharles Chauvel\jÆs \ISonÆs of Matthew and Jedda.\i Charles and his wife, Elsa (1898-1983), along with Lee Robinson and Chips Rafferty, were some of the big names in the Australian film industry during the 1950s.
Many films between the 1920s and 1970s were made with the assistance of foreign investment, which meant the type of films we were viewing was changing. Films from non-English speaking countries became popular, drive-ins were on the increase and film festivals began. All this with a 52 per cent drop in film attendances with the advent of television.
It wasnÆt long before Australian film-makers also discovered æartÆ films, and directors such as Giorgio Mangiamele forged the way for this type of cinema.
However, it wasnÆt until a push from actors and film-makers to ban most foreign television commercials and encourage Australian TV drama, that saw a rebirth of film-making in this country.
\BDescription:\b Director Giorgio Mangiamele in 1963 \I(Giorgio Mangiamele)\i
#
"Australian Films Since the 60s",10,tim.jpg,c,0
With the beginning of government assistance in the late sixties, and AustraliaÆs passion for films, AustraliaÆs film industry was on the rise. Indeed, the quality and quantity of films made in the last twenty to thirty years in this country is nothing less than spectacular.
From \IWalkabout\i (1971), \IStorm Boy\i (1976) and \I\JMad Max\j\i (1979), to \I\JCrocodile Dundee\j\i (1986), \IStrictly Ballroom\i (1992) and 1996 Oscar winner \IShine,\i Australian films made in this period saw a maturing Aussie cinema and the eyes of the world were on us and our films.
Films of note made since the 70s include: \IPicnic at Hanging Rock\i (1975), \IThe DevilÆs Playground, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, My Brilliant Career\i (1979), \ITim\i (1979), \I\JBreaker Morant\j\i (1980), \I\JGallipoli\j\i (1981), \IThe Year of Living Dangerously\i (1982), \IThe Man From Snowy River\i (1982), \IHostage\i (1983), \I\JMalcolm\j\i (1986), \I\JEvil Angels\j\i (1988), \I\JDead Calm\j\i (1989), \IProof\i (1991), \IThe Piano\i (1993), \IThe Heartbreak Kid\i (1993), \IMurielÆs Wedding\i (1994), \IAdventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert\i (1994), \ILove and Other Catastrophes\i (1996), \IBabe\i (1996) and \IParadise Road\i (1997).
\BDescription:\b \JMel Gibson\j from the movie \ITim\i (1979) \I(Michael Pate)\i
#
"Film-makers of the 90s",11,0.jpg,c,0
Many of the actors, directors and producers involved with the aforementioned films have gone on to international fame and have become household names. Indeed, the success of \JBaz Luhrmann\jÆs (1962-) adaptation of William ShakespeareÆs \IRomeo and Juliet\i (1997) can be seen as an important milestone in international movie-making history. A very stylistic film which will no doubt be emulated for years to come.
Australian film-makers of the 90s are up there with the best in the world and this can only ensure the future growth and continued success of our films on the world stage. But the Australian film industry is made up of more than just the international success stories. It is made up of film-makers and actors from many different backgrounds who are bringing us such rich and diverse images to the big screen.
For more detailed information on the history of Australian film we suggest you read the AFI book, \IA Century of Australian Cinema,\i or view Film AustraliaÆs \ICelluloid Heroes\i documentary (available on video) or look at WebsterÆs \IHistory of Australian Film\i CD-ROM. The research for this article was conducted with the use of the aforementioned products.
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!,!,!,!,!
11#
20,0
"History of Literature Introduction",1,daa21.jpg,c,0
Aboriginal Australian society before European settlement in 1788 had no written literary tradition. Aboriginal Australians had an oral literary tradition going back many thousands of years. Dreamtime stories, myths and legends had been passed on orally or visually by artistic representations on rocks, in caves and on bark.
Australian literature in the English language covers the period 1788 to the present day and includes not only fiction, verse, drama, history, biography and autobiography, but also journals, diaries, letters and memoirs. The literature of the first hundred years of European settlement in Australia reflects the feelings and observations of people who often had not been born in Australia and who, in many cases, had no wish to be in the country. Early Australian literature reflects this unusual social context and the physical demands of the environment which dominated the lives of Europeans moving into the countryside in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The literary value of many nineteenth century Australian publications is sometimes not as great as their value as social and historic records. They document the attitudes and lifestyles of the early colonists.
The twentieth century has seen the emergence of writers whose literary merit has been recognised beyond Australia. The themes of their writing tend to be more urban-oriented, internationalist and cosmopolitan than the penal and rural topics of nineteenth century authors. Australian migration policies in the second half of the twentieth century have led to the development of a diverse multicultural society which has produced authors who write in languages other than English. Aboriginal myths and legends are also being recorded in written form and Aboriginal writers are producing literary works in English which reflect the concerns and perspective of the indigenous people of Australia.
\BDescription:\b Dreamtime stories, myths and legends were passed on by artistic representations on rocks, in caves and on bark.
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"Themes in Australian Literature",2,hkendall.jpg,c,0
From 1788 to the present day there have been certain themes which have recurred in Australian literature. These are what \JJudith Wright\j calls "the doubleness of the Australian experience" i.e. the sense of exile, of being cut off from homeland, culture or familiar physical surroundings, and the sense of liberty, or hope for the future, of being part of a young society free from the constraints of the 'old world', of a land of opportunity.
Another theme, the dominance of the Australian bush, with its vastness, harshness and mystery, has featured prominently in Australian literature since the first Europeans attempted to survive in what they saw as an alien environment. The image of the bush that \JMarcus Clarke\j described in 1880 as "fear inspiring and gloomy" is the impression that many writers have presented in their works. The feelings of space, timelessness and endurance that the land itself has fostered have been constant features of Australian literature in the prose and poetry of all periods. Some writers, usually poets, have idealised the landscape and often used European-style allusions in their work. Typical of this style of writing about the bush was the work of Hugh McCrae at the beginning of the twentieth century. He peopled the landscape with creatures - nymphs and satyrs - of classical origin. \JHenry Kendall\j also perceived the bush in a gentler way, discovering 'channels of coolness' with 'dripping rocks and leafy pools'.
Convictism has been a common theme in Australian literature in every period. The myths and realities of the convict experience have appeared in official descriptions and reports, historical analyses of Australian society and numerous works of fiction. The brutality and corruption of the penal system and its horrific effects were detailed by authors who were able to observe it first-hand, e.g. James Tucker in \IRalph Rashleigh\i (1850) and Caroline Leakey in \IThe Broad Arrow\i (1859). Marcus Clarke based his 1872 serial \IThis Natural Life\i (later the novel \IFor the Term of his Natural Life)\i on letters, diaries and official reports. He had migrated to New South Wales only after transportation had ceased. In 1987, \JRobert Hughes\j' book \IThe Fatal Shore\i analysed the place of convictism in Australian society.
Pioneering and life in the outback also continued to be popular subjects for literature. The emphasis is usually on the frustrations and loneliness of outback life but many writers also incorporate into their works the beauty of the countryside and the feeling of family or dynasty that pioneering settlers felt. Various elements of rural life can be seen in the verse of \JHenry Lawson\j and \JBanjo Paterson\j and the novels of such authors as \JSteele Rudd\j, Katharine Susannah Pritchard, Mary Durack and \JXavier Herbert\j. Later examples include \JColleen McCullough\j's \IThorn Birds\i and Nancy Cato's \IAll the Rivers Run.\i
Several nineteenth century writers dealt with the Aborigines in their works, but it was not until the twentieth century that Aboriginal writers in English began to emerge. The first major Aboriginal writer was \JOodgeroo Noonuccal\j (Kath Walker) who began publishing her poetry in the 1960s. The perspective of European writers on the Aborigines varied. In 1823 a prize-winning poem of W. C. Wentworth painted a picture of the Aborigine as 'noble'. However as pastoralists moved over the Blue Mountains in the 1820s, the Aborigines were seen more as a threat and this began to be reflected in literature as in \JCharles Harpur\j's poem \IThe Creek of the Four Graves.\i
Certain twentieth century novelists such as Katharine Susannah Pritchard in \ICoonardoo\i and Xavier Herbert in \IPoor Fellow My Country,\i were concerned with the situation of Aborigines affected by the takeover of their land, and the culture conflict that ensued. The late twentieth century has witnessed the development of Aboriginal writing which gives indigenous perspective in the works of Mudrooroo Narogin (Colin Johnson), Archie Weller, Monica Clare and Sally Morgan. Common themes in their works are pride in Aboriginal culture, pain and anger at the loss of family or land, and a sense of dispossession.
Women authors have played an important part in the development of Australian literature in all periods. One of the earliest works in the 1830s was Anna Maria Bunn's \IThe Guardian.\i Nineteenth century women writers mostly wrote fiction, much of it semi-autobiographical based on their own experiences in the Australian environment. Women authors did not receive special recognition and faced the strict role expectations and double standards that were prevalent in Victorian society. Some early feminist writers had difficulty getting their works published e.g. Catherine Helen Spence.
Although many of the convicts sent to Australia were women, stories of women convicts' experiences are relatively uncommon. The position of one female convict is described in Tasma's (Jessie Couvreur's) story \IAn Old Time Episode in Tasmania\i (1891). Caroline Leakey in her novel \IBroad Arrow\i made the main character a female convict. During the twentieth century works by women authors proliferated with writers such as \JThea Astley\j, \JHelen Garner\j, \JElizabeth Jolley\j, \JGermaine Greer\j and Drusilla Modjeska gaining wide recognition. Generally speaking, male 'mateship' has dominated over womenÆs issues in Australian literature.
The dichotomy in Australian society between 'the city and the bush' began to be evident in Australian literature from the time of the 1890s in the work of some \IBulletin\i magazine writers, especially Henry Lawson, and Banjo Paterson in \IThe Man from Iron Bark.\i Urban Australia grew in popularity as the context in which literature was set during the twentieth century. Recent Australian writing, while often retaining many uniquely Australian themes, has developed a much more international and cosmopolitan aspect. The urban landscape provides the basis for such works as \JLes Murray\j's \IThe Quality of Sprawl.\i The writings of \JDavid Malouf\j and \JPatrick White\j deal with classic emotions and themes and have led to international recognition and awards.
\BDescription:\b Henry Kendall was a popular author of countryside themes \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Colonial Period 1788-1850s - (1)",3,hardy.jpg,c,0
The first writings to appear in English in Australia in the late eighteenth century were straightforward narrative or official accounts of colonial and convict life. A good example of this is Watkin Tench's \IA Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson in its First Four Years.\i Early writers based their verse and prose on their own experiences. Stories of convicts, colonists, bushrangers, the perils of exploration and experiences with the Aborigines were common themes. Poetry of this period tended to be influenced by the balladic tradition or the English Romantic movement.
In 1823, Australian-born \JWilliam Charles Wentworth\j, one of the first Europeans to find a way over the Blue Mountains, won a Cambridge University prize for his ode, \IAustralasia.\i In it he dealt with the Australian scenery in heroic terms, with great optimism for the country as a land of opportunity, "a new Britannia in another world", and he portrayed the Aborigines in noble terms as "lords of their domain", free and unshackled wanderers and "pure native sons of savage liberty". Authors were mainly overseas born and it was not until the 1840s that native-born writers began to emerge in any number.
Because much of the population in the first 70 years of European settlement in Australia was either convict or of convict parentage, the penal system featured prominently in Australian literature from its early days. \JJames Vaux\j's \IMemoirs\i published in London in 1819 and his \IVocabulary of the Flash Language\i - a dictionary of convict slang - were written from first-hand experience. Vaux was transported three times to Australia for various crimes.
In 1830 the first novel written in Australia appeared. It was \IQuintus Servinton, a Tale Founded upon Incidents of Real Occurrence\i by Henry Savery, written after he had served his time as a convict in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Coming at the beginning of a long tradition of Australian writing about convictism, these works emphasise the brutality, horror and injustice of the transportation system and establish a tendency to depict the convicts more as unfortunate wretches rather than the hardened criminals which many of them were.
James Tucker's novel \IRalph Rashleigh\i (1850) traces the heroÆs life from being a thief in London to his time living with bushrangers and an Aboriginal tribe. Tucker was a convict whose descriptions of convict life are much more realistic than his descriptions of Aboriginal life of which he had little personal experience. In 1859, Caroline Leakey produced her novel of a woman convict's life, \IThe Broad Arrow.\i In 1837, \JJohn Dunmore Lang\j published a history of transportation and colonisation up to that time.
Another institution which featured in early writing and was often romanticised, though not by Tucker, was that of bushranging. The bushrangers were, in many cases, mythologised and depicted as representatives of freedom opposing the oppressive regime of the police and the colonial government. An early example of this genre was a play based on the exploits of \JMatthew Brady\j, the Tasmanian bushranger, written by David Burn and performed in 1829 in Scotland. The first local play produced in Australia in Hobart in 1834 featured the same theme of bushranging. The first collection of plays was published in Australia in Hobart in 1842.
In the 1850s in Sydney, \JCharles Harpur\j wrote a play also entitled \IThe Bushrangers.\i Harpur, of convict parentage, wrote of the landscape and typical Australian characters. His \ITragedy of Donahue\i (the bushranger) was the first play by a native-born writer. Best known for his poetry, Harpur's \IThoughts: A Series of Sonnets\i was published in 1845. His poem \IA Midsummer Noon in the Australian Forest\i still used English nature words to describe the Australian environment. However, from the 1850s, words such as 'forest' and 'brook' were used less and less in descriptions of the Australian countryside. Harpur was a radical satirist and his poems often contained a political comment. In his poem \IThe Creek of the Four Graves,\i the Aborigines were seen in a much more threatening way than in Wordworth's \IOde\i of the 1820s, because by the time Harpur wrote, pastoral expansion had led to considerable conflict with the Aboriginal tribes.
\BDescription:\b James Vaux was transported to Australia three times and wrote stories from first-hand experiences \I(J. King)\i
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"Colonial Period 1788-1850s - (2)",4,0,g,0
Descriptions of Australian customs and conditions, including the situation of the Aborigines, were given by a free settler, Alexander Harris, in \ISettlers and Convicts\i (1847) and \IThe Emigrant Family\i (1849). Although Harris spent only a few years in Australia, his work was well known in England and, through a novel, \IThe Emigrant Family,\i was used as a type of guidebook for intending migrants. Louisa Atkinson, writing in the 1850s, presented a picture of a female immigrant's life in Australia. Her first novel \IGertrude: The Emigrant: A Tale of Colonial Life\i (1857) depicted the problems faced by pioneering women.
In 1838 the first novel both printed and published in New South Wales appeared. This was \IThe Guardian\i by Anna Maria Bunn. Other women writers of the period included Fidelia Hill whose work of 1840, \IPoems and Recollections of the Past,\i represented the first book of verse written by a woman published in Australia. \IA Mother's Offering to her Children\i published in 1841 by a 'Lady Long Resident in NSWÆ was the first children's book to be published in Australia.
Mary Therese Vidal, after spending five years in Australia, returned to England where her novels, \ICabramatta and Woodleigh Farm\i (1850) and \IBengala, or Some Time Ago\i (1860), both with Australian settings, were published. Louisa Meredith produced her \INotes and Sketches of New South Wales\i in the 1840s. By that time Catherine Helen Spence, one of the early feminist Australian writers, had also begun her career in journalism by writing articles for the Adelaide \IRegister.\i
A printing press had been set up in 1795 in Sydney and used for the production of official notices and orders. However, by 1803, \IThe Sydney Gazette\i had been established and was soon publishing odes as well as information. It may be indicative of the feelings of many inhabitants of New South Wales at that time that the first poem to be published in Australia was entitled \IVision of Melancholy.\i In 1824 the first privately-owned newspaper was established in New South Wales, and in 1842 the \ISydney Morning Herald\i appeared. The Melbourne \IArgus\i was founded in 1854. Following the arrival of German migrants to the newly-established colony of South Australia, the first newspaper in a language other than English was published in Adelaide in German in 1848.
Newspapers and magazines played an important part in the development of literature in Australia in the first 100 years. They published many poems and novels which were often serialised before being produced in book form. The first library was established in Sydney in 1825 and by the 1850s, bigger public libraries, as well as the University of Sydney library, had been established. Early literary works tended to be published in England and it was not until 1838 that the first novel was both published and printed in New South Wales. By the end of the 1850s, newspapers were becoming more common and literary journals were founded. The \IJournal of Australasia\i published the first account of Australian literature, \IFiction Fields of Australia\i in 1856.
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"Later Colonial Period 1860s-1880s",5,gordon.jpg,c,0
From the 1850s a change began to take place in Australian society. The discovery of gold led to a rapid increase in population and the number of free immigrants coming to the colonies. Migrants came from many countries including China, and the non-indigenous population began to take on a multicultural aspect for the first time. Many migrants who arrived in the 1850s were liberals escaping the suppression of the 1848 European revolutions. The views of these migrants added to the demands of increasing numbers of free born inhabitants for more political freedoms and an end to the transportation of convicts. This period saw the beginning of the development of an Australian identity - a national consciousness - a movement which was to intensify in the final decades of the nineteenth century.
A growing sense of egalitarianism, of a fair go for all, and resistance to authoritarianism were overtly expressed in the Eureka Stockade Revolt in 1854. Miners rose against the dictates of the Governor of Victoria on the issue of mining licences. There was an element of republicanism expressed by some writers and settlers, especially those of Irish background. During and immediately after the gold rush period, bushrangers flourished, and disappointed miners moved into the countryside, resulting in more intense settlement of the land. Both bushranging and outback life featured prominently in literature. Building on an earlier tradition, the 1860s saw the emergence of a group of balladists and verse writers who drew much of their inspiration from the Australian bush and bush characters.
One of the more prolific novelists of the period was Catherine Helen Spence (1825-1910). A migrant from Scotland to South Australia during the gold rush period, she often wrote about the position of female migrants. Catherine Helen Spence began her writing career as a journalist and was an advocate of social and political reform. Considered too progressive because of her socialist and feminist views, she sometimes had difficulty getting her work published. Her first novel \IClara Morrison: A Tale of South Australia During the Gold Fever\i was published in 1854 in London. In it she dealt with domestic and public issues. Catherine Helen Spence wrote seven novels, some of which were serialised and not published in book form until after her death. She was proud of both her British and Australian heritage. Her writing reflected the intellectual and social values which she saw as being just as important as the 'bush' values that were becoming a dominant theme in Australian writing and life. In her writing about life in the countryside, she was much more realistic than her contemporary, Henry Kingsley.
Henry Kingsley (1830-76) spent only four years in Australia before he returned to London and published his three-volume novel of squatting life, \IThe Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlyn.\i Although this was admired by \JMarcus Clarke\j and \JRolf Boldrewood\j, his portrayal of colonial life was an unrealistically romantic one.
\JMarcus Clarke\j (1846-81) wrote novels which were serialised before they were published in book form, and short stories dealing with popular Australian themes. \IThis Natural Life\i (later called \IFor the Term of His Natural Life\i), and \IOld Tales of a Young Country,\i both dealt with the convict system. He emphasised the brutality and injustice of the system. Marcus Clarke based his novels on factual research of records and documents he had studied for his journalistic writing. His book was published at a cheap price and became immensely popular and influential, in the tradition of Australian writing on the penal system.
\JRolf Boldrewood\j (Thomas Alexander Browne) (1826-1915) was a policeman, magistrate and gold commissioner who was familiar with pastoral life and the justice system. From 1879 he wrote seventeen novels, the most famous of which was \IRobbery Under Arms,\i a story of convicts, bushrangers, horse stealing and Aborigines. This was originally published in serial form in the \ISydney Mail\i in 1882-1883 and eventually in book form in 1888.
The most famous poets of the period were \JHenry Kendall\j (1839-82) and \JAdam Lindsay Gordon\j (1833-70), who both drew on the bush for inspiration but presented very different pictures of it. Australian-born Henry Kendall is best known for his bushland scenes based mainly on the Central Coast area of New South Wales. He portrayed a softer picture of the bush than many of his contemporaries, especially in his poems \IBell Birds\i and \ISeptember in Australia.\i He described 'cool wildernesses' and 'leafy pools' glistening. Although he could expound on the 'marvellous march of civilisation in Australia' he was also conscious of what had been lost with the advance of white settlement as when he asked "where are the woods... where are the valleys?" He was also sensitive to what had been lost by the Aborigines, "where now the warrior of the forest race?" This theme was elaborated in the poem \IThe Last of His Tribe\i (1864).
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833-1870) is best known for his \IBush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes\i published in 1870 just before he committed suicide. Typical of his work was the poem \IThe Sick Stockrider,\i about the life and death of a stockman in the bush.
Anthologies of poetry became more common after the 1850s and some long-lasting journals were founded. \IThe Australian Journal - a Journal of Literature, Science and the Arts\i began publication in 1865 and lasted until 1958. In 1876 the \IMelbourne Review\i was founded.
\BDescription:\b Adam Lindsay Gordon - famous poet of the 1800s \I(J. King)\i
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"The Bulletin or Nationalist Period (1880s-1920s) - (1)",6,710010.jpg,c,0
In 1880 \JJ. F. Archibald\j and John Haynes began publication of the \IBulletin\i magazine, one of the best known and influential journals in Australian literary history. The \IBulletin\i became a medium for the publication of verse, articles and short stories. It reflected and encouraged the sentiments of nationalism and even republicanism that existed during the years that led up to Federation in 1901. The Australian national consciousness became more sharply defined in the last decades of the nineteenth century and found its expression in literature, music and art. In an attempt to define an identity which was uniquely Australian, artists and writers turned to 'the bush' for the model of the quintessential Australian. The artists of the Heidelberg school of painting - \JTom Roberts\j, \JArthur Streeton\j and \JFrederick McCubbin\j - provided paintings of sheds, bush workers, selectors' families, and sun-filled rural scenes as a visual context for the literary works of the day. Both art and literature displayed a strong masculine flavour, for the 'typical' Australian was depicted as an Anglo-Saxon male bushman. The atmosphere of literature tended to be sexist and chauvinistic; 'mateship' was the admired virtue. Racism was prevalent in social and public life as in literature. The view of a 'White Australia' was strongly advocated by the \IBulletin.\i
The majority of writers were, by the late nineteenth century, native born, and though loyalty to the British Empire could be counted on in crisis situations such as the Boer War (1899-1901), there were many expressions of republicanism e.g. \JHenry Lawson\j's first published poem in the \IBulletin, The Song of the Republic.\i The 1890s were tough economic times marked by severe drought, economic recession and crippling strikes. Writing about the bush became more realistic and less romantic, as seen in Henry Lawson's stories about outback life. Some authors like Rolf Boldrewood wrote about miners' rights and working-class reform. Even though Australian society was in reality becoming more urban, the 'bush' continued to dominate literature.
Verse generally showed the same preoccupation with bush themes. A. B. Paterson wrote \IThe Man from Snowy River\i (1895), \IClancy of the Overflow\i and \IWaltzing Matilda.\i Henry Lawson produced \IThe Old Bark School\i (1897) among many other works. Bernard O'Dowd was one of the most radical nationalists, describing Australia in \IThe Southern Call\i (1913) as a land of 'Love and Liberty', a 'Promised Land' that would welcome 'the wronged of ages singing songs of Human Rights.'
Along with the movement for increasing social and political rights for women, the first journal for, and by, women, and dealing with women's issues, appeared in 1888 with the publication of \JLouisa Lawson\j's \IDawn: Journal for Women\i - a periodical which ran until 1905. Radical magazines such as \IThe Boomerang\i (1892) and in Brisbane \IThe Worker\i (1890) publicised Australia's potential to be a 'working man's paradise.'
Women authors included Rosa Praed and Tasma (Jessie Couvreur), both of whom wrote romantic novels set in Australia. Their novels were published in England after they had left Australia to live in Europe. In Australia, authors such as \JEthel Turner\j, Mary Grant Bruce, \JMay Gibbs\j and Dorothy Wall wrote stories set in the bush. Well known were Bruce's Billabong stories, and characters based on bush animals, for example May Gibbs' Gumnut babies and Wall's Blinky Bill.
In the early twentieth century, urban themes became more common in Australian literature, as seen in the poetry of \JChristopher Brennan\j, in Louis Stone's novel of the Sydney slums, \IJonah\i (1911), and in \JC. J. Dennis\j' verse about Melbourne larrikins.
\BDescription:\b \JBanjo Paterson\j was one of the writers to feature in the \IBulletin\i magazine \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
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"The Bulletin or Nationalist Period (1880s-1920s) - (2)",7,lawson.jpg,c,0
The development of Australian literature was promoted by the establishment of the publishing house, Angus and Robertson, in 1888. In 1898 A. C. Rowlandson founded the New South Wales Bookstall Company to publish cheap paperback novels. A \IDictionary of Austral English,\i containing Australasian words, phases and usages was produced in 1898.
Although its views were racist, anti-British and anti-Establishment, the \IBulletin\i advocated socially progressive policies, e.g. it was anti-capital punishment and against the power of big business. This social conscience was obvious in its pages and in many of the writers who were connected with it in a period when Australia was seen as a type of social laboratory. \JHenry Lawson\j displayed his sympathies for the unemployed in his story \IFaces in the Street,\i and his disgust at the justice system in \IOne-Hundred-and-Three.\i A similar attitude was taken by another \IBulletin\i writer, Price Waring (William Astley), whose stories of convictism were a vehicle for his own socialist and anti-imperialistic views.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was the best known of all the \IBulletin\i contributors. His writing focused on the endurance of the people in the outback, both men and women, as in the \IDrovers Wife.\i He emphasised the heroism and mateship of the workers and the loneliness and isolation of bush life.
Another \IBulletin\i author was \JJoseph Furphy\j (1842-1912), whose first novel, \ISuch is Life: Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins,\i expressed his democratic and nationalist principles. Discarded chapters were later turned into short stories of life in the bush. \JSteele Rudd\j (Arthur Hoey Davis) (1868-1935) became famous for his Dad and Dave characters which appeared in \IBulletin\i stories from 1895. His humorous accounts of life on a small selection (farm), \IOn Our Selection\i (1899) and \IOur New Selection\i (1903), were followed by \IDad and Dave in Politics\i and \IStocking Our Selection.\i The stories were turned into plays and eventually films and radio plays.
Barbara Baynton (1857-1929), born in the Australian bush, knew the realities of life there. Her stories, in particular her horrific tale of \ISqueaker's Mate,\i focused on the lives of women in the bush. Jeannie Gunn, who wrote \IWe of the Never Never\i in 1905, presented a more idealised picture of bush life and of Aboriginal white relations.
\JMiles Franklin\j (1879-1954) produced her autobiography \IMy Brilliant Career,\i set in the Monaro district of southern New South Wales, in 1901. This novel was much later made into a film. It was followed by other novels, some written under the pseudonym Brent of Bin Bin. With a distinctly independent spirit which is reflected in her work, Miles Franklin was a socialist and feminist who had worked in hospitals in the Middle East during World War I.
Writing at the same time as Miles Franklin was another female author, \JHenry Handel Richardson\j (Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson) (1870-1946) who also based her first novels on her own experiences. She published \IMaurice Guest\i (1908) and \IThe Getting of Wisdom\i (1910), which was based on her school experiences at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne. Her major work was \IThe Fortunes of Richard Mahony\i consisting of three books published between 1917 and 1929. In these she links the psychological and material decline of Mahony with the Australian landscape in the social context of colonial society in the goldrush period.
\BDescription:\b Henry Lawson was the best known of the \IBulletin\i contributors \I(J. King)\i
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"Early Modern Period",8,nlindsay.jpg,c,0
The first half of the twentieth century witnessed the development of Australian literature in the fields of prose and verse in which the bush and country life were no longer the dominating factors. Although these themes continued to be of importance the relevance of urban life, especially working-class life, became more recognised. In the years after Federation in 1901, writers continued to define the emerging Australian national character, while at the same time the number of writers with strong socialist tendencies increased. Some authors such as \JMary Gilmore\j and Katharine Susannah Pritchard wrote for left wing Communist publications.
The early colonial period continued to provide the setting for historical novels, e.g. M. Barnard Eldershaw's (\JMarjorie Barnard\j and Flora Eldershaw) \IA House is Built\i (1929) and the later novels of \JEleanor Dark\j. Aborigines emerged as central characters in Dark's \IThe Timeless Land,\i Katharine Susannah Pritchard's \ICoonardoo\i and \JXavier Herbert\j's novels \ICapricornia\i and \IPoor Fellow My Country.\i
\JNorman Lindsay\j (1879-1969) was an artist and writer whose contributions to the \IBulletin\i magazine covered a long period of time and whose influence was felt by other writers, especially poets such as Hugh McCrae and \JKenneth Slessor\j. Norman Lindsay became a centre of controversy in the conservative cultural life of Australia. His flamboyant illustrations shocked many of his contemporaries. He provided support and illustrations for the work of poets like Hugh McCrae in \ISatyrs and Sunlight.\i The wastage of life in World War I influenced Lindsay's philosophy of vitalism and and anti-materialism which he expounded in three volumes entitled \ICreative Effort: An Essay in Imagination,\i \IHyperborea\i and \IMadam Life's Lovers,\i published between 1920 and 1929. In all, Lindsay wrote eleven novels and many short stories. He wrote and illustrated \IThe Magic Pudding\i (1918), often regarded as the classic Australian children's story. Norman Lindsay also contributed articles to journals published by his son, Jack, who was himself one of the most prolific writers in Australian literary history.
A couple who were important in Australian literary life between the two World Wars were Nettie and Vance Palmer. Nettie Palmer was a poet and respected literary critic who gave moral support and encouragement to a wide group of Australian women writers in the 1920s and 1930s. She particularly admired the work of \JHenry Handel Richardson\j and emphasised her place in the formation of the Australian tradition of literature. Vance Palmer was a novelist and short story writer whose most notable works include \IThe Outpost,\i \IMen are Human\i and \IGolconda.\i In 1954, Vance Palmer published \IThe Legend of the Nineties\i in which he analysed the particular characteristics of Australian literature which he saw as being democratic, egalitarian and social reformist.
Many Australian writers between 1901 and the 1960s left Australia for England for varying periods of time, usually to explore the wider intellectual life of Europe. Some, like Katharine Susannah Pritchard and Jean Devanny, were drawn to visit the Soviet Union because of their commitment to Communist ideals.
Katharine Susannah Pritchard (1883-1969) was one of the most important socialist feminist writers of the period. She was involved in women's political movements in Australia and in England, and was a journalist in France and England during World War I. In her work she displayed a concern for the conditions and exploitation of workers, especially bush workers. Her first major success was \IThe Pioneers\i published in 1915, followed by ten more novels, short stories, plays and poetry. The working class of the bush feature prominently in her novels such as \IThe Black Opal\i (1921), \IWorking Bullocks\i (1926), and \IThe Roaring Nineties,\i \IGolden Miles\i and \IWinged Seeds,\i written during the 1940s. In \ICoonardoo\i (1929), Pritchard made her central character an Aboriginal woman. The women and the land were powerful and enduring elements in her novels, while suicide was a common theme in her writing as it was in her family.
\JEleanor Dark\j (1901-1985) also set her novels in the Australian outback, exploring the circumstances and personal conflicts of its men and women. Her early novels were psychological thrillers, but she is most famous for her last three works - historical novels set in the period 1788 to the time of Governor Macquarie. \IThe Timeless Land\i (1941), \IStorm of Time\i (1948) and \INo Barrier\i (1953) trace the history of European settlement and the culture conflict between Europeans and Aborigines. She was one of the first Australian novelists to try and portray the Aboriginal sense of timelessness and to see the arrival of Europeans from an Aboriginal perspective.
\JChristina Stead\j (1902-1983) was an expatriate writer who left Australia in 1928 and whose work became widely recognised internationally. Her first novel \ISeven Poor Men of Sydney\i (1934) represented a new stage in the development of the Australian novel in its complexity, unconventional construction and poetic prose. It was the only one of her novels set completely in Australia. Her other novels display a more cosmopolitan atmosphere and are set in Europe or the United States. The classic themes of personal relationships and poverty, both economic and moral, feature prominently in Christina Stead's work and are not dependent on any particular country for their development. Among her best known works are \IA House of All Nations\i (1938), \IThe Man Who Loved Children\i (1940) and \IFor Love Alone\i (1944).
\JKylie Tennant\j (1912-1988) was another author who was concerned with the poverty of the Australian working-class, especially in country areas. She was a very prolific writer whose work covered the period 1935 until her death in 1988. Her first novel \ITiburon,\i was based on life in an Australian country town during the Depression. This was followed by \IFoveaux\i (1939) about the urban working class, and \IThe Battlers\i (1941) about the rural unemployed. Her social concerns always remained central to her work and she insisted on having first-hand knowledge of the conditions about which she wrote, spending a considerable amount of time among the rural poor. The seriousness of her themes was lightened by a sense of good humour and optimism. Kylie Tennant also wrote biographies, short stories and plays.
Expatriate writer Martin Boyd (1893-1972) differed from many Australian novelists of this period by being a radical conservative. Much of his work had religious overtones and his style and themes were more upper class. His first novel was \ILove Gods\i (1925) and in 1929 he won a gold medal from the Australian Literature Society for his story of pioneering: \IThe Montforts.\i The First World War can be seen as an influence throughout Boyd's work in such characters as the conscientious objector of \IThe Montforts,\i and in \ILucinda Brayford\i (1946).
\JXavier Herbert\j (1901-1984) lived almost all his life in Australia and set all his novels there. Herbert grew up in north west Western Australia and understood the land and its people. He was sympathetic to the plight of the Aborigines and critical of the devastation of the land by European settlement. The only one of his novels not set in the north and not dealing with Aborigines and the land was \ISoldiers' Women\i (1961) set in Sydney. Herbert's sympathy for the Aborigines, his feelings for the land and his anti-authoritarian attitudes are obvious in his work. His first novel \IBlack Velvet,\i written in 1930, dealt with exploitation of Aboriginal women. His major works were \ICapricornia\i (1937) which won the Sesquicentennial Commonwealth Prize for the best novel published in Australia in 1937, and \IPoor Fellow My Country\i (1975), a powerful portrayal of the half caste in Australian society and a searing condemnation of non-indigenous lack of respect for the land.
\JRuth Park\j (1923- ) is a social realist novelist whose work also deals with the poor and the underprivileged, particularly in the slums of Sydney. Her first novel, \IThe Harp in the South\i (1948), won a \ISydney Morning Herald\i Literary Contest. Its sequel, \IPoor Man's Orange,\i was published in 1949. Her later novel, \ISwords and Crowns and Rings,\i won the Miles Franklin Award. In all, Ruth Park wrote eight novels and many books for children, the best known being \IThe Muddle Headed Wombat\i (1962).
Hal Porter (1911-1984) grew up in country Australia and included much autobiographical material in his writing. He included his home town of Bairnsdale in his autobiography \IThe Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony\i (1963), and produced his own drawings for his book \IBairnsdale: Portrait of an Australian Country Town\i (1977). Porter was a very prolific writer, producing short stories, plays and poetry as well as novels. \IA Handful of Pennies\i (1958) draws on the experiences of the Occupying Forces in Japan, while \IThe Tilted Cross\i is an historical novel set in the convict period.
\BDescription:\b \JNorman Lindsay\j was very influential during the early modern period \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Poets of the Early Modern Period",9,0,g,0
While much Australian poetry of the early twentieth century was of a nationalistic or 'bush mateship' nature, this was not always the case in the work of poets like \JChristopher Brennan\j, \JJohn Shaw Neilson\j and \JKenneth Slessor\j.
\JChristopher Brennan\j (1870-1932), although connected with the \IBulletin,\i was not as nationalistic in his sentiments as some other writers of the time. His work displayed a much more cosmopolitan influence and less optimism than that of his contemporaries. A poet of the Symbolist Movement, Brennan's main work was \IPoems,\i a volume of collected verse written between 1897 and 1908 and published in 1914.
\JJohn Shaw Neilson\j (1872-1942) wrote rather mystical poetry about love and divinity in nature and the countryside. The experience of World War I and the Depression did lead to some sense of disillusionment in his later poems. He is best known for \IThe Orange Tree\i (1919).
\JKenneth Slessor\j (1901-1971) combined both Australian and international influences in his work. He was a journalist and war correspondent and editor of the satirical magazine \ISmith's Weekly.\i His wartime reports showed great perception and sympathy with the troops and were published as a collection \IWar Diaries\i in 1985 after his death. His poetry showed the same concern for the soldiers, e.g. \IAn Inscription for Dog River,\i in which he is critical of the military leadership. Much of his work contains imagery of the ocean and bells, and the lights and streets of the city. Sydney provided the setting for much of his work. He is best known for his volume of light verse \IDarlinghurst Nights\i (1933), \IFive Bells\i (1937) and \IFive Visions of Captain Cook.\i Slessor's work influenced many Australian poets in the decades after World War II.
R. D. Fitzgerald was a poet who joined with Kenneth Slessor, Jack Lindsay and others to produce the magazine \IVision\i in 1923, opposing modernism in the arts. Fitzgerald was concerned with the nature of time, death and memory. Many of his poems dealt with explorers' experiences, for example those of Abel Tasman in \IHeemskerck Shoals\i (1944). R. D. Fitzgerald won many prizes and medals for his verse and had considerable influence on other poets such as Thomas Shapcott and Les Murray.
Another influential poet whose ideas were severely anti-modern was \JA. D. Hope\j. He was a traditionalist who disagreed strongly with the 'bush' mentality of much \IBulletin\i-published poetry and with the chauvinism of contemporary Australian verse. He believed that Australian literature was part of the classical European tradition of literature. Hope was a satirist who looked well beyond Australia for his inspiration. His ambiguous attitude to the country is seen in his poem \IAustralia.\i Many of his poems deal with male loneliness and the sexual power of women. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Hope wrote a set of complex meditative poems including \IThe Double Looking Glass\i and \IMoschus Moschiferus: A Song for St. Cecilia's Day\i which was based on ancient and medieval incidents.
Also of conservative views was the poet \JJames McAuley\j (1917-76). He attacked the chauvinistic and modernist nature of contemporary Australian verse. His work exhibited a strong religious influence and focused on despair and hope. McAuley wrote a set of poems which dealt with nature and exploration. These included \ITerra Australis,\i \IHenry the Navigator,\i \IThe True Discovery of Australia\i and \ICaptain Quiros\i (1964.)
The poet \JJudith Wright\j produced her first volume, \IThe Moving Image,\i in 1946. Wright is a prolific author of history; childrenÆs literature and plays; short stories and literary criticism as well as verse. Her influence on Australian literature has been considerable. She grew up in the New England district of New South Wales. Her work displays an understanding of the uniqueness of the environment, a consciousness of the effect of European settlement on the land and sympathy with the Aboriginal people. Throughout her life she has also written love poems, the first major one being \ICompany of Lovers.\i A volume of poems about love and procreation, \IWoman to Man,\i was published in 1949. Judith Wright's anti-war and strong conservationist commitments are expressed in her poetry. \IThe Two Fires\i (1955), a volume written during the Korean War, shows her concern at the possibility of nuclear war. \IFire Sermon\i and \IChristmas Ballad\i were written during the period of the Vietnam War. Her nature poems include \INameless Flower,\i \IGum-trees Stripping\i and the volume \IBirds\i (1962). Her \ICollected Poems: 1942-1970\i contain the explorer/Aborigine poem \ITwo Sides of a Story;\i poems on the environment; and poems which reflect on the death of her husband, the philosopher Jack McKinney. Judith Wright's later volumes of verse published in the 1970s and 1980s continue with these concerns.
Two movements, both based in Adelaide, were influential in the direction of Australian verse writing in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Jindyworobak Movement represented an extremely nationalistic viewpoint. It was centred around the \IJindyworobak Anthologies\i published between 1938 and 1953. Main supporters of the movement included Rex Ingamells, Ian Mudie, \JColin Thiele\j and Roland Robinson. They believed that European culture and European-derived words such as 'dale' and 'vale' were inappropriate for describing the Australian landscape. They were concerned with incorporating Aboriginal words, myths and ideas into their writing. Roland Robinson, one of the chief exponents of the movement, turned to the centre and north of Australia for his inspiration, as seen in volumes like \IAlkjeringa, and Other Aboriginal Poems\i (1970) and \IDeep Well\i (1962). The ideas of the movement were bitterly attacked by traditionalist writers, especially A. D. Hope and James McAuley.
The traditionalists also criticised the other, very different movement of the same period. That movement was the one centred around the \IAngry Penguins\i journal published in Adelaide between 1941 and 1946. It was edited by \JMax Harris\j and John Reed. The \IAngry Penguins\i were supporters of international modernism. They expressed admiration for Dylan Thomas and other members of the New Apocalypse movement, and the ideas of Freud, Marx, Satre, Kafka, and the Surrealists. The movement encouraged young experimental writers and artists. The influence of the movement was seriously damaged by the Ern Malley literary hoax perpetrated in 1944 by the poets James McAuley and Harold Stewart.
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"Later Twentieth Century Literature",10,13smh.jpg,c,0
Australian literature has flourished in the second half of the twentieth century. The social and political scene in Australia was transformed from the end of the 1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. American influences that had begun during the years of World War II were intensified in the period that followed. The advent of television in the 1950s spread American culture and this influence was seen not only in lifestyle and clothes, but in the arts - painting, music and literature, particularly poetry.
Australia's post-war migration policies also affected the artistic milieu. Many thousands of migrants arrived from Britain, Europe and the Mediterranean countries, introducing a sophistication and cosmopolitanism that had not previously been present in Australian society. During the 1960s and 1970s, several movements appeared which made themselves felt in literature. The black civil rights movement had its expression in Australia in an increased awareness of Aboriginal rights and the passing of the 1967 referendum making Aborigines full citizens under Australian law.
The women's liberation movement and increased tertiary education for women led to an increase in feminist writers, more exposure for the writing of women authors and the rise of a feminist press in Australia.
The hippy movement and drug culture encouraged more experimental lifestyles and themes in literature. The Vietnam War in the 1960s polarised Australian society and encouraged the production of a body of literature containing strong anti-war sentiments and radical protest. The Vietnam War changed the political climate in which the arts were produced.
International influences and themes increased. Ease of travel led to an exodus of young Australians to England and Europe during the 1960s. This exodus included artists of all kinds - musicians, singers, painters, actors, novelists and poets - leading to the coining of the expression 'cultural cringe'. Many felt that there was not sufficient artistic stimulation or appreciation in the conservative environment of Australia.
The elections of 1972, which brought a change of government to Australia after a long period of conservative rule, led to a transformation of the artistic scene. The 'new nationalism' and sense of optimism which affected many aspects of life permeated the arts and saw the return to Australia of many of its writers. There was more government support for the arts with the establishment of the Australian Council for the Arts in 1973 (which became the \JAustralia Council\j in 1975). The inaugural Literature Board of the Council was also formed in 1973. More public grants for writers and artists became available. The Commonwealth Literary Fund helped the publication of many works.
Alternative presses, often funded by Literary Board grants, published experimental authors. More established publications such as the \IBulletin\i became less influential in determining the type of poetry that appeared.
It is difficult to categorise Australian writing in this recent period, as it ranges over all themes, styles and genres. The 1950s saw the beginning of a new movement in the development of the novel which concentrated more on style, structure and character. Moral and metaphysical questions became central to the plots. This movement is represented by writers such as \JPatrick White\j, \JRandolph Stow\j and Christopher Koch. As industrialisation and urbanisation increased in the post-World War II years, novelists and poets dealt more with urban political themes, as seen in the work of \JFrank Hardy\j's \IPower Without Glory\i (1950), \JDavid Williamson\j's plays, and the poetry of \JLes Murray\j. Novels took on a much more international aspect. However, uniquely Australian themes such as the myths and realities of convictism, stories of pioneering life, and the endurance of explorers were still dealt with, but often in a very different manner than before, e.g. Patrick White's \IVoss,\i the story of the explorer, Leichhardt.
\BDescription:\b Protests against the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War changed the political climate in which the arts were produced. \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Later Twentieth Century Writers",11,direland.jpg,c,0
The greatest Australian novelist of international renown has been \JPatrick White\j (1912-90). White was educated in Australia and England. He lived mainly in England until he returned permanently to live in Australia in the 1950s. Patrick White's literary career began with verse produced in the 1930s. In the course of his career he produced poetry, short stories, plays, an autobiography, \IFlaws in the Glass\i (1981) and a series of outstanding novels. The rise of the modern Australian novel may be traced to the publication of White's \IThe Aunt's Story\i (1948). His novels are complex and cerebral, influenced by European ideas. The stories are symbolic, sometimes satirical, e.g. \IThe Twyborn Affair\i (1979), and often contain a bitter assessment of Australian life. His own background, family experiences, and homes, provide the setting for many of his works. The countryside is a powerful element; \IThe Tree of Man\i (1955) transformed the traditional Australian saga of the land. His heroes, as in \IVoss\i (1957), are often tormented by their vision and their quest to find the meaning of being. \IThe Living and the Dead\i (1941) is White's only novel with a completely non-Australian setting.
Among WhiteÆs other works are \IRiders in the Chariot\i (1961), \IThe Solid Mandala\i (1966), \IThe Vivisector\i (1970) and \IThe Eye of the Storm\i (1973). Short stories include \IThe Burnt Ones\i (1964) and \IThe Cockatoos\i (1974). His plays include \IThe Ham Funeral,\i \INight on Bald Mountain\i and \IBig Toys.\i White's influence on the development of the Australian novel with relation to style, language and characterisation has been enormous. In 1973 Patrick White won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the only Australian writer to have done so.
Expatriation was a fact of life for many writers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but it became also a focus of comment in recent times. Even \JHenry Lawson\j, leaving from 1900-1902, gave his reasons for going. More recently, Martin Boyd, \JChristina Stead\j, Patrick White, the popular novelist Morris West, poet and author \JDavid Malouf\j, and novelist \JPeter Carey\j, have spent considerable periods of their working careers outside Australia. However they have continued to consider themselves, and are considered by the rest of the world, as Australian authors. The setting for their work has remained predominantly Australian.
\JDavid Malouf\j, born in Queensland, divides his life between Australia and Italy. His boyhood in Brisbane has featured prominently in his poetry and his novels. His first works were verse including \IBicycle, and Other Poems\i (1970) and \INeighbours in a Thicket\i (1974). Malouf's first novel \IJohnno\i was published in 1975. Other works include \IAn Imaginary Life\i (1978) about Ouid's exile, \IChilds Play: with Eustace and the Prowler\i (1982) set in Italy and Australia, \IFly Away Peter\i (1982), and an autobiography \I12 Edmonstone Street\i (1985). \IThe Great World\i (1990) won him the Miles Franklin Award in 1991. Malouf's themes are about imagination and the importance of the places in which we live, about physical and emotional exile. His latest work is \IThe Conversations at Curlow Creek\i (1996). He is also the author of a libretto of an opera based on Patrick White's \IVoss.\i
\JRandolph Stow\j, a novelist whose works have a poetic quality influenced by Taoism, began his career in the 1950s with \ITo the Islands.\i This was followed by \ITourmaline\i (1963), \IThe Merry-go-round in the Sea\i (1965), \IMidnite: The Story of the Wild Colonial Boy\i (1967) and \ISelected Poems\i (1969). England was the setting for \IThe Girl Green as Elderflower\i (1980) and \IThe Suburbs of Hell\i (1984). His work set in Australia often displays a demythologising of national stereotypes.
Christopher Koch also began his writing career as a poet and this can be seen in his novels. Like Stow he was influenced by Asian philosophy - by Hindu mythology. His works include \IAcross the Sea Wall\i (1965), and \IThe Year of Living Dangerously\i (1978), set in Indonesia. His novel \IHighways to a War\i (1996) won him the Miles Franklin Award in 1996.
\JDavid Ireland\j, three times winner of the Miles Franklin Award, deals with the despoliation of Australian resources and the human rejects of modern society in his writings. A satirist, he criticises conventional systems, social classes and the male chauvinism of Australian society. His style can be bleak and surrealistic. Among his most important works are \IThe Chantic Bird\i (1968), \IThe Unknown Industrial Prisoner\i (1971), \IA Woman of the Future\i (1979) and \ICity of Women\i (1981).
\BDescription:\b David Ireland \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Later Twentieth Century Short Story Writers",12,frankm.jpg,c,0
The 1960s saw a revival of the short story in Australian literature. Many authors, especially those dealing with protest themes and the new sexual and social freedoms engendered by the hippy movement, had their work published by new alternative presses such as Wild and Woolley in Sydney, Outback in Melbourne and the University of Queensland Press.
Many authors who began their careers by writing short stories also wrote novels. Included among these are Michael Wilding, \JFrank Moorehouse\j, \JMurray Bail\j and \JPeter Carey\j.
An experimental writer, Michael Wilding, incorporates fantasy and surrealism in his work. His volumes of short stories include \IAspects of the Dying Process\i (1972), \IScenic Drive\i (1976) and \IThe Phallic Forest\i (1978). His best known novel is \IPacific Highway\i (1982).
\JFrank Moorhouse\j left a career in journalism to become a full time author in the 1970s. Many of his works involve a close observation of suburban Australian society and its rituals. His works include a volume of short stories \IFutility and Other Animals\i (1969), \IThe Electrical Experience\i (1974), and the \IThe Everlasting Secret Family and Other Secrets\i (1980). \IForty Seventeen\i (1988) won several awards. His most recent major work was \IGrand Days\i (1993) set in Geneva during the early days of the League of Nations.
\JMurray Bail\j, art critic, short story writer and novelist has an internationalist outlook similar to that of Wilding. His work is full of literary and artistic references. He is best known for his early stories republished as \IThe Drover's Wife and Other Stories\i (1984) and the novel \IHomesickness\i (1980).
\JPeter Carey\j, an award-winning writer, has had considerable success with his short stories \IThe Fat Man in History\i (1974) and \IWar Crimes\i (1979). His novels include \IBliss\i (1981), with which he won the Miles Franklin Award, \IIllywhacker\i (1985) and \IOscar and Lucinda\i - winner of the 1988 Booker Prize. His work contains realism, fantasy, surrealism and some science fiction.
Robert Drewe, author of short stories, novels and plays such as \ISouth American Barbeque,\i combines realism with black humour. Best known for his collection of stories in \IThe Bodysurfers\i (1983), his more recent works include \IOur Sunshine,\i based on the legend of Ned Kelly, and an epic historical novel, \IThe Drowner\i (1996).
\BDescription:\b Frank Moorehouse - successful author of short stories \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Keneally and Winton",13,0,g,0
One of the more popular and prolific of modern Australian novelists is \JThomas Keneally\j (1935- ). Catholicism features prominently in his earlier novels such as \IThe Place at Whitton\i (1964), \IThree Cheers for the Paraclete\i (1968) and \IBlood Red, Sister Rose\i (1974). Many of Keneally's novels have a historical setting, for example \IBlood Red, Sister Rose\i centred on Joan of Arc; \IThe Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith\i (1972) was set in nineteenth century Australia; \IGossip from the Forest\i centred around the World War I Armistice in 1918; \IConfederates\i (1979) was set during the American Civil War; and \ISchindler's Ark\i (1982) concerned the World War II Holocaust. One of his more recent works is \IThe Playmaker\i (1987). Thomas Keneally has won the Miles Franklin Award several times and was awarded the Booker Prize in 1982.
Tim Winton, one of a younger generation of successful and internationally recognised authors, has won the Miles Franklin Award several times. Many of his early novels are set in Western Australia where he lives. His first novel was \IAn Open Swimmer\i (1982). Other works include \IShallows\i (1984), \IThat Eye, That Sky\i (1986), \ICloudstreet\i (1991) and \IThe Riders\i (1994).
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"Later Twentieth Century Women Writers",14,tastley.jpg,c,0
Since the 1970s an 1980s, there has been an increase in the number of woman authors being published and gaining wider recognition. One writer who gained international fame for her treatise on women's issues is \JGermaine Greer\j, whose book \IThe Female Eunuch\i (1970) became one of the seminal influences of the women's movement in Australia. Her other works include \IThe Obstacle Race\i (1979) and \ISex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility\i (1984).
Historical sagas of pioneering continue to occupy an important place in Australian literature. Mary Durack has written several books set in her family area of the Kimberley in Western Australia. Best known among her works are \IKeep Him My Country\i (1955), \IKings in Grass Castles\i (1959) and \ISons in the Saddle\i (1983). Nancy Cato wrote a trilogy of historical novels between 1958 and 1962 set in the Murray-Darling region and published in one volume in 1978 as \IAll The Rivers Run.\i Among Nancy Cato's other works are \IBrown Sugar\i (1974) and \IForefathers\i (1985).
\JThea Astley\j is a prolific and popular author who has won the Miles Franklin Award several times. Her satirical novels deal mainly with the conservatism and limitations of small country towns. These include \IGirl with a Monkey\i (1958), \IA Descant for Gossips\i (1960), \IA Kindness Cup\i (1974) and \IAn Item from the Late News\i (1982). Her more recent works have been set in the towns of north Queensland which provide the background for her volume of short stories, \IHunting the Wild Pineapple\i (1979) and \IThe Multiple Effects of Rainshadow\i (1996).
Barbara Hanrahan is a prolific novelist with a wide following. Many of her works are set in Adelaide where she grew up. The situations in her novels are often seen from a child's point of view, for example, \IThe Scent of Eucalyptus\i (1973), \IThe Frangipani Gardens\i (1980) and \IDove\i (1982). Her more recent works include \IAnnie Magdaline\i (1985) and \IA Chelsea Girl\i (1988).
\JElizabeth Jolley\j migrated to Australia from England in 1959. She began her writing career with collections of short stories, for example, \IFive Acre Virgin and other Stories\i (1976) and \IThe Travelling Entertainer,\i and \IOther Stories\i (1979). Her novels include \IPalomino\i (1980) and \IMilk and Honey\i (1984). The themes of her writing cover death and decay, displacement, homosexual attraction and eccentricity.
\JHelen Garner\j, a provocative and popular author, set her first novel, \IMonkey Grip\i (1977), in inner suburban Melbourne. This was followed by shorter works \IHonour and Other People's Children\i (1980) and \IThe Children's Bach\i (1984). In 1995 she published the controversial work \IThe First Stone,\i concerning a contemporary court case. In 1997 Helen Garner won the Nita Kibble Award for \ITrue Stories.\i
Kate Grenville has produced a volume of short stories, \IBearded Ladies\i (1984) and several novels, including \IJoan Makes History\i (1988), which have women as their central characters.
Drusilla Modjeska, born in England, came to Australia in 1971. She is author of \IExiles at Home; Australian Women Writers 1925-1945\i (1981). Her best known novel is \IThe Orchard.\i
\BDescription:\b Thea Astley has won the Miles Franklin Award several times \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"More Modern Writers",15,0,g,0
Some modern writers have concentrated on the experience of being a migrant in Australia. Among these is \JFaith Bandler\j whose work \IWacvie\i (1977) recounts the family story of her father who was brought from the Pacific Islands to work on the Queensland canefields in the nineteenth century. A long time champion of Aboriginal rights, her other work includes \IThe Time was Right\i (1983) and \IWelou, My Brother\i (1984).
Judah Waten (1911-1985), born in Russia into a Jewish family, migrated to Australia in 1914. His best known work was the semi-autobiographical novel \IAlien Son\i (1952). In all, he wrote seven novels including \IThe Unbending\i (1954) and \IScenes of Conflict\i (1982). His writing is concerned with left-wing politics and the conflicting demands of migrant life in Australia. Judah Waten's work stands at the beginning of a genre of migrant writing that became common in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the same field is David Martin, a Hungarian of Jewish family, who migrated to Australia in 1949. He has written poetry, short stories, children's books and novels. His best known work is \IThe Young Wife\i (1962) an account of post-war migrants, especially Greeks and Cypriots in Melbourne.
Some migrants have published works in English and in their native languages. One such author is the Greek poet Dimitris Tsaloumas, who came to Australia in 1952. He has produced several volumes of poetry including \IThe Observatory: Selected Poems\i (1983).
Since the 1960s, many Australian poets have been influenced by new trends in American poetry. Australian poetry has often incorporated strong political and social concerns. This was especially so at the time of the Vietnam War.
The winning in 1997 of Britain's most prestigious prize for poetry - the T.S. Eliot Prize - for his work \ISubhuman Redneck Poems\i - has brought international recognition to the Australian poet, Les A. Murray. Murray has strong opinions about rural values, religion and ritual, rites of passage, respect for tradition and the community of the land and its people. These come through clearly in his work. Some of his later poems have an auto-biographical character dealing with incidents from his childhood, the death of his mother and his father. His range of subject matter is diverse and wide ranging in time and place. His first volume, \IThe Flax Tree\i (1965), was published in conjunction with his fellow poet, Geoffrey Lehmann. This was followed by other volumes including \IPoems against Economics\i (1972), \ILunch and Counter Lunch\i (1974) and \IThe Vernacular Republic: Poems 1951-1981.\i He has also produced volumes of essays including \IThe Peasant Mandarin\i (1978) and \IA Working Forest: Selected Prose\i (1997).
Geoffrey Lehmann shared a first volume of poetry with \JLes Murray\j, but his work is very different in tone and character. His volume \IA Voyage of Lions, and other Poems\i (1968) included a work on the Roman Empire in its period of decadence, a theme which was to recur in \IConversation with a Rider\i (1972) and \INero's Poems\i (1981). In other works such as \IRoss' Poems\i (1978), he is concerned with the lives of his family and forebears.
Thomas Shapcott has published books of verse and novels, including \IWhite Stag of Exile\i (1984) and anthologies. But it is as a poet that he is mainly known. His volumes of poetry include \ITime on Fire\i (1961), \IA Taste of Salt Water\i (1967), \IShabby Town Calender\i (1975) and \IWelcome\i (1983). His themes range over marriage, birth, music and the experience of place.
Bruce Dawe is a popular poet who writes about the concerns of suburban and small town people. His works deal with wide social and political issues, e.g. the Vietnam War, with conservation in Queensland in the 1980s, and with the power of big business. His first volume was \INo Fixed Address\i (1962), followed by such works as \IA Need of Similar Name\i (1965), \IAn Eye for a Tooth\i (1968), and the collections \ISometimes Gladness\i (1978) and \ISometimes Gladness\i (1983), and \ITowards Sunrise\i (1986).
Rodney Hall is both poet and novelist. From 1967 to 1978 he was the poetry editor of the \IAustralian.\i He has published eleven volumes of poetry including \IThe Autobiography of a Gorgon\i (1968), \ISelected Poems\i (1975) and \IThe Most Beautiful World: Fictions and Sermons\i (1981). He has won the Miles Franklin Award twice. His novels include \IThe Ship on the Coin\i (1972), \IJust Relations\i (1982) and \IThe Island in the Mind\i (1996), set in the seventeenth century.
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"Aboriginal Writers",16,0,g,0
Since the 1960s, Aboriginal writers have become more prominent. The first major Aboriginal writer in English was \JOodgeroo Noonuccal\j (Kath Walker), whose first volume of poetry, \IWe are Going,\i was published in 1964. This was followed by \IThe Dawn is at Hand\i (1966), and \IMy People: A Kath Walker Collection\i (1970, revised 1981). Her work expresses her concern at the loss of Aboriginal culture and the misery that can result from dispossession. She has promoted the preservation of Aboriginal culture and beliefs in her prose work \IStradbroke Dreamtime\i (1972) and a children's book \IFather Sky and Mother Earth\i (1981).
The first Aboriginal writer to have a major novel published was Mudrooroo Narogin (Colin Johnson), with his work \IWild Cat Falling\i in 1965. This was followed by \ILong Live Sandawara\i (1979), which is partly an historical novel, set in Perth and the Kimberley region. \IDoctor Wooreddy's Presciption for Enduring the Ending of the World\i (1983) is set in Tasmania and Victoria in the nineteenth century.
Other Aboriginal writers include \JJack Davis\j, author of poems and plays; Kevin Gilbert, poet and playwright, who wrote the first play in English by an Aboriginal, \IThe Cherry Pickers\i (1970); and Archie Weller whose novel \IThe Day of the Dog\i about urban Western Australian Aborigines was published in 1981. Sally Morgan's autobiographical novel, \IMy Place\i (1987), dealt with the concerns of Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families and the consequent search for identity. Attempts are being made by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal writers to record the oral literature of Aboriginal Australia. Ronald and Catherine Berndt have translated a wide range of myths and song cycles traditionally told in Aboriginal Australian society in \IThe Speaking Land\i (1988).
#
"Playwrights",17,davwilli.jpg,c,0
The 1970s saw a major expansion in the development of Australian drama. Increased funding and encouragement for the performing and literary arts, together with the establishment of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1959, gave a big boost to theatre production. The best known post-war plays were \IRusty Bugles\i (1948) by \JSumner Locke Elliott\j, \JRay Lawler\j's \I\JSummer of the Seventeenth Doll\j\i (1954) and \IThe One Day of the Year\i (1960) by \JAlan Seymour\j. All of these looked in a somewhat critical way at the male myths and stereotypes of Australian society. But from the early 1970s a relatively large group of playwrights emerged whose work involved a considerable amount of social criticism and identity analysis. They were on the whole strongly nationalistic and anti-American, especially on Vietnam issues. Their themes were urban and political. Important in this group were \JJohn Romeril\j, \JJack Hibberd\j, \JBarry Oakley\j, Michael Boddy and \JDorothy Hewett\j. \JAlex Buzo\j was typical of the group and well known for plays including \IRooted\i (1969), \IMartello Towers\i (1976) and \IMakassar Reef\i (1978).
Best known of modern Australian playwrights is \JDavid Williamson\j, whose plays of social comment, mainly on the middle class, have also been the basis of a number of films. His work includes \IThe Removalists\i (1971), \I\JDon's Party\j\i (1973), \I\JTravelling North\j\i (1979), and more recently \I\JEmerald City\j.\i
Another playwright who has also become a novelist is \JLouis Nowra\j. His plays are often set outside Australia and have a strong psychological and intellectual base. \IInner Voices\i (1977) was set in Paraguay, \IInside the Island\i (1981) in Australia and \IPrecious Woman\i (1981) in China. Louis Nowra's latest work is a novel \IRed Nights\i (1997), a thriller set in Sydney's underworld.
\BDescription:\b Well-known playwright, David Williamson \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Other Later Twentieth Century Writers",18,blainey.jpg,c,0
The second half of the twentieth century has also witnessed the growth of a large group of popular Australian novelists who have become bestsellers in an international market. These writers cover a wide variety of themes and write primarily for a cosmopolitan audience. Among the most successful of these are Morris West, Jon Cleary, \JCarter Brown\j and \JColleen McCullough\j. Many of Morris West's novels have been set outside Australia, for example, \IThe Devil's Advocate\i (1959), and deal with the concerns of the Catholic Church as in \IThe Shoes of the Fisherman.\i Jon Cleary is a prolific writer of novels of adventure and personal relationships, many of which have an Australian setting such as \IThe Sundowners\i (1972). Carter Brown (Allan Yates 1923-85) was a well known author of detective stories.
Colleen McCullough began her literary career with novels set in the Australian bush. These included \IJim,\i \IThe Thorn Birds\i and \IThe Ladies of Missalonghi.\i More recently she has achieved international success with her sagas of Ancient Rome e.g. \ICaesar's Women\i (1996). Another popular author is Janette Turner Hospital, who lives in Canada and Australia and whose recent work includes \INorth of Nowhere\i (1995) and \IThe Last Magician\i (1997).
Popular historians such as C.M.H. (Manning) Clark, \JGeoffrey Blainey\j and \JRussel Ward\j have written historical works which attempt to analyse white Australian history from its convict beginnings. Best known among these is \JManning Clark\j, who began the publication of a multi-volume history of Australia in 1962. Geoffrey Blainey's works include \IThe Tyranny of Distance\i (1966), \ITriumph of the Nomads\i (1976) and \IA Land Half Won\i (1980). Russel Ward's \IThe Australian Legend\i (1958) emphasised very much the characteristics of rural Australia in the historical record. \JDonald Horne\j's books, \IThe Lucky Country\i (1964) and later \IThe Death of the Lucky Country,\i provided social comment on Australian society. \IA New Britannia: An Argument concerning the Social Origins of Australian Radicalism and Nationalism\i (1970) by Humphry McQueen, and John Docker's \IAustralian Cultural Elites\i (1974), were also part of this genre.
\B1997:\b \JLes Murray\j awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry.
\B1997:\b \JHelen Garner\j awarded the Nita Kibble Prize.
#
"Bibliography - History of Australian Literature",20,0.jpg,c,0
\IA History of Australian Literature:\i Ken Goodwin. Macmillan, (London) 1986.
\IThe Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature:\i ed. Ken Goodwin and Alan Lawson. Macmillan, (Melbourne) 1990.
\IThe Literature of Australia:\i ed. Geoffrey Dutton. Penguin, (Victoria) 1964.
\IWriting a New World: Two Centuries of Australian Women Writers:\i Dale Spender. Pandora, (London) 1988.
\IThe Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets:\i ed. Susan Hampton and Kate Llewellyn. Penguin, (Victoria) 1986.
\IThe Oxford History of Australian Literature:\i ed. Leonie Kramer. O.U.P. (Melbourne) 1981.
\IThe 1890s: Australian Literature and Literary Culture:\i ed. Ken Stewart. University of Queensland Press 1997.
\IThe Speaking Land: Myth and Story in Aboriginal Australia:\i Ronald Berndt and Catherine Berndt. Penguin, (Victoria) 1989.
#
!,!,!,!,!
12#
15,0
"Early Immigration",1,"g\5\king0078.jpg","c","0"
It is no exaggeration to say that the history of Europe since the middle decades of the eighteenth century down to the present has been characterised by the mass movements of peoples from one country to another, from one continent to another. From the 1740s onwards, British peoples migrated in their tens of thousands to North America, while there was also significant population movement from metropolitan Spain to its American colonies. In time, these migrations, with their accompanying transfers of political and religious institutions, gave rise to new nations, which have played powerful roles in the subsequent political and economic history of the world - as one leading historian has written of the growth of British North America:
\IThe westward transatlantic movement of people is one of the greatest events in recorded history. Its magnitudes and consequences are beyond measure. From 1500 to the present, it has involved the displacement and resettlement of over fifty million people, and it has affected indirectly the lives of uncountable millions more. It forms the foundation of American history and is basic, too, in ways we are only now beginning to understand, to the history of Europe, Africa, and even, to a lesser extent, of Asia.\i
From the late eighteenth century, Australia and (from the middle of the nineteenth century) New Zealand have been part of this European diaspora. The Australia the Europeans came to, however, was not a peopleless land. No-one knows for sure when the ancestors of the Aborigines reached it - certainly by 40,000 years BP (Before the Present), perhaps as long ago as 60,000 years BP. Nor is it clear that there was in the distant past only one migration of dark-skinned people to the continent. There was more genetic variation (thicknesses of 15 mm as against 2 mm) in skulls dating from the period 30-20,000 BP found near Lake Mungo than exists among the whole of humankind today. This extraordinary difference suggests that there were then two races present. The late appearance of the dingo in the continent (c. 10,000 BP) suggests that there may also have been one or more later migrations.
\BDescription:\b Emigrants about to leave England for Australia \I(Jonathan King)\i
European immigration to Australia began in \J1788\j, with the arrival at Sydney of 750 men and women convicts, some 240 marines with some wives and children, and a handful of civil officials sent by the British government to found a colony. This began a large-scale forced movement of people from one hemisphere to another, which did not conclude until the middle of the nineteenth century. In eastern Australia, transportation to New South Wales lasted until \J1840\j. It began to Tasmania in \J1803\j and ended in \J1852\j. To Western Australia, where it began in \J1850\j, it ended in \J1868\j.
Transportation did not follow a uniform development, but rather went forward in fits and starts, according to war and social and economic conditions in Britain. Between 1788 and 1792, almost 5,000 convicts reached Sydney on the First, Second and Third Fleets. But then the practice faltered during the long wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, as British authorities were fully occupied in seeing that the nation survived, and shipping was needed for other purposes. Only about 7,000 convicts reached eastern Australia from 1793-1810, with an average of about 1,000 per year coming 1811-1815.
The Allies' victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 brought an end to the drawn-out fighting. This led to tens of thousands of soldiers and sailors returning to a Britain suffering economic problems, and also facing the full effects of the Enclosure movement (whereby small holdings were amalgamated into larger, privately-owned ones) and of the Industrial Revolution, which further dispossessed the rural labouring classes. With the population increasing, unemployment high and poverty widespread, crime accelerated, and the courts sentenced offenders to transportation in ever-increasing numbers. From 1816-1825 an average of 2,600 convicts per year reached eastern Australia. For the next ten years, this climbed to c. 5,000 per year. Between 1821 and 1830, a total of 32,500 came; and from 1831-40, a total of 51,200.
\BDescription:\b Emigrants embarking at Liverpool \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"The End of Transportation",3,"g\5\rsmh64.jpg","c","0"
By the mid-\J1830\js, influenced by the long campaign to eliminate slavery from the British empire, public opinion in Britain was moving against transportation as a penal practice. In \J1837\j, a committee of the House of Commons (the Molesworth Committee) recommended its abolition. This move was supported in New South Wales, where many people thought it was time for the society to lose its convict 'stain', so transportation to the eastern mainland ceased in \J1840\j. It continued to Tasmania until \J1852\j, with about 40,000 convicts arriving from \J1841\j. In the late \J1840\js, desperate for labour, landowners in Western Australia asked for convicts and some 10,000 males reached this colony \J1850\j-\J1868\j.
The totals given by the various authorities vary somewhat, but from 1787-1868, something like 162,000 convicts were transported from the British Isles to Australia. Of these, about 25,000 were women, and there was also a sprinkling of children. The early prosperity of New South Wales and Tasmania was based on the labour of these people, who, either assigned to government labour or to private employers, worked at a great variety of tasks in building, agriculture, domestic service and commerce. Sentenced to transportation for either seven or fourteen years, or life, these people might have good or bad experiences according to the disposition of their employers, and their own behaviour. No one knows how many left Australia on becoming free. However, attracted by the economic opportunities, the climate, and a less class-ridden society, many stayed.
Though goods and services were considerably more expensive in the Australian colonies than in Britain, wages were always very much higher and there was moreover the prospect, upon becoming free, of obtaining land or owning a small business. Indeed, it was commonly held that even in assignment, many convicts in Australia were better off than agricultural labourers in England, because of the ample food rations and the opportunity to earn money in their spare time.
\BDescription:\b The bath on the deck of \ISuccess (Courtesy Jonathan King)\i
Though many of the convicts came from urban backgrounds in Britain, there was also a great variety of people among them. While the majority was English, from \J1798\j, as the Irish repeatedly rebelled against English overlordship, thousands of people were transported from this island. The proportion of Scottish convicts was comparatively small. Most poignant in their plight perhaps was the small group of 141 French Canadian rebels, who reached New South Wales in \J1840\j. Doubly exiles, these lived a miserable existence in a camp near Parramatta. Nonetheless, they also came to know the bounty that the new land might offer:
\IThree herds of cattle passed by today, about 6 or 7 hundred and several hundred sheep, all castrated males. We had an order this evening to wear only government clothing, or rather our stamped clothes, all week and on Sundays as well. This means that if we go to church we shall be forced to go in stamped clothing to humiliate us all the more.\i
In the first thirty years, very few free immigrants came to New South Wales - fewer than 100 up to \J1810\j, though the figure is larger if we add those civil or military officers or enlisted men who chose to settle after they had concluded their terms of duty. In the early days, the British government sought to encourage, via the promise of large amounts of land, men with capital to migrate. This policy had only very limited success until after Commissioner Bigge's enquiry and reports (\J1819\j-20, \J1823\j) which recommended that the New South Wales and Tasmanian settlements be allowed to develop as civil colonies, and that land be henceforth only available for purchase in large lots.
From the mid-\J1820\js, free migration slowly grew, as army and naval officers and middle-class families arrived. Between \J1821\j and \J1830\j, about 7,500 free settlers came to NSW and Tasmania, many of whom, in line with Bigge's additional recommendation that the colonies' economic future lay in the production of fine wool, took up pastoral runs and became the sponsors and employers of the assisted labourers who arrived in their thousands in the \J1830\js.
\BDescription:\b Hawkesbury River settlement \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Free Immigration",5,"e\7\chisolm.jpg","c","0"
The strong free migrations of the \J1830\js developed in response to conditions in Australia and Britain. In a further attempt to create a small class of property-owners and a very much larger labouring class, the British government instituted the Ripon Regulations in \J1831\j. These provided for the sale of land at a minimum price of 5 shillings per acre, and for the proceeds of sales to be put to sponsoring the emigration of working men and women from Britain. Of these, by the early \J1830\js, there were only too many, for the Industrial Revolution was biting further, and unemployment was widespread in the agricultural counties, so that the poor were placing impossible burdens on parish relief. Subsequently, to the Ripon scheme was added a 'bounty' scheme, whereby colonists were encouraged to sponsor migrants; and a British scheme whereby parishes contributed to the cost of the passage to Australia so as to reduce the numbers they had to provide for.
With both colonial and imperial immigration agents appointed, free immigration to the eastern Australian colonies expanded very rapidly in the 1830s, with some 62,000 people arriving 1832-1841. These included thousands of young women (3,000 between 1832 and 1836) who, often leaving with only slender means, all too frequently became destitute upon arrival. It was in response to the plight of those whom she found huddled on the streets of Sydney that Caroline Chisholm instituted both a receiving house in Sydney and country committees to place them in service - a type of early employment service.
The beginnings of the Swan River (Western Australia) (\J1829\j) and South Australian settlements (\J1836\j) should be seen as part of this phase of Australian migration, for each was based upon a sharp division between property-owners and labourers. Indeed, the South Australian settlement was made explicitly upon the principles expounded by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who in his \ILetter from Sydney\i (\J1828\j, though actually written while he was in prison in London) argued for the concentration of land ownership and the encouragement to labourers to migrate - i.e., the ownership of property would be the province of a small group of capitalists, who would employ labour. Not only would this mode of colonisation be more efficient than that seen in New South Wales in its early decades, but the social problem of the English poor would be alleviated by the migration of large numbers.
A severe drought and the consequent economic depression of \J1838\j-41 caused authorities to abandon these immigration schemes, and for a time the tide slowed to a trickle, with only 1,142 free migrants reaching eastern Australian in \J1843\j, for example.
As with the convicts, the experience of the free labourers who came in this period varied according to personal behaviour, luck, and the disposition of employers. But there was again widespread agreement that conditions in the new country were much preferable to those in the old. One migrant told in \J1845\j how:
\I[I] 'arrived in \J1841\j; had no money on landing; was engaged as farm servant nine days after my arrival, at the following wages; ú20 a year, and a weekly ration of 12 lbs. flour, 10 lbs. meat, 2 lbs. sugar, 14 lb. tea. I have now eight head of cattle, and am worth in cash ú30; the highest wages I ever received before I emigrated to this Colony was ú3 10s. a year; I am well known to __________, and to ___________; I subscribe to a school, and the Colonial Observer; since in this Colony, I was out of employment about three months, but I must say it was nearly my own fault. I refused, as Mrs Chisholm knows, ú15 a year, and rations; I am now receiving 20s. a week, and board myself; have a nice house, free of rent ....'\i
Notable among the free immigrants at this time were the central and eastern Germans who came to South Australia from the late 1830s to the early 1850s. Seeking a place where they might practice their old-style Lutheran religion freely, some 4,000 of these dissenters arrived 1847-51, settling at Hahndorf and in the Barossa Valley, which they made famous as a centre of viniculture.
\BDescription:\b Aboard convict transport ship \IJohn Calvin\i \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
The discovery of extensive gold deposits in New South Wales and Victoria in \J1851\j and \J1852\j opened the second major phase of European migration to Australia. As news of the discoveries spread round the world, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the Australian colonies in the hope of becoming rich. Excluding Aborigines, the population of New South Wales almost doubled between \J1851\j and \J1860\j, increasing from just under 200,000 to 350,000, while that of Victoria increased sixfold, from 77,345 to 541,000. The total population of the Australian colonies rose from 437,665 in \J1851\j to 1,168,149 ten years later.
This period saw the beginning of the multicultural nature of Australian society. There were many representatives of the European nations, and Americans as well. Some of these people were simply fortune hunters; others brought their families. Some were middle-class people looking for a more comfortable life than at home; others were political refugees from the failed democratic revolutions in Europe in the \J1840\js; others again were Irish fleeing the terrible potato famine in their homeland.
Particularly in Victoria and New South Wales, the arrival of these people led to much social and political change. The growth of centres of population inland (Bathurst, \JBallarat\j, \JBendigo\j) gave pastoralists and agriculturalists new markets for their animals and produce. These centres required goods and services, so that new roads were built between the metropolis ports (Sydney, Melbourne) and the interior. To facilitate the movement of people and goods, regular coaching, dray and postal services were instituted. As, at \JBallarat\j and \JBendigo\j, the alluvial deposits of gold were worked out, and deep-shaft mining developed, there arose a sharp division between capitalists and workers; heavy manufacturing grew, to produce the machinery needed to drive thousands of metres into the earth; and settled populations developed. With the growth in the number of women and children, these populations needed schools, churches, hospitals, police, and government services.
The democratic spirit of many of the diggers led to calls for political reform and for a more popular franchise. The conflict between the older, autocratic form of governance and the newer mood came to a head in the \JEureka\j uprising of \JBallarat\j in December \J1854\j, when miners rebelled against the hated licence fee (30 shillings per month) and demanded political rights and access to land.
\BDescription:\b Gold attracted many immigrants \I(Jonathan King)\i
#
"Changes Caused by the Gold Rushes",8,"f\9\18smh.jpg","c","0"
The basis for such political change had been laid a few years earlier, in \J1851\j, when the British Government had created the separate colony of Victoria, and had constituted in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia a Legislative Assembly two-thirds elected and one-third nominated. (This had been done in New South Wales in \J1842\j.) At the same time, the Government had agreed that the franchise should be broadened, so that males either owning property worth ú100 or paying an annual rent of ú10 were able to vote. Given the high prices of properties and level of wages in Australia, the practical effect of these changes was to enfranchise almost all adult male householders. With the new Legislative Assemblies constituted, the Government offered responsible government to the Australian colonies in \J1855\j-6, and the balance of political power altered as middle- and working-class men voted in their representatives, so that the members of the old squattocracy lost influence.
With by no means all diggers finding success on the goldfields, there soon arose a need to provide them with other means of earning a living. One way was to make Crown land available for agriculture or mixed farming. In New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland (a separate colony from \J1859\j), the \J1860\js saw a series of Selection Acts passed that provided for the purchase of Crown land in small lots. This movement gave impetus particularly to wheat cultivation.
There was another major element in the migration caused by the gold discoveries. Also prominent among those seeking gold were Chinese. A trickle of Chinese migrants had begun arriving in the Australian colonies in the \J1840\js, to work as shepherds and labourers on pastoral runs. With the discovery of gold, this migration swelled to a broad stream, with tens of thousands reaching the diggings in New South Wales and Victoria, where their physical and cultural differences, and often their success through sheer hard work, aroused much social prejudice in the Europeans. There were violent clashes at Buckland River in Victoria in \J1857\j, and at Lambing Flat in New South Wales in \J1860\j-1. This situation in all its main elements was then repeated in Queensland at Gympie and Rockhampton in the late \J1860\js, and on the Palmer and Hodgkinson Rivers in the \J1870\js.
There were some 25,000 Chinese (almost all of them male) in Victoria in \J1861\j, and some 13,000 in New South Wales. In Queensland in \J1881\j there were about 11,000. Many Chinese returned home after their time on the diggings, but a substantial number also stayed, turning their hands to station work, market gardening, laundrying, cabinet-making and shopkeeping. Up until the time of the Second World War, there was a prominent 'China Town' in Cairns, for example.
\BDescription:\b Violence against the Chinese on the goldfields \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Europeans Continue to Migrate",9,"f\9\r6332.jpg","c","0"
The second half of the nineteenth century saw continuing European migration to Australia, independent of gold discoveries. Tens of thousands of British immigrants arrived at Sydney, where many were initially accommodated at the Hyde Park Barracks, which by this time had grown into a labyrinth of ramshackle buildings. Now an innovative museum, these Barracks preserve a vivid record of the conditions that many people experienced on arrival. There were no convicts among these people; and a higher proportion than before came from northern England and Scotland, among them many coalminers.
Germans continued to migrate to South Australia, where they were prominent in the expanding wheat industry. In the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s, responding to demographic pressure at home, Germans and Scandinavians came in significant numbers to Queensland, where they recreated their houses and ways of life, at such places as Cleveland Bay, and in the Lockyer and Burnett River valleys. Altogether, some 213,000 assisted European migrants reached Australia between \J1875\j and \J1890\j.
Young middle-class women, educated but impoverished, formed a distinct group among British immigrants in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Often the daughters of clergymen, teachers or small businessmen, they had to fend for themselves when their parents died without leaving substantial inheritances. With no tradition of physical work, these women looked to becoming governesses in the colonies. However, the limited number of such positions in comparison to the many offering themselves meant that often these women had to reduce their expectations once in the colonies, and to take up work they would not have contemplated in England.
In Queensland, because of a certain concern about Kanaka workers, the authorities attempted to find alternative sources of labour, particularly for the canefields. The emphasis was on people from southern Europe, because it was believed that these were accustomed to hard labour in a hot climate. In November 1883 a group of 71 Maltese men disembarked at Townsville, but this pilot scheme immediately ran into difficulties, and was not repeated for another thirty years. In 1891, several hundred Italians landed, also at Townsville, and many more followed in the next years. Significant numbers of Italians went also to the Western Australian goldfields of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in the 1890s. By 1914, there were over 7,000 Italians in Australia, mostly from northern Italy, and about one-quarter of the small cane farms in the Ingham and Innisfail districts were in Italian ownership.
\BDescription:\b Customs House \J1887\j \I(RAHS)\i
There was another wave of non-European migration to Australia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Following the Queensland Assembly's 'Coolie' Act of \J1862\j, a handful of Melanesians ('Kanakas') came to Queensland to work on the pastoral runs. At the end of the \J1860\js, the Grays had several on their run near Hughenden in Queensland, for example, with one, Nungita, acting as a general servant: 'He promises to become a good cook', Mrs Gray wrote, 'and takes great interest in the lessons I give him'. With the rapid growth of sugar cane cultivation from the mid-\J1860\js, however, Melanesian migration quickly expanded.
The first Kanakas (Islanders) reached the Mackay district in May \J1867\j, with twenty going to Pioneer plantation, and thirty to Alexandra. By \J1875\j, there were about 1,700 in the district, the majority from the island of Malaita. These people were employed on the plantations, variously at clearing scrubland, ploughing, planting, weeding, trashing and cutting cane, working at and cutting timber for the mill, as well as fulfilling the duties of general labourers and domestic servants. This labouring force included women as well as men, but in accordance to Melanesian custom, the women worked separately from the men. Generally, the hours of labour were Monday-Friday, 6 am to 5.30 pm, with an hour for lunch, and a half-day on Saturday. While the Act provided for them to be accommodated in houses, the Islanders preferred to build grass huts, which allowed for an easier segregation of the sexes, and which could more readily be closed by magic to evil spirits. About these huts the Islanders kept traditional gardens, growing yams, kava, taro, mangoes and bananas. On Saturday nights they went into Mackay, to buy goods and see the sights of China Town. Because the Kanakas were paid extremely low wages, many white workers saw them as a threat.
The trade in Islander labour became notorious, with parliamentary critics castigating it as slavery, and condemning the methods (which included kidnapping and murder) used by unscrupulous ship captains. There is no doubt that in the beginning such things did occur, but after the \J1868\j Act which placed government inspectors on recruiting vessels and in the agricultural districts, the trade became much more regular, with Islanders agreeing to labour for a three-year term, at a minimum wage of ú6 annually, together with food, shelter, clothing, tobacco and medical care. Between \J1863\j and \J1904\j, more than 70,000 'coloured' workers, male and female, were brought to Queensland. While this force comprised Chinese, Malays, Singalhese and Indians, Melanesians constituted the bulk of some 62,000 persons.
As the Chinese migration had earlier done, so too did Melanesian migration provoke fears that the European population would be overwhelmed. In 1877, after charges that they were depriving Europeans of jobs on the stations, their employment was confined to the coastal districts. In effect, this was a step towards a 'White Australia' policy. More followed in 1884, when the Queensland Government announced that the importation of Kanakas would cease in 1890, and limited their employment henceforth to labouring in tropical agriculture i.e., their employment as engineers, engine drivers, bullock-drivers, splitters, fencers, and domestic servants was forbidden.
The depression of the early 1890s forced a relaxation of the ban on further importation, but in 1901 the newly constituted Commonwealth Government passed the Pacific Island Labourers Act, which provided for the cessation of the trade in 1904, and the repatriation of all but a select 1,500-2,000 long-time residents by 1907. The White Australia policy had arrived.
One of the first pieces of legislation enacted by the new Commonwealth Government was the Immigration Restriction Act (1901) under the terms of which a White Australia Policy was to be implemented. This policy remained in force until the 1960s. The policy was to keep non-white migrants from settling in Australia. Under the terms of the act, any intending migrant could be made to take a 55 word dictation test in any European language. The act was specifically designed to keep out Asian migrants but any white migrant that the Government wished to exclude could also be given the test in a foreign language they were highly unlikely to know.
In \J1901\j, when Australia federated, the national (white) population was approaching 4,000,000. Politicians thought this figure too small for such a large continent; and further reforms to land policies and the emergence of a manufacturing base, which added to the demand for labour, added weight to this idea. Moreover, in Britain as in the other Dominions, the view was strong that migration should be encouraged to preserve the Anglo-Saxon race and strengthen the empire. For example, one magazine announced in \J1909\j that in Australia there was: '... room for another 50,000,000 energetic white settlers - equal opportunity for all - free education for all children - a genuine British community with true British Ideals ...'
These factors set the stage for another phase of extensive migration from the British Isles to Australia, which, despite the interruption of two world wars, and a global Depression, ran from the beginning of the century into the \J1950\js.
From \J1905\j-\J1914\j, some 185,000 government-assisted migrants reached Australia. This movement of people broadened after the World War I, with almost 10,000 men, women and children arriving \J1919\j-20, and another 170,000 \J1921\j-7. The numbers fell away abruptly \J1919\j-32, then increased again very sharply after the Second World War.
As had happened in some earlier periods, this migration also involved attempts at 'social engineering'. A prominent feature was the targetting of specific groups within the general population. For example, unskilled men who had worked in industry were destined for agricultural labour; and a Child Emigration Society was founded in \J1909\j, and several thousand boys were brought to Australia to be given an agricultural apprenticeship. In an attempt to redress the historical imbalance of the sexes in Australia, young women were encouraged to come to the new land. Many of these people suffered grievous disappointment, particularly in the Depression. One later remembered plaintively:
\IThey said that a knowledge of farming wasn't necessary because you could afford to pay for help. First there was a three months' training course to teach you about farming, then you were placed on a block of land with a new house on it. Our block was twenty-four acres. It was supposed to be for market gardening and poultry ... Market gardening? To grow peas we had to buy a drill - and they sent an expert! This man had been a ganger on the railways and a relative in the public service had got him a job as a market gardening expert to advise the settlers! There was an expert to tell you what cows to buy too, but when people knew you were buying, the prices went up. The land was no good for market gardening - 'hungry spew' the expert at the Royal Commission called it - so they said to try pigs and cows. You could get twenty-seven shillings for little piglets then, but by the time we were selling all we could get was eight shillings ....\i
\BDescription:\b Milsons Point from Observatory Hill \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Growth of Non-British Immigrants",13,"0","g","0"
The first half of the twentieth century also saw the growth of non-British, European migration to Australia. The number of resident Italians increased slowly from 5,700 in 1901 to 8,100 in 1921. However, after the United States passed Immigration Restriction Acts in 1920 and 1924, many more Italians thought of Australia. Some 24,000 came in the 1920s. Following family and village networks, many of them went to North Queensland, where they worked on the canefields or in mines. Others, however, chose to stay in the cities, which began to develop that ethnic and religious mixture which is so marked.
By \J1915\j-20, there was also a significant Spanish presence in the Innisfail district, with Catalans and Basques having arrived to try their hands at sugarcane farming. Among these people was a tradition of migrating to find work. In \J1915\j, the Australian Government had mounted an advertising campaign in Patagonia hoping to attract the Welsh who had migrated there in the second half of the nineteenth century. Comparatively few Welsh accepted the offer, but some 350 Spanish and Russians did. These people travelled on the Japanese steamer \IKwanto Maru\i to Auckland, Newcastle and then Darwin, where the men were employed building the Darwin-Katherine railway line. By \J1920\j, however, disillusioned by conditions, most had left, with many going to join other Spanish on the South Johnstone canefields near Innisfail.
Though they did not come from Patagonia, the story of the Jordana family is typical. In \J1910\j, the family left Catalonia for southern France, where the father worked in an iron foundry. Then, in \J1916\j, he migrated to Australia, going first to Melbourne, where Spanish market gardeners told him he might find work at Innisfail. In \J1921\j, the mother and son, Ray, joined Mr Jordana at Mena Creek, where he was working a cane farm in partnership with another Catalan. In \J1924\j, aged sixteen, Ray Jordana started working for his father. In \J1929\j, he joined a cane-cutting gang. Eventually he owned his own sugarcane farm. After serving in World War II, he married a Melbourne girl and returned to growing cane. In \J1957\j, the family shifted to Brisbane, so as to increase their children's educational opportunities.
Also there was significant migration from Greece. In the period 1936-40, some two-thirds of the 43,000 migrants to Australia came from the south of Europe. Included in this total were some Jewish people from various central and east European countries fleeing Fascist regimes. (It is one of the ironies of our history that large numbers of German- and Italian-born people, who had lived exemplary lives in Australia, were interned during the Second World War, to the detriment of their family life and business affairs.)
In \J1945\j, Australia's European population was about 7,300,000, a figure which politicians again considered too small for national security and economic growth. The Commonwealth Government announced a new assisted migration scheme designed to bring up to 70,000 migrants annually. With the White Australia policy still in force, it was Europeans who were encouraged to look to the Antipodes, a prospect which very large numbers found enticing, given the devastation of the Second World War. In the ten years from \J1948\j to \J1957\j, 414,000 British people arrived permanently in Australia, while more than 800,000 came from other European countries, including several hundred thousand Italians, about 50,000 Greeks, and 170,000 'displaced' persons or refugees, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe.
This pattern of migration continued in the \J1960\js, with Germans, Dutch, Yugoslavs and Maltese also arriving in significant numbers. Between \J1947\j and \J1969\j, there was a net total migration of almost 2,000,000 persons to Australia, one principal effect of which was to change fundamentally the nature of Australian society.
#
"Lives of Post-World War II Migrants",14,"0","Arthur Calwell on immigration","film38i.avi"
Often, these migrants did not have the easiest of lives. Often highly-educated men were sent to labour on the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, for example; and southern Europeans were sent to pick fruit in the Murray Valley.
Nonetheless, by their labour and skills, they contributed much to the nation's postwar economic prosperity. Between \J1947\j and \J1966,\j the workforce expanded from 2.5 million to 3.4 million.
Nor was the economy the only beneficiary. Australian tertiary education expanded rapidly in the \J1950\js, with the founding of the Australian National University, and the development of postgraduate training there and at other universities. Intellectuals who had been displaced in Europe were prominent in this expansion. Particularly noteworthy were those among the 2,500 German and Austrian internees who arrived on the Dunera in \J1940.\j As one person on the ship recalled:
\IThere was a ship's university. You could learn any language you liked, listen to a talk on the politics of the Austrian Government before the Anschluss, on Ancient Greece, on the Napoleonic Wars, on scientific subjects. These lectures went on right through. There were quite a lot of people on board who were quite famous of course: authors, academics, musicians and scientists, philosophers, painters. I learnt a lot on the Dunera.\i
The diverse character of Australia's cities was further enhanced, with a cafΘ-culture emerging, and the dominance of the monotonous British staple meal of meat and three vegetables being challenged.
\BViddescription:\b Arthur Calwell on immigration (Film World)
The last major phase of Australian migration began at the turn of the \J1970\js, with the quiet abandonment by the Commonwealth Government of the White Australia policy, partly as a consequence of changing social attitudes, partly as a response to the loss of its principal trading partner when Britain joined the European Common Market. In \J1966\j the Review of Immigration Policy diluted the previous policy, when it reduced the residence requirement for citizenship for non-Europeans from fifteen to five years. Then, at the beginning of \J1973\j, the new Labor government announced that in future there would be no discrimination against migrants on the basis of colour, race, or nationality. Later in the year, it made three years the residence requirement for all citizens.
In \J1976\j, the Liberal government began to accept refugees from the Vietnam War. These changes of policy saw, first, Turks, Egyptians and Lebanese come, then Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cambodians. Other Asian nationalities (e.g. Indians, Malays) followed, as did people from South America and Africa. By the mid-\J1980\js, of a total Australian population of 15.6 million, some 3.2 million people (21%) had been born overseas.
In the later \J1980\js and early \J1990\js, changed economic circumstances led the Commonwealth Government to restrict migrant intake quotas severely. Nonetheless, the Australian population is now irreversibly a mixed one, which exhibits a great diversity of cultures, races and religions. While retaining British-style laws and political institutions, modern Australia is a nation of immigrants. That this has come about with comparatively little tension is a remarkable achievement.
\BDescription:\b Australia has a mixed population \I(DFAT)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
13#
14,0
"Advertising is Big Business",1,"g\5\a4_0098.jpg","c","0"
Advertising is big business in Australia. Through a series of successes and mistakes over the last century or so companies have learned that if a product or service can be communicated in the right way to the right people, a lot of money can be made. But it has to be right. The global soft drinks giant Coca-Cola learnt that lesson in the late \J1980\js when it changed its cola formula. Despite a very slick advertising campaign supported by a massive marketing budget, Coke lost millions of dollars in sales because consumers didn't like the taste. A myriad of other such Australian failures could be tabled. Advertising alone doesn't fix problems, but it can help.
Without advertising, the basic appliances we have in our homes today would not exist, nor would perfumes, airlines, motor cars or television. Indeed it was advertising which was primarily responsible for dramatic lifestyle changes from the horse and buggy to the automobile, the ice chest to the refrigerator and the ship to the aeroplane.
According to a Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia report, in \J1993\j Australian companies spent $5.6 billion on advertising their products and services in the mainstream media - mediums such as magazines, newspapers, outdoor sites, cinemas, television and radio. Of the $5.6 billion, newspapers snared 35.7 per cent of the total figure, television 31.1 per cent, radio 8.1 per cent, magazines 4.8 per cent, outdoor sites 4.7 per cent and cinemas 1.4 per cent. A further $4.4 billion was spent on less obvious marketing activities such as direct mail, database marketing, catalogues and selling by telephone. The power of advertising is phenomenal. The United States packaged goods conglomerate Procter & Gamble ploughs more than $1 billion into advertising worldwide, while the Australian company Coles Myer invests $100 million on promoting its numerous retail chains.
\BDescription:\b Without advertising, airlines and cars, among other things, would not exist \I(Carrie Webster)\i
#
"Advertising and Myths",2,"f\7\74001.jpg","c","0"
Unfortunately, advertising can perpetuate myths and damaging stereotypes. The obsession of women to always look young and attractive has been exploited by advertising for decades. From the nineteenth century, scores of ads can be uncovered claiming women can be more attractive to husbands, potential boyfriends and neighbours if they use this cream or that range of cosmetics. Moreover, the use of slim, long-haired models in advertisements has set unattainable aesthetic benchmarks for many.
Encouragingly, however, cynicism towards advertising has hit an all time high and companies are now scurrying for strategies to make their claims more genuine and believable - unlike so many that went before them.
\BDescription:\b Advertising has been influencing women for decades \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Advertising Pre 1880",3,"g\5\rsmh53.jpg","c","0"
Things were about to seriously change for Australia's rough and sun-drenched inhabitants. American Alexander Bell had invented the telephone and population growth and embryonic industrial advances in Australia were creating increasing numbers of entrepreneurial individuals. Among the more adventurous, the power of product promotion was slowly being discovered, albeit in blatantly exaggerated forms which often bordered on outright lies.
However, the largely uneducated society digested these capitalist selling cries with great gusto. By \J1868\j newspaper advertising had been underway for sixty-five years, although mostly in very cumbersome blocks of type written and sold to potential clients by newspaper staff. Other communication mediums were also emerging such as the poster industry, set up in \J1854\j by the Roff family. Less than fifteen years later, at least ten small, mostly family run companies were endeavouring to earn their profits by convincing would-be clients to buy space on vacant blocks of land, ends of buildings or any other structure on which to paste a poster. Illustrated forms of today's bustling catalogues were also being produced by the bigger and rapidly expanding retail stores.
Perhaps the best early examples of advertising attempting to establish social standards for an "ideal' female physique can be gleaned from companies such as the now non-existent Horden family department store in Sydney. Newspaper ads with hand-drawn female models flaunting excruciatingly thin waists created by corsets were common Horden enticements.
But in most cases throughout the \J1870\js, advertising remained uniform. A simple brand name and perhaps an illustration were par for the course. However, Australian icons such as Arnott's Biscuits (\J1870\j) and Hutton's Hams and Bacon (\J1872\j) arrived on the scene and soon invested heavily in advertising. The introduction and promotion of the ice-making machine in \J1878\j also created a stir among curious consumers.
\BDescription:\b Watsons Bay \J1860\js \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Advertising 1880-1889",4,"g\5\72005.jpg","c","0"
The year \J1880\j saw the introduction of electric street lights in New York and the grand opening of the first of many giant Australian retail emporiums. Retailers became one of the larger buyers of advertising space in newspapers along with the burgeoning food, alcoholic beverage and tea manufacturers. One outstanding example of just how crudely advertising was executed more than a century ago can be seen in an \J1881\j advertisement for Ivanhoe Wines. In a heavy handed attempt to alter the already entrenched Australian drinking habit of beer and spirits, the ad's creators decided to use a preacher behind his lectern espousing the virtues of wine consumption. He is supported by biblical scriptures from 1 Timothy and Psalms stating 'wine maketh glad the heart of man'.
In addition to these raw alcoholic messages, food advertising also started to develop. Bushell's was founded in Brisbane in \J1883\j, canned fruit began to appear on retail shelves and manufacturers began to go beyond simple "stocks available' advertisements. Robert Harper & Co. claimed the quality of its locally produced cocoa was equal to imported lines and offered a third party endorsement via a judge's report from the Sydney International Exhibition.
The 1880s also saw the introduction of the sewing machine and a building boom. Consequently building societies were established and the first financial advertising was heralding basic 'we lend money' messages.
In \J1883\j another great retail emporium, Marcus Clark and Company, opened in Sydney in competition with Hordern's. Through their advertising, these opulent retailers set out to create materialistic benchmarks for the upwardly mobile new middle class still living in basic houses but ambitious for more.
\BDescription:\b Bank of New South Wales, Winton \J1895\j \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Advertising 1890-1899",5,"g\5\73029.jpg","c","0"
Despite the onslaught of a deep depression in Australia during the 1890s, several more advertising icons arrived on the market, including one which would later become world renowned. Helena Rubenstein started a humble business in Melbourne in \J1898\j and eventually emerged as a world cosmetics force through quality products and strong advertising pitched squarely at women wanting to look after their complexion. Although today many of Rubenstein's early ads seem terribly stereotypical, they worked. One particular tag line for face cream simply stated 'Your husband looks at you with new interest'.
In \J1890\j the first brand messages appeared on horse-drawn trams and smoking became a new advertising target. Credibility of product claims was still not monitored and many companies exploited any opportunity. One company of supposed high repute, Felton Grimwade & Co., went as far as launching a cigarette brand called 'Cigares de Joy' which was advertised as a cure for asthma, hay fever and influenza. Women and men alike were targeted in the bustling tobacco sector which invested more and more advertising money every year to lure new 'patrons'.
'Quack medicine advertising' was also at its peak by the early \J1890\js with newspaper ads and pamphlets for medical cures almost always being wholeheartedly endorsed by a doctor, dentist or surgeon. Holloway's ointment and pills were probably the most famous and well liked, due more than likely to the products' opium content. The company also had a massive advertising budget for the day which in \J1895\j topped ú50,000. Other dubious claims of the time included those from the makers of Doan's Backache Kidney Pills. One of the company's ads was headlined 'A girl's back' with copy which stated the following: 'A girl's back is the mainspring, as it were, of her health. Nothing will so quickly take away the glow of health from her cheeks, the springiness from her step, as a constantly aching back.' The ad went on to say that backache was the 'kidney's cry for help' and that Doan's Pills 'cured every kidney ill'.
\BDescription:\b A common scene in the 1890s \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
By the turn of the century Australian advertisers, although still somewhat raw in their copywriting and creative execution, were becoming more sophisticated. The manufacturers of Lifebuoy household antiseptic and disinfectant soap, for example, orchestrated what would be termed today a line extension or a successful case of 'brand leverage'. By realising there were bigger markets to be tapped, Lifebuoy was suddenly being advertised as a personal soap and later was responsible for the invention of the term 'BO' or body odour.
This decade, in which Ford, Rolls Royce and Mercedes all rolled out their first commercial motor cars, also ushered in new electrical appliances which were accompanied by a wave of new advertising campaigns dragging consumers into the uncharted waters of electrical home products. The vacuum cleaner and the electric washing machine were invented, and while the majority of Australian homes could not afford such items and would not be connected to electricity for at least another twenty or thirty years, what was being advertised to the rich would ultimately also belong to the common classes.
Outdoor posters and ads for Pears soap, Pelaco shirts, Fry's cocoa and Brasso were also widespread and Bushell's tea was being seriously exposed to the public via advertising right across Australia.
In an amazing display of outright naivety, one Bushell's ad in the early \J1900\js took a healthy slant in attempting to sell tea. The Bushell's company's self-proclaimed 'great medical authority, Dr Saleeby' passionately endorsed tea drinking as a body aid 'to fight against disease of all kind.'
In \J1907\j, the Commonwealth Government went part way in trying to address some of the spurious medical claims being made by manufacturers by banning the importation of dangerous patent medicines. However, it still did not stop local companies stating what they liked.
\BDescription:\b Advertising in the \J1900\js in a newspaper \I(Random House)\i
#
"Advertising 1910-1919",7,"g\4\refer.jpg","c","0"
From \J1910\j a call for change in the Australian lifestyle was being made loudly and clearly by an intensifying advertising bombardment from car, truck and tractor manufacturers. International Harvester had waged war on the 'outdated' horse and buggy with ads claiming people of all professions were inefficient if they continued with non-mechanical modes of transport. One ad stated the following: 'The doctor, town traveller, tradesman, country mail contractor, and all others who are using horses for getting about the country and suburbs, are sacrificing time, money, and comfort every day until they get a IHC motor buggy.'
The Ford Motor Company had also been active by promoting in Australia for about a year and by \J1910\j had sold 1,400 Model Ts. A year later the Commonwealth Bank of Australia opened its doors, positioning itself as a people's bank. This upset the existing banking cartels which were generally blatant in their bias towards wealthy landowners. The Commonwealth continued with its approach and generated substantial support from the masses with its advertising promoting the opening of savings accounts with unusually small deposits for the day.
By \J1915\j, Ford had sold its one millionth car worldwide and 1,850 cars were being sold in Australia every month. Penfolds Wines almost dominated wine sales through its heavy investment in advertising, and smoking campaigns had moved away from the earlier claims of encouraging good health to making a cigarette a social statement. The Capstan and Three Castles brands were popular.
World War I began in \J1914\j and as a result of the German company Bayer developing a pure aspirin, Allied governments offered a reward for a similar product. The Australian George Nicholas succeeded with 'Aspro' and another local development was to become a global name.
In \J1919\j, the department store David Jones also undertook a major promotional stunt - a practice which was later adopted by a host of retail rivals - in which the company used an aeroplane to fly over Sydney and drop tens of thousands of 'messages from Mars' announcing the retailer's anniversary sale.
\BDescription:\b Referendum advertisement on the issue of conscription during World War I \I(Random House)\i
#
"Advertising 1920-1929",8,"a\8\73098.jpg","c","0"
The early \J1920\js were bustling times and the arrival of radio in \J1925\j led to a radical change in Australian lifestyles. However advertisements making far fetched claims were still being displayed in newspapers around the country. One such classic was for Zam-Buk antiseptic cream. The ad's drama-drenched headline screamed: 'Leg broke out in flesh-eating ulcers'. The first paragraph emerged equally disturbing; it claimed Mrs S. Darrell of Chippendale, Sydney 'could bury her fingers in the holes'.
But despite these horror examples, advertisers were getting slicker. Australia's biggest advertising agency today, George Patterson Bates, was formed in \J1920\j, the same year the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service Ltd (Qantas) began joy flights.
By \J1923\j, 34 per cent of homes were wired for electricity and the first Australian-made, mass-produced fridges were being heavily advertised. Poster companies were experiencing rapid growth as more and more products and companies started trading. Throughout the \J1920\js, poster or outdoor advertisers included Palmolive, Kraft, Tooth's, Cerebos, Yardley and Reckitts Blue.
The first commercial radio station, 2UE, was launched in \J1925\j in Sydney, using a wind-up gramophone from a lounge room. In the early days listeners were required to pay a radio licence fee to the government. In \J1924\j, 38,000 licences were issued. By \J1930\j more than 300,000 existed.
Consumers were fascinated with the new medium and advertising and radio forged a powerful alliance which propelled the industry into everyday lives. This decade also saw James Hardie Industries spearheading the search for a cheap building material which could be constructed quickly. That project was to evolve into the fibro homes which were widely promoted, and built in their thousands for several decades. In \J1928\j, the United States dabbled with its first television broadcasting experiments.
\BDescription:\b Qantas began joy flights during the 1920s \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Advertising 1930-1939",9,"g\5\77089.jpg","c","0"
Despite the arrival of yet another economic depression, radio became even more of a darling to advertisers. By \J1930\j, thirty stations were broadcasting around Australia and within five years live radio shows based on United States models were introduced, luring hundreds of thousand of listeners. Many of the giant brand conglomerates today owe much of their success to the radio shows they sponsored between \J1935\j and \J1955\j.
In \J1930\j, the massive United States advertising agency J. Walter Thompson established itself in Australia as part of a global deal with its major client, General Motors-Holden. A year later another American rival, Lintas, had arrived on Australian shores. This was the decade when the famous Aeroplane Jelly commercials were launched on radio with that irrepressible jingle 'I like Aeroplane Jelly'. Speedo and Coca-Cola first appeared in the \J1930\js, although amazingly, Coke had a very difficult time in its early phase. Sales representatives had a tough early few years trying to convince stores to stock the product. One representative reported he sold 168 bottles from 55 calls - less than 3 bottles per store. But the breakout of World War II and a mandate from the United States Government to supply coke to the armed forces helped the company's global push.
A series of powerful ads during the 1920s entrenched the brand name concept into Australian mind-sets. Tooth's Sheaf Stout was picking up where cigarettes had left off. Beer was sold as a vital aid to health and fitness and housewives were being portrayed in Tooth's ads claiming, 'Housework ... no trouble at all if you're fit and well. Sheaf Stout keeps you well'. Atlantic Petroleum (now Ampol) had also discovered a novel marketing approach, employing girls to pour petrol for customers - a strategy which proved a runaway success since most motor car owners then were men.
More electrical appliances were introduced into Australian homes, forcing appliance manufacturers to step up their advertising to remain competitive as more companies entered the market. One ad for ElectrICE attempted to convert households from the old ice chests to electrical refrigeration.
\BDescription:\b Ampol enjoyed advertising success in the \J1930\js \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
By \J1940\j, 20,000 television sets were being trialled in New York homes, although Australia did not see this technology for another sixteen years. World War II had broken out and newspapers were to be hit hard with severe rationing of newsprint. Advertising in papers was being decided on a quota basis, making radio the most effective and accessible medium for marketing communications.
The \J1940\js were boomtime for radio. In America 30 million homes had radio sets and by \J1940\j famous advertiser-sponsored radio shows in Australia were being pumped out by advertising agencies riding on the immense consumer appetite for these funny, skilful and very entertaining broadcasts. They included the Colgate Radio Production Unit developed by George Patterson; the Lux Radio Theatre and Wrigleys Dad and Dave show by J. Walter Thompson; and the \JBob Dyer\j Show, Big Sister and Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories from Lintas.
New food products advanced quickly during the \J1940\js following a wave of European immigrants bringing new lifestyles and culinary delights. Companies such as Sanitarium and Kellogg's unleashed a concerted promotional effort to educate Australians away from the English tradition and more towards the American habit of cereal consumption. A \J1940\j ad for Kellogg's Corn Flakes attempted a health slant by making the point that 'the pennies you save on bargain foods don't help much with doctor's bills'. The same ad made the liberal claim that 'one helping of Kellogg's Corn Flakes provides sufficient energy to play four sets of the most vigorous championship tennis'.
By \J1948\j Holden had launched its first Australian-made car and the AMP was one of the first companies in Australia to pursue and execute what today is termed 'target market' advertising. Two of its first ads were aimed squarely at women providing for their own future and young men going off to war.
In \J1946\j, Australia's second-largest advertising agency, Clemenger, was established by John Clemenger in Melbourne.
"Advertising 1950-1959",11,"0","Arrival of television","film46i.avi"
Big sociologic changes began during the \J1950\js with the arrival of television in Australia. The success of this new medium could almost be guaranteed judging by the massive pick-up of the technology by consumers in the United States. In \J1950,\j 1.5 million American homes owned television sets. Twelve months later the number had rocketed to 15 million, offering advertisers the most potent vehicle yet to tell the population about their products.
Television began in Australia in \J1956,\j although even in this era of rapidly changing development, Breville was still advertising hand washing machines. Ironically, electric dishwashers were also being advertised by O. G.
More than 1.8 million radio licences had been issued in Australia by \J1950,\j while newspapers were still concerned about paper shortages. The top ten advertisers in papers in \J1950\j went as follows: Colgate-Palmolive; Lever Bros; W. D. & H. O. Wills; Clinton Williams; Nicholas; Goodyear; Dunlop; Bex APC; Johnson & Johnson and General Motors-Holden.
In \J1954\j it was estimated radio generated advertising revenue worth ú5.6 million while press advertising expenditure in \J1959\j topped ú65 million.
In the 1950s another Australian was to create a global phenomenon with the invention of the \JVicta\j motorised lawn-mower in \J1952.\j Twenty-five years later, after hordes of advertising campaigns had been launched around the world, \JVicta\j celebrated the production of its three millionth mower.
By \J1950,\j it had been proved conclusively that cigarette smoking can cause lung cancer. However, this did not stop Rothman's establishing itself in Australia with a flurry of new products and becoming the first company to advertise on television in \J1956\j with a 10 second message.
Diners Club also established its Australian operation in \J1956\j and radio began to feel the effects of the oncoming television boom. As a counter measure, radio stations introduced the Top 40 hit countdown which proved highly successful.
Rosella attempted to promote its products as convenience foods with the launch of an advertising campaign promoting canned sausages and vegetables. Although this early attempt failed, food groups are today among the largest advertisers in Australia.
\BViddescription:\b Introduction of television (Film World)
#
"Advertising 1960-1969",12,"0","g","0"
Television spread rapidly around the world, and this was vital for the packaged goods groups, motor car manufacturers and electrical appliance companies raising global awareness of their brands through advertising. More than 85 million television sets were in use by \J1960\j in the United States, 10.5 million in the United Kingdom and 2 million in Germany; in Australia the figure was close to 1 million. In Australia, ten commercial television stations were in operation.
George Patterson estimated advertising spending in Australia across all mediums in \J1960\j was worth more than ú121 million. Patts, as it was known, was subjected to competition from United States advertising conglomerates. Nine groups set up in Australia during the \J1960\js. McCann Erickson, for example came to handle Coca-Cola's account, which it did for the soft drinks company in most other parts of the world, while Ogilvy & Mather performed a similar service for Chrysler. These new and aggressive groups concerned local agencies with their big talking, big budget investments and their depth of expertise in television advertising.
Research was now being incorporated into advertising strategy. The major advertising agencies had set up planning operations which included employing sociological experts to brief clients with what the populous was thinking, feeling, and where values and lifestyles were changing. With this information, advertising agencies developed creative ideas to target particular markets.
The rise of 'consumerism' and the increasing effectiveness of slick advertising campaigns led both state and federal governments to establish consumer protection bodies.
The overall climate of being 'safe' could be summed up by an AMP ad which has a boy asking, 'What's behind you Dad?'. The father is shown leaning on a giant AMP logo.
At the same time the younger generation, or the first of the baby boomers, started to become a prime younger marketing target. With the arrival of the big American agencies, advertising started to show more of a United States influence in terms of icons and general style.
The \J1970\js were hectic. Terrorism, oil embargoes and a subsequent energy crisis were just part of a crazy decade. Perhaps paradoxical for the \J1970\js, advertising was becoming a little more responsible because of regulation which led to the banning of cigarette advertising on television in the United States and a partial ban in Australia (from \J1973\j, cigarettes could only be promoted after 8.30 pm). Moreover, the NSW Commissioner for Consumer Affairs and Trade Practices, Mr Greg Bartel, accused advertisers of conspiring to ensure consumers knew little about their products. 'It is convenient for an advertiser if people don't know too much about a product,' Mr Bartel said. 'If you can sell a soap because it has a prettier colour or a better shape, that is a good way to sell it - because you don't have to make any claims about the ingredients.'
McDonald's and Pizza Hut both set up in Australia during this decade.
Colour television arrived in Australia in \J1974\j. Household penetration of colour television sets became one of the highest in the world, reaching 60 per cent of homes in two and a half years. In the United States it took twelve years to achieve that figure while the United Kingdom took five years to reach 35 per cent. Australians spent $1.3 billion on colour television sets in just thirty-one months.
By \J1976\j-77, more than $200 million was spent on television advertising, equating to 30 per cent of total national advertising expenditure. By \J1978\j there were fifty commercial television stations operating around the country. Indeed it was television which established the long-serving advertising campaigns of the seventies such as the Colgate Fluoriguard and Mrs Marsh duo, \JPaul Hogan\j and Winfield, and the Meadowlea 'You oughta be congratulated' series.
\BDescription:\b Pizza Hut arrived in Australia in the \J1970\js \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Advertising 1980s and 1990s",14,"g\6\brochure.jpg","c","0"
Commercial FM radio began in \J1980\j, but far greater changes occurred over the following fourteen years. Perhaps the most crucial to advertisers was the intense cynicism towards advertising following the 'yuppie years' of the late eighties.
The eighties emerged as a decade which featured a fascinating web of egos, greed and conspicuous consumption across most socioeconomic groups. It was also a decade of rapid technological, creative and materialistic advances. A Sydney-based agency, the Campaign Palace, emerged as one of the leading creative advertising outfits with campaigns such as Lean Beef, Jockey and Antz Pantz.
At the start of the decade $555 million was being poured into television advertising, $824 million into print, $145 million into radio, $140 million on outdoor sites and $26 million in cinemas. By \J1993\j, television alone had lured revenues of $1.8 billion.
Despite the growth of what is termed 'mainstream' or 'above-the-line' advertising - which essentially incorporates any ad spending in newspapers, radio, television, magazines or outdoor sites - 'below-the-line' activities were being given increasing attention by marketers. These less obvious advertising ploys include direct marketing (via mail), telephone marketing and sales promotion (such as in-store visual displays). While not recognised by the more higher profile advertising executive for some time, direct marketing and sales promotions budgets rocketed to take them close behind mainstream media in spending levels.
Advertising developed much more creatively during the eighties in a bid by agencies to become more elaborate and smarter in the way they concocted their ads. This trend continued and proved successful; Australia's advertising industry reached a peak in \J1990\j when it came third in the most prestigious creative awards in the world at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in France. However, while Australia's admen were gaining international recognition, Australian consumers were growing weary of advertising claims they could not trust. This issue is being rapidly addressed by marketers and admen with a previously unheard of level of time, energy and investment being put into honesty about product performance and customer service.
The other issue facing advertisers today is the future prospect of fragmented media. Whereas television's launch enabled companies to reach a large slice of the population with one medium, today with pay television, a myriad of special interest magazines and numerous narrowcast radio and television licences on offer, the cost and efficiency of reaching target markets is expected to increase budgets markedly.
Australians have always been eager to adopt new forms of communications. Initially, the need for the colonies to communicate with each other and Britain spurred the development of post and telegraph systems.
Samuel McGowan demonstrated the telegraph in Melbourne in \J1853\j, only nine years after Samuel Morse invented it in America. The glee at the prospect of almost instantaneous news and information was evident in a report in the Argus, which enthused that there was 'something very delightful in the actual contemplation of this, the most perfect of modern inventions. We call the electric telegraph the most perfect invention of modern times - as anything more perfect than this is scarcely conceivable, and we really begin to wonder what will be left for the next generation upon which to expend the restless enterprise of the human mind.'
Further development may have seemed scarcely conceivable then, but in the intervening hundred and forty years generations of Australians have found plenty to occupy themselves with.
When the 'most perfect invention' had been improved to the point where the overseas beam wireless telephone service first connected Australia and Britain by telephone, on 30 April \J1930\j, British Prime Minister J. R. Macdonald was moved to exclaim to his Australian counterpart \JJames Scullin\j, 'What an age, my dear Mr Scullin, we are living in. What would our grandfathers have thought of it!'
\BDescription:\b Aborigines look on at the first radio contact \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
And so it has continued. From telegraph to television, and submarine cables to satellites, each generation has found its own marvel to capture the imagination and shrink the world.
In more recent times, Australians have not been content to simply apply the products of overseas research and development. Prompted by the necessities of war, local industries moved from adapting imported equipment to designing and manufacturing in Australia.
As this trend has continued, the contributions of Australian individuals and companies have mounted, and now include the black box flight recorder, the Interscan aircraft landing system, School of the Air, Racecam, Jindalee over-the-horizon radar and Alcatel-TCC optical fibre submarine cable.
These are just some of the services and products, often inspired by a particularly 'Australian' problem, which have gone on to serve millions worldwide, and now put Australia at the forefront of the world's communications providers and users.
\BDescription:\b Tidbindilla Tracking Station \I(DFAT)\i
#
"Communications Pre 1880",3,"f\9\rsmh44.jpg","c","0"
For the convicts and gaolers of the First Fleet, which arrived in \J1788\j, the sense of isolation was strong. It took two years before a reply to \JGovernor Phillip\j's first despatches arrived back in New South Wales. The only connection settlers had with their friends and families overseas came with the intermittent and unpredictable mail brought by ships from Europe. The arrival of a ship in harbour was a rare and valued event, as much for the news from 'home' as for the supplies it carried.
Although a post office was established in \J1809\j, an organised system of rates, routes and postmasters waited until \J1825\j. In \J1838\j New South Wales Postmaster-General, James Raymond, introduced a system of pre-paid postage using embossed sheets of paper. These replaced the previous method of paying for mail on its arrival two years before the first postage stamp was issued in Britain.
The first telegraph line had opened between Melbourne and Williamstown in \J1854\j. By \J1868\j Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane were connected by telegraph lines, and by the end of the decade Australians were linked across the country and internationally.
In \J1869\j the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company laid the first submarine cable to successfully link two colonies. The Bass Strait cable ran between Flinders, Victoria, and Georgetown, Tasmania, re-establishing the link first attempted in \J1859\j and used intermittently until \J1861\j.
More importantly, \J1871\j saw the completion of the Java-Port Darwin submarine telegraph cable. A second international connection joined Sydney with Wellington, New Zealand, in \J1876\j.
Meanwhile, the Overland Telegraph Line, a master engineering feat overseen by Sir Charles Todd, connected southern and eastern Australians with Darwin and the rest of the world in 1872. It had taken only two years to put the line across almost 3,000 kilometres between Darwin and Port Adelaide. Commercial and social information which had previously taken months to travel between London and Australia's populated centres now took as little as forty-eight hours. Perth was connected to Adelaide and thence to the rest of the world five years later, completing the basic network.
Commercial uses of the telegraph also expanded. Prospectors used the telegraph to float gold claims, and in \J1875\j the telegraph money order system, operating in New South Wales since \J1860\j, was introduced between New South Wales and Victoria, and between Queensland and South Australia.
The first commercial telephone service was introduced in Melbourne in \J1879\j, only three years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. It ran between the Flinders Street office of engineers Robinson Bros., and their South Melbourne foundry.
\BDescription:\b The General Post Office, Sydney \J1870\js \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
For most Australians, telecommunications in the \J1880\js continued to be founded on the telegraph. It became so vital to Tasmania's commerce that a second submarine cable was laid over Bass Strait in \J1885\j to carry the increased traffic.
Overseas traffic also continued to grow. Over 24,000 messages were sent to Europe and the East in 1884, up from 9,589 five years previously. The Java-Port Darwin cable was duplicated in 1880, and a Java-Roebuck Bay cable laid in 1889. The speedy transfer of price and production figures prompted more confidence from British business interests, who began to invest in Australian mines and to compete with local firms for contracts to supply goods.
By \J1887\j new instruments delivered telegraph speeds of up to 400 words per minute, up from a lowly 40 only a decade earlier. Cable rates fell correspondingly; newspapers began carrying more cabled copy as press rates fell from 10 shillings a word in \J1877\j to 2 shillings and sixpence in \J1885\j.
Meanwhile, the telephone was growing in popularity, though early adopters of the new technology again had to pay premium prices.
In \J1880\j the Melbourne Telephone Exchange Company opened Australia's first exchange, and published the first phone book in the country, with 44 subscribers.
Other cities were quick to follow, with exchanges in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and \JLaunceston\j by \J1883\j. Perth was the last capital to install an exchange, in \J1887\j. By the end of the decade all of the private exchanges were acquired by the colonial governments and operated by their post and telegraphs departments.
Like telegraphy and the postal service earlier, telephone exchanges provided one of the few opportunities for women to work. In fact, women came to be preferred as exchange operators. The Melbourne exchange, launched with 8 women operators in 1880, had 24 by the time the Victorian government took it over in 1887. At this time, the operators handled over 8,000 calls per day, from almost 900 subscribers.
\BDescription:\b Cobb & Co. Coaches serviced the mail \I(19th Century Engraving)\i
The economic boom period ended in this decade. Commodity prices fell as the growth of the industrialised countries in Europe slowed, and the early \J1890\js brought Depression and unemployment.
Still, messages had to get through. In \J1891\j the Australian colonies secured an efficient international postal service by joining the Universal Postal Union. Bicycles were first used officially to carry the mail by the New South Wales Post Office in \J1897\j.
Business and private use of telecommunications grew. In \J1893\j a French company linked Bundaberg, Queensland, with Mon Repos, New Caledonia, by submarine cable. Continental (or universal) Morse code was adopted Australia-wide in \J1897\j, replacing the various codes used by the different colonies. By the close of the century, Australia had become one of the largest national users of the telegraph.
Other measures of standardisation were occurring in the lead-up to Federation. In \J1893\j, New South Wales became the last colony to amalgamate its telegraph and telephone department with its post office. Telephone usefulness and availability also continued to grow. Lines visibly multiplied in the cities, and the first public telephone was introduced at the Sydney GPO in \J1893\j.
The first trunk line, a 16 kilometre line between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, had opened in \J1886\j. More trunk lines began linking central exchanges with close neighbours in the \J1890\js - by the end of the decade the Melbourne exchange was connected with \JBallarat\j, \JBendigo\j and Geelong. Long distance calls required the attention of an operator at each exchange, and the result was often a poor connection, but automation and improved quality would have to wait until the next century.
\JHenry Sutton\j of \JBallarat\j, Victoria, had invented 20 different telephones as early as \J1877\j. He believed that ideas belonged to everyone, and resisted patenting any of his designs (16 of which ended up being patented by others overseas). As a result, the equipment used in Australia was not made here. It was nearly all imported and modified.
With Federation in \J1901\j, the administration of postal and telecommunications services was transferred from each former colony to the new Commonwealth. Uniform rates for telegrams and newspaper postage were fixed across the Commonwealth in \J1902\j, but other postage rates remained under the control of each state till \J1910\j.
Australia's internal telegraph network was made up of almost 70,000 kilometres of line, in \J1901\j. That year, the network sent and received nearly six million telegrams. In \J1901\j and \J1902\j more international submarine cables were laid. The Africa Cable linked Durban and Perth (and later Adelaide) via Mauritius and Cocos Island. On the east coast, the Pacific Cable linked Southport, Queensland, with Vancouver, Canada, via Norfolk Island and Fiji, at a cost of two million pounds. On the home front, the \J1885\j Bass Strait cable was replaced by two cables laid in \J1909\j.
There were now over 32,000 telephones in service. Trunk lines continued to expand, with the first interstate trunk line opening in 1902 (Mount Gambier, South Australia-Nelson, Victoria), and the first intercapital trunk line in 1907 (Sydney-Melbourne). In Hobart a new exchange was installed using the Central Battery system in 1907. This system used powerful batteries at the exchange, replacing the batteries previously needed at each customer's premises.
Radio was telecommunications' 'new kid on the block'. Experiments by Hertz and Marconi in Europe at the turn of the century had been reported in Australia, and aroused considerable interest. In Australia, Professor \JWilliam Bragg\j of Adelaide gave the first public demonstration. \J1901\j saw the first official record of 'wireless telegraph' communications with a ship at sea. HMS \IJuno\i was a warship escorting the Duke and Duchess of York. It was two miles out to sea when it was contacted by Victoria's chief electrical engineer, Walter Jenvey, from Bluff Head.
In \J1905\j the Wireless Telegraphy Act gave complete control of the new medium to the Postmaster-General. In the following year the Marconi Company carried out the first Australian radio communications between two land stations. Messages were sent about 300 kilometres over Bass Strait from Devonport, Tasmania, to Queenscliff, Victoria.
\BDescription:\b Federation Rotunda, Centennial Park \I(Peter Luck)\i
In \J1910\j the long-awaited 'penny postage' rate for letters was introduced throughout the Commonwealth. A year earlier the motor car had begun to supplement other modes of postal delivery (chiefly horse and train) on some routes, and in \J1914\j the first Australian airmail was carried when Maurice Guillaux flew almost 1,800 items from Melbourne to Sydney.
Use of the telephone increased steadily, with over 100,000 services in place in \J1911\j. The automatic exchange developed by Strowger in America at the end of the century began to replace manual exchanges, first internally at Sydney's GPO (\J1910\j), then at Geelong, Victoria (\J1912\j - the first public automatic exchange in the southern hemisphere). In \J1914\j the exchanges of three Sydney suburbs (Newtown, Balmain and Glebe), Perth and Brighton, Victoria, were all automated. Also in \J1914\j the Melbourne-Adelaide trunk line opened, and the first Private Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX) went into service at the Hotel Australia in Sydney.
A lettergram service was introduced in \J1914\j, at 40 words for 1 shilling, but further development of the telegraph and telephone systems was interrupted by World War I.
Commercial interests were pushing for radio services to be implemented in Australia. As the threat of war loomed, the government awarded a contract to the Australasian Wireless Co. to build high-powered stations in Perth and Sydney, to gather naval intelligence. Then, in \J1912,\j the government set up its own coastal radio service. By \J1914\j it had grown to nineteen stations around mainland Australia and the neighbouring Pacific.
A legal dispute broke out between AWC, who used Telefunken patented equipment, and Marconi. It was resolved in \J1913\j when Telefunken, AWC and Marconi merged to form Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd, headed by Marconi's Australian representative Ernest Fisk.
\BDescription:\b Arrival of American Fleet, \J1913\j \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i.
In \J1915\j the Navy confiscated all radio sets and took control of all radio broadcasting, but the enterprising Fisk was back on the scene immediately the war was over. He received the first direct radio message between England and Australia in \J1918\j. It was sent from Marconi's station in Carnarvon, Wales, to the AWA headquarters in Wahroonga, Sydney. Fisk was again involved with the first public test broadcast of music in \J1919\j, when 'God Save the King' was sent from AWA's Sydney office, in Clarence Street, to the chambers of the Royal Society of New South Wales, in Elizabeth Street.
\BDescription:\b Australian Divisional Post Office in NZ Gully, Anzac, 2nd October \J1915\j \I(Courtey Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. J2428)\i
Australia's first regular internal air mail service began in \J1921\j, covering almost 1,900 kilometres between Geraldton and Derby, Western Australia. The Cobb & Co. coach service, once a key part of the postal service, ceased running only three years later.
The PMG began clearing the backlog of telephone subscribers waiting for connection since the war. In \J1924\j-25 alone, contractors added nearly ten million kilometres of telephone wires to the network. By \J1925\j there were twenty-two automatic exchanges, and the first three-channel telephone carrier wave system was introduced between Sydney and Melbourne. It used different frequencies to transmit multiple conversations over the same wire. Similar systems were introduced between all capitals except Perth by \J1926\j.
The first rural automatic exchange went into service in \J1927\j, by which time Australia's telephone density ranked seventh in the world, with almost seven telephones per hundred people.
The world's first police patrol-car radio service was established by the Victorian Police Department in \J1923\j. Morse messages were sent from the Domain wireless station to a Marconi receiver in police Lancia motor cars. Modifications later provided two-way communications.
Short-wave radio-telegraphy experiments began between Marconi in Britain and AWA in Australia in \J1924\j. The short wave system, known as the Beam Wireless Service, opened for public use between Australia and Britain in \J1927\j. The Australia-Montreal service to Canada was introduced the following year. Telegraph traffic fell dramatically after its introduction, causing dismay among the governments who had duplicated the Pacific submarine cables only the previous year.
Commercial radio stations began as 'pay-radio', under a plan introduced by Fisk in \J1923\j. The 'sealed sets' sold by AWA received only one station, to which listeners paid an annual subscription. When the sets failed to sell, the PMG announced a system of 'A' class stations (financed by listeners' fees), and 'B' class stations (which could advertise), in \J1924\j. Five years later the first 'ABC' was formed after the government decided to amalgamate the 'A' class stations, and the contract went to the Australian Broadcasting Co., composed of Greater Union Theatres, J. Albert and Sons and Fullers Theatres.
Outback Australians got their own inland wireless service in \J1925\j. It became the Royal Flying Doctor Service in \J1928\j, when the Rev. \JJohn Flynn\j teamed up with Qantas. At the heart of the service was a pedal-powered transceiver designed by Alfred Traeger, which could transmit Morse code to a base station as far as 1,500 kilometres away.
\BDescription:\b First RFDS planes \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
Sydney's GPO introduced the world's first mechanised mail-handling equipment in \J1930\j. After experiments in \J1931\j, the first regular airmail service between Australia and England began in \J1934\j. A similar service between Australia and the USA opened in \J1937\j.
For the early years of the decade, the Depression took its toll. While postal services had run at a profit in \J1929\j, telegraph and telephone services ran at a loss. Telephone cancellations outnumbered connections for the first time. However, some important milestones were still achieved. In \J1930\j the Perth-Adelaide trunk line opened. At that time Western Australians had been the second highest users of telegrams in the world (New Zealand had been first), but the new trunk line gave them voice communication over one of the world's longest land-line circuits. Tasmanians had their first taste of interstate telephony in \J1936\j, after a coaxial submarine cable (the world's second, and longest) was laid across Bass Strait via King Island.
After the Depression, the PMG turned around its losses to produce an eighteen million pound net profit for the years \J1933\j-38. AWA's locally made handset phone was introduced in \J1933\j, the same year that private-wire teleprinter services began. Automation proceeded to the point where automatic telephone services exceeded manual services towards the end of the decade.
\BDescription:\b Centenary of Victoria stamp \I(Australia Post)\i
After experimentation in \J1928\j, the Beam Wireless Service progressed from radio-telegraphy to radio-telephony in \J1930\j, with the inauguration of the Australia-UK service. A service to New Zealand was introduced later the same year. Rates of six pounds for up to three minutes restricted usage to those in dire need or with plenty of cash - especially during the Depression. In \J1934\j a radio-picturegram service was introduced between London and Melbourne - the longest such service in the world.
The Australian Broadcasting Commission was formed in \J1932\j, taking over all the 'A' class radio stations, assets and staff of the Australian Broadcasting Co. By \J1938\j the ABC network included two stations in every capital city, and listening to radio had become a common family pastime.
Alf Traeger added a keyboard to his 'Flying Doctor Radio' in \J1932\j so people who didn't know Morse code could still effectively communicate using it. Further refinement in \J1935\j allowed for voice communications.
World War II changed the PMG's focus to securing domestic communications. The role of Darwin as a garrison and signal post on the edge of the arena was crucial. The iron wire of the original Overland Telegraph Line had been supplemented in \J1899\j by a copper wire capable of carrying duplex telegraph transmissions, but this would hardly meet the expected demand.
In \J1941\j work began on a three-channel carrier system for the Darwin-Adelaide route. Meanwhile, a radio link was established with Sydney, but the Japanese soon found the frequency and jammed it with a stronger signal. Then, in \J1942\j, engineers installing the carrier system at \JAlice Springs\j lost contact with Darwin. At the telegraph office they were astonished to detect Morse code on the Darwin line, which would normally send high speed transmissions to a teleprinter. The news was bad: 'Darwin bombed at 10 a.m. and no known details of damage and loss of life.' Among the 243 killed were nine of the staff at the GPO, which was destroyed in the Japanese raid. Sydney's GPO tower and clock were dismantled the same year following the Japanese midget submarine raid on Sydney Harbour.
Heavy demand on main trunk lines and scarcity of equipment from overseas spurred the PMG's Research Laboratories in Melbourne to produce its own equipment, including radar and a four-channel carrier telegraph system. Existing equipment was recycled. A prime example was the vital cable connection needed between Cape York and New Guinea, where Australian forces were pushing back the invading Japanese. It was furnished by pulling up both the Bass Strait cables laid in \J1909\j, and relaying them end-to-end across Torres Strait in \J1943\j.
Fearing that they might obstruct the war effort, the PMG revoked the licences of radio stations owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses in Newcastle, Adelaide, Port Augusta and Atherton, in \J1941\j.
Commercial radio stations began to use more locally produced program material after the import of USA produced programming was banned because of wartime exchange rates. By \J1949\j, ninety-five per cent of Australian homes had radio receivers.
The Overseas Telecommunications Commission began business in \J1947\j, assuming control of radio services from AWA.
A record thirty-five million telegrams were sent in 1950; but the record was never exceeded. The decline of the telegram was hastened by the introduction of the telex, which brought savings because the message was sent for the price of a trunk call, and the printers would generate messages unattended at the receivers' premises. Domestic telex service was introduced in 1954, international (to Britain, Canada and the USA) in 1958. Further bad news for Australia's 16,000 telegraphists came with the introduction of the PMG-designed Telegraph Reperforator Switching System. TRESS automatically routed and regenerated telegrams, cutting out up to three operators in the transmission chain, and was vigorously resisted by the unions until its introduction in 1959.
Telephony progressed by leaps and bounds in the \J1950\js. The first exchange services for mobile radio-telephones were introduced in Sydney and Melbourne in \J1950\j for taxis, ambulances and police. By \J1953\j there were one million telephone subscribers in Australia - about eleven telephones per hundred people. By the end of the decade there were twenty telephones per hundred people.
The network continued to change as quickly as it grew. In \J1958\j the combined letter and number addressing system for telephone services was replaced by all numbers. The decision, later followed by Britain and the USA, simplified the national introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD). It was first introduced between St Mary's and Sydney, and Dandenong and Melbourne, in \J1956\j. The first microwave radio system introduced between Melbourne and \JBendigo\j, Victoria in \J1959\j, instigated a broadband service capable of carrying thousands of trunk circuits for transmissions including data, TV, telegraph and voice.
In \J1957\j Dave Warren began developing the 'black box' flight recorder at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne, and this later made an enormous contribution to air safety.
TV arrived in Australia in \J1956\j, with the first broadcast by TCN-9 in Sydney. The ABC launched ABN-2 in Sydney soon after, and the third station, ABC's ABV-2 in Melbourne, opened only three days before the Melbourne Olympics began in \J1956\j. By \J1958\j TV licences had been granted for Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart.
\BDescription:\b ABC TV started in the 1950s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
Mail turnover topped two billion items a year in \J1961\j. Four digit postcodes were introduced in \J1967\j, and in \J1968\j, twice daily postal deliveries to suburbs were discontinued.
The telegraph continued its gradual decline. The last Morse message in mainland Australia was sent by radio in \J1968\j. By \J1969\j, international telephone service revenues exceeded international telegraph revenues for the first time.
The standard black telephone was supplemented by the 'colorfone' in \J1963\j, with a choice of five colours, and modern styling.
The broadband service continued to develop. The first interstate coaxial cable linked Melbourne and Sydney with hundreds of telephone and telegraph channels in \J1962\j. The trans-Tasman section of the COMPAC (Commonwealth Pacific) coaxial cable went into service the same year, carrying eighty voice channels. It then continued from Auckland, New Zealand, to Vancouver, Canada, via Fiji and Hawaii, opening in \J1963\j. In \J1966\j the SEACOM (South-East Asia Commonwealth) telephone cable joined Cairns, Queensland, to Singapore via Hong Kong and Guam. Telex traffic was automated the same year.
The \J1960\js was the time of the space race, and Australia was a keen participant. In \J1964\j Australia was a founding member of Intelsat. The first satellite weather images were received the same year.
The first direct satellite link between Australia and the UK came in \J1966\j.
With the launch of WRESAT in \J1967\j, Australia became the fourth nation to launch a satellite from its own territory. Along with 21 other countries, Australia participated in the program Our World in the same year. It was the first global live TV broadcast. The first commercial satellite communications service was made available via the Carnarvon Satellite Earth Station (SES), also in \J1967\j.
In \J1969\j Australia was the first country in the world to use satellites for domestic communications - Carnarvon SES and Moree SES were linked over 24 voice circuits. But the most spectacular sign that space was the place came when live TV broadcasts of the first step on the moon were provided for the world by the Parkes radio telescope and the tracking station at Honeysuckle Creek.
\BDescription:\b Radio Telescope at Parkes, NSW \I(Random House - photo by Ken Stepnell)\i
The \J1970\js saw the introduction of the Touchfone 10 telephone, with a keypad instead of a rotary dial. By \J1973\j, 73 per cent of Australian households had a telephone, and the four-millionth subscriber joined the network in \J1977\j. The world's first application of TASI-B (time assignment speech interpolation) equipment effectively doubled the capacity of the COMPAC cable.
New technologies were waiting in the wings. Solar power was a promising way to provide communications in the isolated and sun-baked parts of the country. Australia's first solar-powered radio-telephone exchange opened in \J1977\j in Glen Valley, Victoria. Two years later the world's first major solar-powered link was introduced, for the 13 repeaters used on a 580 kilometre microwave route between \JAlice Springs\j and \JTennant Creek\j, Northern Territory. STD continued to be implemented, and was joined by International Subscriber Dialling (ISD). Introduced in Sydney in \J1976\j to 13 countries, it was available to 70 countries by \J1978\j, and 108 by \J1981\j.
The network was also increasingly used for data transfer. In \J1975\j this aspect was used to introduce SCATS, the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, which uses the network to connect vehicle detectors and traffic signals at up to 120 intersections to minicomputers, which coordinate signals to optimise traffic flow.
Facilities like tracing of malicious calls, automatic wake-up calls, and abbreviated dialling for frequently used numbers were made possible. In the late \J1970\js, new electronic PABXs were installed in businesses.
Confravision, a closed circuit TV service for 'videoconferencing' between Sydney and Melbourne, was launched by OTC in \J1975\j. Four years later, OTC launched its Overseas Fax service.
Major changes were taking place in radio broadcasting. In \J1974\j TV viewers' and radio listeners' licences were abolished. FM radio finally made its official debut when 2MBS-FM began broadcasting in Sydney in \J1974\j. 3MBS-FM commenced in Melbourne in \J1975\j, followed by ABC FM in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, and \JCanberra\j the following year. In \J1975\j Margaret Throsby became the first woman to read the 7 pm news on ABC radio since World War II.
TV was changing too. In \J1975\j it was estimated that 94 per cent of homes had black and white TV sets. Colour TV was officially launched that year. In \J1979\j Channel 7 Sports introduced its innovative Racecam system at the Bathurst 1000 motor race. Using car-mounted cameras, microwave transmitters and a helicopter relay to an outside broadcast van, live shots were transmitted from the racecars to viewers' screens.
The Interscan microwave landing system for aircraft was developed by \JCSIRO\j radio astronomers, the Civil Aviation Authority, and AWA in the late \J1970\js. It uses a scanned microwave beam on the ground and multiple receivers on a plane to determine the plane's position accurately, even in bad weather.
\BDescription:\b Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System was introduced in \J1975\j to connect vehicle detectors and traffic signals \I(Carrie Webster)\i
#
"Communications 1980s and 1990s",17,"f\3\2_0033.jpg","c","0"
In the \J1980\js and \J1990\js, the convergence of the computing, communications and broadcast media industries have brought an explosion of services, as digitisation, miniaturisation and portability revolutionise communications.
By \J1980\j, Telecom employed only 500 telegraphists, and the following year only 6.6 million telegrams were sent - scarcely more than were sent in \J1901\j. Telex, which had largely replaced telegraphy, was also waning. In \J1993\j there were only a quarter of the number of telex services there had been in \J1986\j. One of the reasons was the increasing use of the fax machine, which numbered around 700,000 in \J1993\j, more than 10 times the \J1986\j figure.
By \J1981\j there were five million telephone subscribers in Australia (33 telephones per hundred people). Telephone rental and traffic (over eleven billion calls) generated revenues approaching seven billion dollars in \J1991\j. In \J1994\j over 95 per cent of households had a telephone.
A number of programs were revolutionising the network. The first long-distance optical fibre was laid between Darwin and Katherine in \J1985\j. The ANZCAN cable replaced COMPAC in \J1984\j, but it was blown out of the water when the Tasman-2 optical fibre cable opened between Australia and New Zealand in \J1991\j, with a capacity approaching 100,000 voice circuits. Part of the $800 million South Pacific cable network, it extended as PacRim East in \J1993\j, connecting New Zealand to Hawaii, and from there on to North America, Europe and Asia. PacRim West is due to link Australasia to Asia via Guam in \J1994\j, with the longest (7,000 kilometres) and deepest (8,700 metres) cable ever laid. Most of the 16,500 kilometres of cable needed for the South Pacific network is being made by Alcatel-TCC at a $100 million purpose-built plant in Port Botany, Sydney.
Remote rural dwellers were brought into the fold with a program to provide private phone and fax services. Begun in \J1984\j, and finished in \J1993\j, it is based mainly on the Digital Radio Concentrator Service. At a cost of $530 million, 26,000 manual exchange lines were automated, more than 10,000 privately erected lines were replaced by automatic services, and 7,700 new services were provided.
"Communications 1980s and 1990s - (2)",18,"b\1\2_0037.jpg","c","0"
The 'Telefinder' national radio paging service was introduced in \J1981\j. The same year, Telecom launched an automatic mobile telephone system in Melbourne and Sydney, and by \J1994\j mobile telephone services exceeded one million. By early 1997 there were 4.5 million mobile phone users and it is estimated that this number will grow to 8 million by the year 2000. Australia is the third largest per capita mobile phone user in the world after Sweden and Finland. Analog mobile phones are to be phased out and replaced with digital phones by 2000.
Australia took an early lead in the implementation of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), becoming the first country in the world to introduce it on a national network. ISDN transmits voice, data, fax, images and video using one digital protocol - the first taste of the 'information super highway'.
An AXE 900 digital exchange was introduced at Broadway, Sydney, in \J1988\j. Three years later the last manual exchange was cut over to automatic in Wanaaring, New South Wales.
Radio is also preparing for the switch to digital. In \J1991\j the ABC launched D-CART, a digital system for storing, editing and playing sound clips, which has since been sold to major networks around the world.
In the \J1980\js and \J1990\js, defence industries have developed sonar devices (the Barra sonobuoy and Kariwara towed sonar array) for detecting ships and submarines. The Defence Science and Technology Organisation, in collaboration with AWA, Telecom and CSA, also developed the Jindalee over-the horizon radar. It bounces an electromagnetic signal off the ionosphere, 150 kilometres above the earth to detect planes and ships beyond the reach of conventional radar.
Australia's national communications satellite program began in \J1985\j when AUSSAT-1 and 2 were launched. AUSSAT-3 was launched in \J1987\j, and OPTUS B1 in \J1992\j. In \J1988\j, international videoconferencing facilities were launched at OTC House, Sydney.
Teletext was introduced in \J1980\j to send text to TV sets. By \J1993\j, 98 per cent of households had a colour TV.
Black Mountain Telecommunications Tower opened in \JCanberra\j in \J1980\j, at a cost of $16 million. To some \JCanberra\j academics it represented an ecological disaster and an eyesore, but to the technocrats it symbolised progress and achievement.
\BDescription:\b Black Mountain Telecommunications Tower at \JCanberra\j \I(DFAT)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
15#
21,0
"Changes in Fashion",1,"g\6\75026.jpg","c","0"
'Fashion is an odd jumble of contradictions, of sympathies and antipathies. It exists only by its being participated among a certain number of persons, and its essence is destroyed by being communicated to a greater number. Fashion constantly begins and ends in the two things it abhors most - singularity and vulgarity.' William Hazlitt, 1778-\J1830\j, English critic and essayist.
Fashion has changed in everything but name over the last 126 years. What was once the special preserve of the privileged few has become a happy hunting ground for all.
Long-treasured traditions of handcraftsmanship, with their laborious methods of making up, have been superseded by large-scale manufacture primed with growing expertise and catering for all areas of the consumer market.
Fashion is no longer dictated by high society or by European couturiers; as often as not it is triggered off and swept into favour by the anonymous but compulsive force of the street.
What hasn't changed is that it is news. It has always been well documented, and it moves under a constant floodlight of publicity.
Fashion is for all. Couturiers, specialty shops, department stores, boutiques and chain stores all offer fashion. Good shopping facilities have made it accessible to almost everyone, with the same range of merchandise available simultaneously around the country.
This accessibility and the methods of marketing and promoting fashion have ensured that news of changing styles is rapidly transmitted. Fashion parades, supermodels and even shop fittings are twentieth-century developments which have made it possible to package and present new ideas and images very differently to a wide-ranging audience.
Carrying fashion news in newspapers and magazines is a tradition which has continued since newspapers were first printed. Advertising has become a sophisticated technique, extending to television and radio as well as printed media.
Attitudes to clothes and the way they are worn have differed throughout the last century in one fundamental way. Since \J1900\j there has been a steady reduction in the actual amount of clothing worn - for men, women and children.
There is little to distinguish Australian dress from that adopted in other Western countries. The interest lies in where and how it varies.
\BDescription:\b Fashions have changed a lot over the last 100 years or so \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Fashion Pre 1880",2,"g\6\72048.jpg","c","0"
The goldrush of the late \J1850\js and the early \J1860\js heralded a new prosperity in Australia. The gold towns and the rural areas alike were experiencing a new-found wealth. With the change in circumstances came a change in the fashions of the day.
Crinolines lost their symmetrical shape and swept their bulk to the back. Little hats replaced the bonnet and the Garibaldi jacket became very popular. Hair followed the shape of the skirt and was held up in a bun at the nape of the neck by a chenille net.
In the country areas, French Merino dresses made with highset long sleeves, worn with white pinafores, little cloth jackets and brown felt hats were the norm. For men around this time, flannel shirts and moleskins prevailed as workclothes.
For the inner-city male, the mode of dress was more stuffy and very quickly became increasingly drab: a frock coat or morning coat was worn with top hat and mutton-chop whiskers.
The late \J1860\js was a peak period for bushrangers, and some of them were very smart dressers. Their hair was long and well oiled, trousers were buckskin, worn with polished boots and leggings, a loud vest sometimes studded with jewels, a neat cravat and long-cut coat.
Other innovations for men around this time were the lounging suit and sports coat, buttoned high to the neck and like the trousers, amply cut.
Towards the later part of the decade, a distinctive Australian flavour disappeared from the cities. Crowds began to look like crowds everywhere. Only the 'larrikin' asserted his individuality and this was doubtless a reaction against the dreariness of industrial labour and the squalor of urban overcrowding. He wore his jacket too small and his trousers too tight, and these, along with his high-heeled pointed boots, became his identifying traits.
\BDescription:\b The bustle pre-1880 \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Fashion 1880-1889",3,"g\6\72047.jpg","c","0"
In the \J1880\js, the bustle, known then as the 'upholstered style', reappeared. It concentrated on a woman's body, a wealth of draperies more suited to furnishing a room than trimming a dress.
The new bustle was even larger than its predecessor in the earlier part of the century, and was covered by a mass of fabric looped up on a huge superstructure called a crinolette. Skirts were sufficiently short for the feet to be visible and for the wearer to walk in comparative comfort. Mannish jackets were buttoned down the entire front from high collar to hip - overall a quasi-masculine garment.
But beneath this outerwear was pure femininity. Over the corsets were large, open pantaloons embroidered and trimmed with ribbon thread, a chemise corset bodice and one or more petticoats over the top.
Hairstyles were as complicated as the skirts and the hair was piled high with plaits, puffs and chignons. On top was perched a tiny 'toque' or small hat trimmed with flowers and ribbons.
By \J1889\j, the bustle had deflated, but while skirts were flat across the buttocks, back detail remained important with draperies and trains.
In the towns womenswear was very colourful with vivid bright colours especially popular with the wealthier members of society.
For menswear, it was the opposite. Colour all but disappeared from the male wardrobe - traditional and solemn industrialists rather than chivalrous, ebullient military men were the ideal. Sobriety in menswear was of paramount importance, and therefore suits were beautifully tailored in black.
\BDescription:\b This was typical of the fashion in the 1880s \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Fashion 1890-1899",4,"g\6\imperial.jpg","c","0"
There was very little fin-de-siΦcle gaiety in Australia. It was, all told, a grey time. Goldfields in vast numbers were discovered in Western Australia, but in New South Wales and Victoria, there were depressions and strikes.
Nevertheless, with the change of decade came the end of the bustle and the first appearance of the tailored costume.
Skirts were long and hip-hugging, and the waist as small as it had ever been. Tight sleeves jutted up above the shoulder and by \J1895\j had swelled to the leg-of-mutton shape. Hats were tiny.
Smart men wore straw boaters and the Norfolk jacket for daytime pursuits and for sporting events they wore knickerbockers. Respectability descended like a pall over the middle-class male, its uniform the dark suit, the waistcoat and complementary watch chain and bowler.
\BDescription:\b Typical fashions at the 1894 Imperial Conference of self-governing colonies \I(Mitchell Library)\i.
During the later years of this decade, a great many women began to enjoy active sports. Cycling became the rage of the \J1890\js, and to indulge in this distraction both sexes adopted the knickerbocker, Norfolk jacket, sailor hat, long woollen stockings and flat-heeled shoes. The only apparent difference was that the women's knickerbockers were more voluminous, obviously to accommodate their thickly layered undergarments.
The greatest male fashion interest lay once more with the larrikins, whose trousers flared at the bottom into a bell-shape. They paid extraordinary attention to shoes, the heels of which seemed to be growing by the decade.
The larrikins' girlfriends, known as donahs, favoured violent colours, cheap and fancy velvet jackets and a profusion of ostrich feathers. Overall a tacky look. Like their male friends, their clothes were an overstatement of respectable mode and suggested a strong element of mockery.
\BDescription:\b Union members in the 1890s \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Fashion 1900-1909",6,"e\8\lady.jpg","c","0"
The turn of the century saw the growth of large emporiums and the widespread use of home sewing machines. Myer of Melbourne and Sydney's Anthony Hordern instigated department store advertising, bulk buying and sales. Fashion was controlled by the upper classes and was a badge of social status.
The famous 'S'-shaped corset was introduced in \J1900\j and was claimed to follow the natural line of the body. The result was a large overhanging bust and small waist which was counterbalanced by a bell-shaped skirt.
\BDescription:\b \JVida Goldstein\j in \J1903\j - lady candidate for Federal Senate \I(Mitchell Library)\i
Dress bodices and blouses, though they had a rigid understructure, were softly overlaid with pastel-coloured lace and net chiffon draped in gentle folds over the bust; skirts were fluted to skim the hips and sweep outwards at the hem, with a short train at the back.
Hair was puffed out and built up over pads known as rats inserted along the front of the head. Hats were large, with curved brims.
\BDescription:\b Opening of Federal Parliament, Melbourne, January 1, \J1901\j, detail of famous painting by \JTom Roberts\j \I(National Library)\i
After \J1905\j the S-shaped line began to straighten up so that by \J1908\j there was a vertical rather than a curved silhouette.
The waistline was raised above its natural level, narrowing the skirt and introducing a longer and straighter fitting corset. The skirt, aptly named the 'hobble' skirt, was cut straight to the ankle with barely a flare, making it impossible to take more than the shortest of steps.
\BDescription:\b Cup day \J1905\j \I(Random House)\i
The most common town dress for men during this period was the lounge suit. It was almost a uniform for the middle and lower classes, who bought their clothes from the local tailor or ready-made. Usually worn with narrow pants, the jacket had three or four buttons. A shirt with a stiff collar, a bowler and a single-breasted Chesterfield coat with an Edwardian velvet collar completed the outfit.
\BDescription:\b Fashions at the Botanic Gardens, Brisbane \I(Random House)\i
#
"Fashion 1910-1919",10,"g\6\72050.jpg","c","0"
By the time war broke out in \J1914\j, skirts had shortened slightly, and by \J1915\j the skirt was several inches above the ankle, widening at the hem to ensure more freedom of movement. Although the short skirt was not a creation of the war, war-time obviously hurried this movement along since a more practical form of dress was desirable for women.
\BDescription:\b Typical fashions in the 1910s \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
During these years a sharper contrast between day and evening wear was becoming evident. By day, the practical tailor-made suit, with loosely belted jacket and walking skirt, or tailored dress, in serviceable cloths and colours, were preferred, while luxury and glamour were strictly reserved for evening.
This tendency continued after the war. A new sense of ease promoted by the adoption of soft pliable, jersey knit fabrics for the so-called 'jumper suits' created comfortable but elegant day clothes.
\BDescription:\b King's Park, Perth \J1911\j \I(Random House)\i
This was a particularly interesting time for menswear. Young men no longer wanted to look older than they were. They no longer wanted to resemble their elders. They were influenced in their style of dress by the competitive spirit of sport. Those who wore suits often chose the 'dandy' look, with a two or three button single- breasted jacket with high, nipped waist and unpadded, naturally sloping shoulders, with narrow cuffed trousers, cut short above the ankle, revealing boots or shoes with slightly raised heels.
The alternative for those who opted not to wear suits was the 'tradesmen's' attire. This consisted of corduroy trousers, or overalls with heavy shoes, a bulky sweater or an oversized smock.
Australia's contribution to this decade was the 'cossie'. With the population hugging the coastline, swimming became the national recreation, and the Australian institution of the Surf Life Saving Club was born, with each club having a distinctive competitive costume.
\BDescription:\b Beach at Cottesloe, WA \J1911\j \I(Random House)\i
#
"Fashion 1920-1929",13,"g\6\1927.jpg","c","0"
After the Great War, more emancipated and independent women, known as 'flappers,' appeared in society. The silhouette became tubular - skirts remained longish, with a lowered waist. Chinese paper parasols were all the rage.
Until \J1924\j the level of the hemline fluctuated, but always between ankle and mid-calf. Towards the end of that year it began to rise, was noticeably shorter in \J1925\j and had reached knee-level by \J1926\j. As the skirt shortened the silhouette slimmed down and by \J1927\j women appeared to be increasingly streamlined. The deep crown and narrow brim of the cloche hat became severer in shape and more fitted. The neat effect was made possible by cutting the hair short. Busts were flattened as much as possible.
For evening, simplicity ruled. Tube-shaped dresses accentuated by a sash, uneven hemlines, bangles and very long necklaces were the main features, complemented by the use of cosmetics - face powder, lipstick and eyebrow pencil.
By the last two years of the decade the first signs of a reaction against the functional uncompromising line began to appear. Initial attempts were made to raise the level of the waist and lengthen the skirt while introducing more shape.
Similarly for men, there were two distinct styles of dress during this decade. Firstly, an updated version of the dandy, with flannel jackets which were boldly dyed with clashing stripes of outrageous violence: red and purple, green and yellow, blue and grey, in wide vertical bands. Cuffed trousers remained cropped above the ankle, but were fuller in the leg.
In the latter part of the decade, the sweater appeared in the casual wardrobes of the wealthy. Jacquard patterns were most popular and emerged in all forms - crew neck, V-neck, turtleneck, shawl neck, and also in vest form. They were tucked into increasingly baggy trousers, imitating sailors and skiers, and were worn with the suspenders on the outside of the sweater.
\BDescription:\b Royal visitors' first landing in Australia \I(Random House)\i
#
"Fashion 1930-1939",14,"g\6\djones.jpg","c","0"
A gradual increase in the femininity of clothing was once again noticeable. The formerly boyish girl now exhibited a rounded bust, permitted a slight curve to be seen at her waist and allowed her hair to grow into a shingle.
Skirts were lowered to mid-calf, tended to be longer at the back than at the front and showed godets below the knees, giving extra fullness there instead of at hip level. Bodices were attached to the skirt by slanted or diagonal seams. Short bolero jackets were added for day dresses.
Smart replaced chic in the Australian Women's Weekly fashion vocabulary. Cotton, which Chanel began using in high-fashion clothes, was tailored into 'beach pyjamas' in the latter part of the decade. Flared trousers and loose short coats were accompanied by large, floppy-brimmed hats.
The softly feminine fashions were soon rivalled by a more masculine style. Shoulders began to swell out. Day coats, suits and dresses were fitted with shoulder pads, widening the top of the figure and minimising the size of the newly important small waist. For day, sombre colours such as navy, brown, black and grey were most predominant.
The passion for sunbathing increased, and so did the importance of beachwear.
Evening gowns of trailing chiffon, opulent velvet or svelte satin were popular, always complemented by a pair of matching or contrasting gloves in the same fabric. Gloves were the fashion statement of the decade.
Fashion in general was impressed by the glamour of the American film industry which introduced new standards of luxury and further encouraged the use of cosmetics.
Menswear reached new heights of elegance during this decade. The long, six-button double-breasted jacket had broad lapels, accentuated square shoulders and ventless tails hugging cylindrical hips. Long wide trousers enhanced the column shape and served as the basis for an athletic silhouette.
\BDescription:\b David Jones' fashions \J1930\js \I(Random House)\i
#
"Fashion 1940-1949",15,"g\6\sanfran.jpg","c","0"
The outbreak of World War ll found women all over the world with over-waved and over-curled hair, on which shallow crown hats were tilted. Shoulders were exaggeratedly square, and skirts of medium length and of comfortable walking width were employed for the war's duration. For the first five or six years of the decade, fashion everywhere was at a standstill. Rationing of material meant that garments were very basic in design.
When men were demobilised in \J1945\j, they were issued with a standard suit, a pair of sensible shoes, an overcoat and an already outdated 'trilby' hat.
The war-time austerity look was quickly rejected when a nostalgic revival of the \J1915\j-16 slim waist and full ankle-length skirt was introduced in \J1947\j and was combined with a soft rounded shoulder line and light, pretty footwear.
By the end of the decade, the general effect was well tailored and well groomed, very neat, pretty and feminine, in a somewhat studied way. By \J1949\j, short hair had returned and cosmetics were used once again.
The duffle coat made its entrance for menswear during this decade. As a spinoff from the war, chino shirts and trousers prevailed in the casual wardrobe. In the latter part of the decade, while women were enjoying their newfound femininity, men were attired in plaid shirts and chocolate brown ties, wide-cuffed black jeans, turtlenecks, sweaters with zippers and sneakers. Some were sporting crew cuts and their idols were Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
\BDescription:\b San Francisco Conference, \J1945\j - Herbert Evatt of Australia and Harold Stassen of the United States are seen conversing at the conclusion of the meeting \I(United Nations)\i
#
"Fashion 1950-1959",16,"g\6\fiona.jpg","c","0"
During the \J1950\js women changed their silhouettes frequently and willingly. Dior launched his H-line, followed by the A-line, or trapeze, while Balenciaga introduced the chemise and the sack. Australian women generally followed European trends in fashion and wealthy Australian women bought Paris couturier clothes for important functions.
However, for the ordinary, middle-aged woman in the street, the change was not sudden or dramatic. She tended to buy new accessories to add to her existing wardrobe and by the mid-\J1950\js she was an elegant compilation of hat, gloves, rolled umbrella and a middy suit in grey flannel.
In contrast with high fashion's 'dress-up' clothes, there was an increasing trend towards ease and informality catering to the needs of the youth market, who now, in a more affluent society, had a new purchasing power.
In a strange contradiction, just as brand names and designer names were receiving greater recognition, clothing as a status symbol was declining in importance.
The young consumers definitely had the most fun with fashion during this period. The 'sweater girl' bra was introduced in \J1953\j. Girls everywhere encompassed their breasts in a formidable garment that exaggerated their shape beyond all probability.
The dirndl dress with no sleeves, billowing out over a profusion of petticoats, was frilled or lace edged. Made from nylon, it was drip-dry and non-iron. The short evening dress, now in a strapless form, reappeared for the first time since the late \J1920\js in luxurious silk organza. It was combined with the decade's other innovation, the stiletto heel. Evening dresses, both long and short, were usually worn over layers of stiffly starched petticoats.
Hairstyles became extreme; backcombing, beehives, lacquer, the short bob and the pony tail were all in favour.
Some men were outrageously theatrical and were most notably seen in 'zoot suits' (long jackets with padded shoulders and baggy trousers with tapered legs), bobby socks and winklepicker shoes.
\BDescription:\b Fashions in the 50s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Fashion 1960-1969",17,"g\6\60s.jpg","c","0"
Society in the \J1960\js was dominated by the young; the Beatles were their idols and London's Mary Quant decided the style they wore.
Fashion was inspired by the excitement and new technology of space exploration and Pop Art, which encouraged the use of man-made fibres, resulting in vinyls, plastics and faux leather as the trendsetting fabrics of the day in silver, black and white.
Quant introduced the 'mod' and the 'Chelsea' look and, in \J1964\j, the mini-skirt. With the focus on swinging London, Carnaby Street became the Mecca for the young in search of way-out clothing.
In \J1965\j English model Jean Shrimpton appeared at the Melbourne Cup in a mini-skirt, without hat or gloves, causing a stir, not only among the race-going fraternity.
Few Australian designers had the resources to make a significant impact on the world of fashion until this decade. Prue Acton caught the mood of the moment, earning an international reputation and success at home with trendsetting styles for the mass market.
Several other well-known Australian fashion houses started out during this time, including Simona and Norma Tullo. Sportsgirl was retailing well and there were more than 20 department stores in the city of Sydney alone.
It was also during this time that the young adopted the classless uniform of the blue jean. Even the French couturiers could not ignore the impact the street was having upon high fashion, and devoted themselves to a more youthful market.
The euphoric mood of optimism and iconoclasm was short-lived, and by \J1968\j the hippie movement had arrived. Young people's disillusionment and dissatisfaction with what was seen as a materialistic society lead them to drop out, in search of an alternative - often through the use of drugs. The flowering of a romantic or fantasy style of dress came with the hippies, with the flower as its symbol. Fabric and clothing styles were borrowed from other countries and cultures. Indian beads, cheesecloth dresses and bare feet were typical hippy fashion.
\BDescription:\b Typical fashions in the 60s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Fashion 1970-1979",18,"g\6\70s.jpg","c","0"
There was an upsurge in nationalism in Australia during this decade, which was cleverly exploited by Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, trading under the label name Flamingo Park. Koalas, kangaroos and waratahs suddenly became chic when knitted into a variety of colourful garments.
The Australian surfwear industry was born this decade, beginning as a localised collection of cottage industries founded by surfers for the rest of the surfing fraternity.
Country Road, under the direction of Steve Bennett, began making blouses to go with the blue jeans being worn in increasing quantities. The fashion industry newspaper, \IRagtrader,\i was founded to document changes in the industry.
\BDescription:\b Fashions in the 70s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
But there were dynamic contributions made to stylistic developments during this period, parts of which were to resurface during the \J1990\js.
Firstly, no one could ignore John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. The disco influence swept through the wardrobes of both men and women. Prohibitively steep platform shoes were worn under body splicing, flared, satin pants, angularly collared bodyshirts opened to the chest in spangly shades of beige; and tight cropped jackets with pagoda shoulders became the uniform.
From Travolta's sateen the look moved to Ziggy Stardust's grunge. The formula for fashion became filth. The grungier, the better. Impish looks prevailed, tight mohair sweaters, crushed velvet pants and slept-in hair.
The most original look came paradoxically from the negative, anarchic 'punk' movement which was essentially subversive and anti-style. In the late \J1970\js, a minority of young people reacted violently to a conformist society which seemed to offer them nothing. They deliberately and perversely cultivated the bizarre, the ugly and the shocking.
Hair was dyed and sculpted into spiky, menacing forms, faces were painted and noses, ears, navels and nipples pierced with safety pins. They wore black, often tattered clothes, italicised with metal studs and zips and manacled with chains. The intention was to reject fashion and its conventions, though fashion itself responded by absorbing and modifying many of these elements.
\BDescription:\b Fashions in the 70s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Fashion in the 1980s",20,80s.jpg,g,0
As more and more women entered the paid workforce an era of power dressing began, featuring the man-style suit for women. Short tight skirts in wool gaberdine, cool wool and microfibre, and coordinating jackets with wide padded shoulders, in both single and double breasted styles were worn. Sheer black, navy or flesh-coloured panty hose were worn with the heeled pump or court shoe.
As the older fashion follower began to look more and more like her male colleagues, the younger consumers were being dictated to by what was happening in the world of popular music. The accessibility of music video saw clones of Madonna and other melodic icons taking to the streets in vast numbers.
Du Pont's Lycra ensured that no one escaped the decade without a cotton Lycra leotard. If it wasn't instigated by music, then it was the result of the fitness boom.
The \J1980\js was the decade of conspicuous consumption. Yuppies aspired to being able to spend and acquire - from useless items of electronic gadgetry and expensive European cars through to mobile phones, jewellery that no one cared was real, and designer labels.
#
"Fashion in the 1990s",21,"g\6\90s.jpg","c","0"
In the \J1990\js, many consumers aren't as interested in such peripherals as fashion. They are more concerned with family and social issues, protection of the environment and creature comforts such as wholesome food and an holistic approach to medicine. Fashion is worth to them whatever time, money and effort they have left to spare - which may be very little.
As there is less emphasis on financial status, tribal dressing is at its peak. Rap is mixed with rave, with \J1970\js punk, with new wave, with grunge. Big jeans, hooded sweats and long-sleeved T-shirts are favoured by the male youth market. Plaid flannel shirts tied around the waist and camouflage prints are strong.
Big white ruffled shirts, long skirts, tons of velvet, cross pendants and lace-up boots are fashionable for girls and flimsy baby-doll dresses are favoured by grown-up girls.
Sport fashion has also grown in popularity, for both day and night, and with it the resultant demand for active sportswear brands. Adidas-style stripes appear on everything from trousers to tops cropped above the navel and simple black halter dresses, worn with suede Puma sneakers. Australian surfwear is now an industry of huge proportions with a large international market. Australian designers and manufacturers are becoming better known abroad. Collette Dinnigan is the first Australian designer to have her own showing at the Paris Fashion Shows and Country Road has opened a retail outlet in Japan.
Dressing \J1990\js style has become more casual, for work and play. Girls layer long dresses and cropped patchwork pullovers. Hanging threads, hand-embroidered trims and colourful visible seams are common. Anything can be worn and may be deemed fashionable if worn in the right way.
Personal style is of paramount importance. Style is not so much about what is worn, but how it is worn. For the \J1990\js anything goes, as long as it's done with confidence.
\BDescription:\b Almost anything goes in the 90s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
16#
18,0
"Changes in Architecture",1,"g\6\1_0082.jpg","c","0"
Architecture in Australia went through a number of stages between the precarious first settlement in Sydney in \J1788\j and the established society of the \J1840\js. The initial stage was the basic 'making-do' of subsistence and survival. As the hinterlands were tamed, architecture of the genteel Georgian style developed, followed by substantial displays of prosperity as the country developed and dynasties were consolidated.
Over the next three decades a rawly conservative Australian architecture was assaulted by dramatic changes in lifestyle and values which followed the goldrushes and the development of the copper mines. The population growth and the mix of cultures that went with it, the developing technologies, and the rapid growth of towns and the infrastructure that serviced them all had a huge impact on architecture.
Stylistically, classical simplicity and symmetry established itself early and dominated many buildings into the twentieth century. This was also accompanied by a picturesque Gothic complexity that rapidly gained favour, mainly in houses and churches. As elsewhere, Australian architecture to the end of the nineteenth century was as much about the materials, skills and techniques available, the traditions and innovations, the landform and laws of a place, as about aesthetics and styles. This mix is vital to understanding its history.
Architecture is also about people, and the period to the \J1880\js saw many notable providers and receivers leave their mark. Beginning with \JFrancis Greenway\j in New South Wales, architects of note have designed most of Australia's public and institutional buildings in every state but, as the century advanced, their involvement and impact in domestic work diminished as the use of standardised designs increased.
The \J1890\js saw the Depression hit and building investment cease. A new modernism was developing, not just from the movement towards Federation in Australia, but from Europe and the United States. It was not until after the \J1920\js that Australian architects joined the revolution of International Modernism. The \J1929\j Great Depression and World War II slowed change, but by the late \J1940\js the few sparse, unadorned Modern apartments and hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney were becoming familiar; even leaner domestic lines were to follow.
However, in recent years the dream of a socially and morally responsible architecture driven by technology is less attainable. Australian architects, like many others, have searched for an architecture that might return them to basics. Indeed, many Australian architects are now involved in a serious quest for an architecture that evokes a sense of place.
By \J1871\j Melbourne's population was six times what it had been in \J1851\j, while the population of the other eastern capital cities trebled over the same period. Housing developed densely in areas within walking distance of work places and major road and rail links. Terrace houses dominated the rebuilding of often squalid near-city areas, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. Detached houses in either Classic or Gothic style were preferred in the suburbs and country.
During the \J1860\js, Queensland builders began erecting houses high on stumps or stilts, though no one knows quite why. However, Victoria's Government House (\J1871\j-76), by William Wardell, reaffirmed that restrained Italianate was the style for those with aspirations.
Domestic interiors had walls lined with timber boards, or paint or wallpaper over plain plaster, and ceilings with gypsum plaster on lath. Decorative cornices, mouldings and fine joinery came at a price; floors were left bare or covered with mats or loose carpets. Town gas and water were in place but sewerage was not; fully equipped bathrooms were rare.
\BDescription:\b Government House Sydney \J1809\j \I(Mitchell Library)\i
Spurred by building demand, in \J1870\j a Melbourne company used German machines to make over 240,000 bricks a week. These were far cheaper than hand-mades and were standardised in size, but of variable quality. A Sydney brickyard made dry-press bricks in quantity in \J1878\j.
The cavity brick wall appeared from about \J1868\j and gradually became standard, especially as brickwork in varied colours became fashionable.
State Education Acts in the late \J1860\js and mid-\J1870\js resulted in extensive school building. Victoria formed an Institute of Architects in \J1871\j and New South Wales in \J1874\j. By \J1878\j there were formal classes in architecture and building at the Technical and Working Men's College, Sydney.
\BDescription:\b Sydney \J1840\js \I(Mitchell Library - artist Joseph Fowles)\i
The use of structural and decorative cast-iron increased; some was locally made, but most was imported. Corrugated and sheet iron was also widely used, replacing all but slates for roofing. It too was mostly imported. The only successful local iron production in the nineteenth century began at Lithgow, New South Wales, in \J1876\j. Concrete was used, but only below ground for pipes and mass footings. Sheet glass began to be manufactured locally.
A hydraulic lift was installed in a Melbourne warehouse in \J1877\j, and an American Whittier passenger lift was featured at the \J1879\j Sydney International Exhibition. This was held in the magnificent timber-framed, domed and pavilioned Garden Palace, designed by James Barnet and built in just 10 months. The scene was set to reach into the sky.
\BDescription:\b Wonnerup House built in \J1834\j \I(Random House - photo by Ken Stepnell)\i
During the \J1880\js, capital city populations increased by 70 per cent, and more than 35 per cent of the total Australian population lived in urban areas. The greatest growth occurred in more remote suburbs as rail and tram made commuting easy. In general people prospered as what is called the 'long boom' peaked. Established in the \J1840\js, by the \J1880\js building societies offered standard low-cost house designs and they accelerated home ownership.
The Italianate style became more important than the Gothic and influenced all types of building. Even terraces and detached houses put on classical motifs, decorative cast iron, projecting bays and balconies, and an array of brackets, urns, swags, alcoves, loggias, arcades and towers. Brickwork of different colours such as that used in 'Ripponlea' (\J1887\j) and earlier elsewhere in Melbourne, was another legacy of the Italianate style.
Pattern books and building journals from England and America continued to influence house designs. It seemed the more complex and exotic, the better.
Domestic life improved as more people could afford connection to permanent water supplies, public sewerage and the telephone. By \J1889\j, houses began to include an inside bathroom, thousands of gas ranges had been installed, and the mechanical lawnmower had been invented. Designs for model suburbs - Kensington in Sydney, and Hopetoun in Melbourne, both from \J1889\j - offered an idealised future.
Melbourne's Exhibition Building opened in \J1880\j. Sydney's Garden Palace burnt down in \J1882\j. Fire became an even greater hazard as building densities grew.
The lift pushed the height of warehouse and commercial buildings beyond the previous four-storey limit. Sydney's Mutual Life Association of Australasia (\J1889\j) was eight stories high and Melbourne's APA (Australasia) (\J1888\j) was the tallest at twelve storeys.
Hundreds of civic and institutional buildings were completed by \J1888\j to commemorate the centenary. Even railway stations were elaborately decorated.
\BDescription:\b Bega Courthouse built in \J1881\j \I(Random House - photo by Graham Gittins)\i
This decade was one of major change. Severe drought ravaged eastern Australia early in the \J1890\js. In \J1892\j Australia was caught in the worldwide recession. By this time Sydney and Melbourne had spread over more land than cities in Britain or North America because of the desire of the majority of Australians to live in single storey dwellings surrounded by quarter acre gardens but now the land boom collapsed. Financiers and banks closed, unemployment skyrocketed, bankruptcies ruined thousands, and the economy did not recover for three years.
Significant social reform also occurred, with the development of the trade union movement and the push for Federation. By \J1899\j, five of the six states had agreed to Federation.
Once the Depression eased, a new style for houses flourished and matured: red brick, decorative terracotta and glass with Australian motifs, white painted windows, turned, curved and fretted timberwork, and Marseilles roof tiles. The result of a quest for a unique Australian style, this Federation-style survived until World War I.
Electricity was being used in parts of most cities by the decade's end. Major roads were paved with granite or woodblocks to reduce wear and tear. Motor cars were imported from \J1893\j and the first Australian-built car appeared in \J1899\j.
A formal Diploma course in Architecture was established in \J1890\j: in \J1896\j C. G. Newland was the first academic architect graduate from the renamed Sydney Technical College. Seventy years later this became the University of New South Wales.
Around this time, civic improvers like architect John Sulman began campaigning against slums, pollution and aesthetic degradation.
By the end of the century many buildings incorporated English Arts and Crafts and European Art Nouveau motifs, and showed the influences of Classical, Romanesque, Gothic, English and Dutch forms. Some remarkable examples include South Brisbane's Town Hall (\J1892\j), Sydney's Queen Victoria Markets (\J1898\j), Melbourne's Eastern Hill Fire Station (\J1899\j), Perth's Land Titles Office (\J1897\j) and \JLaunceston\j's Albert Hall (\J1891\j).
\BDescription:\b Nock & Kirby, Sydney, late \J1890\js \I(Royal Australian Historical Society)\i
Bubonic plague broke out in \J1900\j, first in Adelaide and then in the Rocks area of Sydney. It created a public outcry over health standards. After Federation was proclaimed in \J1901\j, local government legislation around the nation gave local councils control of street and housing standards.
As would be shown in the \J1911\j Census, the population of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide had grown to over 40 per cent of each state. Developers promoted healthy living in 'model suburbs' such as Haberfield, New South Wales (pioneered by R. Stanton from \J1902\j), and in other small estates which encapsulated the middle-class suburban dream of a house on a quarter acre block.
Federation-style houses continued their popularity, though changes were coming. The living room combined the drawing room and dining room and ceiling heights were becoming lower. Hardie's made a cheap fibro-cement cladding, and Malthoid made possible near-flat roofing. Open planning and built-in cupboards appeared in architect H. Desbrowe Annear's \J1903\j houses in Eaglemont, Melbourne, while G. S. Jones' house designs from \J1906\j employed the plain lines of key modern European architects.
The trend internally was simplicity 'springing naturally from the form, the occasion, that utility offers'. In \J1908\j, Melbourne architect R. Haddon pictured a modern interior with beamed ceiling, painted frieze above the picture rail, 'plain, flatted walls, polished floor margins, and plain carpets', and furniture to match. Wunderlich's pressed metal ceilings and friezes were installed in many houses and landscape colours of grey, brown and green were favoured.
Florence Taylor (nee Parsons) became Australia's first female architect in the early \J1900\js, but discrimination meant she did not join the New South Wales Institute until \J1920\j. The Taylors founded a publishing business in \J1907\j, their Building and Construction journals presenting lively critiques on architecture over the next forty years.
By \J1904\j reinforced concrete was being used in floor slabs and also in above-ground structures such as bridges and sewer viaducts. In \J1908\j the first cantilevered awning was constructed. These were to eventually eliminate the post-and-verandah streetscape which had been so much a part of Australian towns and cities.
\BDescription:\b Commonwealth celebrations, George Street, Sydney \I(Royal Australian Historical Society)\i
In this period, garden cities became the ideal. In \J1910\j John Sulman reviewed English reformer Ebenezer Howard's book Garden Cities in the \IDaily Telegraph.\i Chicago-born Walter Burley Griffin won the \J1911\j-12 international Federal Capital design competition with his grand radial layout and 'garden-based' house allotments. Howard's disciple, Charles Reade, delivered over 100 lectures in Australia on garden city ideas in \J1914\j-15, and became Adelaide's town planner in \J1916\j. Planning conferences straddled World War I and exposed architects, planners, developers and politicians to the latest international ideas.
By 1917 there were 45,000 cars in Australia, nine for every 1,000 people, and new streets were now a regulation 20 metres wide. People wanted the suburban lifestyle, and ideas for model garden suburbs and subdivisions were promoted all over Australia. Dacey Garden Suburb (1912) was the first major government project in New South Wales, having 300 semi-detached and detached dwellings by 1920. Garden suburbs in other states did not develop greatly until the 1920s.
\BDescription:\b Victoria Bridge, Brisbane \J1916\j \I(Random House)\i
The California Redwood Association erected a small prefabricated exhibition bungalow on R. Stanton's model industrial estate at Rosebery as part of the \J1915\j Sydney Ideal Home Exhibition. Larger versions of this California bungalow soon appeared. They had prominent, spreading roofs, exposed roof timbers, wide eaves, gables facing the street, and massive piers. By \J1920\j the California bungalow had widespread public approval.
Architect W. Hardy Wilson promoted a Colonial Revival through his writings and with his designs for 'Eryldene' (\J1913\j) and 'Purulia' (\J1915\j-16); both houses were in Sydney. H. Desbrowe Annear in Melbourne designed 'Broceliande' (\J1918\j) and 'Inglesby' (\J1919\j) (both now demolished). These unadorned, and simple buildings foreshadowed modern 'functionalism'.
The nine-storey high Nelson House, Sydney (\J1910\j), was Australia's first fully steel-framed building. The reinforced concrete dome, 35 metres in diameter, of Melbourne's new State Library reading room (\J1911\j) was the largest in the southern hemisphere. The Angus and Coote store (\J1919\j) was Sydney's first reinforced concrete building. Culwalla House (\J1912\j), at 51 metres high, presented a fire risk as firefighting equipment could not reach that high, so a 45 metre height limit was quickly placed on Sydney buildings. In \J1918\j Leslie Wilkinson arrived from England as the nation's first professor of architecture at the University of Sydney. Finally, the \J1919\j New South Wales Local Government Act gave zoning and building control to councils.
\BDescription:\b Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Sydney, \J1910\j \I(Royal Australian Historical Society)\i
Australia had 5.5 million people in \J1921\j; nearly 30 per cent of these owned their own homes. Shorter working hours, better bus, tram and train services, cheaper and more plentiful cars meant more leisure time. The cinema and ballroom offered mass entertainment, and the wireless arrived at home. Then the Great Depression hit in \J1929\j. Construction almost ceased, investments crumbled, and unemployment headed past 10 per cent.
Ideas for garden suburbs had prompted public and private subdivisions all over the country, though many existed only on paper. Walter Burley Griffin's Castlecrag estate in Sydney was selling in \J1921\j. It included some houses designed by him. War Service Homes Schemes nationally, along with banks and building societies, offered inexpensive means-tested house and land packages for long-term purchase. But public rental housing was virtually neglected.
The cheapest houses were compact California-style bungalows, with two or three bedrooms, living room, inside bathroom, fireplace, verandah and laundry at rear. Interior walls were either painted, wallpapered, or plywood or timber panelled to door height, then paint or paper on (fibrous) plaster above to the now lower 3 metre ceiling.
Exterior colours were red or dark brown bricks, dark brown or green stained timber and grey or cream stucco. Interiors had stained timber, and coloured and patterned carpets and wallpapers.
\BDescription:\b Children in slums during the Depression \I(Peter Luck)\i
Simple, often symmetrical, but always stylish Colonial Georgian, English and Mediterranean Revival houses were favoured by architects. An exhibition of international architecture in Sydney in \J1927\j brought mixed reactions. Popular taste was influenced by the Spanish or Californian Mission style from \J1925\j, and the Australian \IHome Beautiful\i magazine.
Life began to change once people began to acquire washing machines, vacuum cleaners and refrigerators. By \J1928\j there were 500,000 cars in the country. This meant including a garage and driveway for the middle classes and building blocks were 18 metres wide.
Reinforced concrete was accepted in the \J1920\js for city buildings, although there were notable failures, and it did not find its own expression until the \J1930\js.
\BDescription:\b Residence in Melbourne \J1923\j \I(Random House)\i
Beginning in a Depression that lasted to \J1933\j, and ending with the outbreak of World War II, the \J1930\js was a period of cautious and restrained development. In \J1931\j, the joining half-arches of Sydney Harbour Bridge symbolised for many a return to prosperity though around this time nearly one-third of bread-winners were on the 'susso' (a welfare payment for the unemployed). The \J1930\js was the era of petrol stations offering multiple brands, modern chrome furniture, Masonite hardboard, the electric yet old-fashioned Metters 'Early Kooka', and the Australian \IWomen's Weekly.\i
Building began again about \J1935\j, with over 200,000 building blocks around Australia vacant since the \J1920\js available to be filled. Brick-veneer construction, known in the \J1920\js, was being used for Victoria's larger houses by \J1938\j. Mission styles from the \J1920\js continued as popular choices for houses, and 'Tudorbethan' and American Georgian gained the patronage of the wealthy. There was also the occasional Modern squarecut, or 'ship-style' with curves and porthole windows. Flats multiplied dramatically, often Spanish in style but mostly just nondescript. Some were Art Deco and a conspicuous few were Modern. In \J1938\j, the Victorian Housing Commission began building rental housing for low-income earners.
Architecturally, ideas from Europe were closely scrutinised, with conservatism, as always in Australia, running high. The clean, functional lines of International Style modernism arrived most dramatically via hospitals and offices in the eastern states. Based on the work of Dutch architect Dudok, brick 'masses' and glass bands were composed into house, factory, or school, or were 'streamlined' for cinemas and hotels. Manly Surf Pavilion (\J1938\j) is a good example of the style. These ideas coexisted with the commercially popular 'skyscraper Gothic' and with the Art Deco style of visually stimulating geometric patterns, chrome and mirrors.
\BDescription:\b Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
During World War II people made do. They shared houses, often converting verandahs and garages into 'sleep-outs', or squeezed into flats. The year \J1945\j began a period of austerity caused by shortages of skills, materials and equipment, with the government strictly controlling building size. In \J1947\j an immigration drive began to build up a new labour base, and in \J1948\j the first home-grown Holden was produced.
From \J1940\j to \J1945\j building activity was minimal. The New South Wales Housing Commission, created in \J1941\j, for example, built only 'temporary' houses and hostels for munitions' workers. Experienced architects were employed under manpower controls on military works and essential buildings and repairs. The post-war period saw factories turn their war capacity to manufacturing prefabricated building elements and prototype housing systems, such as Victoria's Housing Commission Beaufort Home and the Fowler Concrete House, to help overcome a shortage of over 100,000 dwellings. Many houses were also imported. 'Slum' clearance and renewal of inner urban areas commenced.
The returned servicemen and the rising young generation of students entered schools of architecture from \J1946\j with pragmatic idealism. This led to new graduates who sought an architecture of simplicity, celebrating climate and orientation. W. Bunning's Homes in the Sun (\J1945\j) became the guide. The pace of modern domestic functionalist thinking was set by Melbourne architects Boyd, Grounds, Romberg and MacIntyre; Queensland's Hayes & Scott; and Sydney's Ancher, Baldwinson and Seidler.
Contemporary houses were minimal statements of frames and planes, solids and voids, striving for spatial continuity. Generally white, there were primary colour accents on key surfaces or elements; natural stone and brick walls acted as visual anchors. Floors were carpeted or polished, and interiors were sparsely and informally furnished, all seeking a purity of expression.
In a final tribute to the \J1930\js, a mini-Eiffel Tower atop the AWA building in Sydney was completed in \J1940\j, and elsewhere a few city banks showed a stern, pared-back classical neo-functional style. However, further city buildings of consequence did not appear until the \J1950\js.
\BDescription:\b Sydney \J1940\j \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
The \J1950\js saw Australia rock-and-roll into prosperity. Wool fetched record prices; manufacturing increased; a 40-hour week took labour into overtime; post-war immigration passed 1.5 million; and savings grew. While rapid inflation, and strikes, made things expensive (houses in \J1955\j cost six times those of \J1940\j), the \J1956\j Commonwealth State Housing Agreement supported private over public housing investment. By \J1959\j, the Victorian Housing Commission's precast concrete housing program included four-storey unit blocks.
International ideas brought a uniformity to houses at first, and then developed distinct regional qualities. Melbourne's contemporary houses were friendly and 'had a narrow, linear plan with low-pitch gabled roofs of corrugated asbestos cement with exposed rafters at the wide eaves and with slim bargeboards', while some experimented with geometric forms. Brisbane's were climatically determined: linear house plans maximised cross-ventilation; flat or low-pitch roofs had wide eaves or verandahs; and large glass walls had blinds, screens and panels outside or between verandah posts.
Sydney was both international and 'organic', with architects Muller, Rickard and Jack seeking harmony between materials, form and site. Interiors were made spacious, particularly when small, by combining functions, opening up the kitchen and extending to the outside. While aluminium and steel brought a thinness of line and surfaces were kept flush, popular consumerism brought a mix of new materials, riotous colour schemes, novel fittings and angular furniture. These created mostly unwarranted emphases that took another decade to settle down. Domestic life became a wondrous world of labour-saving devices. The introduction of television made the home the centre of many people's leisure activities.
Constructionally, new prefabrication systems and concrete structures were tried, while the glass and panel 'curtain wall' hung on the building frame was destined to become ubiquitous; for example, the MLC Building, North Sydney (\J1955\j-56), and Perth's Council House (\J1959\j). More significantly, in \J1957\j, Sydney and Melbourne relaxed height limits and high-rise buildings soon followed; for example, Melbourne's ICI (\J1957\j), and Sydney's AMP (\J1959\j-61) and Blues Point Tower (\J1959\j-61). In \J1957\j Danish architect Joern Utzon won the Sydney Opera House design competition with a poetic cluster of shells, and in \J1959\j Melbourne's cable-roofed Myer Music Bowl opened.
\BDescription:\b The Opera House design drawing \I(Peter Luck)\i
The \J1960\js began in Australia with a credit squeeze, continued as a socio-cultural explosion - hippies and psychedelics, the mini-skirt, the Vietnam War - and ended with Apollo XI on the moon in a technological high romance. It was a decade of openings: Warragamba Dam; the British and Empire Games in Perth; the Sydney-Melbourne direct rail link; Victoria's \JNational Gallery\j; Sydney's Cahill Expressway and Gladesville Bridge; \JCanberra\j's Mint and National Library; and two universities (Monash in Victoria and Flinders in South Australia). By \J1969\j Australia's population was 12.5 million; immigration and the 'baby-boom' had added over 50 per cent in twenty years.
From \J1960\j a 'flat boom' occurred as rent controls stopped. 'Villa units', walk-up 'home units' and other medium-density forms appeared, helped by new Strata Title legislation. And terrace houses gained new respectability. By \J1969\j, medium-density dwellings were 30 per cent of annual building completions. Victoria's Housing Commission precast housing program entered its tower block phase, while the private sector offered both high-rise and medium-density 'town houses' in inner city areas. Housing generally was assisted in \J1964\j by a new Federal home ownership benefits scheme.
Sydney houses entered a romantic era of painted or rough brick, off-form concrete, angular gable or 'shed' roofs, sawn beams and rafters, and stained timber joinery, and some appeared in steep bush sites. Other states developed similar idioms concurrently, though they were more relaxed and often verandahed.
Perth's had orange-tiled hipped roofs, sandy-coloured concrete and light painted walls; Brisbane's attended to thermal comfort and ventilation, and Melbourne's were more aesthetically restrained and controlled.
From \J1961\j, the 'project house' emerged, exploiting the new aesthetic. These project houses were a unique collaboration between architects and builder-developers, such as Lend Lease, Pettit and Sevitt, and Merchant Builders. This created distinctive yet affordable designs using normal construction, adjustable to specific needs and sites, and marketed through 'exhibition villages' and popular magazines. The spin-off into the wider house market was dramatic.
\BDescription:\b The \JRoyal Australian Mint\j opened in the 1960s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
Growth and prosperity carried over into the \J1970\js until the mining share crash of \J1971\j signalled tough times ahead. Anti-Vietnam marches, union bans on demolition and building, and protests over Women's Liberation, caused many to question and rethink values and directions. Losses to Australia's natural and built heritage prompted historic building legislation and the formation of the Australian Heritage Commission in \J1975\j. In this year, the Henderson Report also showed one million people in poverty.
By the \J1970\js rental housing had dropped in demand, with State Housing Commissions now building only one in ten of all dwellings (one in four in \J1945\j). Some 73 per cent of all occupiers either owned or were buying their dwellings in \J1971\j, while in \J1976\j high density housing comprised 19 per cent of all housing Australia-wide and 30 per cent of Sydney's housing. Higher land prices undermined the project house market, historical 'charm' seekers bought older houses, inner suburbs (such as Carlton in Melbourne and Woolloomooloo in Sydney) were revitalised, and some areas became historical conservation districts.
A renewed sense of place influenced urban and rural houses, exemplified in the playful contextual aesthetics of Edmund & Corrigan, and Day, the layered metaphors of Jackson, and the geometries of May or Burgess in Victoria, the machined sheds of Murcutt or crafted vaults of McKay and Le Plastrier in New South Wales, and the neo-vernacular of Addison, Hall, Poole and later Dance in Queensland. There was a continuous supply of alternative houses extending the ideological concerns of the \J1960\js: pole-framed, earth-covered, energy-conservative, some using mud brick and adobe, the last being most notably Knox's work in Victoria from the \J1940\js through the \J1970\js.
The \J1970\js began with 'brutalist' exposed off-form concrete in an aggressive functionalist display of forms, with Borland, Jackson, Madigan, Andrews, Taglietti, Maron, and Public Works architects among the main protagonists. \JCanberra\j's High Court (\J1972\j-80) and \JNational Gallery\j (\J1968\j-82) exemplify its public mode; Sydney's (now) American Express Tower (\J1971\j-76), the corporate. Despite public disaffection with late-modern blandness, there were many large, quality urban projects created, not least by Seidler, and attempts were made to return to the cities, by design, space lost over many years.
\BDescription:\b The Sydney Opera House was completed in \J1973\j \I(DFAT)\i
#
"Architecture in the 1980s and 1990s",18,"g\6\tony58.jpg","c","0"
The \J1980\js and early \J1990\js have witnessed major changes and events: the introduction of the 35-hour week, the Bicentenary celebrations, record unemployment of over 1 million, women making up 40 per cent of the \J1987\j workforce, massive corporate financial losses, the Mabo Native Title decision and its Land Rights outcomes, talk of a Republic, and Australia's winning of the right to host the 2000 Olympics.
Genuine historical restoration of many older domestic and public buildings in the \J1980\js renewed lost skills and created a market for old and 'new' heritage hardware and components, which, combined with heritage colours, created buildings securely placed in location. Vernacular homesteads and farm and industrial buildings of timber and brick with corrugated roofs and verandahs inspired new low key rural or shed-like houses everywhere.
This trend, along with the Postmodern backlash against barren Modernism worldwide, enabled housing providers to market revivals of Federation, Tudor, Georgian or Colonial styles, or a stripped pastel-coloured classicism for both houses and home units. Interiors however were mostly spacious, clean, and uncluttered, except for the odd arch and alcove, or kitchen, bathrooms and built-ins employing 'character' joinery, tiling, and fittings.
Many architects continued their long-standing emphasis on minimal structure, planer surfaces, and plays of space, some designing houses that recalled early Modernist ideas. Others borrowed classical motifs in a more sober Postmodern vein, while a few explored the bowed and angular shapes, layered elements, clashing grid patterns and quirky junctions and details of Deconstructivism. The most 'mannered' of these architects experimented with visually stimulating and often whimsical forms, avoiding context, history or place.
More broadly, the corporate and public architecture of the \J1980\js became highly image-conscious with money lavished on street-level facades, skyline profiles, and materials, finishes and generous public spaces, as in the work of Denton Corker Marshall. A major aesthetic is being derived from structure and connections by openly showing the forces at work in buildings, for example, Philip Cox's sports and exhibition buildings. Most recently, Australian architecture has entered a highly creative phase of experiment and art-for-art's-sake expression.
\BDescription:\b Warringah Mall, Sydney \J1990\js \I(Webster Publishing)\i
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!,!,!,!,!
17#
18,0
"Australia and Its Land",1,"g\6\72099.jpg","c","0"
The driest of earth's continents, Australia has naturally poor soils and a fickle climate oscillating between drought and flood due to the El Nino effect. It is a hard place to farm profitably.
Due to low average rainfall, only 25 per cent of Australia has a growing season of more than five months. Even so, because of its small population, Australia has more than five times as much well-watered land per person as the United States and fourteen times as much as Western Europe.
Compared with other developed countries, usable land is cheap. Conversely, the small population means that labour is more expensive and local markets are limited. Australia's rural sector is therefore dependent on a highly protected and competitive global market. This dependence has also been cultural. A persistent colonial mind-set has seen a subservience to the needs of traditional trading partners, Europe and the United States, and has inhibited a transition to producing products for closer Asian markets.
These basic conditions have determined the pattern and process of Australian agriculture over the last two hundred years. The formula for commercial success has been to maximise land area used and minimise labour to produce commodities for export which are not subject to deterioration during transportation over long distances, and which are valuable enough to make the costs of transportation worthwhile. Hence the early importance to the Australian economy of wool and the dominance of the rural scene by pastoral interests.
\BDescription:\b Australian property \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Invasion of Australia's Land",2,"g\6\68smh.jpg","c","0"
The invasion of inland Australia by Europeans which began in the \J1800\js was largely uncontrolled and unplanned. Entrepreneurs, their men and herds, exploded beyond the governments' boundaries of settlement, fanning out along the rivers and streams. They fought with the Aborigines and among themselves to dominate the best tracts.
Australia had been productively managed and traditionally owned by Aboriginal tribes for tens of thousands of years. By skillful use of fire, the tribes had created and maintained tracts of grassy plains and open woodland as pasture for kangaroos and wallabies. Rich in grasses and other species nutritious to European livestock, these were the lands the invaders wanted most.
Many of the graziers aimed simply to make a fortune and return home to Britain. In the arid zone, rangelands were treated with little foresight and native vegetation destroyed by overstocking. Even in the well-watered regions, the settlers were homesick and yearned for familiar landscapes. Hence native vegetation was cleared to create European-looking pasture and rabbits were introduced for game.
\BDescription:\b The fight for land between Aborigines and white settlers \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Early Farming",3,"g\6\norfolk.jpg","c","0"
With the big money and much of the best land tied up in grazing, it was up to government to stimulate intensive farming. Australia could not afford to keep importing staples such as wheat and sugar for its growing urban populations. With notable exceptions, such as the German grape growers of the \JBarossa Valley\j and Chinese market gardeners who supplied the cities with fresh vegetables, intensive agriculture was pioneered by novice farmers supported by government loan schemes. The rigours of farming poor land, however, fostered Australian agricultural science and created a culture of discipline, improvisation and innovation.
Today, Australia's rural sector faces some fundamental challenges. While Australian farming now leads the world in productivity, this has been at a high environmental cost. The need to constantly increase yields in order to remain viable in the face of falling world prices has driven over-exploitation of water and soil resources. Land degradation is a severe national problem. On the economic front, a more concerted effort is being made to adapt to Asian markets and regional culture. A clear indicator that the British colonial mentality is losing its grip on rural life is the Mabo land rights decision which, arguably, opens up much of Australia's rangelands to Aboriginal claims.
\BDescription:\b Norfolk Island in \J1801\j \I(Mitchell Library)\i
#
"Land Pre 1880",4,"f\8\smh20.jpg","c","0"
The late \J1860\js began a crucial period in the history of Australian agriculture which was marked by diversification, consolidation and technological innovation. Controversial land laws aimed at breaking up the big squatting runs and enabling small farmers to gain a foothold precipitated fundamental change. While Australia became the world's largest supplier of wool in \J1870\j, it would no longer rely entirely on wool for trade. Queensland cotton growers seized the opportunity provided by the American Civil War and in \J1871\j produced 5,204 bales. Grain exports began in \J1874\j and, with the introduction of refrigeration in the \J1880\js, meat and dairy products followed.
Before the \J1870\js, the agricultural sector was predominantly pastoral. The winning formula of large areas of free pasture, minimal labour and an easily exportable commodity meant that wool growing was the most attractive, if not the only way to make money on the land. Most of Australia's productive land was effectively in the control of squatters, inhibiting growth and diversification of intensive farming, and causing political unrest among the landless. Moreover, the end of the goldrush left millions of new immigrants looking for work, land and opportunities.
The state governments' commitment to the social and economic objectives of selection was significantly undermined by the political power of the squatters who ensured that the new laws allowed them to buy their own runs, or at least substantial parts of them. Possessing inside knowledge and large capital reserves, they quickly snapped up the best property, leaving the less desirable parts for the selectors.
The selectors were driven into marginal regions where land clearing and tillage were inappropriate. The majority of selectors found that the acreages available to them were inadequately watered, too small to be farmed economically, and the soil too poor for cropping. In spite of such handicaps, the selectors pushed on. Under these conditions many successful selectors also became pastoralists eventually owning large herds of cattle and sheep.
The selectors were aided in \J1876\j by the invention of the stump-jump plow by Robert Bowyer Smith of Adelaide. While earlier plows broke or jammed when they hit an obstacle, this one just rode over the top. Land could now be cultivated without the expensive and arduous process of 'grubbing out' tree stumps. Despite the benefits, however, the stump-jump plough contributed to the unwise clearing of marginal and semi-marginal land.
Against all odds, the selectors initiated commercial cropping in Australia. At the same time the failure both to break the squatters' hold on agricultural politics and to introduce economically and ecologically sustainable patterns of land use, laid the foundations for chronic rural poverty and land degradation that endures to this day.
\BDescription:\b New road over the \JBlue Mountains\j \J1826\j \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Land 1880-1889",5,"g\6\rsmh83.jpg","c","0"
In \J1880\j, legislation was passed and fences built to control the spread of rabbits. A crossbreed of wild Scottish rabbits with English domestic rabbits introduced by Thomas Austin in \J1859\j as game for the visiting Duke of Edinburgh's hunting party, had proved devastatingly good at adapting to Australian conditions. Within a few years of their introduction they were driving farmers to bankruptcy. In \J1887\j, the New South Wales Government paid a bounty on 27 million rabbit scalps without making any noticeable reduction in the population. Thousands of kilometres of fences and expensive eradication programs proved ineffective against the plague.
In \J1883\j, depression hit Britain and wool prices dropped to their lowest level in thirty-eight years. To make matters worse, the rabbit plague spread into the pastoral areas. In \J1884\j, wool prices hit rock bottom and thirteen of Australia's twenty-five banks closed due to bad debts owed by bankrupt pastoralists.
Meanwhile the new dairy industry in the better-watered southern regions was consolidating. In \J1881\j, the centrifugal cream separator was invented. Australia's first butter factory was opened in \J1885\j in Victoria's Illawarra district. In \J1882\j, the Babcock test was introduced to measure the butterfat content of milk, allowing quality standards and fair pricing to be established and in \J1887\j dairy exports exceeded imports for the first time.
In \J1884\j, refrigeration was introduced in railway wagons and ships, making it possible to export meat and butter. In the same year, the prototype 'Sunshine' wheat harvester was built by \JHugh McKay\j.
In \J1888\j, two Americans, the Chaffey brothers, were allocated 100,000 hectares in exchange for starting an irrigation scheme on the plains of the Murray in Mildura, Victoria. The brothers had successfully pioneered irrigation in California. Their scheme required more than 300 kilometres of channelling and a huge pumping station on the banks of the Murray.
In \J1888\j a South Australian nurseryman, Amos Howard, discovered the value of subterraneous, nitrogen-fixing clovers in boosting the carrying capacity of pasture. However, the implications of his discovery were not widely recognised until the \J1920\js.
\BDescription:\b Ashton's \IHarbour Scene\i painted in \J1883\j \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"Land 1890-1899",6,"g\6\72028.jpg","c","0"
By \J1890\j the continent was supporting 90 million sheep. The Riverina in New South Wales and the Western district of Victoria were dominated by huge grazing properties. In \J1890\j Australia's first nationwide maritime strike shut down ports and blocked agricultural exports. This industrial action was followed in \J1891\j by a six-month shearers' strike in which wool sheds were burned and workers fought with government troops. Although 'scab' labour defeated the strike, it led directly to the birth of the Labor Party.
In South Australia, the folly of ignoring Goyder's line became clear. (In \J1865\j the Surveyor-General of South Australia, George Goyder, drew a line across a map to indicate a limit for northward expansion of farming in that State. However, Goyder's line was widely ridiculed and ignored with the result that the wrong land was cleared.) The year \J1892\j was one of severe drought followed by ten dry years. More than 200,000 hectares were abandoned but not before they had been ruined for grazing, cleared of native trees and grasses, and the soil structure had been destroyed by ploughing.
The rabbit plague reached its peak in \J1891\j. Rabbits caused such havoc that their own numbers diminished through starvation. Then the great drought of \J1895\j-\J1903\j hit. While the combination of rabbit-induced soil exposure and desiccation did incalculable damage to Australia's soils, the drought did temporarily end the rabbit plague.
In the 1890s, many of the smaller selections failed and were consolidated into large holdings. The pattern of broadacre cropping over hundreds of hectares, typical of Australian wheat farming, began to emerge. By 1892 the area under wheat had risen to 1,376,000 hectares, from 263,000 hectares in 1860. Yields, however, were extremely low and the market still predominantly local. In the sheep industry, however, yields had increased dramatically due to better breeding and more dams, fences and artesian bores. At the close of the century, Australian agriculture remained dominated by the wool grower.
\BDescription:\b Convicts at work at Port Arthur, \J1896\j \I(Mitchell Library)\i
#
"Land 1900-1909",8,"f\9\7918.jpg","c","0"
The new century saw a recovery in the rural sector. The formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in \J1901\j enabled the removal of interstate tariff barriers, freeing up interstate trade. Federation also saw the beginning of a more coordinated approach to the management of shared natural resources such as the Murray-Darling river system.
New settlers were encouraged to immigrate and between \J1906\j and \J1914\j, 180,000 migrants were assisted to come to Australia, many of them going onto the land.
Immigration and the extension of railways and the introduction of milking machines boosted the dairy industry, with herds increasing from 1.25 million in \J1900\j, to 2 million in \J1914\j.
New railways in Western Australia and New South Wales led to a trebling of the number of hectares under wheat across the country. In Western Australia, the number of hectares devoted to wheat farming increased ten times in the first decade of the century. The introduction of Federation Wheat (a new variety bred for Australian conditions), superphosphate and tractors, and the support of government agricultural departments led to increasing crop yields. Wheat exports doubled as world prices rose and shipping improved.
Meanwhile, the sugar industry was gaining momentum on the east coast of Queensland. In the beginning, in the mid \J1800\js, thousands of South Sea Islanders (known as 'Kanakas') were kidnapped and used as slave labour. However, in \J1901\j the Queensland sugar industry was reformed. Many of the Kanakas were repatriated and import restrictions and tariffs introduced to support white labour costs.
\BDescription:\b Hawkesbury River Bridge, NSW \I(RAHS)\i
#
"Land 1910-1919",9,"g\7\7524.jpg","c","0"
Severe drought struck again in \J1913\j-15. Eight million sheep died in the Riverina alone and Australia's largest river, the Murray, was reduced to the depth of one third of a metre at Echuca, and was nearly dry at Swan Hill. The foundations of the giant irrigation schemes of the Murray-Darling system were laid, when in \J1915\j New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia agreed on a scheme to regulate and share its water resources; this was known as the River Murray Agreement.
Meanwhile, the outbreak of World War I accelerated the mechanisation of farming by reducing manpower availability. Demand for meat and wool caused world prices to rise. In \J1916\j, Britain agreed to buy all of Australia's clip at 55 per cent of pre-war prices for the duration of the war and moreover purchased all the butter and cheese produced. The British also started buying canned fruit and jam, leading to a 40 per cent increase in exports of these commodities; this trend endured after the war. While demand for wheat was also high, shipping shortages largely prevented Australia from getting its crop onto the international market.
Boom times during the war fostered a false optimism about the rural sector. After the war, British and Australian repatriated soldiers were encouraged to go onto the land, supported by the Soldier Settlement Scheme. The scheme, which led to the establishment of 37,561 soldier settlement farms, mostly on 100 per cent mortgages, was a disaster from the start. The soldier farmers had been lent money to buy land, stock and equipment, which they had little chance of paying back. In \J1927\j, losses to the government of the scheme were estimated at ú32,525,522. There were many reasons for the failure of the Soldier Settlement Scheme. The soldiers rarely knew anything about farming, the blocks of land were too small and the wrong type of land chosen. By the early 1940s more than half these soldier-settlers had left their farms.
\BDescription:\b Merindee Public School \I(RAHS)\i
#
"Land 1920-1929",10,"f\6\70052.jpg","c","0"
For established farmers not saddled with debt, the mid-twenties were a relatively prosperous time. There was money in the banks from the wartime boom, world prices were good and productivity was up. In Queensland, mechanisation had enabled the sugar industry to increase yield and reduce production costs. Local demand for sugar was for the first time met and exports begun in \J1924\j. Moreover, there were great expectations for a new cotton industry, due to a world cotton shortage caused by devastation of American crops by the boll weevil. In southern Australia, minor crops such as broom millet and hops were being profitably established in the market.
Despite this relatively strong position, the Great Depression of \J1929\j hit Australian farmers hard. World prices for rural commodities collapsed and the federal and state governments, themselves virtually bankrupt, were in no position to help. Between \J1919\j and \J1929\j, Australia's foreign debt rose from ú705 million to ú1,117 million. Interest payments in \J1929\j were ú28 million. When \JJames Scullin\j's Labor Government came to power in \J1929\j, it inherited a deep financial crisis. National income fell ú80 million in its first year. Scullin invited a British financial guru to advise them, Sir Otto Niemeyer of the Bank of England. His diagnosis remains depressingly relevant today, more than sixty years later. The artificial protection of Australian industry, including farming, he said, was not sustainable. Moreover, Australia was not creating enough wealth to justify the standard of living its people expected.
In order to survive, Australian agriculture would have to lead the world in productivity. In recognition of this, in \J1926\j the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the forerunner of the \JCSIRO\j, was founded. Australian farming was to become increasingly scientific. By \J1930\j, agricultural scientists were promoting pasture improvement by top-dressing introduced subclover with superphosphate. At this time, however, their 'sub and super' campaign made little impression. The scientific revolution in farming would have to wait another twenty years.
\BDescription:\b Sheep being rounded up \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Land 1930-1939",11,"g\7\70045.jpg","c","0"
In \J1930\j Scullin told the nation's farmers that they must help trade Australia out of crisis by increasing exports of wheat and wool. Known as the 'grow more wheat campaign' this exhortation only served to deepen the crisis. Expecting a guaranteed minimum price from the government, in \J1931\j farmers yielded a record wheat crop for which there was no adequate market. The farmers together lost ú22 million and many were driven off the land.
Between \J1928\j and \J1932\j the debt levels of South Australian wheat farmers rose by 50 per cent. By mid \J1931\j, Western Australia's 20,559 farmers owed a total of ú31 million. In \J1934\j, the Rural Reconstruction Commission reported: '... hard work alone will [not] enable a farmer to succeed. Wheat farms had been developed in districts which were too uncertain in their rainfall. Dairy farms had been established which were too small to allow a man to earn his living... Many of these mistakes would have been avoidable if the economics of rural production had been understood when the settlements were inaugurated.'
In \J1936\j the manmade fibre rayon was introduced, posing a major threat to wool's position in the textile market. In the same year, the first Australian Wool Board was formed and a tax per bale introduced to fund sheep and wool research.
The wool industry was soon in recovery, however. When World War II broke out in \J1939\j, the British Government bought the entire Australian wool crop for military uniforms at a price 50 per cent higher than before the war. In the same year, the Australian Wheat Board was constituted to manage sale of wheat to the war effort. Once again, shipping shortages prevented wheat growers from enjoying a boom market and much wheat land was turned over to sheep. On other farms, crop rotation was introduced to reduce production - a practice which helped restore soil fertility.
\BDescription:\b Remains of a flood \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Land 1940-1949",12,"g\5\shearing.jpg","c","0"
In the 1942-43 financial year, more than 61,000 men left the rural workforce, attracted by the higher wages offered by new industries engaged in the manufacture of war materials and to go into the army. While the wool growers were happy, other farmers were cut off from world markets and superphosphate supplies. To make matters worse, 1944 and 1945 were years of severe drought. During the war years women took an increasing role in rural labour to free up men for the war effort. The Australian Women's Land Army was formed to recruit women for farm work.
\BDescription:\b Australian women shearing sheep during WWII \I(Australian \JWar Memorial\j negative no. 9783)\i
#
"Land 1940-1949 - (2)",13,"g\7\70049.jpg","c","0"
Local demand for food was significantly increased by the half million American troops billeted in Australia during the Pacific war, but the Americans wanted different foods than those offered. Mutton and root vegetables, until then the staple diet of most Australians, did not interest them. They wanted oranges, green vegetables and tomatoes; not mutton, but pork and bacon. And food was needed to supply American bases in the Pacific. Canning of vegetables increased tenfold and a new industry in dehydrated food began.
Australian tobacco growers did well out of the war. They significantly increased production, sheltered by a government requirement for minimum Australian leaf content, by \J1945\j set at 30 per cent.
\BDescription:\b Tibooburra Hotel - north western NSW \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Land 1950-1959",14,"g\7\70089.jpg","c","0"
The post-war period saw a further drift from the land. New manufacturing and construction industries, stimulated by post-war immigration and the baby boom, meant that wages in the cities were rising faster than farm incomes and, besides, farm life was hard. The productivity of farms continued to increase, however, through increasing use of mechanical and chemical technology, and new irrigation works such as the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme and the application of agricultural science.
The combination of Mediterranean subclover top-dressed with superphosphate returned nitrogen and organic material to the badly depleted soils, enabling greatly increased stocking rates. The 'improved' pastures produced more feed in spring than the cattle could eat. Aided by new efficient tractors and hay-baling machinery, farmers began laying in supplies of fodder as a buffer against drought.
In \J1951\j, \Jmyxomatosis\j, a mosquito-borne virus deadly to rabbits, was introduced. The resulting decimation of rabbit populations contributed to rising pastoral production. Soon, however, rabbits began gaining immunity to the virus and control efforts again centred on poisoning. Before the war, farmers had poisoned with strychnine or arsenic with limited success because rabbits are such wary eaters. Trials with an odourless, tasteless poison began in Tasmania in \J1953\j, achieving 98 per cent kill rates. The baited carrots, however, were also deadly to native herbivores.
The \J1950\js also saw the beginning of Australia's galloping urban sprawl. Market gardens, orchards and dairies around the cities were snapped up cheaply and subdivided for speculative housing estates without consideration of the merits of integrating food production with urban life.
Overall, the fifties were a time of optimism for Australian farmers. Agricultural science promised to be a powerful ally and international demand was high. In \J1951\j, the Korean war and demand for wool for military uniforms pushed prices to new levels. The value of Australian wool and meat production rose $63 million in \J1952\j. New difficulties were heralded, however, when in \J1954\j, Britain applied to join the Common Market (now called the European Union).
In \J1962\j, the Common Market established a Common Agricultural Policy to protect its farmers from world competition, and thus make Europe more self-sufficient for food. World agricultural prices fell as producers excluded from Europe competed for a share of the remaining world market.
New urgency was now lent to Australia's efforts to make its rural sector competitive. The \J1960\js saw a scientific revolution in Australian farming, as federal and state governments sank funds into research and farmer education, and subsidised agricultural chemical use.
Unfortunately, most of Australia's competitors were doing the same thing.
Organic pesticides, superphosphate, trace elements, improved fodder conservation, new pasture legumes, and rabbit control enabled dramatic improvements in productivity. In the thirty years between \J1950\j and \J1980\j the total volume of Australian agricultural production doubled. With the new industrial farming, however, came higher energy inputs and new environmental problems.
The \J1960\js saw the birth of the modern conservation movement, internationally and in Australia. Not only did native flora and fauna now have increasingly powerful public advocates; the environmental impacts of farming came under increasingly sharp scrutiny. The publication in America of Rachel Carson's, \IThe Silent Spring,\i shocked the Western world. An authoritative indictment of indiscriminate use of pesticides, the book stimulated public debate about the practice and risks of industrial farming.
In \J1965\j, the Australian Conservation Foundation was established. Standing outside partisan politics, the ACF quickly proved itself a powerful force in the reform of land management.
\BDescription:\b Outback railway line \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Land 1970-1979",16,"g\7\70043.jpg","c","0"
While the sixties and seventies saw leaps in productivity in the agriculture of southern Australia, this did not occur in the rangelands (which are suitable for grazing but receive insufficient rainfall for crop cultivation). Between \J1900\j and \J1970\j livestock carrying capacity remained stable, if anything declining from the levels of the \J1800\js.
In \J1970\j, the wool market collapsed, with prices falling 34 per cent between \J1969\j and \J1971\j. This prompted Australian growers to reach agreement on a scheme to help regulate the market.
In 1972 the final stage of the Ord River Dam in the remote north of Western Australia was opened. Although it had the potential to irrigate more than 75,000 hectares of rangeland, allowing it to be cropped, the scheme proved a colossal failure.
In \J1974\j, the Australian Wool Corporation was formed to manage the sale and marketing of wool and enable a minimum reserve price to be guaranteed to growers. In the same year, the Gulf Crisis led to escalating world oil prices and increased operating costs for farm machinery.
In \J1975\j both the United States and Japan introduced beef quotas causing Australian cattle prices to fall 40 per cent in a year.
The \J1970\js saw the first successful Aboriginal land rights claims and the formation of the Central and Northern Lands Councils.
While the scientific revolution appeared at first to be an environmental boom, with new grass cover helping protect soils exposed by overcropping, it soon emerged that the subclover/superphosphate regime precipitated soil salinity and acidity. Elevated nitrogen levels allowed deep-rooted native grasses to be replaced by fast-growing, shallow-rooted annuals which used less subsoil water. In some regions this caused water tables to rise, bringing dissolved mineral salts to the surface and sterilising many thousands of hectares of land. Another problem was that increased harvesting of hay (instead of letting it rot back into the soil) resulted in a net loss of calcium, changing the pH of soil to acid, which in turn reduced fertility - back to square one.
Public attention also began turning to the problems of irrigation and salinity. In Australia's richest farming lands, the Murray-Darling Basin, rising water tables were reported to be threatening millions of hectares of land, streams and rivers with salt, with long-term costs in the Victorian irrigation district alone estimated at $800 million.
\BDescription:\b Rounding up sheep \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Land in the 1980s and 1990s",17,"g\7\74060.jpg","c","0"
In \J1982\j, the worst drought in recorded history hit the east coast of Australia, causing crops to fail. Waterholes and streams dried up, pastures turned to dust and thousands of head of livestock had to be destroyed. Drought has continued in the 1990s in some parts of eastern Australia with the result that many farmers have been driven from their land by debt.
Trees were coming to be seen as a valuable asset in farm conservation but attitudes to land clearing were slow to change. It was, however, no longer possible to ignore the consequences of unwise clearing. In \J1983\j, wind storms blew an estimated 250,000 tonnes of topsoil off Victorian farmlands, smothering the city of Melbourne in dust.
The late eighties also saw a renewal of public concern about agricultural pollution as well as the effects of pesticide residues on our health, leading to a push towards biological control.
The eighties saw a steadily increasing market for food grown without pesticides and the creation of professional associations of organic farmers to establish and enforce standards. In the \J1990\js, Australia began promoting itself internationally as a source of 'clean' food and water.
The nineties will go down in history as the decade which saw for the first time, popular and governmental support for both land care and land rights. As a nation, Australia had decided that the environmental impacts of farming, and the social impacts of alienating Aboriginal land for farming, were finally to be addressed.
Philip Toyne of the Australian Conservation Foundation and Rick Farley of the National Farmers Federation formed an historic alliance. They successfully lobbied the government to devote $10 million to Landcare programs. In \J1991\j the Federal Government committed $816 million over five years to the Better Cities Program, aimed among other things at curbing galloping urban sprawl and the encroachment of housing onto good farm land.
\BDescription:\b A severe drought occurred in the \J1980\js \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Land in the 1980s and 1990s - (2)",18,"g\7\1_0032.jpg","c","0"
In \J1992\j, in its historic judgement on the Mabo land rights case, the High Court of Australia overturned the notion of \Iterra nullius\i which held that Australia was uninhabited before \J1788\j and Aborigines had no land rights under British common law. The judgement opened the way to claims by Aborigines to land where native title had not been extinguished - by definition, where Aborigines still maintain their identity and customs. Arguably, this definition applies to a great deal of Australia's rangeland, presenting a substantial threat to pastoral interests. One way or another, Mabo seems likely to have a significant impact on the way Australian farm lands are managed in the future.
In the nineties, there are two significant trends in agricultural science. On the one hand, genetic engineers are designing new super varieties of crop and livestock. On the other, scientists are turning back to nature, studying how to restore the natural ecology of the grasslands, reintroducing the deep-rooted perennial native grass species and minimising fertiliser inputs.
Recent years have seen increasing economic pressure on Australian farmers. A cost/price squeeze, driven by increasing global protection and competition, caused a net loss of 19,000 primary producers over the 1980s. There has also been a trend towards hobby farming as commercial farms close to major cities have been sold and subdivided. Economic pressure has driven innovation, with horticulture and new crop and livestock industries such as fish farming, goats and deer experiencing strong growth.
Associated with this has been increasing recognition of the importance of Asian markets especially the Japanese beef market. Live sheep exports to Middle Eastern markets have become an important part of the sheep industry. A feature of the 1980s and 1990s has been the amalgamation of rural properties into large more viable units and the increased investment of foreign consortiums in rural property. After a period of readjustment in the late eighties, Australia's wine industry now occupies a strong position in international markets.
\BDescription:\b Tea tree plantation \I(DFAT)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
18#
19,0
"From the Wheel to Space Travel",1,"f\4\3_0055.jpg","c","0"
There is no doubt that one of the most important inventions of all time is the humble wheel. Without it no form of modern transport anywhere in the world would exist. However, the history of modern transport is much more than mere nuts and bolts; it is also the story of the many personalities involved, both famous and not so famous, all of whom contributed in one way or another to the way we move passengers and goods over the face of the globe. And, indeed, it is the story of the animals we have used to assist us; the horse, bullock, dog, and even the camel which was invaluable in the dry inland of Australia.
Just imagine you had been born in \J1900\j. Three years later at Kittyhawk in the United States, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first powered, heavier-than-air craft. Then only sixty-six years later Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. If you lived in a large city in any of the industrialised nations the sighting of a motor car or truck would not be all that unusual, because in \J1885\j Karl Benz had driven what is believed to be the very first internal combustion engine powered vehicle out of his workshop in Mannheim, Germany, and had even taken this spindly three-wheeled contraption on a drive of over 100 kilometres. In fact, his wife also has a place in history, as both the first woman driver and the first person to illegally use a motor vehicle when she 'borrowed' the car without her husband's permission!
Of course by \J1885\j the steam powered locomotive was such a familiar sight that it generated no more than passing interest; after all James Watt had produced his first steam powered engine in Great Britain over a century before, and George Stephenson's 'Rocket', the first locomotive to run on steel rails, was first demonstrated to the English public in \J1830\j. This invention alone changed forever the face of modern transport, with steam power being used on both land and sea.
These inventions slowly made their way to Australia, and indeed many Australians became important players in the development of transportation worldwide.
\BDescription:\b A solar powered car \I(DFAT)\i
#
"Transport Pre 1880",2,"g\7\train.jpg","c","0"
Rail transport in Australia started when the first public steam train began running from central Melbourne to Port Melbourne in \J1854\j. The development of railways, however, was slow and difficult largely due to the distances between towns. Each colony developed its own system, with its own gauge, which created problems at border crossings. On 16 April \J1868\j a rail link was established between Brisbane and Dalby in Queensland. But perhaps of more significance, just two weeks later the railway line from Sydney crossed the \JBlue Mountains\j reaching the top of Mount Victoria, with the Western Plains in sight.
\BDescription:\b Sydney Station, Redfern \J1855\j \I(State Library)\i
#
"Transport Pre 1880 - (2)",3,"a\3\zigzag.jpg","c","0"
On 27 May \J1869\j the railway reached Goulburn, south of Sydney. Then on 18 October the Zig Zag railway from Mount Victoria to Lithgow on the other side of the \JBlue Mountains\j was finished, opening up the Western Plains for development. The rail line from Melbourne to \JWodonga\j on the Victorian/New South Wales border was completed in \J1873\j, bringing Sydney and Melbourne closer together. In \J1876\j the Great Western Railway reached Bathurst, further reducing the travel time to and from Sydney and allowing far greater access to towns west of Bathurst. The New South Wales railway was extended from Newcastle to Tamworth in \J1878\j, further progressing the line towards Queensland. Slowly but surely the colonies were being linked by rail.
The clipper ship \IThermopylae\i arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, on 9 January \J1869\j after a voyage of only 64 days, a new record for the England to Australia journey. Twenty years previously the journey took 140 days. Later that year the Suez Canal in Egypt was opened, creating a shipping passage between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. This reduced travel time between England and Australia to about 30 days.
In South Australia, horse-drawn tram services began operating from Adelaide to Kensington on 10 July \J1878\j. Sydney's first steam trams went into operation in September \J1879\j. They were very popular although there were a large number of complaints about the noise and soot they produced.
\BDescription:\b Zig Zag Railway opened in 1869 \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Transport 1880-1889",4,"0","g","0"
The \J1880\js saw a huge increase in railway use. In \J1881\j almost 4.5 million passenger trips were made by rail in New South Wales alone. There was celebration at Albury-\JWodonga\j on 14 June \J1883\j when the rail link between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, was finally completed. The only problem was that travellers had to disembark on either side of the Murray River and change trains as the two colonies used different rail gauges. This also meant a duplication of services at the border and the trans-shipping of all goods from one colony to the other.
On 14 January \J1888\j came news that the rail line from Newcastle in New South Wales to Brisbane in Queensland had been finished. The rail bridge over the Hawkesbury River was completed on 1 May \J1889\j, linking Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane by rail.
However the success of the railways affected the viability of the riverboats which up until the end of the \J1870\js had played an important role in transport and communication. The \J1880\js saw the role of the riverboats rapidly decline.
Roads were still of very poor quality once outside the cities, and horses and bullock teams were mainly used to transport timber and other goods.
By the beginning of this decade, the penny-farthing bicycle had been introduced. Even though it wasn't easy to mount or dismount, cycling soon became a popular method of transport within towns and cities. Cycle touring and racing also gained popularity; the Sydney Bicycle Club had been inaugurated in \J1879\j.
#
"Transport 1890-1899",5,"g\7\75077.jpg","c","0"
Now that the rail line between the eastern capital cities had been established, further work began on branch lines, extending the network until by 1890 there were over 4,000 kilometres of rail laid throughout the land. In Sydney the railway was opened from St. Leonards to Hornsby on the North Shore line on 1 January 1890, while in Queensland the railway between Brisbane and Bundaberg was completed in July 1891.
Condobolin in the far west of New South Wales celebrated on 16 March \J1898\j as a train steamed into the station for the first time, ushering in a new era of prosperity for the region.
All movement of goods or passengers away from the rail network was dependent on the horse or the bullock, particularly where the transport of heavy goods was concerned. Coach firms such as Cobb & Co. enjoyed a boom period as more rail was laid, opening up vast tracts of Australia, and more people and goods were moving to inland centres.
At Stanwell Park south of Sydney on 12 November \J1894\j, stunned beachgoers watched as \JLawrence Hargrave\j took to the skies in a large box-kite of his own design. He thus made the first recorded heavier-than-air ascent in Australia when he became airborne to a height of almost 5 metres.
The Shearer brothers (David and John) were engaged in the manufacture of farm machinery at Mannum, South Australia. In \J1896\j, after eleven years of building and experimenting, they produced their own massive steam car and even drove it a distance of 160 kilometres without mishap. It is believed this was the first car built in Australia, or at least the first recorded use of a car in Australia.
Public transport in Sydney took another step forward in December \J1899\j with the introduction of the first electric trams down George Street, between Circular Quay and Railway Square.
Steam power had made great inroads into shipping; most ships were built with a combination of steam and sail, mainly as a precaution against the breakdown of the still somewhat unreliable steam engine. Still, the travel time between England and Australia had been drastically reduced.
\BDescription:\b Horse and cart were a common form of transport in the \J1890\js \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i
#
"Transport 1900-1909",6,"a\4\a3_0002.jpg","c","0"
By \J1900\j steam was the most prevalent form of mechanised power in the industrialised world. On land, the steam locomotive, because of its ability to generate huge amounts of power, could move large quantities of freight from place to place. However, it was still somewhat restricted because it could only go where tracks were laid, which meant that at each rail terminal goods had to be offloaded and transported to a final destination, usually by horse-drawn carts. At sea, sail was slowly disappearing as more and more steamers were commissioned. These large ships were able to cross vast bodies of water without being at the mercy of the winds.
At Kittyhawk in the United States, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew a powered aircraft a distance of 50 metres, on 17 December \J1903\j, becoming the first humans to achieve heavier-than-air powered flight. The age of flight had begun. Here in Australia, on 9 December \J1909\j, Colin Defries took to the skies at Melbourne's Victoria Park raceway. The plane failed to stay aloft for long enough (5 1/2 seconds), or travel far enough (about 1 kilometre) to be officially recognised, nevertheless it was the first flight undertaken in Australia by a powered aeroplane.
Herbert Thomson and Edward Holmes made history when they drove their steam car from Bathurst, New South Wales, to Melbourne, arriving on 4 May \J1900\j. They covered about 800 kilometres in just ten days, travelling on very poor roads and suffering numerous mishaps.
\BDescription:\b Carriage Museum at Beechworth, Victoria \I(Random House - photo by Ken Stepnell)\i
Australia's first legal motor car race was held at Sandown Park, just outside Melbourne, on 12 March \J1904\j. It was won by Harley Tarrant in a car of his own design. In February \J1905\j Australia's first motor car reliability trial was held in Victoria. The course from \JBallarat\j to Melbourne and return covered a distance of 225 kilometres over dusty, unsealed roads and was won by Harley Tarrant, again in a car of his own design. Putting to shame the expensive imported vehicles, he completed the distance in only 7 hours and 57 minutes.
On 4 August \J1909\j, Parliament enacted a bill to force all owners of motor vehicles to register their vehicles with the appropriate authority. The bill also gave authorities the power to regulate vehicle speed and the use of lights, alarms and bells.
\BDescription:\b Examples of transport in Church Street, Richmond, \J1908\j \I(Random House)\i
#
"Transport 1910-1919",8,"0","First flights in Australia including Houdini","mfilm5ii.avi"
By \J1910\j the motor car and the motor truck were a common sight in almost every city in the Western world and the horse and buggy were slowly being replaced, at least in the cities. In Australia, road building had not kept pace with the development of the motor car and most roads between major cities were nightmarish. While city dwellers enjoyed the luxury of sealed and guttered roads, in most cases the roads reverted to dirt only a few kilometres from the city limits, which made any trip by motor vehicle a very dusty, uncomfortable journey in dry weather, and an absolute misery in the wet. For the time being the motor car was really only suitable for town use, although some brave pioneering motorists were actually racing on these dirt roads and setting records in dashes between cities.
However a revolution was about to begin in Australian road transport with the arrival of the Model T Ford in December \J1910.\j
As a result of the poor condition of the roads, the train was still the most efficient and reliable means of transport and on 15 September \J1912,\j work began on the construction of the rail link between Western Australia and South Australia.
Following on from the Wright brothers' first flight, the development of the aeroplane was continuing at a steady pace, although most aeroplanes were still little more than wood and fabric box-kites with an engine fitted. In Europe and America many brave men and women were blazing trails in aviation. One such man was Harry Houdini, the world renowned escapologist, who arrived in Australia in \J1910\j with a Voisin biplane with the intention of becoming the first man to officially fly a powered aeroplane in Australia. He was, however, deprived of this honour by an Adelaide man, Frederick Custance, who flew his Bleriot monoplane for the first time on 17 March \J1910.\j He remained aloft for approximately 5 minutes and established an Australasian duration record. Four months later a Victorian man, John Duigan, flew the first Australian-built powered aeroplane.
In \J1911,\j William Hart of Sydney became Australia's first licenced pilot and in \J1912\j he won the first air race held in Australia, from Botany in Sydney's eastern suburbs to Parramatta in Sydney's west.
Thanks to the almost universal acceptance of steam power, shipping had been transformed from a somewhat hit or miss system relying on good weather conditions and favourable winds to the stage where arrivals from overseas could be expected almost to the day.
\BViddescription:\b Early experiments with aviation (Fim World)
The roaring twenties were a time of great excitement and record breaking both in Australia and throughout the world; men and women were risking their lives to be the first, go the furthest or be the fastest. On 1 June 1920, Australian airman Bert Hinkler established a new record for the longest non-stop flight when he flew his \IBaby Avro\i from London to Turin in Italy, a distance of over 1,000 kilometres. He went on to break several other flying records over the next decade. Not to be outdone, in the same year two Australian Flying Corp officers, R. Parer and J. McIntosh, made the first flight by single-engined aeroplane from England to Australia, arriving in August in their DH9 biplane.
Charles \JKingsford Smith\j was without doubt our most famous aviator. In partnership with \JCharles Ulm\j he broke many records and established many air routes both within and without Australia. In June \J1927\j they broke the round-Australia flight record in their tri-engined Fokker, the \ISouthern Cross.\i They went on to smash several other records including the trans-Tasman and Australia to England flights.
Another important milestone in the history of Australian aviation and transport took place on 16 November \J1920\j when the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd (QANTAS) was formed at Winton, Queensland, by a partnership of W. \JHudson Fysh,\j Fergus McMaster and Paul McGinness.
The Princes Highway from Sydney to Melbourne via the South Coast was completed on 18 October \J1920\j. Finally the two capital cities were joined by a sealed road, although some sections were still mainly gravel.
On 28 April \J1923\j, construction began on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In the same year, on 5 December, the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) was formed.
On 14 August \J1924\j, an era in Australian transportation came to an end with the last Cobb & Co. coach completing its final run in Queensland.
Sydney's first electric train, one of the original Red Rattlers, made its maiden run from Mortdale in Sydney's south to Central station via Rockdale on 1 March \J1926\j. On 20 December in the same year, Sydney's underground railway opened, with the first train running from Central station to St. James.
\BDescription:\b Paddle steamer at Lane Cove River, Sydney \J1921\j \I(Random House)\i
#
"Transport 1930-1939",11,"g\7\plane.jpg","c","0"
On 1 January \J1930\j, Australian National Airways (ANA), the airline founded by Charles \JKingsford Smith\j ('Smithy') and \JCharles Ulm\j, began the first regular scheduled air service in Australia, between Sydney and Brisbane. By June, the service also operated between Sydney and Melbourne, making it possible to travel from Melbourne to Brisbane in under a day, weather permitting.
News reached Australia of another epic flight by 'Smithy' and his crew. They landed in New York in June \J1930\j, having made the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in a westerly direction. This completed the circumnavigation of the world by air which they had begun in June \J1929\j.
\BDescription:\b In \J1931\j Arthur Butler broke the Eng-Aust record flying solo in 9 days, 1 hr 43 minutes in the lightest aircraft ever flown over this route, a Comper Swift \I(Random House)\i
Record-breaking pilot \JBert Hinkler\j died in a plane crash outside Florence, Italy, in April \J1933.\j Sir Charles \JKingsford Smith\j and his crew were reported missing over the Bay of Bengal on a flight from Australia to England in November \J1935\j; no trace of them was ever found.
On the morning of 20 August \J1930,\j Sydneysiders were greeted with the news that at 10 pm on the previous evening the two arches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge were joined in the middle. Almost two years later, hundreds of thousands of people crowded the harbour foreshores on 19 March \J1932\j to hear the NSW Premier \JJack Lang\j officially open the bridge.
Of more significance to the people of New South Wales was the opening of the rail bridge over the Clarence River at Grafton, on 7 May \J1932.\j This bridge finally allowed the free passage of rail traffic between New South Wales and Queensland: prior to the bridge's completion, passengers had to disembark and cross the river by steamer.
Norman 'Wizard' Smith took his car Anzac to Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand, in January \J1930\j with the intention of breaking the land speed record. Not only did he break the record, which stood at 105 miles (175.4 kilometres) per hour, he shattered it with a speed of 148.637 miles (239.2 kilometres) per hour.
During the 1930s trams were one of the most common forms of public transport in the cities.
\BDescription:\b The cutting of the ribbon at the opening of the Harbour Bridge, March \J1932\j \I(Random House)\i.
#
"Transport 1930-1939 - (3)",13,vauxhall.jpg,c,0
On 19 November \J1937,\j \JHubert Opperman,\j Australia's world famous bicycle racer, created a new record when he cycled around Australia in 13 days, 10 hours and 11 minutes.
It was the beginning of the end for Sydney's trams when they were replaced on the Manly-Northern Beaches run by buses on 30 September \J1938.\j However trams continued to be used in various areas of Sydney until the early 1960s.
\BDescription:\b The new Vauxhall VX in \J1931\j \I(Random House)\i.
#
"Transport 1940-1949",14,"0","g","0"
With the advent of World War II, the manufacturing sector in Australia, as in many other nations, was forced to turn its production over to the war effort. No private vehicles were made and by \J1942\j the number of cars registered had fallen drastically. Petrol rationing was introduced on 1 October \J1940\j, further reducing the numbers of cars on the road. Many companies benefited greatly from the developments in design and engineering which resulted from the war, and General Motors-Holden was no exception. On 29 November \J1948\j the company launched Australia's first mass-produced car.
Throughout this decade most Australians had to go back to relying on public transport so the use of trains, trams, buses and ferries increased. However, in May \J1943\j the New South Wales Government abolished steam trams in that State. It was considered that oil-powered diesel buses were cleaner and more efficient than the trams. Ferries, too, were gradually undergoing the changeover from steam to diesel.
The shipping industry also suffered as a result of the war. The Federal Government requisitioned the majority of coastal ships, which had a devastating impact on shipping services. This provided the railways with an opportunity to step into the breach. And there was trouble on the waterfront to contend with. Requisitioned vessels were not returned to their owners until \J1947\j.
In early \J1946\j the Federal Government established an Airline Commission. This followed its unsuccessful attempt to nationalise the airline industry by taking over private airlines. Later that year the Government established its own airline, Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), which enjoyed a monopoly on domestic air travel for over five years.
Following the end of the war, international air services expanded. On 17 November \J1945\j, Qantas Empire Airways and RAF Transport Command began two new routes, to Fiji and Singapore. The following May, a flying-boat service between England and Australia was reintroduced.
#
"Transport 1950-1959",15,"g\7\72057.jpg","c","0"
In the \J1950\js Australian transport underwent something of a transformation following World War II. The war years had shown up a number of inadequacies in the ability of the armed forces to defend Australia's vast coastline. As a result, a concerted effort to build a road right around Australia (Highway 1) was begun.
After eleven years, every motorist in Australia breathed a sigh of relief on 8 February \J1950\j when the war-time petrol rationing was finally removed. The motor car, especially the Holden, enjoyed great popularity during the fifties, even though the cost of buying one was still fairly high.
On April Fool's Day \J1955\j the first parking meter in Australia went into operation in Hobart, Tasmania.
The use of railways for freighting goods began to decline from \J1950\j as trucks were able to compete more fiercely. During this decade numerous branch lines were closed down. There was also a drop in the number of railway passengers in this time.
In \J1952,\j the Federal Government brought in the two-airline policy which would guarantee the financial security of both the government-owned Trans Australia Airlines and the privately operated Australian National Airlines.
Australia entered the jet age on 2 December \J1955\j with the arrival at Mascot airport of the De Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jetliner.
Electric trams were replaced by buses in two capital cities in \J1958\j; Perth on 19 July and Adelaide on 22 November. However, in Adelaide the city-Glenelg service was retained.
It became possible for Australians to take their car with them for a Tasmanian driving holiday following the introduction on 2 October \J1959\j of the car ferry, \IPrincess of Tasmania.\i Three overnight services a week, between Melbourne and Devonport, were provided.
Difficulties plagued the shipping industry as it tried to recover from the effects of the war. Industrial strife continued, the Federal Government insisted that all new ships be built in Australia at high cost shipyards, and the railways, which were government subsidised, were able to undercut ships on many routes.
\BDescription:\b Classic cars of the twentieth century \I(Waltzing Matilda Enterprises)\i.
By \J1960\j the Australian public was being served with a bewildering choice of motor cars and trucks. General Motors-Holden (GMH) was by far the biggest producer of cars in the country. In \J1962\j GMH announced the production of the one millionth Holden. By now the family car had become a status symbol and more and more Australians were adding garages to their houses.
The internal combustion engine, whether petrol or diesel, gradually replaced most other forms of land transport. The diesel locomotive was replacing steam as the primary power source on the rail system outside the metropolitan areas, while in most capital cities electric trams were being replaced by diesel buses. In Sydney, the last electric tram ran to La Perouse on 25 February \J1961\j, bringing to an end one hundred years of tram service in Sydney. Brisbane retained its electric trams until 13 April \J1969\j.
An RAF Vulcan bomber became the first plane to fly non-stop from England to Australia when it arrived in Australia on 21 June \J1961\j after being refuelled three times in mid-air. On 1 February Qantas began the first V-Jet service to England with Boeing 707s. The first plane to fly across the Pacific without refuelling (a Qantas Boeing 707) landed at Sydney's Mascot Airport on 7 March \J1965\j.
The number of people travelling on domestic flights was steadily increasing, although cost was still a prohibitive factor for many. By now Australians had a choice of two main domestic airlines; government-owned Trans Australia Airlines and Ansett-Australian National Airlines, and a selection of smaller regional airlines.
A milestone in the history of Australian rail transport occurred in \J1962\j when a single gauge system was finally introduced. Up until then there were different gauges between states and sometimes within states. \I(The Southern Aurora\i was the first passenger train to travel on the new track, on 13 April \J1962\j.) Unfortunately, this measure did not result in the hoped for increase in interstate passengers. The suburban railway was still popular as an efficient and cheap method of public transport. The use of freight rail services, however, continued to decline and more branch lines were closed down.
The shipping industry continued to suffer in the \J1960\js. Interstate freight shipping declined, largely due to an increase in industrial disputes but also as a result of competition from road transport. Meanwhile, efforts were being made to improve efficiency in the shipping industry with technological developments and upgraded port facilities.
\BDescription:\b A \J1964\j Falcon \I(Gum Tree Graphics)\i
By now most capital cities boasted freeways, despite protests from people who opposed the destruction of suburban areas to make way for these new roads. Freeways began to be built between cities and these proved more successful than the inner-city ones, drastically reducing travelling time.
Research showed that almost half our road fatalities were alcohol related and many states introduced random breath testing in this decade. This allowed police to stop any motorist to check his or her blood alcohol level.
In January \J1971\j, Victoria introduced legislation making it compulsory to wear seat belts in the front seat of cars where fitted. Seven months later New South Wales followed suit. Soon every state and territory adopted this legislation.
The use of rail for freight continued to decline and more and more branch lines were closed down. In February \J1970\j, the new Indian-Pacific luxury passenger train left Sydney for Perth; it was the first to cross the country on the standard gauge. But by \J1977\j there were very few rail passengers; most people drove their car, patronised the private bus companies or, if they could afford it, travelled by air. In fact, on 28 July \J1978\j the Tasmanian Government announced the cessation of passenger train services due to lack of patronage.
By the end of the decade Brisbane had finally caught up with Sydney and Melbourne and electrified its suburban rail lines.
The \J1970\js saw good times return to the shipping industry. Strong economic growth, combined with efforts at improvement made by the industry over the last decade, led to expansion in both national and international trade.
The number of passengers carried on domestic air services continued to increase; by \J1979\j the figure had surpassed 10 million. More and more airports were being built and expanded; a modern international terminal was opened at Sydney's Mascot airport on 3 May \J1970\j. Later that year domestic and international terminals at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport were opened.
\BDescription:\b A modern international terminal was opened at Sydney's Mascot airport in \J1970\j \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Transport in the 1980s and 1990s",18,"a\1\tony62.jpg","c","0"
Car ownership in Australia continued to increase; at the beginning of the decade 80 per cent of households had at least one car and around 30 per cent had two or more. In \J1980\j over 7,200,000 vehicles (excluding motor cycles) were registered in Australia and the figure jumped to over 10,100,000 by \J1993\j. However, it was and is costly to run a car: for example in \J1985\j it was estimated to cost $60 per week to run a car 10,000 kilometres a year.
Amid great fanfare and celebration, Sydney's alternative harbour crossing, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, was opened to traffic in August \J1992\j.
During the \J1980\js the state rail departments focused on efficient intercity passenger services and improved freight services. In New South Wales, the XPT (Express Passenger Train) commenced service on selected country routes in April \J1982\j, greatly reducing travel time. Four years later Queensland introduced a similar service. In August \J1986\j the \ISouthern Aurora\i and the \ISpirit of Progress\i services were combined to become the Melbourne to Sydney express service. However, the high cost of providing these improvements, combined with two recessions, led to certain restrictions, for example sleeper facilities on many overnight, long-distance services were withdrawn.
Recession also affected the airline industry with many services being cut. Government-owned TAA was pressured to operate at a profit and, after a major restructure, it changed its name to Australian Airlines on 4 August \J1986\j. In September \J1992\j, Qantas purchased Australian Airlines; by October \J1993\j Qantas had completely absorbed the airline and the name Australian Airlines was dropped altogether.
\BDescription:\b Car ownership in Australia is on the increase - Sydney 1990s \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
"Transport in the 1980s and 1990s - (2)",19,"g\7\a4_0096.jpg","c","0"
In 1988 there were 13,704,000 paying passengers on domestic air routes. However, this decade saw a decline in the number of domestic services to inland places.
Industrial trouble hit the airline industry severely in \J1989\j when pilots across the country resigned after they were unable to come to an agreement with the airlines and the Industrial Relations Commission over wages. The dispute lasted three months and caused great disruption to business and much damage to the tourism industry.
The two-airline agreement expired in November \J1990\j, opening up the industry for competition. In \J1990\j a new airline, Compass, took to the skies. Compass offered very low fares on many domestic routes. However, the company was unable to sustain these fares and this, as well as other factors, led to its collapse in \J1992\j. Attempts to revive Compass were eventually unsuccessful.
In \J1995\j, the third runway at Sydney's International Airport began operations, amid thousands of protesters complaining of excessive noise levels.
After reviving in the \J1970\js, the shipping industry once again declined in the \J1980\js due to ongoing industrial disruption, improved land freight services and escalating shipping costs. However, it was still considered preferable to carry bulk cargo by ship rather than on land and this sector of the industry survived better than the general cargo sector. A number of investigations into the industry were carried out and ways of reviving it examined. Because of the huge distances involved, transport costs between the eastern states and the western areas of Australia tend to remain high.
\BDescription:\b The 1980s and 1990s saw many changes to the airline industry \I(Webster Publishing)\i
#
!,!,!,!,!
19#
43,0
"The Original Australians",1,"g\7\daa18.jpg","c","0"
Two separate groups of people make up the original Australians. These are the Aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders.
Prior to \J1788\j, Aborigines occupied all of mainland Australia and most of the inhabitable islands near the coast, including Tasmania.
'Aborigines' was not the name these people used to describe themselves. It was the name given to the first Australians by the Europeans because it means the original inhabitants of the country.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal Art
#
"Aboriginal Names",2,"g\7\4_0094.jpg","c","0"
Aborigines used and still use the names applicable to their own groups. Today's Aborigines are likely to call themselves by the name of the language or territory group to which they belong, for example, Wiradjuri, Pitjantjatjara, Kamilaroi, Gurnai, Aranda.
They may also use a general term like Murri, Koori, Nunga, Nyoongah or Yolgnu. Torres Strait Islanders use the name of their island community to describe themselves, for example, Badu, Murray, Yam, Boigu.
The Torres Strait Islands lie in the Torres Strait which is the stretch of water that separates Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland from Papua New Guinea. The people from these islands form the second group of the original Australians.
\BDescription:\b A group of Aborigines \I(DFAT)\i
#
"Aboriginal Population Before European Invasion",3,"g\7\v7703.jpg","c","0"
Various estimates have been made of the size of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia at the time of European settlement. These estimates range from 300,000 to over one million.
In the years following colonisation the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population declined dramatically under the impact of new diseases, repressive and often brutal treatment, dispossession, and social and cultural disruption and disintegration.
Such data as is available suggests that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population had declined to around 60,000 by the \J1920\js.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal man photographed in the Australian outback in the early part of the twentieth century. \I(Australian Museum)\i
#
"Aboriginal Population Today",4,"g\7\4_0082.jpg","f","0"
Today, the Aboriginal population of Australia numbers around 352,970 people, about 2 per cent of the total Australian population.
According to the 1996 Census, New South Wales had the largest population of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders with 101,485, followed by Queensland with 95,518, Western Australia with 50,793, Northern Territory with 46,277, Victoria with 21,474, South Australia with 20,444, Tasmania with 13,873 and the Australian Capital Territory with 2,899.
"Aboriginal Population Since 1971",5,"g\7\4_0072.jpg","f","0"
Counts and estimates of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations have been attempted at every national census since Federation. The figures were not included, however, in the official count of the Australian population until the \J1971\j Census.
In the \J1971\j Census, a total of 115,953 persons identified themselves as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. At subsequent censuses the figures have been:
\B1976\b - 160,915
\B1981\b - 159,897
\B1986\b - 227,645
\B1991\b - 265,492
\B1996\b - 352,970
It is believed that a substantial proportion of the increases reflects a growing willingness of people to identify themselves as Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders. There have also been some changes over the period in the form of the question asked in the Census, and improvements in collection procedures.
It is not possible to estimate the significance of these special factors and thereby to identify underlying trends more accurately. Nor is it possible to utilise data on registrations of births and deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide some check on inter-censal trends, as not all States and Territories identify Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders separately in their records. There is, in any event, some concern about the accuracy of the data that is available.
Despite these limitations it is clear that over the last two decades the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has been growing much more rapidly than the overall Australian population.
There are no records of the size of the population of the Torres Strait Islands prior to the initial contact in 1606 with European ships or later British merchant ships, which began to use the Torres Strait more often in the early 19th Century.
From the time the Europeans arrived, the population of the Torres Strait began to decline. This was mainly because of the diseases the ships brought with them and the violent battles fought between ships' crews and the Islanders.
Today, there are about 28,744 Torres Strait Islanders, although only 5,000 live on the Torres Strait Islands themselves. The rest reside in Australia, mainly in Queensland.
\BDescription:\b Torres Strait Islanders on Thursday Island \I(DFAT)\i.
#
"The Changing Landscape",7,"g\7\v2162.jpg","c","0"
Aboriginal people have been in Australia for more than 50,000 years. Archaeological research has led to the gradual discovery that during this enormously long time there were great changes in the geography of Australia.
Some 30,000 years ago the country was mainly a green and pleasant land in which giant animals roamed, lakes were full, and mountains were snow covered.
Conversely, 15,000 years ago the land was even more heartbreaking than it is now, with the desert core hugely enlarged, and sand dunes blowing in Victoria and even Tasmania.
Around 10,000 years ago the climate and vegetation patterns reached approximately their present condition. Throughout the Ice Ages sea levels had fluctuated. At their lowest point Australia formed one giant land mass from the bottom of Tasmania through to New Guinea.
A major thrust of archaeological research has been the examination of the kinds of adaptive responses which Aboriginal people made to these changes.
\BDescription:\b Early Aborigines \I(Australian Museum)\i
#
"People Adapting to Change",8,"0","An Aborigine preparing to hunt","aborig2.avi"
Throughout the 50,000 years or more that Aboriginal people have been on the continent, they have had to adapt to dramatic changes in their environment caused by variations in climate and movement of landmasses. Today, we can see evidence of some of these adaptive responses by examining changes in the tools and art of the Aboriginal people.
Stone tools show little change through the Pleistocene period (from about two million to 10,000 years ago). These are choppers and scrapers, used mainly to create other tools of wood and are simple in form. Wooden tools rarely survive in the earth, but we know from one unique archaeological find that the boomerang and the barbed spear were invented more than 10,000 years ago.
Rock art indicates changes in wooden tools and such other perishable items as headdresses. Around 5,000 years ago there was a radical change in the stone tools themselves, with small, delicately worked points and blades beginning to be produced. This change may have been associated with the use of composite tools, that is, these with points attached to a spear in place of a sharpened wooden end.
Throughout the long history of the Aboriginal people there were many changes more important than technological ones. Many different styles of rock art appeared in different regions and changed over time, from stylised, symbolic ancient engravings to the colourful X-ray art of the north and the vivid hunting scenes of east and west.
Together with changes in burial practices, such differences may reflect changing religious beliefs and rituals.
\BViddescription:\b Outback Australia (Film Australia)
#
"The First Visitors",9,"g\3\0328.jpg","c","0"
It is not known when the first overseas visitors came to Australia. Certainly contact with the people of Papua New Guinea goes back thousands of years. In some Aboriginal oral traditions there are stories of people who came from the sea.
There is historical evidence to show that a number of visitors began to sail close to the Australian coast and even came ashore briefly from the 15th Century on.
There is some reason to believe the great Chinese admiral of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Cheng Ho, was the earliest of the explorers to visit Australia. He made seven great voyages of discovery between 1405 and 1432, visiting regions bordering the Indian Ocean including East Africa, India, Java and Sumatra.
In 1432 Cheng Ho may have also landed near where Darwin now stands. A Chinese statuette found in Darwin in \J1879\j and some porcelain found in the Gulf of Carpentaria support this theory but the evidence is not conclusive.
\BDescription:\b Illustration - New Guinea men on boat \I(RAHS)\i
#
"The Melanesians",10,"g\3\0328.jpg","c","0"
In the north, beginning hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago, there were two groups who regularly visited Australia. From the north-east, using Torres Strait as a north-south highway for canoes, came the Melanesians.
The Melanesians travelled considerable distances down both sides of Cape York, bringing and trading such items as improved fishing equipment, drums and the songs that went with them, new Dreaming stories, and the canoes themselves. A similar range of cultural and technological items returned north with them.
From the north-west came the Macassan fleets manned by Indonesian fishermen, the first of the ocean-going sailing ships which would continue to reach Australia in their hundreds in the years to come.
\BDescription:\b Illustration - New Guinea men on boat \I(RAHS)\i
#
"The Macassans",11,"d\10\6_0049.jpg","c","0"
For a period of 200 years from about 1700 to just after the end of the 19th Century, at least 1,000 Macassans came south each year in their fishing \Ipraus\i from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
They came to the Arnhem Land and Kimberley coasts to fish for the sea slug \Itrepang\i or \Ibeche-de-mer\i, which they cured on the spot and took back for their own trading purposes.
They traded such items as tobacco, iron and glass, and some technological know-how, for the privilege of fishing in Aboriginal territorial waters, and their visits were commemorated in song, ceremony and art.
These visits are well documented in Aboriginal art and stories and some Macassan words have been preserved in a few Aboriginal languages. Their presence is also evidenced in the technology and plants they introduced and in archaeological sites in northern Australia.
Some Aboriginal families today have Macassan ancestors and relations. As regular visitors they were generally welcomed by Aborigines who sometimes travelled back with them to Macassar. However, the Australian Government finally put a stop to these visits in \J1907\j because of their threat to English pearling interests.
\BDescription:\b The Arnhem Land coastline \I(DFAT)\i
#
"The Portuguese and Spanish",12,"g\7\5_0006.jpg","c","0"
In the 16th and 17th Centuries the Portuguese and Spanish navigators pioneered the trans-Pacific sea routes. A Spanish attempt to colonise the Great South Land went awry when the land they proclaimed in 1606 as 'Australia del Espiritu Santo' proved to be an island in today's Vanuatu.
The commander, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, parted company with his deputy, Luis Vaez de Torres, who went on to sail through the strait that bears his name. The Spanish crews captured a number of Islanders to take back to Spain but it is not certain whether they arrived; all that is known is that they reached the Philippines.
The first known European paintings of Torres Strait Islanders were made by Torres' deputy commander, Diego Prado de Tovar, on this voyage in 1606.
\BDescription:\b Artifacts found on Spanish Galleons \I(DFAT)\i
#
"The English",13,"g\7\rsmh21.jpg","c","0"
Despite negative reports in 1688 from the English pirate \JWilliam Dampier\j about the land and the people, the English had their eyes fixed on territory in the Pacific. Dampier had formed a poor opinion of the country and the people when he landed on the coast of Western Australia.
Later Captain James Cook was instructed to take possession of land in the South Pacific for the British Crown. This Cook duly did when he sailed up the fertile east coast of the continent.
At Possession Island, off Cape York Peninsula on 23 August, 1770 he took possession of the whole of the eastern coast in the name of King George III.
Cook's impression of the Aborigines after he had met some was that they were "far happier than we Europeans." The Aborigines he met did not want to part with their own artifacts for the European goods Cook offered them and Cook formed the impression they thought themselves "provided with all the necessities of life".
Nevertheless in keeping with the attitudes of his time Cook did not consider the rights of the Aboriginal inhabitants to ownership of the land when he took possession of "the whole Eastern Coast... by the name of New South Wales" in the name of the English King.
\BDescription:\b Cook's landing at Botany Bay May 1770 \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
#
"January 1788",14,"g\1\pl21.jpg","c","0"
18 January \J1788\j marked the beginning of an abrupt change in the human history of the Australian continent. On this day, the first of a fleet of ships from England sailed into Botany Bay. Some days later the assembled fleet sailed a few miles north of Botany Bay and anchored in a great harbour called Port Jackson.
The ships carried convict men and women, marine guards and the officers sent to govern them. On 26 January \J1788\j a flag was hoisted and with speeches, proclamations and the firing of muskets, a new British colony was established.
Eora clan lands in \J1788\j bordered those parts of the harbour where the invasion began. It was not long before conflict developed between the Eora people and English officers and convicts. As the newcomers began helping themselves to Eora food resources and their possessions (such as spears, baskets and fish nets) and began interfering with their women, confrontation was inevitable even though Governor Phillip had specific instructions from the British Government to make friends with the native population.
In March and May \J1788\j the Eora were reported as having speared various convicts, and by November of the same year \JGovernor Phillip\j said that race relations were not improving.
Aborigines from around Botany Bay were especially resentful of the manner by which the British occupied their lands. Cook fired on them when he landed but Phillip's tentative dealings with them on his journeys around the bay were without violence or bloodshed. Nevertheless, resistance grew.
\BDescription:\b Portrait of \JGovernor Phillip\j \I(Mitchell Library)\i
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"The Fight for Land",15,"g\6\68smh.jpg","c","fight10"
It was two years after settlement when relations between the Aborigines around Sydney and the British broke down completely.
On 10 December \J1790\j, the first of a succession of courageous Aboriginal guerilla leaders was noted in dispatches. His name was Pemulwuy and when on this day he speared the Governor's gamekeeper, John McIntire, in retaliation for dreadful crimes against the Eora, twelve years of guerilla warfare commenced. With guerilla bands, Pemulwuy fought against the New South Wales Corps until he was killed by two bounty hunters in \J1802\j.
The Dharuk people from the Cumberland plains area beyond Parramatta also began to fight for their lands. A battle took place between them and members of the New South Wales Corps on Richmond Hill (now known as the Hawkesbury near North Richmond) in June \J1795\j.
From \J1788\j to \J1830\j the Eora, the Dharuk and other coastal people to the north and south of Sydney found their lands taken from them, their bravest warriors hunted and killed, and their families decimated by murder and disease. Within the first two years of settlement nearly half the Aborigines living in the Port Jackson area had died of smallpox, a disease introduced by the Europeans and to which the Aborigines had no immunity. Only small pockets of people were left to survive in their own country.
Dispossession and what turned out almost to be genocide marked the pattern of occupation of Aboriginal lands for the next hundred years. This pattern was established in the first few decades after the arrival of the First Fleet. Until the end of the 19th Century, Aboriginal people throughout the continent resisted the occupation of their lands by the British.
These battles tended to be misrepresented by the British. Their reports referred only to the 'dispersing of natives', 'rounding up of treacherous savages', and 'the murder of peaceful settlers'. Seldom did either official dispatches or news reports acknowledge that a state of war existed. Today, historians are piecing together a history of Aboriginal people resisting white settlement and fighting for their lands.
\BDescription:\b Violence between Aborigines and white settlers \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"The Dreamtime",16,"g\7\32100017.jpg","c","0"
Aboriginal religious tradition places the origin of each Aboriginal clan in its own land. Central to Aboriginal religious beliefs are the ancestral creative beings who shaped the land and created the plants, reptiles, insects, fishes, birds and people.
These ancestral creative beings journeyed across the continent in the Dreamtime; they emerged from the subterranean or heavenly world and moved over the featureless earth.
The places where they first appeared and the land that they covered on their journeys became the billabongs and rivers, the rocks, the hills and mountains, and all the features of the environment.
At the same time, the ancestral creative beings placed in this setting all of life, human, animal and plant, in an interconnected system of relationships. This done, they retired to the sea, underground, or to the heavens, but they have never really left their creations. Their creative forces are still active in the land and may be summoned and revitalised through the performance of a cycle of rituals.
Although invisible, the ancestral creative beings remain a vital force that have the power to intervene in the lives of the animals and people they have created. One of the most important and powerful spirits was, and is, the Rainbow Serpent.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal art \I(Lowanna King)\i
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"Links with the Land",17,"f\10\4_0080.jpg","c","0"
As in the past, Aboriginal clans today hold deep religious links with their lands which were formed in the Dreamtime. The land belongs to the Aborigines and the Aborigines to the land. They are bound in everlasting union.
The great ancestral creative beings, who journeyed across the continent at the beginning of time, established the land boundaries between different Aboriginal groups and the sacred sites.
Carrying out ritual obligations at these sacred sites and performing religious ceremonies are the ways by which Aborigines feel bound to their lands and protective towards them.
Totems represent the link between Aborigines and the ancestral creative beings. The kangaroo, for instance, is a manifestation of the Kangaroo ancestral being, the barramundi the Barramundi ancestor.
Humans get their spiritual identification from these totems at birth or just before they are born. Just before a mother becomes aware of her baby she or her husband is given a sign (perhaps in a dream, or in a strange experience or a trance-like vision) that a spirit child has entered her womb.
A magpie may fly into the path of the mother while she is out walking. This may be the sign that she is pregnant so, when the baby is born, he or she is spiritually linked to the Magpie ancestral being and the child belongs to that Magpie Dreaming or totem. In this way, a person may be linked to a kangaroo, a barramundi, a plant or something in the heavens.
Aborigines, therefore, are directly linked to an ancestral being via that being's appearance in their subconscious or by its physical manifestation in the landscape. It is a spiritual link and is sometimes called a person's Dreaming.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal man carving a totem \I(DFAT)\i
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"Spirituality",18,"g\7\4_0077.jpg","f","0"
Aboriginal people are bound to their land by spiritual links with ancestral beings and the beings' physical manifestation in the landscape.
Away from their own lands, Aborigines are endangered by spiritual forces whose powers they can neither assess nor control. Even within their own lands there are places where they are in spiritual danger. These are places not open to them (because they have not been initiated into their mysteries) or places they fail to approach with due respect.
By contrast, there are places in their own land to which particular Aborigines are tied by personal spiritual links and these are places to which their spirit will return when they die. These are safe places for them.
Each clan's land is dotted with sites of spiritual significance. Clans and particular individuals have responsibility for these places. They have to see that they are cared for, kept free from unauthorised visitors and are served by proper ritual performances when these fall due. These performances bring back the ancestral beings' powers which, when released, renew the land and all life in it.
\BDescription:\b Aborigine in the outback \I(DFAT)\i
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"Sacred Sites",19,"g\7\57smh.jpg","c","0"
The sites of spiritual significance or 'sacred sites' as they tend to be called now, form part of the 'ritual estate' of each Aboriginal clan.
Those responsible for a sacred site are accountable to the whole clan for the way in which they carry out their ritual tasks. Any negligence can cause great harm to their people, for instance, food and water supplies may run short, natural disasters may overwhelm them or a mysterious illness may afflict the group.
Punishments, laid down in the Dreamtime, are harsh for those who neglect their spiritual responsibilities.
\BDescription:\b An Aboriginal Sacred Rock \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Aboriginal Folklore and Caring for the Land",20,"0","g","0"
Caring for the land does not rely entirely on the performance of ritual. Ritual releases the spiritual power necessary to make the estate and all things in it fertile, but long experience has taught the Aboriginal people that the power of the spirit is helped by certain actions.
Setting fire to the grasses, for instance, encourages new growth which attracts animals and birds to feed on the fresh food, and careful husbanding of animal and food supplies allows for a basic stock to be left which regenerates in the new season. Replanting of the root-top and vine ensures the regrowth of many edible root plants.
The basic social unit in Aboriginal society is the family. Small groups of families reside together and form a 'band'. The size of a band varies considerably depending mainly on the availability of food. A band, then, is a number of families who live and hunt together.
In a band there are different 'clans'. All members of a clan are descended from a common ancestor. They could be descended from the Possum ancestor or Kangaroo ancestor or any other ancestral being.
People cannot marry members of the same clan. Because 'bands' comprise married people with families, their members represent a number of different clans. This means that in a band there may be Possum people married to Kangaroo people, or Magpie people married to Snake people. A band is a residential group whereas a clan is a descent group.
Clan members share the responsibility for looking after their ritual estate and it is the clan that constitutes the major political unit in Aboriginal society. The clan comes together only to share in seasonally abundant resources, to carry out ceremonial rituals, arrange marriages and to settle inter-clan disputes. A number of clans will meet together for major ceremonies.
\BDescription:\b An Aboriginal family \I(Australian Museum)\i
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"Maintaining Unity",22,"g\7\61smh.jpg","c","0"
The greatest contributors to maintaining unity were probably the great ceremonial meetings which took place in all parts of Australia when seasonal conditions were suitable and abundant food sources were available.
People travelled hundreds of kilometres to such gatherings, and hundreds, perhaps thousands of people could gather for some weeks on each occasion.
These gatherings were a chance to catch up on news from distant places, arrange marriages, sit down with kinfolk who had not been seen for a year or more, hear new stories and take part in new dances. These were times when the elders could find out what environmental conditions were like in surrounding areas, settle disputes, and learn such things as new techniques for making fine stone points.
\BDescription:\b An Aboriginal tribe at a ceremony \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Ancient Art",23,"g\7\4_0094.jpg","f","0"
Aboriginal art began at least 40,000 years ago. Ochre was used to paint the corpses of the dead. Body ornaments found in graves attest that body decoration was an ancient tradition as was cave painting and rock engraving.
Australia boasts the most extensive and most elaborate series of cave and rock shelter paintings to be found anywhere in the world. These paintings are believed to be the work of the ancestral creative beings.
Aboriginal 'curators' preserve these paintings by retouching them when the colours fade or when they are damaged.
Not all the paintings are quite so ancient, however, for there are fresh hand stencils and paintings of ships, horses, cattle and men with guns that are the work of more recent artists. Many of these newer paintings record the history of initial contact between Aborigines and Europeans.
\BDescription:\b Preparing for a corroboree \I(DFAT)\i
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"Innovative Art",24,"g\7\60smh.jpg","f","0"
Probably the first time that white Australians became conscious of Aborigines as artists was in the late \J1940\js and \J1950\js when \JAlbert Namatjira\j's watercolours of Central Australia captured the attention of the art market.
Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have always been innovative in their art, both in terms of styles, techniques and materials. By adopting a Western style of painting, Namatjira was in fact following an ancient Aboriginal art custom that encouraged experimentation and innovation.
Only in religious art, the art produced for use in ritual performance, is there an insistence on maintaining traditional styles and keeping traditional representations.
It is generally believed that, like the land, these traditional representations are part of the spiritual inheritance bequeathed to the various clans by the ancestral beings. In the past, and still today in many places, certain art designs may only be seen by initiates attending particular ritual ceremonies.
Furthermore, the secret meanings of these sacred paintings can only be revealed to initiates. Although today some of this secrecy has been relaxed and religious paintings are gradually being shown to others. However, the full significance of the symbols and the deep spirituality of the stories are never revealed.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginals with their backs painted for a ceremony exemplify the talent of the Aboriginal artists \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Bark Painting",25,"g\7\v7830.jpg","f","0"
Bark paintings were traditionally prepared as an accompaniment to sculptures and carvings for religious ceremonies. They only had life and significance in the ceremony and after the ceremony they were discarded or hidden away.
Some very early bark paintings have been preserved in anthropological museum collections and art museums throughout the world.
Painting on bark as an art form only really became established from around the \J1960\js when, under the urging of missionary staff, Aboriginal painters began to sell their bark paintings. To do this they developed techniques for fixing the ochres and clay to the bark and for binding the head and foot of the bark sheets to prevent them from curling.
Bark paintings that are sold contain only public images that may be seen by all, but whose meanings, in many instances, are known fully only to senior men or women.
Styles vary considerably across the whole of northern Australia and, as with desert artists, the distinctive styles of individual artists and of groups of artists within a family can be recognised. Since bark has to be stripped in sheets from suitable trees, painters have to work with fairly narrow oblong shapes which affect the stylisation of many of the human and spirit forms or animals and fish that they represent.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal displaying weapons; note traditional bark painting on shield \I(DFAT)\i
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"Desert Art",26,"g\7\daa23.jpg","c","0"
One innovation in Aboriginal art that proved exceptionally successful was initiated by a non-Aboriginal teacher at Papunya school in Central Australia. He aroused interest among the senior Aboriginal men in the community in \J1971\j when he asked them for advice on painting a traditional Dreaming story in a school mural.
In the end the men themselves took over the mural and then were inspired to transfer many of the desert Dreaming stories to board using acrylic paints.
The traditional desert painting was done in sand using ground ochre, feathers, hair, string, clay, plant fibre and blood. These paintings were prepared for strictly secret men's or women's ceremonies and were always destroyed by the end of it, so desert art was mainly ephemeral.
The use of board or canvas and acrylic paints made it possible to transfer some of the ceremonial designs onto this more permanent form. The strictly sacred designs that only initiated men or women could see were not used; the artists transferred designs that were open for all to see, even though in some cases only the initiated fully understood them.
Each initiated individual inherits rights to a number of public Dreaming stories and designs, so there is no limit to the number of paintings that each artist may do. Each artist paints in a distinctive way but within the style of their own group.
The names of many desert artists are now well established in the art world and the work of some fetch high prices on the national and international art market.
Today there are many emerging urban Aboriginal artists who also draw on their ancient art traditions. These artists blend traditional images with the images of their own world and experiences.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal rock paintings \I(Webster Publishing)\i
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"Aboriginal Desert Art - (2)",27,"g\7\daa1.jpg","c","0"
The Aboriginal rock art contained in these pictures was photographed within Kakadu National Park. Click on the Display Next Picture arrow (underneath the picture) to view more Aboriginal rock art.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal rock art
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\BDescription20:\b Aboriginal rock art
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"Law and Tradition",28,"g\8\v2101.jpg","f","0"
Aboriginal laws were encoded in each group's religious tradition. According to that tradition the ancestral creative beings decided the rights and responsibilities and the consequent behaviours of all things in the land that they had made.
For humans, their social organisation, relationships, religious responsibilities to the land and their rights over it were all set out at the time of creation. They were encoded in the stories of that time which were handed down from generation to generation in the dance, music and art of religious ceremony.
They were also in the oral tradition passed on by the guardians of that tradition who had gained access to it as initiates.
All Aboriginal and Islander people were familiar with their own laws and with the daily rights and obligations they imposed. From early childhood they learnt what the law allowed and what it forbade.
They knew both the spiritual dangers and the punishments that threatened the law breaker, and they witnessed the process by which offences against the law were notified, verified, argued and decided.
\BDescription:\b Children playing games designed to teach them about the laws and traditions of the Aboriginal culture \I(Australian Museum)\i
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"The Process of Law",29,"g\8\v7829.jpg","f","0"
The process of law was one of political negotiation that involved most members of the community. Aborigines made sure that in matters of law not only was justice done but that justice was seen to be done.
When there was a dispute, senior members of the community made investigations to discover the seriousness of the offence.
Offences regarded as unlawful included unauthorised killing of a person, sacrilege, incest, adultery, theft, unauthorised physical assault, insult and neglect of kinship obligations.
When the guilt and gravity of the crime were established, it was then important to fix a punishment that the community agreed was appropriate. Punishments could range from making compensation over an agreed period to having to face a squad of spearmen with only a shield and one's agility as protection.
Disputes between Aboriginal groups were settled by negotiation, ritual punishment or formal battles. Settling disputes under Aboriginal law was part of the purpose for the great gatherings of Aboriginal groups that took place periodically.
\BDescription:\b Two Aboriginal men punishing another under Aboriginal law \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Aboriginal Law Vs English Law",30,"g\8\v7829.jpg","f","!"
The experience of living under two systems of law, the English and Aboriginal, has not been a happy one for all original Australians. In every Australian State and Territory, Aborigines and Islanders have a high rate of imprisonment that is far out of proportion to their numbers in the community.
Today, in many parts of Australia, Aborigines continue to settle offences under their own law. In doing so they frequently find themselves in trouble under Anglo-Australian law. Recently, some attempts have been made to recognise Aboriginal customary law in the Australian legal system.
The Australian Law Reform Commission has also produced a report exploring the relationship between traditional Aboriginal law and Anglo-Australian law.
\BDescription:\b Two Aboriginal men punishing another under Aboriginal law \I(Fairfax Photo Library)\i
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"Two Categories of Language",31,"g\8\4_0093.jpg","c","0"
Before \J1788\j approximately 270 separate and distinct languages, each with numerous dialects, were spoken in Aboriginal Australia. There may have been as many as 600 to 700 dialects.
Aboriginal languages fall into one of two categories. In one, words inflect for case, tense and mood as in Latin or Greek. In the other, the verb carries information about the person and the number of both its subject and its object. In this it resembles American Indian languages.
This latter category of languages is found only in north-western Australia. The other category is found throughout the rest of Australia.
Torres Strait Island languages also fall into one of two categories. People of the eastern islands speak Meriam Mir which is related to, but different from, Papuan languages. Kala Lagaw Y is spoken on the western and central islands. It is related to, but also different from, the Aboriginal languages of Cape York. Distinct dialects of the language are used on different islands.
\BDescription:\b Aboriginal child \I(DFAT)\i
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"Grammar and Sounds",32,"g\8\4_0093.jpg","c","0"
Aboriginal languages have about twenty sounds. They do not use all the sounds in English and there are some sounds in Aboriginal languages that are not used in English.
Besides their distinctive sounds, Australian languages have typical grammatical features which give them great flexibility. For instance, they use a range of pronouns which make it possible to include or to exclude the person spoken to in a statement, so in Ngandi, an eastern Arnhem Land language, 'njer' means 'all of us but not you' whilst 'ngorkor' means 'all of us including you'.
Aboriginal languages are distinctly Australian. Research has not succeeded in linking them to any other language families. Yet as languages they compare in every way with other languages spoken by people throughout the world. They are capable of precision, of subtlety, of degrees of emotion and of poetic statement.
They have the flexibility to incorporate new concepts and ideas, to name, to describe and to explain new technical items and procedures and to adapt words from other languages.
At least fifty of the more than two hundred original Australian languages are no longer spoken. Another hundred languages have fewer than a hundred speakers, usually much fewer. For some, when the last speakers of the language die, the language will die with them.
Speakers of languages in this category are greatly concerned. They want their languages to survive and be passed on to their children. This is not easy. It takes considerable expertise to record, analyse and document languages to the stage where they can be formally taught.
At the same time, there is great pressure on 'weak' languages. Their small number of speakers increasingly find themselves having to use 'strong' languages in order to be able to communicate. These 'strong' languages may be other Aboriginal languages, a commonly spoken language like Kriol, or English.
Children, especially, are under pressure to speak the language of the school, the shop and the radio, which is English, Kriol, or another 'strong' Aboriginal language.
Some fifty Aboriginal languages are still regarded as 'strong'. Each is the first language of several hundred speakers and it is generally spoken throughout the day. Often it is used as the beginning language of instruction in schools, and students will become literate and numerate in that language before gaining oracy and literacy skills in English.
Some of these languages are also used in radio and television programs broadcast to Aborigines and Islanders in remote communities in Australia.
It is very important that these Aboriginal languages which are still spoken and regarded as 'strong' are kept that way for future generations. They are a vital part of Australia's ancient multilingual tradition.
\BDescription:\b An Aboriginal man at work \I(DFAT)\i
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"Oral Tradition and Ceremonies",34,"g\8\6_0047.jpg","c","0"
Losing a language is not just to lose a method of communication, it is also to lose part of a cultural tradition. This is especially so when, as in the case of Aboriginal languages, the spoken word and the ritual arts are the main means of preserving and transmitting that culture.
All ancient cultures have oral traditions in which the stories of their creation have been carefully preserved. The oral tradition of Aboriginal and Islander people is still active but, increasingly, efforts are being made to record the traditional stories in writing.
The oral traditions are imprinted on the Australian countryside in the form of mountains, hills and lakes. All are natural memorials of the ancient past and are the evidence that the sagas describing the Dreamtime really took place many thousands of years ago.
For example, the ancestral creative being Kuniya, the carpet snake, camped and hunted by a waterhole on a large flat sandhill. The sandhill turned to stone and became Uluru (\JAyers Rock\j). Pools, hills, jumbled stones, monoliths, lakes, rivers, rocks whose shapes resemble people, animals or familiar objects, stains on rock faces, caves - many are monuments to the ancestral creative beings.
Many of them are actual sites where ancestral creative beings still reside and use their powers for good or evil, depending on how well or badly they may be treated.
The storytellers who guard and narrate the events of the ancestral creative beings' journeys can only tell about that part of a journey that occurred in their own land. This is the only part for which they are responsible. No one person will know and therefore be able to tell all the stories that happened on each of the great creation journeys.
\BDescription:\b Carving a burial pole \I(DFAT)\i
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"Uluru Handover",35,0.wpf,c,ayers3.avi
One of the most important ceremonies in recent years for the Aboriginal people has been the handing back of Ayers Rock to its orginal owners. This happened in November \J1983,\j when the Federal Labor Government was elected to power.
This was not without controversy, however, as for several years this caused many political arguments between the Federal and State Governments and the Federal Opposition.
In November, \J1983\j a special handover ceremony occurred at the base of \JAyers Rock.\j Sir \JNinian Stephen,\j Australia's Governor-General at the time, performed the official handover task.
\BViddescription:\b Handing back Uluru (Film Australia)
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"Eddie Mabo and Native Title",36,"g\2\pl120.jpg","c","0"
In May 1982, Eddie Mabo and four other Meriam people of the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait began action in the High Court of Australia seeking confirmation of their traditional land rights. They claimed that Murray Island (Mer) and surrounding islands and reefs had been continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed by the Meriam people who lived in permanent communities with their own social and political organisation.
They conceded that the British Crown in the form of the colony of Queensland became sovereign of the islands when they were annexed in 1879. Nevertheless, they claimed continued enjoyment of their land rights and that these had not been validly extinguished by the sovereign. They sought recognition of these continuing rights from the Australian legal system. The case was heard over ten years through both the High Court and the Queensland Supreme Court. During this time, three of the plaintiffs, including Eddie Mabo, died.
On 3 June 1992, the High Court, by a majority of six to one, upheld the claim and ruled that the lands of this continent were not terra nullius, or land belong to no-one, when European settlement occurred, and that the Meriam people were "entitled as against the whole world to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of (most of) the lands of the Murray Islands."
The decision repeated the doctrine that Australia was terra nullius - a land belonging to no-one when Europeans arrived. The High Court judgement found that native title rights survived settlement, though subject to the sovereignty of the Crown. The judgement contained statements to the effect that it could not perpetuate a view of the common law which is unjust, does not respect all Australians as equal before the law, is out to step with international human rights norms, and is consistent with historical reality. The High Court recognised the fact that Aboriginal people had lived in Australia for thousands of years and enjoyed rights to their land according to their own laws and customs. They had been dispossessed of their lands piece by piece as the colony grew and that very dispossession underwrote the development of Australia into a nation.
The \INative Title Act 1993\i is part of the Commonwealth Government's response to that historical High Court decision.
\BDescription:\b Gurindji leader, Vincent Lingiari, discussing land rights with tribal elders at Wattie Creek \I(Peter Luck)\i
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"Native Title Act",37,6_0025.jpg,c,0
The Prime Minister said in December 1993 during the passage of the Native Title Bill through Parliament:
"...as a nation, we take a major step towards a new and better relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. We give the indigenous people of Australia, at last, the standing they are owed as the original occupants of this continent, the standing they are owed as seminal contributors to our national life and culture; as workers, soldiers, explorers, artists, sportsmen and women - as a defining element in the character of this nation - and the standing they are owed as victims of grave injustices, as people who have survived the loss of their land and the shattering of their culture."
The Government was simultaneously presented with an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity was to improve the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, and recognise their basic property rights. The challenge was how to respond to the land management issues because these property rights were recognised.
The Prime Minister said also during the passage of the legislation through Parliament that the Government made its twin objectives clear in its response to \IMabo:\i to do justice to the High Court decision in protecting native title, and to ensure workable, certain land management.
The Act does five things:
* It recognises and protects native title.
* It provides for the validation of any past grants of land that may otherwise have been invalid because of the existence of native title.
* It provides a regime to enable future dealings in native title lands and imposes conditions on those dealings.
* It establishes a regime to ascertain where native title exists, who holds it and what it is, and to determine compensation for acts affecting it.
* It creates a land acquisition fund to meet the needs of dispossessed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who would not be able to claim native title.
In the Act, the Commonwealth has adopted the common law definition of native title. Native title is defined as the rights under the traditional laws and customs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and that are recognised by common law. Native title will be subject to the general laws of Australia, including State and Territory laws that are consistent with the Act, although native title rights to hunt, fish and carry on other activities may be exercised without the need for a licence or permit where others can carry out the activity only with a licence or permit.
The legislation represents a point of balance that recognises everyone's interests: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who need their property rights and cultural rights recognised and respected; land developers - miners, pastoralists, tourist operators and others - who need access to land and certainty of title; and State and Territory Governments that need to manage land resources.
The Native Title Act came into operation on 1 January 1994. From that time, no action may validly be taken in relation to land that is subject to native title except in accordance with the Act. Where land has been subject to certain types of tenure such as freehold, any native title to that land has been extinguished. In such cases, any action in relation to that land, such as the processing of mining applications, may proceed. However, if it is not clear from the tenure history that native title would have been extinguished on the land in question, for example, on vacant Crown land, then the proposed dealings in land would have to proceed with due regard for native title under the Act.
\BDescription:\b Traditional land holders at Uluru \I(DFAT)\i
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"National Native Title Tribunal",38,"g\8\yaoy0256.jpg","c","0"
The Act provides for a systematic legal framework to deal with matters affecting native title. The new National Native Title Tribunal has the power to determine uncontested native title and compensation claims and will handle other issues including assisting negotiations and making decisions on proposed grants. The Act gives jurisdiction to the Federal Court to determine contested claims. The Tribunal is based in Perth and there are registries in all capital cities. The first head of the Tribunal was Justice Robert French, whose appointment as President commenced on 2 May 1994 for three years. Among other things in a distinguished career, Justice French helped found, and later became Chairman of, the Aboriginal Legal Service in Western Australia.
The procedures of the Tribunal and those of the Federal Court are designed to be fair, just, economical and prompt. Those procedures must take account of the cultural and customary concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and are not bound by legal forms or rules of evidence. This ensures that there will be sensitivity to traditional laws and customs. At the same time, there are safeguards against frivolous and vexatious claims, which will be rejected, and applications must contain sufficient information about the claims and must specify the area covered.
The Native Title Act provides an innovative and accessible approach to settle native claims. For example, the Act confirms the potential to settle difficult cases by negotiation and further recognises that agreements might be reached on a regional basis.
The Act also sets out criteria to be satisfied in order to ensure that there is a nationally consistent approach to the recognition of native title so that State and Territory tribunals and processes can be recognised in order to fulfil the functions of the National Tribunal.
\BDescription:\b Traditional Aboriginal rock art \I(All Our Yesterdays)\i
#
"Role of the States and Territories",39,"0","g","0"
The Act is designed to allow a cooperative regime between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories by enabling their own bodies to be set up to determine native title, compensation claims and whether future dealings in native land can be done. States and Territories can enact complementary validating legislation and develop other appropriate processes.
Most States and Territories enacted or introduced legislation intended to validate their past acts. The legislation of several States also makes provision for arrangements to determine whether future dealings in native title land can take place.
Where such State or Territory legislation exists and has been recognised, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will have a choice as to whether they seek determinations of native title and compensation through the Commonwealth or State or Territory systems. Determinations on whether certain grants over native title land can proceed would be made under the State or Territory law.
#
"Compensation and Non-claimant Applications",40,"0","g","0"
Native title holders are entitled to compensation for the effect of the validation of past acts on their rights. That compensation is payable by the Government that made the past act.
If a future act extinguishes or impairs native title, the native title holders will be entitled to compensation on essentially the same basis as someone who holds a freehold title (or leasehold in the Australian Capital Territory or Jervis Bay Territory), according to the relevant compensation laws.
The National Native Title Tribunal can deal with uncontested claims for compensation and will seek to mediate contested claims. If mediation is unsuccessful, the matter will be referred to the Federal Court.
The Commonwealth offered to pay the majority of certain costs; three-quarters of the cost of past acts, and, until 1998, half of the continuing costs for State/Territory recognised bodies and alternative provisions to the Commonwealth regime.
Anybody with an interest in land - for example, holders of certain types of lease or an exploration permit - and all governments may wish to know whether native title exists in relation to that land, or whether a claim has been made for a determination about native title. If it cannot be readily established that native title has been extinguished, application can be made to the Tribunal for a determination. These applications are called non-claimant applications, to distinguish them from claims for native title from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who believe they may have native title rights.
If no claim is made within two months of the non-claimant application being publicly advertised, the government in question can issue the lease. Even if native title is later found to have existed, the lease remains valid and any compensation would be payable by the government. Through the non-claimant process, the Act sets up a system where future acts can take place with certainty and the process takes place in a defined time frame.
#
"Native Title Surrender",41,"0","g","0"
Normal government compulsory acquisition procedures, including a right to compensation, can apply to native title land. This means that governments may acquire land from native title holders, just as from other land holders, for public purposes such as infrastructure.
The legislation further recognises that native title holders may choose to surrender native title on terms acceptable to them, for example, to exchange it for a statutory title to allow them to engage in tourism or other commercial ventures.
Native title has been widely extinguished by past acts of government, such as the granting of freehold and leasehold title. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now live away from their traditional lands and could find it impossible to demonstrate a connection with those lands. In recognition of the fact that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will not be able to gain native title because of historic dispossession, the Commonwealth Government also established a land acquisition fund under the Act. The fund allows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to acquire and manage land in a way that provides economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits to them.
In the 1994-95 Budget, the Commonwealth Government announced that a total of $1,463 million is to be allocated to the fund over ten years. These allocations will be invested so as to accumulate a self-sustaining fund for land acquisition and management.
#
"Native Title Act and Mining",42,0,g,0
There is no provision in the Act for native title holders to veto mining on their land. The Act does, however, provide them with the right to negotiate under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include the compulsory acquisition by governments of native title where it is not for a direct public purpose (for example, building a school or road) but for the purpose of granting the land to a third party such as a property developer; and the creation of a right to mine.
In a lot of cases the outcome will most likely be decided between the developer and the relevant Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community. Where agreement cannot be reached, the Act provides for an arbitrated determination by the Tribunal and, potentially, a ministerial decision, which overrides the Tribunal's determination. The Act sets out fair and finite time periods for this process.
The Act also allows certain future activities that will have minimal effect on native title to be excluded from the arrangements which give rights to negotiate to native title holders. This will be of special relevance and value to mineral exploration.
State and Territory mining laws that deal with other aspects of the mining regime are unaffected by the Native Title Act. The Act ensures that legislative regimes for economic activities offshore, especially commercial fisheries, and petroleum extraction can be validated.
Mining leases will not extinguish native title, which can be exercised after the grant and any renewals have expired. Future mining grants will not extinguish native title. This provision is in line with existing State practices with respect to mining grants over freehold land. Mining leases may be renewed on the same terms as before.
#
"Pastoral Leases and Native Title",43,0,g,0
The Act makes provision for Aboriginal people who own or acquire a pastoral lease to choose to claim native title rights where it is determined that the owners would otherwise meet native title criteria apart from the existence of the lease. The pastoral lease would not be given up. Existing covenants and conditions in the lease will continue to apply and prevail over native rights. Valid pastoral leases can be renewed even if native title has survived the lease and the use of the land. For pastoral leases generally, the Act ensures that the existing rights of pastoral lease holders are protected: should any invalidity be found because of native title, the lease will be validated.
The \INative Title Act 1993\i and the High Court decision that preceded it are only part of the reconciliation process taking place between indigenous and other Australians. For example, Australia is seeing historic accords between Aboriginal peoples and mining companies that show the way to a new working relationship. Working with the Native Title Act means working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples towards a better social and economic future, within a framework of national equity and fairness for all Australians.
#
!,!,!,!,!
20#
49,0
"Flags - Introduction",1,vaughan.jpg,c,0
The following pages contain brief overviews on the history of Australian flags - from the National Flag to the Australian Olympic Flag.
This section was written by John Vaughan - vexillologist and vexillographer (flag historian, collector and designer) for more than 25 years.
John is the Managing Director of Australiana Flags, President of the Australian National Flag Association (NSW) Inc. and former chief executive officer of the Royal Australian Historical Society. He has delivered hundreds of talks on vexillology and has a personal collection of over 1,000 flags.
John is the founding member of the Flag Society of Australia and the Australian National Flag Association and a member of the Flag Institute of Great Britain, the Canadian Flag Association, the North American Vexillologists Association and the Vexillological Society of Ireland.
\BDescription:\b John Vaughan.
#
"Australian National Flag",2,0,c,austflg.avi
The chief national symbol of Australia is the Australian National Flag, our flag of "Stars and Crosses". It was democratically chosen by a public competition in 1901, which attracted 32,823 entries. Five entrants shared the winner's prize of two hundred pounds, a large sum of money at the time. Those honoured as the designers of the flag of Australia were: teenagers Leslie Hawkins of Sydney and Ivor Evans of Melbourne; artist Annie Dorrington of Perth; William Stevens of Auckland; and Egbert John Nuttall of Melbourne. On 3rd September 1901, Prime Minister Edmund Barton officiated at a special ceremony to announce the design of our flag and to see it flown for the first time. At approximately 2.30pm on the main dome of the Royal Exhibition buildings, Melbourne, a deep blue flag, some eleven metres long, was raised to the masthead with jubilant cheers from the crowd below. After adoption of the flag was formally approved by the King of England, it was proclaimed in the \ICommonwealth Government Gazette\i of 20th February, 1903. Under the Flags Act 1953, the full status of the flag as the nation's chief symbol was legally confirmed and rules of etiquette and protocol were drawn up.
The Australian Red Ensign, the flag of Australia's merchant shipping fleet, also resulted from the 1901 competition. The combination of the Union Jack and Southern Cross on our flag continues a long and important tradition, dating from 1823, when pioneer settlers, John Nicholson and John Bingle, designed the National Colonial Flag of Australia.
Today, our distinctive Australian National Flag is known around the world as a symbol of a peaceful, friendly and democratic sovereign nation. Annually, on 3rd September, Australians celebrate their National Flag Day which was formally proclaimed by the Governor-General in 1996. The then NSW Premier, John Fahey, summed up the meaning of the flag as follows: "Each of the symbols on the flag has a special meaning for Australians. The stars of the Southern Cross represent our geographic position in the Southern Hemisphere; the Commonwealth Star, our federation of States and Territories; and the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick represent the principles on which our nation is based - namely, parliamentary democracy, rule of law, and freedom of speech."
\BViddescription:\b Australian National Flag
#
"Australian Blue Ensign (1901)",3,13060009.jpg,c,0
On 3rd September 1901, a giant version of this design was flown for the first time at the Royal Exhibition buildings, Melbourne. The flag-raising ceremony was conducted by Australia's first prime minister, the Hon. Edmund Barton, and witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd, including Lady Hopetoun, wife of our first Governor-General. On 16 September 1901, our flag of stars and crosses was raised in the presence of His Excellency, the Governor-General, at Townsville, Queensland.
\BDescription:\b Australian Blue Ensign (1901) \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Red Ensign",4,13060033.jpg,c,0
The Commonwealth Government Federal Flag Design Competition required an official flag and a merchant or shipping version of the same design. As a result, the official flag was blue and the merchant flag was the traditional Red Ensign, featuring the distinctive Southern Cross and Commonwealth star.
In 1903, the Southern Cross stars were altered from nine, eight, seven, six and five points, to four, with seven points and one five-pointed star. The original variety of points was an indication of the brightness of each star as it appeared in the night sky.
In 1908, the current Commonwealth star of seven points replaced the earlier six-pointed star. The Shipping Registration Act of 1981 reaffirmed that the Australian Red Ensign was the proper "colours" for Australian registered ships and that private pleasure craft could fly either the Red Ensign or the Australian National Flag.
\BDescription:\b Australian Red Ensign since 1908 \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Royal Australian Navy Ensign",5,13060040.jpg,c,0
The attractive Australian White Ensign dates from 1st March 1967. It is "worn" by all Royal Australian Navy ships in conjunction with the Australian National Flag. The Australian Army is the official protector of the Australian National Flag, by which it is represented.
\BDescription:\b RAN Ensign \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Royal Australian Airforce Ensign",6,13060030.jpg,c,0
The RAAF flies a special pale blue Ensign featuring the leaping red kangaroo roundel, the Southern Cross constellation, Commonwealth star and Union Jack. This Ensign dates from 1948, however, the leaping red kangaroo section of the roundel was not added until 1981.
\BDescription:\b RAAF Ensign \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"First Union Flag",7,13060047.jpg,c,0
Captain James Cook RN, raised the First Union Flag at Possession Island, near Cape York, on 22 August 1770, claiming the whole eastern coast of Australia as British territory. He had previously raised this flag at Botany Bay on 29 April of that year. The flag featured the red cross of St George (England), which was combined with the cross of St Andrew (Scotland) in 1606. It was the first official flag of Australia.
\BDescription:\b First Union Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Red Ensign (pre-1801)",8,13060024.jpg,c,0
This design was used as the Australian Merchant Flag between 1788 and 1801. It also distinguished one of three squadrons in the Royal Navy and was used by His Majesty's \IBark Endeavour\i and HMAV \IBounty.\i
\BDescription:\b Australian Red Ensign pre-1801 \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"First Fleet Formation Flag (1987-88)",9,0,c,fffflg.avi
This special commemorative design was inspired by historian Dr Jonathan King, who was the instigator of the 1988 First Fleet Re-enactment. The flag features the eleven First Fleet vessels sailing to the Golden Southland. The blue field represents the ocean and together with the golden ships, alludes to the livery colours of the Australian National Coat of Arms.
\BViddescription:\b First Fleet Formation Flag
#
"Australian Heritage Flag",10,13060035.jpg,c,0
This concept was originally developed as the principal flag of the First Fleet Re-enactment of 1987-88. It covers the period from the First Union Flag raised by Governor Arthur Phillip on 26th January, 1788, to the Australian National Flag of today.
\BDescription:\b Australian Heritage Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Union Flag (1801-1901)",11,13060029.jpg,c,0
This was the flag of Australian colonies from 1801 until Federation, when the Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901. The red diagonal cross of St Patrick represents Ireland. It was added to the combined crosses of St George and St Andrew on 1st January, 1801. It was not until the 4th of June that year, the King's birthday, that the modern Union Flag was first hoisted in Australia at Dawes Point, Sydney.
\BDescription:\b Union Flag (1801-1901) \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Red Ensign (1801-1901)",12,redens.jpg,c,0
This is the official merchant shipping and private pleasure craft flag, used by Australians for 100 years. It was affectionately known as the "Red Duster".
\BDescription:\b Australian Red Ensign 1801-1901 \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Scottish Australian Flag",13,13060037.jpg,c,0
This beautiful commemorative design is a salute to Australia's Scottish pioneers. It was adopted by the Scottish Australian Heritage Council in 1988. Emblems of Scotland, the Lion Rampant and St Andrews Cross, are combined with Australia's Southern Cross constellation.
\BDescription:\b Scottish Australian Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Irish Australian Flag",14,13060032.jpg,c,0
This design features the Maid of Erin Golden Harp and the Australian Southern Cross. It pays tribute to the role of Australia's Irish pioneers in creating the Australian nation. Green and gold are the traditional colours of Ireland, and it is claimed that they were the inspiration for the Australian sporting colours.
\BDescription:\b Irish Australian Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Cornish Australian Flag",15,13060036.jpg,c,0
A striking black and white design featuring the Cross of St Piran, patron saint of Cornwall, with the Australian Southern Cross in the position of honour. It commemorates the Cornish contribution to Australian life.
\BDescription:\b Cornish Australian Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Welsh Australian Flag",16,13060016.jpg,c,0
This is a heritage design paying tribute to the contribution of our Welsh pioneer settlers. Against the Tudor colours of green and white is depicted Ddraig Goch, the mythical red dragon representing the spirit of the Welsh people. The dragon is inspired by the Australian Southern Cross. From the decks of HM \IBark Endeavour,\i James Cook RN named the whole eastern coast of Australia in honour of the Principality of Wales.
\BDescription:\b Welsh Australian Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Greater Melbourne Ensign",17,13060015.jpg,c,0
This impressive unofficial design features the stars of the Southern Cross emblazoned on a blue cross of St George. In the position of honour is the sailing vessel, \ILady Nelson.\i It was in 1801 that the \ILady Nelson\i surveyed Westernport Bay. The Commander, Lt James Grant RN, named Churchill Island, planted the first crops, and erected a small house. Within twelve months, the \ILady Nelson\i returned to discover and explore Port Phillip Bay. This Ensign may be flown on land or water by anyone wishing to commemorate the history and heritage of the Greater Melbourne area.
This eye-catching design links together the Greater Sydney region from the Central Coast to Wollongong and out to Bathurst. It features Captain Cook's \IEndeavour,\i representing all forms of shipping and boating connected with Sydney from the days of Aboriginal canoes to modern vessels. The original 1823 version of the Southern Cross is emblazoned on the red cross of St George; the gold crest of Sydney appears at its centre. The crest consists of the star Sirius, a civic crown, and admiralty anchor.
\BDescription:\b Greater Sydney Ensign \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Bowman Flag (1806)",19,13060043.jpg,c,0
This swallow-tailed silk flag was made by pioneers John and Honor Bowman at Richmond, NSW, in 1806. This flag, now preserved by the Mitchell Library, was made in celebration of the victory of the Royal Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October, 1805. The design was an inspiration for today's Australian National Coat of Arms, which also features a shield supported by an emu and kangaroo.
\BDescription:\b Bowman Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"National Colonial Flag for Australia (1823-24)",20,13060039.jpg,c,0
This is the first recorded attempt to design a distinctive National Flag for Australia and started the tradition of combining the Southern Cross and Union Jack on flags of Australia. It was designed by Captain John Bingle and Captain John Nicholson, both of Sydney. This landmark design of stars and crosses was said, by Bingle, to have been adopted by the government of Sir Thomas Brisbane.
\BDescription:\b National Colonial Flag for Australia (1823-24) \I(John Vaughan)\i
First depicted in Captain John Nicholson's chart of local Australasian flags in 1832, this design of Southern Cross and Union Jack became the popular but unofficial flag of Australia between 1832 and 1901, when the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. In the 1880s and 90s, this flag was known as the Australian Federation flag. It was used across Australia to promote nationhood, under the slogan "one people, one destiny, one flag."
"Australian/NSW Merchant Flag (1830s)",22,13060038.jpg,c,0
This design is a variant of the popular Australian Federation Flag. It was used unofficially as a merchant (shipping) flag for eastern Australia. It was seen on vessels trading as far as South Australia.
\BDescription:\b Australian/NSW Merchant Flag (1830s) \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"United Tribes of New Zealand Flag (1835-40)",23,13060042.jpg,c,0
This flag features the Southern Cross with two crosses of St George and was the official New Zealand Flag from 1835 to 1840, when it was then replaced by the Union Jack. It was adopted by 25 Maori chiefs at Waitangi in March 1834, when New Zealand was under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New South Wales. This design is still used at Waitangi for ceremonial occasions.
\BDescription:\b United Tribes of New Zealand Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australasian Anti-transportation League Flag (1851)",24,13060025.jpg,c,0
Bearing a striking resemblance to today's Australian National Flag, this design was adopted in 1851 as part of the campaign against the transportation of convicts to Australia and New Zealand. An original flag is preserved in the Queen Victoria Museum in Tasmania.
\BDescription:\b Australasian Anti-transportation League Flag (1851) \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Murray River Flag (1853)",25,13060026.jpg,c,0
This colourful combination of Southern Cross, stripes, and Union Jack has been flying on the Murray River paddlesteamers since 1853 or perhaps earlier. The original design (featured) is influenced by earlier flags of Australia, including the National Colonial Flag (1823-24) and the Merchant Flag of the 1830s. In recent years, variants of this design have been introduced for the South Australian section and the Victorian side of the river.
\BDescription:\b Murray River Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Eureka Flag (1854)",26,13060006.jpg,c,0
Allegedly designed by Captain Charles Ross of Toronto, Canada, this Southern Cross design was the battle flag of the Eureka Stockade in 1854. After the miners' stockade was overrun on 3rd December, 1854, trooper John King's family retained a large portion of the flag until 1895. Today the remnants of this flag are on display at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery in Victoria.
\BDescription:\b Eureka Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Van Diemen's Land Ensign",27,13060007.jpg,c,0
This colourful design was illustrated by Edward Murphy in an expansive chart of maritime flags published at Hobart in 1855. The unofficial Ensign featured devices from the 1823-24 National Colonial Flag, the New South Wales Ensign and the Merchant Flag of the 1830s.
\BDescription:\b Van Diemen's Land Ensign \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Queensland Separation Flag (1859)",28,qldsep.jpg,c,0
To mark the creation of the new colony of Queensland (now State) in 1859, this smart design was raised at the official ceremonies in Brisbane. The public enthusiasm for the separation of Queensland from New South Wales was so great that this flag was broken out to the roar of a 21-gun salute. The separation flag was subsequently replaced by the current Queensland State Flag. Today the old flag still flies proudly at the historic "Newstead House" on the Brisbane River.
\BDescription:\b Queensland Separation Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Western Australian State Flag (1870)",29,0,c,waflg.avi
The emblem of the Swan River settlement, the black swan, dates from the 1830s. It received government recognition in 1870, when a gold disc featuring the swan on a blue Ensign was raised as the flag of Western Australia. The black swan is also featured on the coat of arms of Western Australia.
\BViddescription:\b Western Australian State Flag (1870)
#
"New South Wales State Flag (1876)",30,0,c,nswflg.avi
The current flag of NSW was adopted in 1876 and features a distinctive form of the Southern Cross on the cross of St George with the gold lion of England at its centre. This attractive badge is emblazoned on the field of the State's Blue Ensign. The cross of St George, combined with four eight-pointed stars representing the Southern Cross, first appeared on the National Colonial design (1823-24).
\BViddescription:\b NSW State Flag (1876)
#
"Queensland State Flag (1876)",31,0,c,qldflg.avi
The Royal Crown superimposed on a Maltese-style cross was approved as the Queensland badge in July 1876. The shape of the cross resembles the insignia of Australia's highest military award for valour - the Victoria Cross. Like other State flags, the Queensland Flag is used by governments and citizens alike.
\BViddescription:\b Queensland State Flag (1876)
#
"Tasmanian State Flag (1876)",32,0,c,tasflg.avi
The striking red lion, showing the connection with the mother country, was adopted in September 1876 as a feature of the Tasmanian Flag. The red lion also appears on both the State and City of Hobart Coats of Arms.
\BViddescription:\b Tasmanian State Flag (1876)
#
"Victorian State Flag (1877)",33,0,c,vicflg.avi
The flag of Victoria dates from 1877 and features the stars of the Southern Cross with a distinctive range of points on the stars. The Royal Crown is also incorporated as part of Victoria's state badge and flag. Both Victoria and Queensland were named in honour of Queen Victoria.
\BViddescription:\b Victorian State Flag (1877)
#
"South Australian State Flag (1904)",34,0,c,saflg.avi
The adoption of the piping shrike in January 1904 replaced the 1878 badge of South Australia which showed Britannia meeting an Aborigine. The piping shrike is perched on the branch of a eucalyptus tree, and the golden disc behind it represents the rising sun. South Australia was the last of the Australian states to adopt its badge.
\BViddescription:\b South Australian State Flag (1904)
#
"Herald Federal Flag (1900)",35,13060010.jpg,c,0
The \IMelbourne Evening Herald\i newspaper in 1900 conducted the first public competition to design a "federal" or national flag for Australia. Prize money of ú25 sterling was awarded to Mr F. Thompson of Melbourne. The red stripes represented the six Australian states. Entries to the \IHerald\i competition were later included in the Commonwealth Government's flag competition.
\BDescription:\b Herald Federal Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Honour Flag",36,honour.jpg,c,0
This unique creation served as the ultimate reward to Australian towns and districts which subscribed TWICE their quota of funds for the Commonwealth Government's Seventh War Loan in 1918. The funds were used to offset the cost of Australia's World War I efforts.
\BDescription:\b Honour Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Civil Air Ensign",37,civil.jpg,c,0
This eye-catching design was adopted in 1935 as a distinguishing flag for the Commonwealth Government's Civil Aviation Department. Private aircraft may also use this special ensign.
\BDescription:\b Australian Civil Air Ensign \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Governor-General's Flag",38,13060004.jpg,c,0
To indicate the presence of Australia's Governor-General, a dark blue flag featuring the Royal Crest and golden scroll, bearing the words "Commonwealth of Australia", was adopted in June 1936.
\BDescription:\b Governor-General's Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"HM The Queen's Personal Flag for Australia",39,queen.jpg,c,0
Queen Elizabeth II, Head of State of Australia, adopted this heraldic design in 1962. The six Australian State badges constitute the field which is united with a white border and black ermine. At the centre is a large Commonwealth star, over which is placed the Queen's initial, the Royal Crown and a garland of roses. This flag is only flown when Her Majesty is present.
\BDescription:\b HM The Queen's Personal Flag for Australia \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Aboriginal Flag (1971)",40,0,c,aborflg.avi
This striking design was the work of Aboriginal elder, Mr Harold Thomas, who created the flag in 1971. The golden sun unites the Aboriginal race (black section) with the land (red section). Out of courtesy and respect, non-aboriginals wishing to fly the flag should seek permission from local Aboriginal representatives. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands flags were recognised under the Australian Flags Act in 1995.
\BViddescription:\b Australian Aboriginal Flag (1971)
#
"Northern Territory Flag (1978)",41,0,c,ntflg.avi
The Northern Territory Flag features Sturt's Desert Rose and the Southern Cross. The black, white and ochre flag was adopted in 1978 when self-government was granted. The Territory uses the same version of the Southern Cross as the state flag of Victoria.
\BViddescription:\b Northern Territory Flag (1978)
#
"Norfolk Island Flag (1979)",42,13060027.jpg,c,0
The green and white design features the island's emblem, the Norfolk Island pine. It was introduced by the island's Legislative Assembly in 1979.
\BDescription:\b Norfolk Island Flag (1979) \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Torres Strait Islands Flag (1992)",43,0,c,toreflg.avi
Islander Bernard Namok created this meaningful flag in 1992. The green bars represent the lush islands' vegetation; the blue centre symbolises the sea; and the black stripes symbolise the local people. A white dancer's head-dress, known as a dari, is featured with a five-pointed star. The star is said to represent the five main islands, and is sometimes interpreted as the "Coming of the Light" (Christianity).
\BViddescription:\b Torres Strait Islander Flag (1992)
#
"Bounty Ensign",44,13060003.jpg,c,0
This is the house flag of Sydney's HMAV \IBounty\i replica. The "Sun in Splendour", alluding to the name Bounty and depicted on the stern of the ship, is shown at the centre of the Naval Cross of St George, signifying the role of the old \IBounty\i in the Royal Navy. The Southern Cross represents the ship's service in Australian waters and the first Union Jack relates to the period when the original \IBounty\i was commissioned. It was officially adopted in 1987 in preparation of the \IBounty's\i participation in the First Fleet Re-enactment, an integral part of the Australian Bicentennial celebrations.
\BDescription:\b Bounty Ensign \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Anglican Church of Australia Flag",45,13060011.jpg,c,0
In 1836, the Church of England in Australia was the first body to be officially granted the Southern Cross as an emblem, representing the See of Australia. In 1984, the Church, now known as the Anglican Church of Australia, adopted this attractive design combining the Southern Cross with the cross of St George emblazoned with a gold mitre. It was officially raised for the first time at Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, on 31st May 1984.
\BDescription:\b Anglican Church of Australia Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Christmas Flag",46,13060013.jpg,c,0
This flag is an unofficial design for Christmas celebrations. The traditional Father Christmas image is depicted with a stylised guiding star and the Australian Southern Cross.
\BDescription:\b Australian Christmas Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Norfolk Islanders of Pitcairn Descent Flag",47,13060045.jpg,c,0
In 1985, the Society of Descendants of Pitcairn Settlers adopted a "Queen Ann" (pre 1801) red Ensign featuring the Norfolk Island pine tree in a white badge. In 1987 it was raised aboard the \IBounty\i replica when descendants of the mutineers were reconciled with the descendants of Captain William Bligh. This flag salutes HMAV \IBounty,\i the ship which transported the mutineers to Pitcairn Island.
\BDescription:\b Norfolk Islanders of Pitcairn Descent Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
#
"Australian Capital Territory Flag (1993)",48,0,c,actflg.avi
In March 1993, this royal blue and gold design was adopted by the ACT Government. It features the Southern Cross and part of the Canberra City Coat of Arms. The blue and white colours and the swan symbolise both Aboriginal and European Australians. The castle in the field of the Arms alludes to the role of our capital city and the Royal Crown represents the role of the Sovereign in Government.
\BViddescription:\b Australian Capital Territory Flag (1993)
#
"Australian Olympic Flag",49,13060044.jpg,c,0
A simple and effective combination of the National Flag and the Olympic rings represents Australia's ongoing links with this great international sporting event.
\BDescription:\b Australian Olympic Flag \I(John Vaughan)\i
