The whitlam government Essay

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

Firstly the change in legal and constitutional rights have been a great creator of rights for the Aboriginal people. Up until 1967 the Aboriginals did not have the right to be counted in the census. This was basically a way of saying that the Aboriginals were not Australians, almost not even people. Fortunately the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginals citizenship. It did however not end any discrimination against the Aboriginal people and

During his time in office, Gough Whitlam was able to determine and predict that in future times the Australian people would have to rely further on their Asian neighbours. Just two weeks after being elected, Whitlam officially recognised the communist government of the People's Republic of China and opened up diplomatic relations (Source 6) as well trading and cultural links. Within a year Australia had reopened its embassy in Beijing (Source 7) which had been closed in protest when the communist government took power. Whitlam wanted to change the racially charged thoughts of Australians which had prevented interactions in its own region. Relations between Australia and South-East Asia also improved after the abandonment of the 'White Australia' policy under the Whitlam government. Not only did that prompt the arrival of Asian refugees, it also allowed a larger range of people from Asian countries to obtain tourist and education visa’s. The Colombo Plan allowed Asian students to study in Australia. The Vietnam War and major Whitlam policy reforms brought Australians out of our Anglo-centric view and realise that we had a larger part to play in Asia. As a result of many new cultural, diplomatic, trade and tourist links to Australia, the Whitlam government was able to boost exports dramatically, change the racist face of Australian society and

In 1965 a group of students from Sydney University formed a group, called Student Action for Aborigines, that’s purpose was to draw attention to the inequality between white and indigenous Australia based in New South Wales. It also hoped to decrease the social discrimination between white Australia and indigenous Australia as well as give support to aboriginals to withstand the discrimination they face daily.

Let's take it back to the 27th of May, 1967. The Australian Referendum, called by the Holt Government is about to decide whether or not citizens of Australia believe that Indigenous Australians should be given the right to vote. Although this was a successful referendum, in the government's eyes, this was going to give the recognition that the Indigenous Australians wanted. But it didn’t. The goal was to achieve a transformative lobby to concede the adverse wrongs of our colonial past. If that is so, how is it that 50 years later, this multicultural country and its government are still continuing to fail the First Australians, and ignoring the recognition they deserve - to be recognised in the Constitution.

The Assembly then put pressure on political leaders to legally recognize Aboriginal rights. This led to Aboriginal rights being entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Bill C-31 being passed in 1985. This gave Aboriginal councils the power to choose who could live on Aboriginal reserves, which was a decision previously made by the Department of Indian Affairs in the federal government. People then started to argue for Aboriginal self-government so that they could manage recourses, culture, educations and their justice system. Then they could deal with health concerns and social issues within their communities. Initially this Assembly benefitted the First Nations peoples but distanced Aboriginals from other Canadians. By highlighting differences in rights and governments, anger would have erupted among Natives. They would have resented those who wouldn’t allow them their rights. On the other hand though, once they achieved some of their goals and observed that other Canadians could give in to their reasonable demands, their relationships with other Canadians would have improved. So, on the whole this Assembly was effective at improving Aboriginal and Canadian relationships with its successes and creating slight tensions with protests for

When you think of the “land down under” you don’t really think of the kind of government they have. I chose to write about the Australian government because I really don’t hear much about Australia. It currently has a pretty interesting story to tell when it comes to their government. I became a bit interested in Australian politics when I saw a political animated cartoon on the internet that depicted Kevin Rudd, the last Prime Minister, on a news television show and it was quite humorous. I am going to give a quick history lesson on Australia then go into how the government formed and came to be. Then I will talk about the Australian constitution, the Australian arms of government, their federal system, political parties and Australia’s

In the early 1890’s, protectionism gave way to state and commonwealth government regimes of segregation. In the development of the constitution, politicians included sections specifically excluding Indigenous Australians, such as the white Australia policy, ensuring that racism became entrenched in the new nation’s future. Reserves and missions were set up far from white settlements, to exclude and control Indigenous Australians, especially those of mixed descent (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013).

Australia in this time was quite defensive about whom they trusted. Even Japanese-Australians, they had an issue towards them simply because the higher authorities thought they would turn on them.

Several key events and people influenced the journey and results of Aboriginal voting rights. Many major contributions towards the indigenous voting rights can be described as international criticism, Aboriginal Protests and Political conflicts. Male Aboriginal Australians were recognised as male people, and therefore could vote in state elections, It was expected to stay this way. However, the ‘white Australia policy’ in 1901 caused many Aboriginal Men to lose their state voting rights and banned them from enrolling in federal elections, According to (hgj) The “electoral officials had the power to decide who was an ‘Aboriginal Native’ or not.” After several years of discrimination, in 1934 Indigenous Australians took a stand in a day of mourning for indigenous rights. Another powerful argument for Aboriginal Australians was their world war efforts from 1914 to 1918. Many white Australians that fought with the Indigenous Australians believed that if “they are good enough to fight and die for their country then they are good enough to vote in elections” As a result of this effort, 1945 marked the year that all male Aboriginal war participants were granted Federal election voting rights. It is important to remember when and how the

Australia in the early 1900s has developed a reputation as a ‘working man’s paradise’ for its greater opportunity to success and an egalitarian society. However not all workers proved this to be true. In order to determine this statement, Issues to be discussed include firstly the hours of work for different genders, secondly the working conditions and finally the dispute for the right to fair treatment to women and Aboriginal natives throughout the 19th century.

In 1901 when the Constitution was first written, Aboriginals were mentioned in it twice and Torres Strait Islander not at all. The federal government could not make laws for Aboriginals in section 57 of the Constitution. Also, Aboriginals were not counted in the Census in Section 127 of the Constitution. Life was very difficult for Aboriginals for several decades because of these two sections.

His contribution to Australia's federation was him being the prime minister of Australia for ten months and 17 days. George Reid Was born on 18th August with Scottish descent but ended up in Australian politicians. He died on the 12th of September 1918. George Reid supported and helped every single part of Australian federation. Australian federation was helped when he said he's famous yes no speech at sydney town hall on the date of 28th of march 1898.

This was considered the Domino theory which Australia feared. When World War II had finished and communism started spreading into Asia, right on the doorstep of Australia, that’s when the Menzies Government decided to react. After three decades of war and depression Australians wanted stability and security. Throughout the 1930's and most of the 1940's, Australia’s Communist Party gained increasing support within the trade union movement and also from the public. Many people were unemployed and started supporting communism, as communist countries like Russia had no unemployment, where many Australian saw this as a way to get employed.

Politically, the relationship between the two countries has had its ups and downs especially in the past. Australia during that time recognized the sole government of China as the government of People Republic of China which was a critical issue for China. Recently, there have been concerns about the growing Chinese investment in Australia. These have mostly been due to arrest of ethnically Chinese Australian citizens in China, establishment of Air Defence Identification Zone in the East China Sea, and some others. The formal relations between the two nations only stabilized more recently because both nations realized that they both have economic benefits by having a trade relationship with each