The Mallee country of north western Victoria (near Mildura) was a desert. Through the Mallee along Victoria’s northern border runs the Murray, and it was the river that men’s eyes turned to for the solution of a new problem which emerged one hundred years ago. Alfred Deakin, later to become one of the founding fathers of the Commonwealth and it’s Prime Minister on three occasions, developed a conviction that the only way to settle and develop the northern part of Victoria would be by irrigation. He believed that in this region the fertile soil, the abundant sunshine and the Murray’s plentiful water, which when brought together would make even the inhospitable Mallee region
The Australian Indigenous community hold extremely significant corrections to the land of Australia, of which they refer to as ‘Country.’ Indigenous people acquire deep meaning from the land, sea and the countless resources derived from them. This special relationship has formed for many centuries. To them ‘Country’ is paramount for overall wellbeing; the strong, significant, spiritual bonds embody their entire existence. Knowledge is continually passed down to create an unbroken connection of past,
“In what ways did Indigenous peoples resist the non-Indigenous settlement of Australia in the frontier period and how did non-Indigenous peoples retaliate? In your answer, discuss and analyse the initial and ongoing impact on Indigenous communities.”
In 1788 when the European settlers “colonised” Australia, the Australian land was known as “terra nullius” which means “land belonging to no-one”. This decision set the stage for the problems and
On August the 16th, 1975, Gough Whitlam, the Prime Minister at the time, organised a ceremony so that he could give the land back to the Gurindji people. At the ceremony, Whitlam grabbed some soil from the ground and said “Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.” And although the land had been given back, the name was not open to change until 1986, 2 years before Lingiari’s death.
Importantly for Australia has been the take over of land by the British under the doctrine of
Transport There was a very significant argument in favour of Australia having a federal government, which was the need for a uniform railway system. In the late 1800s progress was restricted in the colonies for having a different railway gauge. The colonies were operating independent of each other, whilst the railway systems were built. They faced a problem when there was a need to integrate and connect the tracks (for example from Victoria to New South Wales) when the gauges were of different lengths. This meant that trains could not cross colonial boarders, which ultimately would have restricted the main way of transporting people and goods on land from colony to colony. It was a great inconvenience when people had to change trains at the border of each colony.
The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.
The patterns of change and continuity in Australia at the time of federation influenced Australia to become its own nation through the creation of the Australian identity. At time of Federation, the majority of people living in the Australian colonies were Australian-born. Colonists were also starting to see themselves as Australian, not as British. This meant people wanted their own identity that didn’t link back to Britain. The way of life in Australia helped build the identity, which was shaped by its differences to the typical Britain life. This was affected by the native flora and fauna, the weather and activities, sports and hobbies. There was also a change in the styles of literature and art, becoming more specifically Australian. This contributed to the growing national identity. For example, the popular oil canvas painting named Near Heidelburg by Arthur Streeton (Source 4.41, page 196, Oxford Big Ideas Australian Curriculum History 9) depicts the grasslands of Australia, and shows how people dressed accordingly to the weather. The change of the crops grown in Australia due to the climate, impacted the lifestyle of the people living in the colonies. This is a different landscape to Britain’s, where most of the population had
The impact of British colonisation resulted in Australia being declared 'terra-nullius' 'land belonging to no-one' and Aboriginal peoples were subject to policies of dispossession and protectionism in a bid to the eventual demise of all facets of their traditional culture. (http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/3/2/5583/41950, 2005) The policy of 'terra
From 1810 to 1821, New South Wales was governed by Lachlan Macquarie who later would be called “The Father of Australia”. Macquarie was among the first military governors of New South Wales and the last aristocratic governor of this territory. Macquarie vision was to transform New South Wales from a traditional penal convict establishment to a society that was more reflective of the English lifestyle. Macquarie
In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).
Before 1901, Australia’s defence lacked muscularity. Best put it by Jim Killen, a British General at the time, was that “[Australia] couldn’t even defend Botany Bay on a sunny Sunday afternoon.” Each colony had there own minute militia run by volunteers, but heavily relied on the British
Introduction In the mid 1800’s, my ancestor, Abraham Bristow traveled across the ocean to find himself on the shore of Australia. Reasons why he left are still unknown, but I believe that I have four solid reasons as to why he may have left. The push factors being Great Britain declaring war against Burma or the fact that Australia was known to be a giant prison at that time, therefore leading me to the possible conclusion that Abraham Bristow may have committed a petty crime causing his life to turn ‘upside down’. Reasons for Abraham to want to leave England and migrate to Australia include many opportunities to better his life for him and his family through employment or the fact that there was a gold rush in Western Australia in 1851.
Noel Pearson’s speech ‘an Australian history for us all’ discusses his approach to trying to solve some of the most systemic problems facing Australian Aboriginals today. The speakers are successful in understanding the ideas and values of the speech. Through the uses of various language techniques and context, Pearson’s speech details the struggles of the relationship between the first European settlers and Aboriginal Australians.
It is difficult to know what monarchy represents in modern Australia. In 1901 ‘the queen’ was necessary, we were not an independent nation, and we needed the monarch to guide our small country. But by the 1950s and 1960s, we had already developed our sense of a “Australian Culture”. So much that already the British were reluctant to intervene here.