|
|
|
| 
History & Religion
The
first people to live on Australia are the Aborigines. they migrate to Australia
about 40,000 years ago this was around 38,000 bc. the Aborigines came from
Southeast Asia. Their was about a million to a half million Aborigines in
Australia. Now there is about three hundred thousand
Aborigines. Dutch,
Portuguese, and Spanish ships were sighted by Australia in the 17th century. The
Dutch landed at the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606. But this was called new Holland
in 1616. British came in 1688 but did not take Australia over until the ship
that James Cook was on until they did they called it new south Wales. The
British colony set up a dock that brings in convicts to work do hard labor with
pay because they were supposed to say in jail. Free
settlers established six colonies: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (then Van
Diemen's Land) (1825), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834),
Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859). Lots of settlers also came because of
the gold rushes and lots of minerals. Sheep farming and grain soon became
important economic enterprises. The six colonies had become states in 1901 and
they federated into the commonwealth of Australia. They had a constitution that
all the states agreed to and the united from was called Australia. Know for its
liberal legislation and free education it became a great place to live. The
right for women being able to vote and maternity allowances and the sickness of
old age made it a nice place for everyone to live. Australia
fought with Britain in World War I. Australia and New Zealand army corps in the
Dardanelles campaign (1915). Because of their participation in World War II, it
brought them closer to the United States. The power of the government in the
second half of the 20th century shifted between the three major
Australian political parties. The
laws on discrimination immigration in the 1960s and 1970s changed. About 40% of
the people who immigrated into Australia came from Asia. Most of the people of
Australia had a heritage of either English or Irish. In
March 1996, the Liberal Party National Party, which was the opposition, won the
national election. The Labour Party
was replaced after 13 years of power. This new party was very conservative. The
Aborigines had made great advances in the immigration of other nationalities and
they threatened to undo this advance in the countries power. An Aboriginal
movement had grown in the 1960s that gained full citizenship and improved
education for the country's poorest socioeconomic group. Australia
led the international peace keeping force sent to restore order in East Timor,
Indonesia in September of 1999. The Pro-Indonesian militias had begun killing
civilians. This was due to an UN referendum that called for East Timor's
independence. On
Nov. 6, 1999, Australia's 11.6 million voters decided that they should become a
republic. This did away with the monarchy system that they had in the past.
Aborigines were the original people in
Australia. There is evidence
suggests that the Aborigines have lived in there for 60,000 years. They have
lived in every area in including the island of Australia. Today they live in all
states and territories of Australia. The highest population is in the states of
Queensland and New South Wales. In 1996 the Aboriginal population numbered
approximately 314,000, this is about than 1.7 percent of the total population.
Australia also has another group of people that where though to have lived
they’re for a very long time. They are called the Torres Strait Islanders.
These people live mostly in the far northeast of the country, near the island of
New Guinea. Aborigines
are mainly hunter and gatherers. They
collect a variety of plants; hunt to obtain meat, hides, feathers, and other
animal products. The land, plant and animal life are in every aspect of the
Aboriginal culture and daily life. This consists of their social relationships,
economy, religious beliefs, and forms of art. When
the Europeans settled in Australia, in the late 1700s, they denied access of the
Aborigines of their newly claimed land. Today there are many unemployed and live
in poverty. They have very little education and have poor health and living
conditions. In recent years both the Australian government and private
institutions have tried to make up for past mistreatment of Aborigines. There
have been legal cases that have made the government of Australia recognize the
rights of these people. The government has also begun to promote the spiritual
and environmentally
balanced values that are associated with their culture. Politics of the country
center is around the rights and issues of this original people of Australia. The
term aborigines, when not used as a proper name, can refer to the original
inhabitants of any land and their direct descendants. Some people consider this
word derogatory. Many people today use the term indigenous people instead of
aborigines when referring generally to the original inhabitants of a region and
their descendants. Canadians sometimes refer to the indigenous groups of their
country as aboriginal peoples.
|
|
E-mail: (email link disabled), (email link disabled),
(email link disabled)
|
Maze