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1787 – 11 ships of the First Fleet with British convicts under command of Capitan Arthur Phillip sailed from Portsmouth and in 1788 – they arrived at Botany Bay. The first British colony was established in Sydney Cove.
1792 – Phillip left the colony, and the South Wales Corps (Rum Corps) were established. The officers monopolized trade by buying up the cargo of any ship that came to Sydney. Then they sold the goods to the colonist and to the government for the large profit.
The governors failed to curb the rum trade (пресечь торговлю ромом) or the power of the corps (военных корпусов) until in 1807 William Bligh became governor & launched an attack on the rum trade.
January 1808 – during the Rum Rebellion (leader MacArthur) Blight was arrested by the commander of the New South Wales Corps and in 1809 Blight was officially replaced by Macquarie. During his administration the appearance of Sydney improved (new buildings, roads and bridges, first hospital and charity schools for poor people were constructed). He granted the land to emancipists (ex-convicts) and gave them government assistance to help them start farming.
In 1821 - Macquarie resigned. The new governor Bigge removed all emancipists from civil posts and extended the practice of assigning convicts to free settlers (put them to work on farms or businesses). This policy continued until the arrival of Governor Bourke in the 1830s who was sympathetic to emancipists.
During the 1830s the opposition to the transportation of convicts was widespread in colonies and Britain. In 1838 a selected committee was appointed by the House of Commons to examine the transportation and convict system. And the transportation to New South Wales was abolished in 1850, to Tasmania in 1852, and the last convict ship arrived in 1853.
In 1823 the limited government was granted by London. The legislative Council with 7 advisory members was created. The members were appointed by the governor and the emancipists were not allowed to become members.
In 1824 the form of representative government was granted. The New Legislative Council was made up of 36 members, 24 of whom were elected by the colonists who met propriety qualifications. The council could only propose legislation on local matters, but financial and land policies remained in hands of the governor (т.е London)
In 1850 the Australian Colonies Government Act was adopted by British Parliament. Legislative Council was established in colonies of South Australia, Tasmania & Victoria. Executive power was transferred from the governor to a cabinet.
In 1890s colonies agreed to unite in a federal union to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
In 1899 and 1900 the Australian people agreed to federation at referendums.
1 January 1901 the new nation was proclaimed in Sydney (at Centennial Park).
In 1927 – Canberra was built & became the capital of Australia.
33. Give a general survey of the Australian nation. Ethnic make up, the new immigrants & their influence. Population distribution across the country. Major cities. Aboriginal culture & its influence on the Australian nation.
Population - 23,8 mln. Australia has scarcely more than 2 persons/ sq. km of total land area. With 89% of its population living in urban areas, Australia is one of the world's most urbanized countries. The largest cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide.
Indigenous Australians arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago. Aboriginal people mainly lived as hunters, nomadic. Although Aboriginal society was generally mobile, moving due to the changing food availability as seasons changed, the mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region, and there were permanent settlements and agriculture in some areas (mainly in southern and eastern regions, in the valley of Murray)
Europeans first landed in the 17th and 18th centuries, and colonization by the British commenced in 1788. As a result the people of Australia are primarily of British and/or Irish ethnic origin.
In the 2011 Australian Census residents are asked to describe their ancestry. The most commonly nominated ancestry was English (36.1%), followed by Australian (35.4%) & Irish (10.4%), then – Scottish (8.9%), Italian, German, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Dutch. Asian Australians make up 12 % of the population. Aborigines – 2.5 %.
Immigration:
Convict transportation - from 1788 to 1853 Britain transported more than 160,000 convicts.
Free immigrants - between 1793 and 1850 nearly 200,000 free settlers. The majority were English agricultural workers or domestic servants.
In the 19th century, a squatter was a person who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock - the phenomenon is referred to in the song Waltzing Matilda. At first, this was done illegally, and later under license. Squatters didn’t ask for gov-t’s permit to own the land. During the 1840s control of the land became a major political issue, squatters were granted land property.
Laborers - thousands of Chinese people came to Australia during the 1850s gold rushes.
Following Federation in 1901 Australia’s newly-formed Federal Parliament passed the Immigration Restriction Act, which placed certain restrictions on immigration and aimed to stop Chinese and South Sea Islanders from coming to Australia. These laws, known as the White Australia policy defined Australian attitudes to immigration for the next 50 years. In the first half of the 20th c. up tp the end of the WW II – most of the people who came to Australia were from Br. Isles.
In the years after World War 2, Australia changed its policy. It negotiated agreements to accept more than 2 million immigrants and displaced people from Europe as it lay in ruins – Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Eastern Europe.
In the late 1970s a new wave of immigrants from South-East Asia began (China, Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam) - due to the new concept of multiculturalism.
Since the late 1990s increasing numbers of asylum seekers fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Sri Lanka have arrived in Australia by boat. Today the question of how to deal with asylum seekers arriving on unauthorized voyages remains one of the most polarizing debates in contemporary Australia. It’s a major headache fro Australian gov-t: immigration policy is very strict. The boats are taken to New Guinea.
34. Examine the structure of the federal gov-t of Australia. The federal Parliament, its role & composition. Local gov-t. Parliamentary elections of 2013 & their results. The priorities of the present gov-t.
The Commonwealth of Australia, a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy, was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among 6 self-governing British colonies, which became the 6 states (New South Wales, Victoria, Southern Australia, Western Australia, Queensland & Tasmania, + the Northern Territory & the Australian Capital Territory). The terms of this agreement are embodied in the Australian Constitution, which was drawn up at a Constitutional Convention and ratified by the people.
The structure of the Australian Government may be examined in light of two distinct concepts, namely federalism and the separation of powers into executive ( the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General ), legislative ( the Senate, and the House of Representatives ), and judicial ( the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council ) branches of government.
The Federal Executive Council consists of the Governor-General, the PM and Ministers (17 departments which include 30 ministers). It is a formal body which exists to give legal effect to decisions made by the Cabinet. Powers of the Federal Executive authority: arrange and control the business of parliament, initiate policy, supervise the departments.
The Cabinet is not recognized by any formal law and has no formal power. Powers: deals with legislative programme, finance, economy, security etc, carries out the business of policy making. Meets once a week when Parliament is sitting, and every 2 weeks when Parliament is not on session
The power to exercise Supreme executive authority it is conferred by the Constitution specifically to the Governor-General.
The bicameral Parliament of Australia consists of 2 houses: the Senate (76 senators) – Senators are elected for a term of 6 yy., but half of the composition are to retire after 3 yy. (“a method of renewal”), 4 members of the Senate are chosen by 2 territories, and the House of Representatives (150) presided by the Speaker – his vote is decisive (unlike British).
General elections are held at least once every 3 years. The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. In cases where no party has majority support, the Governor-General has the power to appoint the PM. PM speaks in parliament and before the public, and answers to Parliament, can recommend to a Governor-General on dissolution of Parliament.
The most recent general election was on 7 September 2013 & the block (alliance) of 2 parties won – the Liberal Party & the National Party. The leader of the Liberal Party is Tony Abbot (PM), the leader of the National Party – Warren Truss (deputy PM).
Tony Abbot. Born in England, mobbed to Australia, graduate of the University of Sydney in economics & law. Former boxer, won a prestigious Rhodes scholarship in politics & economics, a Catholic, a very conservative person. An aggressive criticizer of Labor Party policy. He’s against abortion, same-sex marriage, stem-cell research. He’s for a green economy (environmentally friendly) – introduced a tax on gas emissions. Special incentives are introduced to make industry safe.
The foreign minister of Australia (the deputy leader of the Liberal Party) – Julie Bishop.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is represented the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level. The GG is appointed by the Queen on the advice of PM. Current GG is Ms. Quentin Bryce – the first woman GG in Australian history (2008-2014). She’s to sign the bills approved by the Parliament (her functions are formal). She is pro-republic (meaning against ties with GB.) In general the society is divided on the matter 49%-51% (49 – for a republic, 51 – constitutional monarchy). “Australians for constitutional monarchy” – a public influential organization. She also supports same-sex marriage legalization.
Main Parties: the Liberal Party, the Australian Labour party, The National Party of Australia, the Australia Democrats. Within Australian political culture, the Coalition is considered center-right and the Labor Party is considered center-left.
35. Outline the main sectors of the Australian economy. Characterize the states, territories & their major cities.
Australia is a wealthy country with a market economy with high GDP per capita and a low rate of poverty. The Australian dollar is the currency for the nation. After the 2006 merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange is now the ninth largest in the world.
Ranked third in the Index of Economic Freedom (2010), Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and has the fifth highest per capita GDP (nominal) at $66,984. The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2011 Human Development Index and first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index. All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative livability surveys; Melbourne reached first place on The Economist's 2011 and 2012 world's most livable cities lists, followed by Sydney, Perth, and Adelaide in sixth, eighth, and ninth place respectively. Total government debt in Australia is about $190 billion – 20 per cent of GDP in 2010. Australia has among the highest house prices and some of the highest household debt levels in the world.
An emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactured goods has underpinned a significant increase in Australia's terms of trade since the start of the 21st century, due to rising commodity prices. Australia has a balance of payments that is more than 7 per cent of GDP negative, and has had persistently large current account deficits for more than 50 years. Australia was the only advanced economy not to experience a recession due to the global financial downturn in 2008–2009. Six of Australia's major trading partners had been in recession which in turn affected Australia, and economic growth was hampered significantly over recent years.
The Hawke Government floated the Australian dollar in 1983 and partially deregulated the financial system. The Howard Government followed with a partial deregulation of the labor market and the further privatization of state-owned businesses, most notably in the telecommunications industry. In Australia's tax system, personal and company income taxes are the main sources of government revenue.
In May 2012, there was an unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent. Youth unemployment (15–24) stood at 11.2 per cent.
Over the past decade, inflation has typically been 2–3 per cent and the base interest rate 5–6 per cent. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, accounts for about 70 per cent of GDP. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquefied natural gas and coal. Although agriculture and natural resources account for only 3 per cent and 5 per cent of GDP respectively, they contribute substantially to export performance. Australia's largest export markets are Japan, China, the US, South Korea, and New Zealand. Australia is the world's fourth largest exporter of wine, in an industry contributing $5.5 billion per annum to the nation's economy.
Australia has six states — New South Wales (Sydney), Queensland (Brisbane), South Australia (Adolaide), Tasmania (Hobart), Victoria (Мелбэн), and Western Australia (Perth) — and two major mainland territories — the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) and the Northern Territory (Darwin).
