AustraliaTHE LAND DOWN UNDER

Collin GlaserMr. Cavanaugh June 4, 2012

OUTLINE

I. Introduction

II. HISTORYA. The Creation of Australia

B. Australias Struggles and Victories

III. ECONOMYA. Australias resources and livestock raising

B. Australias Services

IV. GOVERNMENTA. THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT B. AUSTRALIAS FLAGS

V. Conclusion

Australia is the largest island nation and the smallest continent. From the native Aboriginal tribes to the great explorers, the land down under has thousands of years of history. Australia has such a wide variety of jobs and resources; it has a very strong economy. Australias democracy is still running strong. The land down under is a world full of jobs, government, and history.

Many European explorers discovered Australia. William Jansz was a Dutch explorer. In 1606, he was the first European to set foot on Australia. He landed in what is now Cape York Peninsula. In 1623, a Dutch seaman sailed to Australia on a ship called The Arnhem. He named the southern land, Arnhem Land. This name still stands as one of Australias many nicknames. Janszoon Tasman landed in an island of the coast off which is now the state of Victoria in 1642. He named this island Van Diemens Land. This name was later changed to Tasmania. In 1770, Captain James Cook was on a secret mission for Great Britains Royal Navy when he landed on Australias east coast. Along with him was a botanist or plant scientist named Sir Joseph Bank. He was so shocked by the plant-life of the bay they landed in they named it Botany Bay. Cook continued to explore Australias east coast. He claimed all of eastern Australia for King George III. He named this land New South Wales. In 1783, America had fought its way to independence in a revolution. At this time Englands prisons were overfilling. In 1787, Captain Arthur Philip filled 11 ships with 730 convicts and sailed to New South Wales. In 1788, they landed in Botany Bay. They explored up the coast and on January 26, 1788 they started the first Australian settlement named Sydney. January 26th is now known as Australia day. The convicts who did there time in Australia were given land to farm. Others escaped into the Outback and started rival gangs. The most dangerous prisoners were kept in Van Diemens Land. In 1824, people explored overland and started the settlement of Melbourne. Robert Burke and William Wills were the first people to travel from Australias northern tip to its southern. In 1830, explorers started the settlement of Adelaide at the mouth of the Murray River. All these new explorations led to new settlers. Australias population grew more rapidly every year. Between 1830-1911, Australia broke up into six colonies, later to become states. These colonies were named New South Wales, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia, The Northern Territory, and Queensland.

Australia had many victories and struggles in there time. By the early 1850s the population of Australia tripled going from 400,000 to 1,100,000,000. In 1856, Van Diemens Land was changed to Tasmania and joined the colonies. As all these settlers came in they pushed the native Aboriginal tribes back. Settlers claimed land that the Aboriginals lived on. Aborigines that fought back were shot and killed. Over 1,000 Aboriginals were killed in these deadly clashes. Many others were wiped out by European disease. Aboriginals still inhabit the country today, but now they have the same rights has Europeans. In 1851, gold was discovered in all 6 states. Many people came to try and find jobs or get rich by finding gold. Again, Australias population grew. The population was so big that Australias government set up a White Australia policy. This stated that only people with European ancestry could immigrate to Australia. This policy was excluded in 1973. Australia joined England in World War I and World War II. Australia became independent from Great Britain in 1901. Australia still has a very good relationship with England. From the 1980s to the 1990s Australia suffered a huge Economic recession. Many companies went out of business and millions of workers were laid off.

Australia has a wide variety of resources and livestock. In 1788, sheep came to Australia. Australias sheep are bred for wool and meat. Because of this, Australia is the worlds top exporter of wool, mutton, and lamb. The Australian cattle stations produce half of the worlds beef. Australias farming activities take up 60% of Australias total land area. Australias mining resources include gold, iron ore, nickel, lead, bauxite copper, silver, coal and zinc. Victoria is Australias major gas and oil producing state. Most of Victorias oil comes from oilrigs offshore. Victoria and New South Wales make up most of Australias factories. These states make chemicals, motor vehicles, household appliances and various other items.

Australia has many services. Australia uses train services for transporting people, minerals, and other goods. Running from Sydney on the east coast to Petron on the west, the Indian Pacific railway takes 65 hours to transport goods from one side of Australia to the other. Australia also uses planes for services. Quantas flies all over Australia to places almost impossible to get to. They do this to transport and deliver medical supplies. Communication is also important to Australia. The most widely read newspapers are the Herald Sun and the Daily Telegraph. The government also funds an Australian broadcasting corporation, which broadcasts over 550 radio stations.

Australia has a really strong government. Australias government is a democracy. The government of Australia is similar to the governments of America and Great Britain. It is divided into federal and state governments. The balance of power is even. The Legislative, Judicial, and Executive make up the 3 branches of government. The prime minister runs Australias executive branch. He is selected in a general election. Members of one party win the majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. The leader of the winning party becomes the new prime minister. The countrys legislative or law making body is the national parliament. Its upper house is the senate and its lower house is the House of Representatives. When selecting the members of the legislative branch, voters elect 12 senators from each state and 2 members from each territory with a total of 76 members. 148 members of the House of Representatives are elected from each district according to the population. Australias judicial branch is Australias high court. The courts interpret and apply law. Australian law is based on centurys old British common law.

Australias official flag has a union jack. This is to show that Australia has a very close relationship to England. The flag has 6 stars. There are 5 stars to the right that form the southern constellation that is mainly visible from Australia. These stars form the 5 states. The big star below the union jack stands for the Northern Territory. Australia has another flag. The Aboriginals have a flag of their own, it is not official but is very popular among Australians. It has 2 stripes One is brown which represents the color of aboriginal skin. The other stripe is red to represent the earth and soil of Australia. In the middle is a giant golden disk representing the sun.

Australia is a well-developed country. Australia has a history of discovery. It is filled with a variety of resources. Australia has a strong, 3 branch democracy. Many people have been attracted to come and live in the land down under.

AUSTRALIAS OFFICAL FLAG 5/28/12

http://www.olstars.com/images/flags/Big/au.gif ABORIGINAL FLAG

http://jameswaites.ilatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/australian_aboriginal_flagsvg1.png 5/28/12

STEVE IRWIN

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INTERVEIW

(Email response from my moms cousin Simon Newberry who lives in Australia.)

1. What state do you live in? (Queensland, new south wales, victoria, etc.)I live in Victoria in the capital city of Melbourne2. Do you think Australia's economy is strong?At the moment it is strong but that is only because Western Australia (the state in the west) is doing so well with mining, in the other states like mine there are still people losing their jobs.3. Do you know anyone with aboriginal ancestry?There aren't many aboriginals in my state but I have met some when I've been to other parts of the country. I did once go for a night out with Kathy Freeman who is a famous Australian aboriginal runner that won a gold medal in the 2000 Olympic games4. What is the most common animal you see daily?Spiders!5. Who is Australia's prime minister?Julia Guillard - she is ginger like baby edie and speaks funny. I don't think she will be prime minister for very long6. What is it like to have the opposite season from the rest of the family?It's strange when we look at them on Skype in their thick coats and we are all in shorts.7. Do you live near the in the city or rural areas?I live very close to the city in a small house. It only takes me 10min on the train to get to work. However we did buy a big house last week so there is room for all of you to come and stay when you come and visit Australia.8. Have you ever seen the outback?I have been to the outback and walked up Ayres rock (which to the aboriginals is called Ularu) in the middle of Australia. Everything is very dry dusty and the soil is red. From Australia I caught the train and it took 2 days to get there.9. What is the climate like?Australia is so big that some parts dont have a winter. Victoria is in the south so we are lucky and have hot summers to go to the beach and ski resorts to go skiing in winter.10. Have you ever seen the Sydney opera house?I've seen it and actually last year did some work on it - we helped them work out how many shops and what type of shops they should put into the bottom of the opera house.

REFERENCE PAGE

Heinrichs, Ann. Australia: Enchantment of the world.New york: Childrens press, 1998.

Web. May 28, 2012< http://www.jameswaites.ilatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/australian_aboriginal_flagsvg1.png

Web. May 28, 2012< http://www.olstars.com/images/flags/Big/au.gif

Web. May 28, 2012 < http://www. Onmuteoff.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/Steve-Irwin1.jpg>

Web. May 28, 2012 < http:// www.scenicreflections.com/download/250882/Map_of_Australia_Wallpaper/

MAP OF AUSTRALIA

5/28/12 http://www.scenicreflections.com/download/250882/Map_of_Australia_Wallpaper