What is Nation Building?
So far we’ve covered:
 Indigenous Australians
 The first Non-Indigenous settlers
 Increasing Population
 Industrialisation
Think about what events have occurred since
industrialisation that have involved Australia
in a world scale, but also local
events/achievements………
Toward Federation
As Federation approaches people had
started to see themselves as being
different to Europe and had started to
develop a unique Australian identity
 The bush became more familiar and
with artists reflecting this change in
attitude with works that showed the
Australian environment as a place of
beauty and interest
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Poets such as Banjo Patterson began to
see the Australian Bush as a romantic and
special place
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/australians/bpatter
son.htm
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The growing Urban population began to seek nature
experiences: scenery, fresh air, walking , picnicking and
beach activities
Pride in the uniqueness of the Australian Environment
encouraged a growing conservation ethic
The Melbourne Amateur Walking and Touring Club was
established in 1894
The Field Naturalist Group of Victoria was formed in 1880
and served as a leader and lobbyist for environmental
preservation and conservation.
Australia’s first national park, Royal National Park near
Sydney, was declared in 1879
In Victoria Fern Tree Gully National Park was declared in
1882 and Tower Hill in 1892
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/education/resource_kit/res
ources/PVERKsection12229.pdf
Nation Building
Nation Building could be said to be an
ongoing process in Australia's non-indigenous
settlement.
Periods after the first and second World Wars
involved major infrastructure developments.
Think about the returning soldiers and post
war immigration that provided a workforce to
help in the construction of this infrastructure.
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List these types of infrastructure:
Nation Building Infrastructure
Thomson Dam
Nation Building Infrastructure
Lake Guy – Bogong Village: Hydro Electricity Scheme
Nation Building Infrastructure
Nation Building Infrastructure
Great Ocean Road, Victoria
Nation Building Infrastructure
Nation Building Infrastructure
Westgate Bridge
Nation Building Infrastructure
Grain Farming – grew rapidly with the
increase in technology and machinery
developed during World War 2
Nation Building Infrastructure
Cotton Farming – Relied heavily upon one of
our natural resources………? In which areas
of the country…………?
Nation Building Infrastructure
Cattle grazing increased along with vineyards – enabled
Australia more independence from European countries and
increased our exports world wide. After World War 2, exports
gradually declined. Why would this be?
Nation Building Infrastructure
Nation Building Infrastructure
Nation Building Infrastructure
Wind Farms throughout
Victoria. What are the
Positive and negatives of a
wind farm?
Nation Building Infrastructure
What implications did this nation building
infrastructure have on:
1.
2.
3.
Our country and resources
The people and community
Relationships with outdoor
environments
Nation Building Infrastructure
What kind of relationships did people form
with the outdoor environment as a result of
this infrastructure?
 Positive? How?
 Negative? How?
Positive
Negative
Appreciation- working in Weather……
different environments
allowed people to build
a great respect
because……
Other
Just a job ……..
Nation Building
Have humans continued to have the same
impact on outdoor environments from
indigenous habitants through to now?
Explain
Nation Building
The end of the nineteenth century saw the population in Victoria over
1.2 million, which was 30% of the total Australian population.
This rapid growth had taken its toll on the land and marine
environments.
In ‘developing’ as a country, many mistakes were made that had
devastating effects on the natural environment. These included:
 Erosion
 Salinity
 Weed infestation
 Pollution
 Species extinction
It was at this time people realised they had to change the way they
used natural environments.
Nation Building
Marine and estuarine systems were under
pressure from the effects of:
 Irrigation
 High-density settlement in coastal areas
 Farming practices
How did each of the above effect the
environment?
Nation Building
Due to the rapid industrial growth and
technological advance more demand was
placed on natural resources which worsened
environmental degradation. This included
clearing of land for timber mills which in turn
had further effects.
Competition for natural resources between
different industries often resulted in conflict.
Example; logging operations depleted timber
supplies than were also needed for local mine
shaft construction.
Nation Building
In 1952 the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) rose to promote
natural reservations and national parklands. The VNPA remains a nongovernment, non-profit organisation that continues to lobby the State
Government in regard to forest issues.
In the 1960’s public consciousness of environment degradation grew as
environmental issues become more apparent, such as:
 Land development schemes
 Mining of beach sands
 Preservation of the Great Barrier Reef
 Flooding of Lake Pedder for hydroelectricity
 Effects of pollution
Around the same time more conservation groups were formed to help
protect natural environments, they included:
 The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF)
 The South West Committee – later became The Wilderness Society
(TWS)
Nation Building
It was during the 20th century, Australians began
to realise that the environment was being
degraded by human actions and things needed
to change.
While century old European land management
strategies are still in place today there is an
increasing awareness in the value of the
environment beyond that of a resource.
The perception of the natural environment solely
as a resource for human use is also changing.
Nation Building
Science and technology are now helping to
find the balance required for ecological
sustainable development.
Scientists can now predict how long natural
resource stocks such as fossil fuels and
timber will last at the current rate of use.
What measures can be taken to prevent the
impacts from worsening?
Resources
Two men in a tinnie - DVD
 Two in the top end – DVD
 OES textbook – case studies
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