LECTURE NOTES prepared for AN37002 Australian Social and Political History by
Dr. Gabriella T.Espák
***
Lecture 1
ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA

Prehistory, alternative dates of the beginning of Australian history
1770 (Cook) and 1788 (First Fleet) vs. 60,000BP and 120,000BP


Basic geography of the continent
Aboriginal people as first occupiers, terminology
diversity; Aboriginal and i/Indigenous (adj): collective terms; Koori (NSW), Murri (Qld.),
Nyungar (WA): territorial/cultural affiliations; Yolngu, Ananga, Warlpiri, etc.: tribal
names

Time and direction of arrival
been there since time immemorial (Aboriginal myths) vs. migrated from the north around
60,000BP (supported by anthropological and archeological evidence); in glacial periods:
dryland connection btw. Indochina and Australia (20/60/120,000BP); in interglacials:
waterlevel rose, cut them off

How many at the time of white contact?
Estimates: 300,000 (Radcliffe-Brown), 1,400,000 (official figure in 1838), between
600,000–1,000,000 (current accepted figure); in 500 “tribes” with distinct territory,
language or dialect, culture
 Lifestyle
(a) hunter-gatherer vs. nomadic vs. semi-nomadic vs. fire-stick farming
“success story of survival” (Geoffrey Blainey); territorial diversity in lifestyle, tools;
paleolithic/neolithic people, no use of metal; division of labour between male/female,
young/old; food obtained daily; find water skilfully; adapt to a changing environment and
actively change it (e.g. megaflora&fauna became extinct, desiccation period, deserts
follow.)
(b) women as economic providers; polygamy; tribal wars scarce
 Social organization
(a) kinship
polygamy, patriarchal vs matriarchal lineage, extended vs nuclear family;
“tribe”, moiety, clan, band; abortion and infanticide; marriage rules predefine a child’s
place in the system (incl. dreaming and behaviour patterns) + preempt inter-group
conflicts + avoid inbreeding
(b) diversity of languages
(c) ownership
land owned collectively: “we belong to the land”; weapons, tools, artwork, personal
dreaming owned privately

Spirituality
ancestor spirits, Rainbow Serpent, the Dreaming: a spiritual relationship between people
and land which forms the basis of traditional society; it takes form in stories and artefacts;
it is law, it is a collection of mythical stories

Key issues: the Dreaming, land (spiritual and physical connection).
Lecture 2
FROM COOK TO MACQUARIE
 Terra Australis Incognita
Islanders, Portugese, Spanish (Torres), Dutch (Tasman), British (Dampier), French compete
for the unknown south land
 Cook’s three expeditions
1768-71: (a) to examine the transit of Venus; (b) to find and annex the southern continent
on board the Endeavour, Joseph Banks botanist, land at Botany Bay
1772: down to the icy shores
1776: discovers Sandwich Islands (Hawaii)
 Why was Botany Bay settled?
(a) Convict colony: overcrowded prisons in London, hulk-system, transportation to 7 years;
Ultimate aim: to create a self-sustaining colony of emancipated ex-convicts and produce
profit for the mother country.
(b) Naval base: to counterbalance threatening French presence in Indochina and the South
Seas; supply food&water, flax&timber
 The First Fleet
Gov. Arthur Phillip (1788-92) with a fleet of 11 ships, 778 convicts,
depart: May 1787, arrive at Sydney Cove: 26 January 1788
 Setting up a colony
“years of starvation,” 1790 Lady Julianna: female convicts + supplies, land grants and
assignment system to launch an agricultural colony
 Convict society
quickly becomes a stratified society; cultural luggage
convicts (ticket of leave, conditional/absolute pardon, exconvict, emancipists);
settlers (employed workers, leaseholders, freeholders);
public officials, marines, officers&soldiers, governor
bad reputation of women (Rev. Johnson and Rev. Marsden),
“native-born” children (currency kids), distinctions by gender, religion, nationality
 Ruled by military officers
1792-95 New South Wales Corps control trade and agriculture (grazing stations), John
Macarthur becomes the richest squatter
Gov. John Hunter (1795-1800)
Gov. Gidley King (1800-06) fail to control officers & rum & the Irish
 Gov. William Bligh and the Rum Rebellion
arrives in 1806 after mutiny on the Bounty, tyrant-type character
conflict of interests with the officers: bans trading in rum, supports small-scale agriculture,
cruel, arrests Macarthur
1808 military coup
 Gov. Macquarie (1810-21)
consolidates power, booming colony, the father of Sydney, leaves in disgrace
Lecture 3
EXPLORERS, EXPANSION, AND THE PASTORAL ASCENDENCY
 General trends for the period between 1821-50
population: increasing free population
politics:
free speech, trial by jury, representative government
convictism: transportation ended
economy:
squatting, expanding pastoralism and wool industry
expansion:
continued explorations, new settlements and colonies
 Governors
Thomas Makdougall Brisbane (1821-25)
Ralph Darling (1825-31)
Richard Bourke (1831-37)
Sir George Gipps (1838-46)
Sir Charles Augustus Fitz Roy (1846-55)

Major political divisions between:
exclusives
vs.
oppose elected legislative assembly & free
press, “no democracy in jail”
John Macarthur
emancipists
feel unjustly discriminated (esp. the nativeborn) by no land grants, no jury, no offices,
no free press
William Charles Wentworth
 New settlements
Moreton Bay (>Brisbane) and Norfolk Island as penal settlements
Swan River Colony (>Fremantle, Perth)
Portland Bay, Port Phillip Bay (>Melbourne, Victoria): the Henty brothers, John Batman
Adelaide, South Australia (“cinderella colony”)
 Curbing the governor’s autocratic power(Bigge’s recommendations)
1823 Judicature Act >> Legislative Council
Civilian jury system
1843: 1st election (24+12), property franchise
Sydney Gazette, Australian, Monitor: freedom of the press
 Regulating the land grant system
land grants & cheap convict labour attract free settlers; squatting, squatters
no more large land grants to emancipists (Bigge’s recommendations)
the Ripon land regulations (1831): no free grants, revenue gained from sold lots
license fees for grazing (pastoral leases)
Lecture 4
THE LURE OF GOLD; EUREKA STOCKADE
 The beginning of the gold rushes in NSW
early findings incite no rush (4 reasons)
Feb 1851 Edward Hargreaves, at Summer Hill, news spread in May
“mental madness”
 The beginning of the gold rushes in Victoria
promoted by businessmen, reward promised, June 1851 (Campbell and Edmond)
Ballarat, Sandhurst (Bendigo), Mount Alexander (Castlemaine)
richer fields, more attractive
 Life and work on the goldfields 1851-61
lived in calico tents, stay at hotels
mine by panning, “washdirt”, crushing quartz
some got very rich
lawlessness: no laws prohibiting firearms, brawls, drunkenness, robbery, murder
goldfields as centres of commercial activity
recreation: horse racing, athletics, cricket, boxing; theatre
levelleing tendencies
 Immigration
from Britain, the US, other European, China
 Miner’s grievances
(1) the licensing system, (2) police raids and licence checks, (3) control liquer sales,
(4) decline of supplies of alluvial gold, (5) high land prices, (6) lack of political
representation, (7) Chinese immigration
 Eureka Stockade
at Ballarat; Peter Lalor; incidents between miners and troops
Gov. Hotham’s order to increase licence hunts
the murder of Scobie and the burning of Bentley’s hotel
the Ballarat Reform League; burning licences; flag with the Southern Cross on (Charles Ross)
licence check 30 Nov; attack 2 Dec
eventual victory for the miners (gov. resigns, licence replaced with annual Miner’s Right,
Legislative Assembly enlarged to include 8 representative from the goldfields)
 Wider consequences
social changes (increase in population, upserge in racial prejudice)
economic changes (in pastoral industry, boomtowns; stagecoach, railway, telegraph)
political changes (ending of transportation, democratic gov’t in NSW&Victoria with
bicameral parliament; 1856 Tasmania; 1856 full male suffrage in South Australia)
also: developing arts; lasting effects in the environment.
Lecture 5

THE RISE OF NATIONALISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS
The population continued to increase
1860
1900
male
668 000
female
477 000
1 977
000
1 788
000
total
1 145
000
3 765
000
NSW
348 000
Vic.
538 000
Qld.
28 000
WA
15 000
Tas.
90 000
1 350
000
1 200
000
490 000
180 000
172 000

Transportation of convicts ended completely

British military troops withdrawn, defence handed over to the colonies
 Exploration and charting continued
Burke and Wills (from Melbourne to Gulf of Carpentaria)
Stuart (from Adelaide to Port Essington, near Darwin)
Forrest (WA); Warburton, Gosse, Giles (WA & Central)

Cities grew in size and sophistication
 Transport and communication further improved
railroads, coach services, steam vs. sail shipping (inland, international, coastal), electricity & telegraph
 “Unlocking the land”
conflict between squatters and selectors, the selection acts, fraudulent practices

Bushrangers: Ned Kelly

Rural development assisted by invention of new machinery, wire fencing, refrigeration
 New mining ventures
gold in WA (Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie), silver in NSW, copper, tin, coal, diamond, oil shale, opal
 Tariff barriers established to protect home industries
tariff campaign in Victoria, free trade in NSW
 The development of trade unionism (“workers’ paradise”)
campaign for the 8-hour day, union radicalism and socialism, the Maritime Strike, the Queensland
shearers’ strike, 1892 strike at Broken Hill, “New Australia” (the Paraguay experiment), the Australian
Labor Party (ALP)

Colonial governments become more democratic women gain vote in SA & WA

“Free, compulsory and secular” education for all children
 Nationalism
literary nationalism romanticizing the bush and mateship, art, sport, and military service
the Bulletin School of writers (Henry Lawson, “Banjo” Paterson, Joseph Furphy)
the Heidelberg School of painters (Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton, Charles
Conder)

Discontents: Racism and Discrimination
Lecture 6
FEDERATION 1901

Long road to Federation
1st suggestion: Earl Grey, 1848: to cooperate in matters of tariffs, postal services, roads&railways
1885: Federal Council (can only discuss matters, not legislate)
1887: Colonial Conference (about defence), Naval Agreement
1889: Henry Parkes’s Tenterfield Address
1981: Constitutional Convention in Sydney
The depression and strikes of the 1890s cause delay.
1893: Australian Natives Association (ANA) meeting in Corowa, NSW
Dr Quick’s proposals
“the creation of a new federal government should be the concern of all Australians—
not just politicians”
1897-98: 2nd Constitutional Convention
1898: 1st referendum
1899: 2nd referendum
1900: Referendum in WA
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900
Royal Assent on 9 July
1 January 1901: in effect

Levels of government
Federal: new parliament, new public service, new High Court
-- Governor-general: appointed by the monarch, represents the Crown
1st: Earl of Hopetoun; 1st Australian-born: Sir Isaac Isaacs (1931-36)
-- Bicameral Parliament (Senate + House of Representatives)
-- Federal Government: responsible for foreign policy, defence, immigration, customs,
communication, currency, taxation
1st prime minister: Sir Edmund Barton
2nd: Sir Alfred Deakin
-- High Court: established in 1903; interpret the constitution, act as court of appeal
1st chief justice: Sir Samuel Griffith
State: like previous colonial governments, with reduced power
Local: provide for the community

Why did federation occur?
-- Australians had much in common: white, British descent, English language, Christian
-- colonies brought together by developing transportation & communications
-- a growing sense of nationalism and mateship: being one people
-- advantages: regulated economy, abolished intercolonial tariffs, proper defense, legislation
against non-white immigration
-- contribution of individuals and institutions: Parkes, Griffith, Barton, Deakin, ANA,
Australasian Federation League, manufacturers
-- British government was prepared to allow a requested federation “in the best interest of the
people and empire”

The establishment of federal government
Inauguration of Commonwealth in Sydney, 1st Federal Parliament in Melbourne
1st election: Protection, Free Trade, Labor (parties)

Building the new commonwealth (Protectionist gov. 1901-4)
-- new national flag
-- public service departments and High Court established
-- federal responsibility for British New Guinea
-- defence plans developed
-- White Australia policy formulated (1901 Immigration Restriction Act)
-- tariff barrier created
-- women get the vote in federal election
Lecture 7
AUSTRALIA IN WORLD WAR I

The two most important concerns of the new federation:
-- economic prosperity>> new protectionism
-- White Australia>> better defense

Major political trends evolve: Labor vs. Liberal

Double identity: national + imperial

WWI: Australia joins the war on 4 August 1914
-- volunteers enlisting to AIF (later called ANZAC)
-- 25 April 1915: landing at Gallipoli; “Australia’s baptism in fire”
-- Western front (France); Near East (North Africa, Suez, Ghaza)

63% of troops dead or injured (population c.5 million; 331781 troops in war; 59342
dead; 152171 injured)

On the home front
-- no conscription approved (>>voluntary army)
-- in support of England (>>imperial attachment)
but: -- growing independence (>>sign treaty on Australia’s behalf, join the League of
Nations)
 the ANZAC-legend
diggers, the Light Horse, Anzac-cake, periscope gun, General John Monash, Anzac Day (25
April), RSL, shrines of remembrance

Peace Conference in Paris
Prime Minister ‘Billy’ (William Morris) Hughes:
-- demands control of New Guinea
-- insists on Germany paying heavy reparations (doesn’t get it)
-- turns down Japanese proposals for a clause guaranteeing racial equality and freedom of
migration in the the Covenant of the new League of Nations

Boom (1919 to about 1927), Depression (1929-33), and Recovery (after 1933)
-- “Men, money, and markets” (Stanley Bruce, PM)
-- A general line of developments and changes include the following:
1. A soldier settlement scheme was established
2. New assisted migration increased the population
3. Australians helped to pioneer the film industry
4. Many radio stations began broadcasting
5. Australian pilots created world flying records
6. More motor cars and bikes appeared on the streets
7. National monuments, such as the Shrines of Remembrance in Melbourne and Sydney,
and the Sydney Harbour Bridge were built
8. Some Australians became prominent internationally in sport
9. The federal government finally moved to Canberra (1927)
10. New political parties were formed: the Country Party and the Communist Party in
1920, and the United Australia Party in 1931.
Lecture 8
AUSTRALIA IN WORLD WAR II
 Australia declares war
Prime Minister Robert Menzies; 3 September 1939; to prepare the country:
-- a new division (6th) raised >> “six-bob-a-day men” sent abroad
-- compulsory service in the militia reintroduced
-- air force increased

War in the desert, Greece, Crete, Syria, Lebanon
In June 1940 the Italians entered the war, and this transformed the Middle East into a
theatre of active operations. Australian troops in WW2 first saw action there, fighting the
Italians first, then the Germans.
Italians took Lybia and Abyssinia, pushed Egypt to threaten British bases and the vital
Suez Canal.
A successful British counterattack drove the Italians back to Bardia. The Australian 6th
Division was brought in, and took the city in 3 days. 40000 prisoners were taken, with 450
Australians killed or wounded. Much celebration followed at home.
More successes followed till Benghazi, but then the Division was moved over to Greece
where it was needed to assist the poorly equipped Greek Army. The opportunity to chase
Mussolini’s army to Tripoli and crash his “empire” in North Africa was abandoned, because
German threat in Greece seemed more immediate.
The positions in Greece could not be held becuase heavy German superiority both in
number and in air command (with constant bombing) forced the joint Australian and NZ
troops to retreat.
After a month of fight (in honour of the ANZAC Corps) they were evacuated to Crete. By
this time, commanders had already expressed their concern about being under exclusive
British command, without consultation and orders from home. However, Crete also fell in
May.
By comparison, the campaign in Syria and Palestine proved extremely successful. After a
five-week campaign, the Vichy French commander asked for a ceasefire in July 1941.
Australian troops re-established their name and fame in North Africa in the meanwhile, in
the defense of Tobruk from May to October 1941. Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps
landed in Tripoli to help the Italians, and they pushed the Allies back towards Egypt.
Churchill decided to abandon Lybia for Tobruk, a strategic port, where the Australian 9th
Division hold its stance.
The enemy called the “Desert Rats” and “Rats of Tobruk,” so well they held, in spite of the
circumstances. Heavy bombing, desert circumstances, and only the sealine for supply could
not break them. They held long enough, but reasonably speaking they could not take much
longer. Once again, the interests of Britain and Australia clashed over the siege. The
Australian government and military leadership did not want to see the 9th Division destroyed
or imprisoned. In the near future, it might be needed to defend Australia. The government
decided, therefore, that the 9th D. must be withdrawn, much to the annoyance of Churchill.
Soldiers were evacuated by ship and replaced by Polish troops. Rommel returned with
refreshed troops and new supply in June next year (1942), and took the town & port.

Wartime changes in Australia
In Australia, the war effort continued.
The National Security Act (1939) gave the government the right to prohibit public
meetings, arrest people without warrants and carry out trials in closed courts; and all citizens
were required to contribut their labour and property in defence of their country. Industry
began to produce wr material, and petrol rationing was introduced.
PM Menzies rapidly lost popularity (mostly because he was regarded as supporter of
British interests rather than Australia’s) and could barely keep his position in the 1940
elections.
In August 1941 he was called to resign, which he did, and afterwards John Curtin became
PM (1941-45), and eventually Australia’s hero for winning the war against Japan.
It was the Curtin gov. that insisted on the withdrawal of troops from Tobruk, and
justifiably so, as they were soon needed on home lands, after Japan entered the war.
During the last weeks of 1941, Australians became increasingly concerned about their
national security.
- In mid-November, the Sydney (glorious in WW1) was sunk by the German raider
Kormoran
- American discussions to ensure peace with Japan broke down, and a large Japanese
amphibious force landed in Thailand.
- A day later Pearl Harbor was attacked, which brought the US into the war.

Australia prepares for invasion
Australia had never been threatened by imminent invasion, and urgent measures had to be
taken. This is when troops from the Middle East were brought home, in spite of Churchill’s
opposition of withdrawal.
Curtin was determined to turn from Britain to the US for assistance, and F.D.Roosevelt
assured him of defence.
1942 proved to be a difficult year for Australians. The Japanese kept pushing southwards
relentlessly.
Singapore fell in mid-February, after a heavy Japanese bombardment. The British had
always claimed that it could not be capture from the sea by any force, but the Japanes came
“through the back door”—from the jungle. Some 15000 Australian troops were taken
prisoners, a few escaped only.
On 19 February the war was brought home to ordinary Australian citizens: carrier-borne
Japanese aircraft bombed Darwin, causing considerable damage, and widespread panic. In
WA, Broome was also attacked.
Two days after the first attack on Darwin, Curtin sent a cable to Roosevelt, recommending
that General Douglas MacArthur be appointed commander-in-chief of the South-West Pacific
area. Roosevelt was in favour of the proposal. The US needed to have Australia on her side,
and the country could prove a useful base from which to attack the Japanese.
The Americans arrived by mid-1942, 80000 of them, then about 120000 more in the next
year. The “Yanks,” as thay were called, made an obvious but temporary impact on society.
New defence plans were constructed to defend Australia, inclusing “The Brisbane Line,”
which suggested temporarily giving up the landmass beyond the Brisbane-Adelaide line
(because the continent was too big to defend). However, MacArthur preferred direct, quick
fight, so first he moved his headquarters from Melbourne to Darwin, then to Port Moresby
(Papua) to be closer to action.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought between 4-8 May, and it eventually stopped the
Japanese from capturing Port Moresby, the capital of Papua.
Because of wartime censorship, the details of the fighting were not immediately reported in
the press, to avoid panic.
The war reached Sydney at the end of May 1942, in the form of mini-submarine attacks
which were taken back. Sydneysiders were startled but reassured.
Then followed the battle of Midway (June 1942), which eventually destroyed Japanes
naval power, and so the tide turned.

Jungle warfare in Papua
After the German troops surrendered after El-Alamein, the remainder of the Australian
troops were brought home from the desert to New Guinea, where they were to face long and
bitter fight.
The Japanese invaded New Guinea (Papua) in March 1942, from the north, where they
overcame the resistance of local militia, farmers and missionaries. They advanced across the
country, heading for Port Moresby.
They had to cross the Owen-Stanley Mountains, a barrier of c. 4000 metres, pitted with
passes and valleys, floored with almost impassable undergrowth, criss-crossed by rivers and
drenched daily by monsoon rains. The Japanese objective was to use Port Moresby as a
jumping-off point for the invasion of Australia.
Australia had a small force in New Guinea, and a few slow fighter planes, no match for the
Japanese. They were driven along the Kokoda Trail, a narrow, winding path, often with
room for no more than one man. They held the vilageof Kokoda for a while, but were
outnumbered and forced back towards the sea. The Japanese managed successfully to extend
their supply lines and pushed forward, but during the summer Australian refreshments arrived
and retreat stopped. (That happened parallel to the successes at the Coral Sea and Midway.)
New Guinea was taken back by January 1943, in severe jungle warfare and by heavy
reliance on (and explitation of) the native population.
During the rest of the war, Australian troops participated in retaking the South Pacific
Islands. The American benefitted from Australia’s policy of keeping her conscript army at
home, and leaving the smaller volunteer army to fight its way towards Japan, island by island.
This fighting was some of the most severe in the war, due to MacArthur’s strategy of sidestepping strongly-held positions, leaving them to be “mopped up” by the Australians. This
was the so-called “mopping up” strategy.
VJ Day (Victory over Japan) arrived on 15 August 1945, but PM John Curtin could not
live to see it. His health was worn out by the strain of leading his nation during a most trying
period. He died of heart attack in Canberra on 5 July. He was succeeded by Ben Chifley.

Effects of WW2 in Australia
-- Personal loss: 21136 soldiers+10562 airmen+1854 sailors killed
-- Racial hatred against the Japanese
-- Reinforcement of the ANZAC-spirit
-- The beginning of the Australian–American alliance
-- Increased federal powers: more centralised government; poll-tax introduced; increased
gov. production (esp. aircraft&shipbuilding, servicemen’s homes)
-- Expansion of social services (eg. child endowment, funeral benefits, unemployment &
sickness benefits)
-- Stimulation of the economy
-- Partial liberation of women
-- A widened world view
Lecture 9

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
THE MENZIES ERA
Ben Chiefley’s ALP government
Supported the establishment of the UNO
Allowed many non-British migrants in
a) Established a new peacetime army
b) a missile-testing range at Woomera
c) the Australian Securtiy Intelligence Organization (ASIO)
Strove to maintain full employment, and extended social services
Founded the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra
Created Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) and nationalised Qantas Airways and overseas
communications
Tried Unsuccessfully to nationalise banks
Set up the Snowy River hydro-electric and irrigation scheme.
 Robert Menzies’s Liberal governments
1. Menzies founded the new Liberal Party, and helped create the Liberal-Country Party
coalition
2. Provided Australia with a record of 16 years of stable government, which helped the
economy to develop and strengthen
3. Took a firm stand against communism:
a) Attacked the ALP for being too “soft” on communists
b)Attempted unsuccessfully to ban the Communist Party
c) Committed Australia to the Colombo Plan aid programme; to ANZUS; to SEATO
d) Allowed British nuclear testing on Australian soil
e) Sent troops to fight in Korea, Malaya, Malaysia, Vietnam
4. Licensed television stations for the first time in Australia (including ABC)
5. Planned for the introduction of decimal currency
6. Assisted educatioin, especially universities
 Other changes between 1945-66
1. The population increased rapidly because of immigration and a post-war “baby boom”
2. Australia discovered a new source of prosperity in iron ore, bauxite, uranium, nickel, and
oil
3. Australia developed trade with new countries, such as the US and Japan
4. The standard of living rose rapidly, and people became far more concerned with consumer
goods than they had been before the war
5. They adopted some aspects of American culture, including supermarkets, motels, drive-in
cinemas, Coca Cola, hamburgers, and rock ‘n’ roll music
6. Australians enjoyed international sporting success, and Melbourne hosted the 1956
Olympic Games
7. In the 1960s, Australia began to experience the effects of a social revlution that had
started overseas.
Lecture 10
IMMIGRATION / MULTICULTURALISM / HUNGARIANS IN
AUSTRALIA
 A history of immigration—a series of comings
- Aboriginal peoples, 60000 BP, from the north
- British convicts and settlers 1788-21, “convict society,” Irish vs. English
- Increasing free population 1821-50 (“squatting”)
- Immigration boom 1850-60: the gold rushes (NSW, Victoria); British, American, other
European, Chinese
- Assisted migration 1860-1900 (unlocking the land, “selecting”); Chinese, Pacific Islanders
(“kanakas”)
- White Australia Policy 1901-1960s
1901-1945 British, assimilation
1945-1948 DPs
1950 Colombo Plan
1956 Hungarian refugees
- Late 1960s: Integration; Vietnam refugees (“boat people,” “asylum seekers”)
- Multiculturalism: 1972 onwards; 1989: National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia
 Multiculturalism
official policy + nation formation
- After Menzies retired, the Liberal Party struggles but manages to keep power intil 1972.
(Harold Holt 1966-67; John Grey Gorton 1968-71; William McMahon 1971-72)
- The new Labor government of Gough Whitlam (1972-75) began to change Australian
society and economy too quickly >> dismissed by the governor general >> constitutional
crisis.
- withdraws troops from Vietnam
- recognizes communist China
- gives independence/self-government to Papua New Guinea
- friendly with Japan
- does not support white minority governments (eg. South Africa)
- Malcolm Fraser (1975-83): strong Liberal leader again, with conservative ideas
- Bob Hawke (1983-91), Paul Keating (1991-96): new Labor; middle ground; bring people
together
 Hungarians in Australia
- 1948/49 >> Gold rush (aristocrats & upper middle class emigrants)
- late 19th c >> Jewish tradesmen
- pre-War >> chain migration (with trade), antisemitism
- post-War (‘45) >> Jewish, DPs (displaced persons)
- 1948 >> DPs
- 56-ers >> political refugees
- 70s >> mostly for economic reasons
Lecture 11

ABORIGINAL CULTURE FROM THE FIRST FLEET TO MABO
(A History of Race Relations -- Land Rights -- Post-1988)
Sources and the importance of being critical, cultural relativism
 Perceptions of the Aborigine and the land
conceptual differences, “primitive”
William Dampier 1688, “the miserablest people in the world”
James Cook 1770, noble savage, “far more happier than we Europeans”
cultural luggage: fertile and valuable land (terra australis incognita), social hierarchy, private
property, Christianity, peaceful natives,
Joseph Banks 1779: “there would be little probability of any opposition from the natives”
Christian superiority: “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth” (Gen.I. 1:28), the agricultural
explanation, terra nullius, the Great Chain of Beings, Social Darwinism
new historiography, new Aboriginality, “the Great Australian Silence” (W.E.H. Stanner)
“it undermines the theory of peaceful settlement as well as the notions of British justice,
humanitarianism and egalitarianism which were central to the Australian nationhood and identity
constructed by the earlier history.” (Bain Attwood)
 Events and political solutions
In “war”:
spirits returned from the dead, agressors
Colonial Office: colonial subjects, instructions to Gov. Phillip:
“You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives, and to
conciliate their affections, enjoining all our subjects to live in amity and kindness with them.”
no treaty, Batman’s Treaty 1835
pastoral leases
frontier violence, punitive expeditions, Black War in Tasmania, Myall Creek massacre
Native Mounted Police
In “peace”:
Protectorates, reserves, missions, paternalism, protection, assimilation
trackers, station hands, domestic servants, fringe-dwellers
1967 Referendum - welfare, social problems
Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
Stolen Generations: Bringing Them Home Report, genocide(?)
self-determination
Land Rights Movement, Tent Embassy in Canberra 1972, Charles Perkins,
Barunga Statement, Survival Day
THE BARUNGA STATEMENT
We, the indigenous owners and occupiers of Australia, call on the Australian Government
and people to recognise our rights:
• To self-determination and self-management, including the freedom to pursue our
own economic, social, religious and cultural development;
• To permanent control and enjoyment of our ancestral lands
• To compensation for the loss of use of our lands, there having been no extinction of
original title;
• To protection of and control of access to our sacred sites, sacred objects, artefacts,
designs, knowledge and works of art;
• To the return of the remains of our ancestors for burial in accordance with our
traditions;
• To respect for and promotion of our Aboriginal identity, including the cultural,
linguistic, religious and historical aspects, and including the right to be educated in our
own languages and in our own culture and history;
• In accordance with the universal declaration of human rights, the international
covenant on civil and political rights, and the international convention on the
elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, rights to life, liberty, security of
person, food, clothing, housing, medical care, education and employment
opportunities, necessary social services and other basic rights.
We call on the Commonwealth to pass laws providing:
• a national elected Aboriginal and Islander Organisation to oversee Aboriginal and
Islander affairs;
• a national system of land rights;
• a police and judicial system which recognises our customary laws and frees us from
discrimination and any activity which may threaten our identity or security, interferes
with our freedom of expression or association, or otherwise prevents our full
enjoyment and exercise of universally recognised human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
We call on the Australian Government to support Aborigines in the development of an
international declaration of principles for Indigenous rights, leading to an international
covenant.
And we call on the Commonwealth Parliament to negotiate with us a Treaty
recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty and affirming our
human rights and freedom.
Reconciliation
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)
Mabo v. Queensland (1992)
Commonwealth Native Title Act (1993)
reverse discrimination
Tourism industry (Art and sustainable economy)
Sport: the Sydney Olympic Games, footy,
SBS, ABC; film (Yolngu Boy, Radiance, Rabbit-Proof Fence), music
Literature, identity issues: voice and representation (Who is Aboriginal? Who has the right to speak?)