About Australia

The Land | Federation | Aborigines

Australia is one of the oldest land masses and is the flattest of the continents. After Antarctica, it has the lowest precipitation of any continent. Vast areas are arid or semi-desert, unsuitable for settlement. As a result, the population is small in relation to its size.

It lies between east longitudes 113 degrees 9' and 153 degrees 39' and between south latitudes 10 degrees 41' and 43 degrees 39'. Almost 40 per cent is north of the Tropic of Capricorn. On its western coast is the Indian Ocean and on its east the Coral and tasman seas of the South Pacific.

About the same size as the United States (excluding Alaska) Australia is the only nation which occupies an entire continent. It is about 25 times larger than Britain and Ireland, and almost twice the combined areas of India and Pakistan.

The continental shelf extends north to Papua new Guinea and south around Tasmania, varying in width from abut 30km to more than 240km. Just off its eastern coast the Great Barrier Reef extends north for 2000km from southern Queensland to the Gulf of Papua. Enclosing about 207000km2, the reef is an important marine ecosystem, a complex of islands and coral reefs containing many rare life forms.

The main structural feature, the Great Western Plateau, covers most of Western Australia, much of the North Territory and South Australia, and part of western Queensland. Its average elevation is about 300m. Outcrops are significant mainly as geological phenomena and include Uluru (Ayers Rock), a monolith 8km in circumference rising 335m above the central Australian desert.

East of the plateau, extending from the Gulf of carpentaria in the north to Victorian cost, is the great lowland belt known as the central Eastern Lowlands. The belt's average elevation is 150m and, nearly 12m below sea level. These low-lands probably formed the floors of seas comparatively recently, geologically. Parts are rich in cretaceous aquatic fossils.

The Eastern Highlands, better known as the Great Dividing Range, follow the eastern coast south from far northern Queensland to southern Tasmania, never more than 400m from the coast and some times forming part of it. Their average altitude is less than 910m, although peaks exceed 1800m in the rugged south-eastern area, called the Australian Alps. The Alps' highest point is the summit of Mount Kosciusko (2228m).

Australia is the driest inhabited continent and its rainfall varies extremely geographically and seasonally. Mean annual rainfall is 465mm. Rainfall varies from less than 150mm over the centre of the continent to more than 2m in parts of the tropics and western Tasmania. The average annual surface runoff, about 440km3, represents 12 per cent of total rainfall. Evaporation accounts for most of the rest.

As a yardstick: Africa's annual runoff is 18 times Australia's (38 per cent of total rainfall); Europe's nearly six times Australia's (39 per cent); Asia's about 30 times Australia's (48 per cent) and North America's 16 times (52 per cent).

Federation 1901

The six colonial states unite to become the Commonwealth of Australia. Parliament consists of a House of Representatives modeled on the English Westminster parliament and a Senate loosely modeled on a US style states house.

The original constitution is still in place, explaining the presence of English Royalty on currency and other symbols, however the British Crown plays no part in Australia's affairs. The "Queen of Australia", an entirely separate Royal title is represented by the Governor General, effectively a non elected, non executive ceremonial presidential role.

This person is seen as the keeper of the Constitution, is selected by parliamentary consensus and is always an eminent person of recognized leadership achievements in, for example, law, academia, science, the arts or the military. Ceremonial the position may be, however in the event of a constitutional crisis the Governor General holds sweeping reserve powers. These powers are held by convention, not written, and in an extreme case he may dismiss a government, dissolve Parliament and order new and immediate elections. Beyond this, the Governor General may never exercise executive power in his own right.

There is a strong pro-republician movement in Australia but to this date there is no national agreement on what constitutional form a Republic should take. Nor is there a sense of urgency as the present system is well proven.

"This is the land that invented us. Here is where we became human"

- Aboriginal Elder

At first Aboriginal people were thought to be the sole occupants of the continent for 40 - 60 thousand years but new research suggests the period of occupancy could be as much as double. They were known largely as hunter gatherers, but later discoveries at Lake Mungo indicate the cultivation and storage of wild grain and the grinding for flour. This is almost certainly the worlds first recorded agriculture.

Aborigines developed a unique culture along totally different lines to European culture. This culture embodied characteristics that are now becoming valued world wide. At their core aboriginal people have a deep spiritual bond with their land, knew how to live with it and from it in harmony - as opposed to the "subdue the land" biblical attitude. They were nomadic, principally within their own clan territory, as a strategy to keep the country and the food supply fresh and would seek permission from neighbouring clans before entering other's areas.

They understood the importance of living in groups and communities of optimum size to suit conditions - still a new idea for most, had strong social structures and strict justice. Teaching and record keeping was oral. Ideal for group sizes and for the handing on of knowledge by elders. Their developments of the arts, both in paintings and dance, is breathtaking and into the bargain the boomerang, a hunting weapon, shows an innate understanding of aerodynamics.

Far from being "primitive", the picture emerges of a sharing, cohesive, highly structured and socially advanced society which was inclusive and very relevant in the way it evolved. Such a society, living in this land mass, had no use for the "wheel technology" of Europe and no defence against it or its diseases. The coming of European settlement in 1788 all but destroyed it. Since settlement the relationship between the indigenous people and the newcomers has gone through many stages. At first outright war. The Kalkadoons of central north Queensland, for example, defended their land to extinction. Then followed subjugation and paternalism - "protection"!

Next was forced inclusion - assimilation - another way of killing the culture. Through all of this the Aboriginal people and culture have survived and are well on the way to a complete regaining of identity. The national mood is for reconciliation. The curtain on the stage of understanding is opening rapidly but it is not there yet. Politicians and activists continue to bray and play the politics of division while the average person largely ignores them. We Australians are mighty proud of each other when one of us does something outstanding - irrespective of origins. On the ground reconciliation is already a fact for most people though pockets of racism linger.

There are still critical matters of health and justice not resolved. They are being address with increasing urgency and year by year it is possible to see the situation improving in these areas. While today's Australians like to think of themselves as a family, its taken a long time for indigenous Australians to get a seat at the table. Now at least the next argument will be a family one.