18th/19th Century

Aboriginal war
Friends or foes?

Convict life
Regrets and floggings

Convict crimes
Very odd laws

Convict voice
The dehumanised speaks

Escapes
Thinking different

Larrikin Legacy
Modern culture in penal times

Negroes
A shade of colour

Convict women
Moral diversity

Eureka Massacre
Dying for liberty

Mary McKillop
A rebel and a saint

Outlaws

Pelmuwuy
Rasputin meets Ned Kelly

Mathew Brady
Penal morality

Mary Anne Bugg
Female Bushranger

Ben Hall
The gentleman

Our Ned Kelly
A story heard and considered

Jimmy Governor
A cry of insanity?

E-mail

Timeline of 20th century Australia

Australia's second century had elements that were similar to its first. Just as the 19th century was a time of beginnings, with the laying of the foundation stones for the cities, the 20th century was a time of beginnings, with the laying of founding policies for the country's politics. In both cases, shame has tended to be associated with the pioneers. Likewise, just as the second half of the 19th century experienced massive immigration that changed the country, so too did the massive migration of the second half of the 20th century change the country. Despite diversity usually leading to conflict, both centuries culminated in relatively harmonious fashions, and in economic prosperity. While the two centuries had similarities, they also had differences. Conflict of the first century was usually expressed with fists, whips, boots and guns. Domestic conflict of the second century was usually expressed with verbal insults and votes. Internationally, both centuries culiminated with Australia sending soldiers abroad to build alliances with powerful nations.

1901 - Federation

In 1901, the colonies voted 'yes' to federate into Australia. Some of the upper classes saw Federation as a means of creating uniform immigration laws that could keep 'undesirable' people out of Australia. Most of the union movement saw federation as a way to keep out the Chinese and Pacific Islanders that were being used to weaken unions.

Although federation is celebrated in Australia's political circles, most Australians approach the event with casual indifference. 

1911-14 - Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition

Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 expedition to Antarctica ranks as the greatest polar expedition story ever told. While it achieved its scientific goal with detailed observations in magnetism, geology, biology and meteorology, it was Mawson's individual story of survival that ensured its immortality throughout history. It was a story of one man refusing to give up when all hope seemed lost, and a support team leaving the door ajar when all chance seemed gone.

April 25 1915 - Gallipoli 

Gallipoli was a World War I battle against Turkey that claimed the lives of 7,600 Australians before it was evacuated. It was also the first battle where the term 'Diggers' was used to identify Australian servicemen. (Diggers was a term that had applied to miners on the goldfields.) Gallipoli isn't remembered out of a desire to celebrate war. Instead, it is a commemoration of those who died serving Australia in battle, be it warranted or not.

Curiously, whereas Gallipoli has been used to build bridges of friendship with the Turkish enemy, it has been a source of bad blood with the English allies. This is probably because England had used Australians as canon fodder. Furthermore, the English government billed the Australian government for every penny it spent on Australian troops. Essentially, Australia had to pay for the honour of its citizens dying for England.

The honour of dying for England proved quite a burden during the 1930s depression, which was made that much worse as a result of English banks draining the Australian economy with demands for debt repayment. Many of these debts were incurred by supporting the English in World War I.

1916/17 - Referendums on conscription

In 1916, the Government held a referendum to give itself the power to conscript Australians and send them to war. Vocal opposition came from the labour movement and working class football clubs who despite supporting the war, objected to the principle of compulsion. A typical anti-conscription poster contained a message like:

"To Arms!
Capitalists, Parsons, Politicians,
Landlords, Newspaper Editors, and
Other Stay-at-Home Patriots
you country needs
YOU
in the trenches
WORKERS
Follow your Masters"

Australia voted no. In 1917, the Government again held a referendum on conscription but censored any advertisements that promoted the no case. Australia voted no again. 

1930s Depression - Don Bradman and Phar Lap

During the depression, people of the world looked for heroes to build their self-esteem. In Germany, the hero came in the form of Adolph Hitler. In Australia, the heroes came in the form of two freaks of nature, Don Bradman and Phar Lap. In cricket, a good international batsmen will average around 40-50. The greatest batsmen of an era will average 50-60. Don Bradman averaged 99.96. In no other international sport has one athlete been so far above all others. Phar Lap was a racehorse of poor bloodlines and whose face was covered in warts. He was unplaced in 8 out of his first 9 races but eventually won 37 of his 51 starts. His record is remarkable considering that after each victory, he was saddled with more and more weight to bring him back to the field. After his death, it was discovered that his heart weighed 14 pounds, compared to the average 9 of other race horses of the same era.

Australia gains 42 per cent of Antarctica

Douglas Mawson returned to Antarctica in 1929 and 1931, as leader of the first and second British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expeditions (BANZARE). Like the Australasian Antarctic Expedition before it, BANZARE was a great scientific success. It also proved to be very good for Australia. Mawson claimed for Britain all the land of East Antarctica between longitude 40 deg. E and 160 deg. In total, 42 per cent of the continent. In 1935, Britain transferred that claim to Australia.

1933 - Western Australia votes to secede

In April 1933, 68 per cent of West Australians voted in favour of seceding from the Commonwealth of Australia. Before they could officially become a new country; however, they needed permission from the British Parliament. Meanwhile, Australia's Federal Parliament was arguing that Britain should not interfere in Australian politics. The end result was that Britain never made a decision and Western Australian remained part of the Commonwealth.

1942 - The fall of Singapore

In 1942, England capitulated to the Japanese and subsequently redirected war resources from the Pacific to Europe. Left to fight the Japanese with the Americans, the fall of Singapore marked a shifting of Australia's allegiance from England to the United States. Ironically, the shifting of allegiance to the United States has coincided with a rise in sporting rivalry between the countries. Whereas in the past it was the English that Aussies enjoyed beating in sport, these days it is the defeat of a American that gives an Australian the most pleasure.

1944 - Referendum to extend the government's wartime powers into peacetime

In 1944 the Government held a referendum to extend its war time powers into times of peace. One vocal opponent declared:

"Now it wants even greater power so it can push people around even more than it has in the past and so the Canberra bureaucrat, who, Nazi like, have made themselves little dictators, may continue to dictate."

Australia voted no. 

1945 - Immigration

The years following World War II marked Australia's second mass wave of immigration.  Due to the Japanese bombing of Darwin in World War II, and the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea (then part of Australia), the Australian Government became convinced that Australia needed population growth to adequately defend the country from another invasion. Because the English were reluctant to migrate, the Government targeted refugees from Spain, Greece, Poland, Yugoslavia and Italy. In more recent years, Australia has opened its doors to refugees from the Middle East and Asia. To facilitate their arrival, the Australian government created massive infrastructure projects, such as the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric schemes. At the time, the scheme was considered to be an engineering marvel of the world.

Today, the ability to integrate such a diverse group of people with relatively few problems could also be seen as a marvel of the world. At the end of World War II, Australia’s population was around 7 million. Today, it is around 20 million. In 2006, around 23 per cent of the Australian population were migrants, and almost half of Australia had at least one migrant parent.

1951 - Referendum to ban communism

Throughout the world, different cultures have employed different strategies to defend 'freedom'. In communist countries, 'freedom' has been defended by shooting the individualist thinkers. In America, ' freedom' has defended by blacklisting communists, going to war in Vietnam, bombing countries in the middle east whilst a few patriots have even taken matters into their own hands by murdering suspected communist sympathizers. In Australia in 1951, the Menzies government tried to defend ' freedom' by passing a bill banning Communism. When the high court ruled the bill unlawful, a referendum was held to ban communism. 

Unlike America, no McCarthyism type fever swept the nation and many Australians were against the referendum not because they were communists but rather because they believed in freedom of choice and rational thought.

1952 - 1963 - Britain tests nuclear weapons in Australia

In many respects, England has never seen Australia as anything more than a dump. Initially, Australia was a dump for its lower classes. Such was the lack of affection for the lower classes, in World War II Winston Churchill decided the Japanese were free to have Australia if they wanted.  After the war, England decided that Australia might have some use as a site to test nuclear weapons. For the next ten years, outback Australia was subjected to weapons testing.

These explosions mean that Australia, along with Japan, is one of only two industrialised countries to have had nuclear bombs dropped on it by a foreign power.

1962 - 1972 Vietnam War 

Australia became involved in the Vietnam War to give moral support to the United States in their quest to 'defend the free world'.The war was never popular in Australia. Australians are renowned for being apolitical hence a war fought over political ideologies ran contrary to the Australian grain. Faced with few volunteers to the cause, the Government introduced conscription, which subsequently sparked anti-government protests; further decreasing the popularity of both the war and politicians. 

Despite the unpopularity of the war, Australians seem to identify with the anguish of the Diggers who fought in Vietnam. Testament of this identification is the immortalisation of the Diggers anguish by Red Gum and Cold Chisel with the songs 'I was only 19' and 'Khe Sanh; two of the most enduring and recognisable songs in Australian music history. 

1967 - Referendum on Aboriginal citizenship

Since 1788, when Arthur Phillip incorrectly applied the doctrine of terra nullus (unclaimed land), there has been confusion from non-aboriginal Australians in regards to how they should treat Aboriginal Australians. By applying the doctrine of terra nullus, Arthur Phillip put Aborigines into an undefined category of people who were neither residents nor migrants of the colony.  

The ambiguous status of Aborigines continued when the six colonies voted to federate into one nation. Federation aimed to keep non-whites out of Australia as well as protect the bargaining power of labourers. Such aims were not applicable to Aborigines as they were already in Australia and most of them weren't competing for jobs as they continued their traditional life living off the land. Once more, Aborigines were placed into an undefined category. 

As a result of this confusion, in 1901 the Commonwealth was not given any rights to make laws for Aboriginal people. This power was reserved for the States who were deemed to have more specialised knowledge for the task.

In 1967, Australia had a referendum to decide whether Aborigines should be counted in the federal census, and whether the federal government should be given power to make laws for them. Almost 90 per cent of Australia voted yes.

It is a myth that it was the first time that Aborigines were allowed to vote in a federal election. Under section 41 of the constitution, any person who held a State vote also held a Federal vote. When Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia framed their constitutions in the 1850s they gave voting rights to all male subjects over 21. Unlike the federal constitution, the State constitutions were not framed with race in mind thus Aborigines were included. Aborigines were formally given the federal vote in 1962 under the rein of the Menzies government.

The Aborigines themselves have also been confused in regards to what role they believe they should play in non-aboriginal society. In the colonial era, some were friendly, others were not. In recent times, some have lobbied for inclusion and others for the kind of separatist homeland that indigenous South Africans had during the apartheid era. In regards to the 1967 vote, the Chairman of the Northern Land Council, Mr Galarrwuy Yunupingu said:

"The historic 1967 referendum - where Australians voted overwhelmingly to make Aborigines citizens and for federal government powers to legislate on their behalf - had been forced upon the Aboriginal nation. Aboriginal people have never wanted to be equal with the white people of Australia. The referendum had been inspired by guilt and had never considered the rights we Aboriginal people really had, or who we really were."

1999 - Republican referendum

In 1999, the approaching millennium and Sydney Olympics created a wave of popularity for Australia to become a republic. Polls showed that around 90 percent of Australians supported a republic and around 80 percent wanted the president to be popularly elected by the people. Although the majority of the people were in favour of a directly elected president, Australia's politicians were in favour of the president being appointed by two thirds majority of parliament and it was such a model that was put to the people. Australia voted no. 

20th Century

20th century timeline
Prosperity and conflict

White Australia Policy
From Convicts to Chinese

Douglas Mawson
Science and survival

Gallipoli
Remembering loss

John Monash
The father of the blitzkrieg

John Simpson
He died so others may live

Anzac Day
Lest we forget

Tobruk
Desert Rats defy Hitler

Nancy Wake
The White Mouse

Kokoda
Never giving up

Long Tan
What happened?

Referendums
A history of "no"

Prime Ministers
Skeletons in the closet

21st Century

Timeline
Century of Asian engagement