CC.c

1901 - Federation

In 1901, the colonies voted 'yes' to federate into Australia. The upper class saw Federation as a means of creating uniform immigration laws that could keep 'undesirable' people out of Australia. 

The labour movement saw Federation as a way to keep slave labour such as Convicts and Pacific Islanders out of Australia. 

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

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April 25 1915 - Gallipoli 

 Gallipoli was a World War I battle against the Turks that claimed the lives of 7,600 Australians before it was evacuated.

It was 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.

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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. 

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. 

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1930s Depression - Don Bradman and Phar Lap

During the depression, all over the world the people 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.

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. However they needed permission from the British Parliament before they could officially become a new country.

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 so Western Australian remained part of the Commonwealth.

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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 Poms that Aussies enjoyed beating in sport, these days it is the defeat of a Yank that gives an Australian the most pleasure.

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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. 

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1945 Onwards- Australia welcomes refugees.

"Australians have empathy for the underdogs because most Australian families, due to their convict or migrant heritage, understand what it is to be one"  

Due to the Japanese bombing of Darwin in World War II, the Australian Government became convinced that Australia needed population growth to adequately defend the country from invasion. As 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.  

 As many refugees had suffered similar economic and political hardships as those suffered by the Convicts, they are also defined by anti-authoritarian, booze loving and egalitarian sentiments. This helps explain why many refugees actually exhibit stronger stereotypical Australian values that many Anglo-Australians.

Such migrants have both diversified the Australian cultural mix whilst still affirming the core Australian values. 

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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. 

However 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.

Australia voted no.

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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'.

 However 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. 

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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 terra nullus, Arthur Phillip put Aborigines into an undefined category of people who were neither residents nor migrants of the colony. Nor could they be seen as a conquered tribes or resisting tribes that the English needed to sign treaties with. 

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, there was a referendum to decide whether Aborigines should be counted in a census and be given the right to vote. Almost 90 per cent of Australians 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.

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.

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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.

However, 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. 

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2002 - Bali bombing

Australian backpackers have traditionally enjoyed their reputation as an open-minded people who can see both sides of a story. It is this reputation that has given them the freedom to travel to those countries that American backpackers can not. However on October 12th 2002, a bomb destroyed two crowded clubs in Bali, one of Australia's favourite holiday destinations. 201 people died including 87 Australians.

Some speculated the attack was a result of Australia's role in helping East Timor gain independence from Indonesia. Others speculated it stemmed from Australia joining the American invasion of Afghanistan.

Thankfully, most of the post-bomb analysis focussed on the victims rather that the rights or wrongs of the past actions of the Australian Government. It seems that instead of having a political argument, most of the Australian public was more interested in praising the character that the victims showed on the day of the blast and during their subsequent rehabilitation.

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1st century

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