Introducing Australian Society and Culture Term Explanations Compiled by Iplusplus@Bdwm 1. Geography and Ecological Environment

Introducing Australian Society and Culture Term Explanations Compiled by iplusplus@bdwm 1. Geography and Ecological Environment 1.1 Uluru Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, is probably the best known sandstone rock formation located in the Western Plateau of Australia. Uluru is notable for appearing to change color at different times of the day and year, most notably glowing red at dawn and sunset. It is the second-largest monolith in the world and is a sacred part of Aboriginal creation mythology, or dreamtime. Uluru is considered one of the greatest wonders of the world and one of Australia’s most recognizable natural icons. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site. 1.2 The Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Australian mountain range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia’s most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world. The Great Dividing Range separates rivers flowing to central Australia or the Murray-Darling Basin from those flowing to the Pacific Ocean or Bass Strait, and so it is one of the few areas of high land in Australia, which is otherwise dry, barren, flat, and sparsely populated. The range stretches more than 3500 kilometers from northeastern Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria. The sharp rise between the coastal lowlands and the eastern upland has affected Australia’s climate. 1.3 The Murray-Darling Basin The Murray-Darling Basin is formed by the Murray and Darling rivers, and it covers more than 14 percent of the mainland. Draining one seventh of the Australian landmass, the Murray-Darling Basin is currently the most important agricultural area of Australia. Most of the basin is flat, low-lying and far inland, and receives little rainfall. The many rivers it contains tend to be long and slow-flowing, and carry a volume of water that is large only by Australian standards. 1.4 Lake Eyre Lake Eyre is the largest salty lake in Australia, and it is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately 15m below sea level, and on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia. It is famous for being the saltiest lake in Australia. Lake Eyre lies on the border of South Australia and it protects an important desert wilderness. Some Australian animals drink the salty water without being harmed. 1.5 Golden wattles Golden wattles are Australian’s national flowers, and they serve as Australia’s floral emblem. It is a tree which flowers in late winter and spring, producing a mass of fragrant, fluffy, golden flowers. The Australian Coat of Arms includes a wreath of golden wattle. The green and gold colors used by Australian sporting teams are also inspired by the colors of wattles. 1.6 Kangaroo Kangaroos, as a well-known and widely welcomed national symbol of Australia, are probably the most renowned marsupial in the world. Kangaroos are endemic to the country of Australia. They have large, powerful hind legs, large feet adapted for leaping. Female kangaroos have a pouch called a marsupium in which joeys complete post-natal development. The kangaroo is a national symbol of Australia: its emblem is used of the Australian Coat of Arms, on its currency, as well as by some Australian organizations. 1.7 Australian lungfish Australian lungfish is one of the only six extant lungfish species in the world. It is endemic to Australia. Like all primitive fishes, Australian lungfish has a lung, as well as gills. This makes the lungfish “living fossils” of great value in studying the biology of the earliest ancestors of land animals. It is of great significance as it provides the only opportunity to study the development and physiology of the aquatic predecessors of all land vertebrates, include ourselves. 2. The Aborigines and Australian History 2.1 The Mabo Case The Mabo Case was a landmark High Court of Australia decision recognizing native title in Australia for the first time. The High Court rejected the doctrine of terra nullius, declaring the previous legal concept of the doctrine to be invalid, in favor of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title. This decision recognized that the indigenous population had a pre-existing system of law, which would remain in force under the new sovereign except where specifically modified. 2.2 The Australian Aboriginal Flag The Australian Aborigines have their own flag which was originally designed as a protest flag for the land rights movement of Indigenous Australians. The flag has become a symbol of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The flag depicts a yellow disc on a horizontally divided field of black and red. The black color symbolizes the Aboriginal people of Australia, and the red color symbolizes the red earth and a spiritual relation the land, whereas the yellow color represents the Sun, which the Aborigines view as the protector and the giver of life. 2.3 The Stolen Generation The Stolen Generation, also known as Stolen Children, is a term used to describe the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals occurred in the period between approximately 1869 and 1969. These children are removed from their families by the government in an attempt to “resocialize” them, to improve the integration of Aboriginal people into modern society. 2.4 The National “Sorry Day” The Nation Sorry Day, also known as The National Day of Healing, was held in 1998, a day when all Australians could express their sorrow and regret for the whole tragic episode and to the Stolen Generation, and embrace the beginning of a new understanding. The recent increase in Aboriginal population reflects improved living conditions and a broad and inclusive definition and Aboriginal identity on the part of the Government. 2.5 The Dreamtime The Indigenous Australians had their own religious traditions founded in their concept of the Dreamtime. Indigenous Australians have a complex oral tradition and spiritual values based upon reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. It is a belief that every person “exists” eternally in the Dreaming. The eternal aspect of this belief is that life continues before and after death. In Australian Aboriginal mythology, the Dreamtime tells the story of things that happened, how the universe came to be, how human beings were created and how the Creator intended for humans to function within the cosmos. 2.6 James Cook James Cook, also known as Captain Cook, is a British naval office, as well as an explorer, navigator and cartographer. He is a member of the Royal Society. He is known for his three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia which he named New South Wales, the European contact with the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. 2.7 Matthew Flinders Matthew Flinders was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers in the 18th and 19th century. He and George Bass circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of the name Australia for the continent. The proved that New Holland, New South Wales and Botany Bay were not separate islands, but parts of a single continent. He was the explorer who completed the draft of the Australia coastline. 2.8 The First Fleet In 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip was appointed governor of New South Wales. He led the First Fleet to set off for Botany Bay to establish a penal settlement in Australia. The First Fleet of 11 ships carrying about 1500 people, have of them convicts, arrived in Sydney Harbor in 26 January 1788, and it is on this day every year that Australia Day is celebrated. In this way the word “convicts” became the major theme and the beginning of early Australian history. 2.9 A Penal Colony Penal Colonies are the convict settlement in Australia established for those convicts banished from Britain. At first, those convicts were sent to Australia in order to isolate them from the western society. However, they brought the tools from the more developed western world as well as their western lifestyle. They contributed a lot in the initial development of Australia. 2.10 Sheep Industry The economy in the Australian convict settlements was mainly the sheep industry. Because of Englishman John MacArthur’s import of flocks of merino sheep and his effort on wool industry, Australia’s sheep industry was beginning to expand. And from then on, with the help of British and its natural advantages, the sheep industry grew explosively. Australia’s sheep took most of the British market. Now, the sheep industry is an indispensable part to Australia’s economics. Australia has become the most important wool export country in the world and sometimes we call it “the country riding on the sheep’s back”. 2.11 The Gold Rush The Australian Gold Rush started in 1851, and it attracted a flood of immigration and laid the basis for Australia’s self-sustaining economic growth. The Gold Rush was highly significant to Australia’s political and economic development. With the Australian Gold Rush came the construction of the first railways and telegraph lines, multiculturalism and racism and Australia’s national identity. The “mateship” developed between diggers on the goldfields is still integral to how Australians perceive themselves as Australians. 2.12 Henry Parkes Henry Parkes was a statesman and politician who is considered “the Father of the Federation” by the Australian people.

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