Critical Analysis of Australian History: Key Events and Social Issues

This essay delves into various critical aspects of Australian history, starting with an examination of the period from 1788 to 1901, highlighting how policies favored a 'white man's country.' It discusses the gold rush legacy, anti-Chinese racism, and unequal societal structures. The essay further analyzes the significance of the Whitlam government, emphasizing its recognition of Communist China, support for equal pay, and investments in health, education, and arts. It also explores Jennifer Robinson's argument for adopting an American Bill of Rights model in Australia to protect civil liberties and indigenous rights. The discussion extends to competing interpretations of the domestic violence crisis in Australia, linking it to financial dependence, gender roles, and patriarchal structures. The essay contrasts Kelly's and MacLean's views on Australia's 20th-century economy, focusing on natural resources, institutions, and the impact of sexual harassment. Finally, it addresses social divisions among indigenous Australians, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Desklib provides this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
Australian History
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
Answer 1)
There were aspects in relation to Australian history from the year 1788 to that of 1901
that brought out the fact that those who were in power wanted to make it a country for the
white man. There was gold rush legacy that took place in 1850 that brought out the fact that
the powerful people in Australia wanted to create the conditions that would be suitable for the
flourishing of the white man. The mining of quartz required large amount of investment that
proved to be favourable for the prosperity of the white man. The miners who resisted became
the working class employees. There was the occurrence of anti-chinese racism when the
government imposed restrictions on that of Chinese immigration (Simmonds, Rees and Clark
2017). The democracy in Australia was constrained by that of plural voting and it gave birth
to an unequal society that proved to be prosperous for the white people. In the year 1901, the
prosperity in Australia was on the basis of export industries that was highly productive.
Housing along with infrastructure acted as the key driver of the domestic economy of
Australia that acted to the benefit of those people who were powerful.
Answer 2)
The significance of Whitlam government lies in the fact that it recognised the aspect
of Communist China. The Labour government of Whitlam supported the element of equal
pay for the women that helped in bringing about changes in the Australian society.
Importance of the Whitlam government lies in the fact that it increased the expenditure on
that of health, education along with arts. Whitlam was instrumental in introducing Medibank
that was a health insurance system within Australia. Gough William brought about
opportunities that can help in serving all the students of Australia. Importance of the Whitlam
government lies in the fact that he wanted to remove poverty from the face of Australia which
can bring about a change in the society (MacKenzie 2017). The Whitlam government

2AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
established The States Grants Act 1973 along with Schools Commission Act 1973 that helped
in the creation of new system pertaining to fairer funding. The Whitlam government was
famous for the abolition of the university fees that took place in the year 1974. There were
many prominent personalities of Australia who was able to achieve success owing to the
contributions of Whitlam. Gough Whitlam was able to give Australia new destiny because he
had a new approach towards indigenous owners in Australia.
Answer 3)
Jennifer Robinson has the opinion that American Bill of Rights can act as a model
within Australia. She feels that this kind of a bill in Australia would be able to guarantee the
civil rights along with liberties of the individuals living in Australia. According to Jennifer
Robinson, a bill built on the model of that of American Bill of Rights can help in setting rules
pertaining to process of the law and it reserves the powers that are not delegated to Federal
Government to people (Rossum 2018). A bill like that of American Bill of Rights can help in
respecting the basic rights of the individual citizens and it would be able to afford protection
to the indigenous people living in Australia. There are people belonging to indigenous
communities in Australia and a bill was required that can prove to be instrumental in
protecting them from the other community of people living in Australia. A bill built on the
model of that of American Bill of Rights can help in providing protection to the people of
Australia against any kind of unreasonable searches that can harass the Australians. It shall
forbid taking of the life or liberty without any kind of due process of the law and the taking of
the private property for that of public use (Ravenscroft 2016).
Answer 4)
There are various kinds of interpretations in regard to domestic violence crisis within
Australia. There exist a large number of women in Australia who lose their life to that of

3AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
violence that acts like a burden for the Australian society. There are a large number of
women in Australia who gets trapped within the abusive relationships as they do not have the
money to sustain themselves. The dearth of the factor of financial independence caused many
women in Australia to stay in dangerous relationships that caused them to go through a great
deal of mental turmoil. There exist the interpretation pertaining to domestic violence that it
occurs owing to limited definition of gender-role identity that is instrumental in glorifying the
element of aggression along with violence (Axelsson, Kukutai and Kippen 2016). Another
interpretation of domestic violence is that since the men in the family have power of making
the important decisions in the household it gives rise to forms of domestic violence in the
society. An interpretation in relation to that of domestic violence is that the violence takes
place against the women owing to the patriarchal structure. The patriarchal means are deeply
entrenched within the society and women find it difficult to escape the vicious cycle.
Answer 5)
Kelly and that of MacLean do not agree about experience of the Australian economy
in twentieth century. According to Mac Lean, Australia was able to prosper owing to the
natural resource base along with its interactions with the various institutions. He has talked
about the fact that political institutions helped in the generation of property right regime that
can enable the efficient exploitation of natural resources. MC Lean has talked about role of
British government that helped in supporting democracy of Australia in 1850 along with
growth of the urban power base. He has talked about the fact that development in Australia
has been shaped due to international influences along with immigration. Kelly on the other
hand has brought out the fact that sexual harassment has become an economic issue for the
Australians (Connell 2017). The women who are able to run away from that of family abuse
situations would be able to get early access to that of superannuation that can have an impact
on the economy of Australia. According to Kelly, funding can prove to be effective in

4AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
addressing gender pay gap that can help in addressing financial disadvantages that the women
face in the society.
Answer 6)
The different groups of the indigenous people in Australia are the Aboriginal and the
Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. The aboriginal people within Australia are
generally divided into the middle and the lower class. The middle class of the Aboriginal
culture are trying to enter into the modern world and they are growing financially. They have
been able to attain a dignified position in the society due to their education that has helped
them in getting a distinct position in the society. The Aboriginal middle class Australians
have succeeded in achieving upward social mobility and they have been able to earn a
privileged position in the society (Short 2016). The social divisions exist among the Torres
Strait Islander people due to the fact that there is variation in relation to the different island in
which they live. The Torres Strait Islander people can be divided on the basis of culture.
There exist a class that have Australian elements and there exists another class that has
Papuan elements. The Torres Strait Islander people can be divided on the basis of their
occupations. There are some islanders that act as the agriculturalists and there exist another
group of the islanders that engages themselves in the arena of hunting.

5AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
References
Axelsson, P., Kukutai, T. and Kippen, R., 2016. The field of Indigenous health and the role of
colonisation and history. Journal of Population Research, 33(1), pp.1-7.
Connell, R.W., 2017. On hegemonic masculinity and violence: Response to Jefferson and
Hall. In Crime, Criminal Justice and Masculinities (pp. 57-68). Routledge.
MacKenzie, J.M., 2017. Museums and empire: Natural history, human cultures and colonial
identities.
Ravenscroft, A., 2016. The Postcolonial Eye: White Australian Desire and the Visual Field
of Race. Routledge.
Rossum, R.A., 2018. American Constitutional Law, Volume II: The Bill of Rights and
Subsequent Amendments. Routledge.
Short, D., 2016. Reconciliation and colonial power: Indigenous rights in Australia.
Routledge.
Simmonds, A., Rees, A. and Clark, A., 2017. Testing the boundaries: Reflections on
transnationalism in Australian history. In Transnationalism, nationalism and Australian
history(pp. 1-14). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.