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Destination:

Australia


Getting Ready

topHistory

Though Australia is one of the world’s oldest land masses, dating back some 3,000 million years, human inhabitants first arrived approximately 50,000 years ago. Migrants from Southeast Asia, these First Australians (known as Aboriginals) developed a complex cultural and spiritual tradition based on reverence for the land. The first European known to visit Australia was the Dutchman Willam Jansz, who landed on the western shore of Cape York in 1606. Dutch explorers mapped the northern and western coastlines in the 17th century, but built no settlements. In 1770, the English captain James Cook explored the eastern shore, which he name New South Wales, and claimed it for Britain. In order to hold this claim, the British government found a penal colony in New South Wales in 1788. This settlement became the city of Sydney. Over the next century, separate colonies were founded in Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria. The Northern Territory was split from South Australia and founded as a separate territory in 1911.

A major gold rush in 1851, followed by another in the 1880s, greatly increased the immigrant population and the economy. Australia’s new financial viability and sense of civic pride paved the way for the federation of the colonies in 1901. The Commonwealth of Australia was founded in 1907. Australia fought alongside Great Britain in WWI – the first major military action of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, at Gallipoli, is considered by many to mark the birth of the new nation. ANZAC Day, celebrated each year on April 25, is Australia’s most important national occasion. Australia achieved legislative independence from Britain in 1939 – final constitutional ties were cut in 1986.

During WWII, Australia allied itself with Britain and the US, and fought in campaigns in Europe, North Africa and the Southwest Pacific. Japanese bombers attacked cities and airfields in the Northern Territory 97 times, most notably the massive air raids on Darwin in 1942. After the war, Australia encouraged immigration from Europe (and after 1973, from Asia). In recent decades, it has become one of the world’s fastest-growing and competitive economies, with very high rankings of livability and quality of life.

Aboriginal History Since Colonization
Aboriginal populations declined sharply after the arrival of the Europeans, largely due to infectious disease. Between 1900 and 1969, federal and state governments and church missions removed many Aboriginal children from their families, in a misguided attempt at child protection. Improvements in the treatment and condition of the Aboriginals have been slow, but are increasing. A separate citizenship was created for Aboriginals in 1948 – the right to vote in federal elections was given in 1949. In 1976, the Aboriginal Land Rights act gave Aboriginals in the Northern Territories the right to claim land based on traditional occupation. Other land rights acts followed. Uluru was returned to Aboriginal ownership in 1985. In 2007, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology for the forced removal of Aboriginal children.

topBooks for Adults

The Fatal Shore
Robert Hughes • History

A superb and entertaining history of the founding of Australia, tracing the fates of those transported to the penal colonies between 1787 and 1838. Hughes draws from the accounts of the colonists themselves to create this engaging account. Buy now

Triumph of the Nomads: A History of Aboriginal Australia
Geoffrey Blainey • Anthropology

Powerful, objective, and carefully researched, this book traces the history of the Australian aborigines, starting with their arrival by boat 30,000 years ago, and describing how they conquered their environment and created a stable lifestyle lasting thousands of years. Buy now

Kakadu, Looking After the Country – The Gagudju Way
Stanley Breeden and Belinda Wright • Cultural Portrait

This book provides good insight into Aboriginal history and culture, with a focus on the Gagudju people, the original inhabitants and current co-owners of Kakadu National Park. Buy now

The Songlines
Bruce Chatwin • Cultural Portrait

Chatwin combines straightforward reporting, history, and dream-time stories in this semifictional meditation on the meaning of Dreamtime, the Aboriginal creation myth. Buy now

In a Sunburned Country
Bill Bryson • Travel Narrative

A fond, hilarious look at Australia as seen through the eyes of this much-loved American travel writer. (Published in Australia under the title Down Under.) Buy now

Mutant Message Down Under
Marlo Morgan • Travel Narrative

This book recounts the 50-year old author’s spiritual journey in the Outback, where she was sent “for her own good” by her Aboriginal guides. True or not, it’s definitely compelling and highly memorable. Buy now

The True History of the Kelly Gang
Peter Carey • Literature

In this daring novel, Booker Prize winner Carey tells the story of Australia's most legendary outlaw, Ned Kelly. Steeped in the colonial history of late-19th-century Australia, the novel is presented as a series of rough, captivating letters to Kelly’s young daughter. Buy now

The Playmaker
Thomas Keneally • Literature

Written by the Australian-born author of Schindler's List, this rollicking story offers brilliant insights into the early life of convicts in Australia's first penal colony, Sydney Cove, as they prepare to put on the colony's first play in 1789.  Buy now

topBooks for Children

Australia: Enchantment of the World
Ann Heinrichs & Martin Hintz • Cultural Portrait • Ages 9-12

A thoroughly illustrated, comprehensive overview of the nature, history, people, religion, culture and economy of Australia. Buy now

Australia and New Zealand – A True Book
Elaine Landau • Cultural Portrait • Ages 6-8

With large, colorful illustrations and a focus on kid-friendly topics, this engaging book is a great introduction to each country’s nature, history and citizens. Buy now

Australian Wildlife Coloring Book
Ruth Soffer • Natural History • Ages 4-8

Your child will learn about Australia’s native fauna as they bring koalas, kookaburras and 28 other animals to life. Buy now

Here Is the Coral Reef
Tom Leonard & Madeleine Dunphy • Natural History • Ages 4-8

Beautifully illustrated, with fun, rhyming text, this book introduces the creatures of the Great Barrier Reef and explains their roles in the ecosystem. Buy now

Stories from the Billabong
James V. Marshall & Francis Firebrace • Literature • Ages 4-8

Accompanied by vibrant Aboriginal drawings, these 10 ancient tales from the Yorta Yorta tribe tell how the world was created, why the kangaroo has a pouch, and other legends of Australian wildlife. Buy now

Stowaway
Karen Hesse • Literature • Ages 10-14

Award-winning author Karen Hesse re-imagines the voyages of Captain Cook through the eyes of a stowaway, 11-year-old Nicholas. Based on a real-life stowaway on the Endeavor, this exciting historical novel, told in diary form, describes landings in Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia, a near shipwreck on the Great Barrier Reef, and other wild adventures. Buy now

topDVDs

Australia (2008)
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters

Set in pre-WWII Australia, this visually stunning film tells the story of Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman), an English aristocrat who inherits her late husband’s vast cattle station. To keep an unscrupulous rival from taking over her property, she reluctantly joins forces with a cynical drover (Jackman) and drives 2,000 head of cattle through the rugged Kimberley landscape to Darwin. Transformed by her newfound love for the drover and for Nullah, an Aboriginal child, she is threatened with losing everything three years later when Japanese bombers attack Darwin. Buy now

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Directed by Phillip Noyce, starring Everlyn Sampi, Kenneth Branagh, David Gulpilil

Set in 1931 and based on a true story, this drama explores the Australian government’s controversial practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families. Three mixed-race Aboriginal girls escape from their foster home near Perth and set out on a nine-week, 1,500-mile trek through the Outback to their home community, using a rabbit-proof fence as their guide.
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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Directed by Stephen Elliott, starring Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp

Flamboyant, moving and highly acclaimed, this comedy/drama tells the story of two drag queens (Anthony and Adam) and a transsexual (Bernadette) who are offered a cabaret gig in the remote Outback town of Alice Springs. Traveling from Sydney on their bus (dubbed Priscilla), they encounter a number of colorful characters, and Anthony reveals that the woman who hired them is actually his wife. Buy now

The Man from Snowy River (1982)
Directed by George T. Miller, starring Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, Kirk Douglas

18-year-old Jim, raised in the Australian mountains, must go to the lowlands after the death of his father to challenge a competing claim on their farm. He goes to work on a cattle station and falls in love with Jessica, the daughter of Harrison, the station owner. When Harrison’s prize colt escapes, Jim is blamed, but redeems himself by rounding up a mob of wild horses along with the colt. The film is based on a famous Banjo Paterson poem of the same name.
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Crocodile Dundee (1986)
Directed by Peter Faiman, starring Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, and David Gulpilil

This film launched Paul Hogan to international stardom as intrepid bush ranger Mick “Crocodile” Dundee. A New York journalist named Sue hears about Mick’s legendary exploits and goes to the Australian Outback to interview him. He takes her on safari and must rescue her from a man-eating croc when she sets out alone. She invites him back to New York City, where he takes on muggers and socialites in his inimitable style, and the two fall in love.
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Walkabout (1971)
Directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg, David Gulpilil

A high-school girl and her young brother are stranded in the Australian Outback when their father goes mad and attempts to kill them before killing himself. They meet an Aboriginal boy on “walkabout” (a ritualistic banishment from his tribe). Communicating without words, they travel together and care for each other, but their friendship ends in tragedy. Shot and directed by British filmmaker Roeg, this symbolic and sometimes disturbing film was the subject of debate about its meanings and whether it is a true Australian film – but its images of the Outback are mesmerizing.
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