Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country by area in Oceania and the sixth-largest country in the world. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, including deserts and tropical rainforests.
History
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. They settled on the continent and formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest-known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th century. British colonization began in 1788 with establishing the penal colony of New South Wales. By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers, and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies were federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986.
Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories. Its population of over 27 million is highly urbanized and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne, both with a population of over 5 million. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. It has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally. Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties, and political rights.
Australia is a middle power and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure. It is a member of international groups, including the United Nations, the G20, the OECD, the World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Pacific Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the defense and security organizations ANZUS, AUKUS, and the Five Eyes ↗. It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
See also [ Australia (Continent) ]
Etymology
From Latin Terra Australis (16c.), from australis "southern" + -ia. A hypothetical southern continent, known as terra australis incognita, had been proposed since 2c. Dutch explorers called the newfound continent New Holland; the current name was suggested 1814 by Matthew Flinders as an improvement over Terra Australis "as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the name of the other great portions of the earth" ["Voyage to Terra Australis"]. In 1817, Gov. Lachlan Macquarie, having read Flinders' suggestion, began using it in official correspondence. The ultimate source is the Latin auster "south wind," hence, "the south country."
Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as New Holland, a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland) and subsequently anglicized.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Prehistory of Australia ]
and/or [ Wikipedia:Indigenous Australians ]
Spanking in Australia
Most Australians are descended from 19th and 20th century European settlers, the majority from Great Britain and Ireland. Due to this Anglo-Celtic heritage, spanking children is not uncommon in Australia. Unlike most European countries, nonabusive spanking is still legal for Australian parents and generally socially accepted.
School corporal punishment was legal in all of Australia until the 1980s, although its actual use had already become rare by then. Today it has been largely but not completely abolished. According to a 1996 report by Charles Brister titled Corporal punishment in Australian schools, the situation is as follows in the Australian federal states:
- Victoria: In 1983, corporal punishment was banned in state schools. Private schools are not affected by this ban, and are free to decide whether to use corporal punishment or not.
- New South Wales: In 1986, the Teachers Federation implemented a ban preventing all members from using corporal punishment. With the new Liberal National Party government in 1988, school corporal punishment was reintroduced, and in 1995, the new Labour Party government brought in the Education Reform Act to abolish corporal punishment in all state schools. Today there is also a ban in private schools in NSW.
- Western Australia: School corporal punishment was banned in 1987. However WA still protects teachers who use reasonable corporal punishment by Criminal Code section 257.
- South Australia: School corporal punishment was banned in 1991.
- Australian Capital Territory: School corporal punishment was abolished in all ACT state schools by 1988.
- Tasmania: School corporal punishment is still legal (as of 1996). It must be administered by a school principal or authorized senior teacher. The cane or strap is to be used on the student's hand. The punishment must not take place in front of the class and must be recorded in a punishment book.
- Queensland: Began to phase out school corporal punishment in the 1990s. The current situation is unknown.
- Northern Territory: Corporal punishment is still legal in state and private schools (as of 1996).
Australian spanking artists
Australian spanking artists include Banjo, Gauis Marius and Lee.
Australian spanking sites, businesses, and magazines
Australian spanking artists include Banjo, Gauis Marius, Lee and thespankerau.
Australian spanking authors include Banjo and SeeGee.
Zoe Montana is the best-known Australian spanking actress. Most of her videos are produced by Northern Spanking in England. She has also appeared on the cover of Kane magazine (Nos. 102 & 107).
What the Dickens! (7 min.) is sepia-tone spoof of silent movies with F/F and M/F outdoor spankings. Tis was made by Australian burlesque performer Magnificent Liberte Belle (Lani Gerrish) and Velvet Corner Productions for the Canberra Fringe Festival.
Internet censorship in Australia
The Australian Federal Labor Government currently has a plan to force all Australian ISPs to implement server-based filtering systems to block access to 'child pornography', 'X-rated material', 'violence', 'prohibited' material, 'inappropriate' material and 'unwanted' material on a secret blacklist compiled by a government agency (more information).
See also
- The Australian Governess, Chapter One (Northern Spanking), photos
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Australia ]
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