英语国家概况(澳大利亚)(2)

◆ Wool and wheat prices fell dramatically.

◆ By 1931, a third of the country was unemployed.

Prices began to increase again by 1933 and manufacturing revived. From 1934 to 1937 the economy improved and unemployment fell. World War II

Australians again fought in defence of freedom and the “mother land.”

In 1942 Darwin, Broome and Townsville were bombed by the Japanese, and two Japanese midget（小型的） submarines entered Sydney Harbour.

A major shift in Australian foreign policy away from Britain and towards the USA occurred.

In 1951, Australia signed its first defense treaty with a foreign country: the ANZUS treaty.

Nearly one million of Australia’s seven million population went to fight. ◆ 34,000 killed and 180,000 wounded

Postwar Immigration

The postwar immigration programme welcomed not only British immigrants but also Europeans.

In 1956, the status of “permanent resident” allowed non-Europeans to claim citizenship（国籍，公民权）.

The Menzies Era（时代）

From 1949 until 1966, Prime Minister Robert Menzies “reigned”, winning 8 consecutive（连续的） elections.

Menzies gave Australians conservatism（保守主义） and stability（坚定）. He involved Australians in three more wars, in Korea (1950), Malaya（马来亚） (1955) and Vietnam (1965).

Social Unres（动荡）t and Changes

Opposition to conscriptio（征兵）n and the Vietnam War increased in the late 1960s and led to major demonstrations in the capital cities.

There was concern for Aboriginal land rights and free education. In 1972, the Labor Party was elected on a platform of social reform.

In 1974, an immigration policy without any racial（种族的） discrimination

（歧视） was adopted.

Return to Conservatism

Governments were more concerned with economic rather than social agendas .

Australia emulated most of the Western world with an economic boom（繁荣） in the 1980s, followed by recession（衰退） in the 1990s.

By 1986, all legislative（立法机构） ties with Great Britain were broken. The year 2000 saw Sydney host the Summer Olympic Games.

Politics of the Country

Features of Government

A constitutional（宪法的） monarchy（君主政体）

◆ The King or Queen of Britain as the King or Queen of Australia.

◆ The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, coming into effect in 1901, consists of 8 chapters.

A federation（联邦）

◆ 6 colonies and 2 territories federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia.

A parliamentary democracy

◆ The Parliament of the Commonwealth consists of the King or Queen and 2 houses

◆ The Senate (the Upper House) consists of 76 Senators, 12 from each of the 6 states and 2 from each of the territories.

◆ The House of Representatives (the Lower House) has 150 members.

A parliamentary democracy

◆ The Senators are elected by a system of propor-tional representation for a term of 6 years.

◆ Members of the Lower House are elected by a system of preferential voting for terms of up to 3 years.

◆ 3 important electoral systems in Australia – the simple majority system, the preferential represen-tation system and the proportional （比例）representation system.

The simple majority system

It is a straightforward（明确的） form of voting, by which the option with a simple majority of votes wins.

The preferential（优先的） representation system

Under such a system voters rank candidates in order of preference. The proportional representation system

Under such a system, the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain will determine the percentage of seats they receive.

Systems of Government

3 levels – a three-tier system

◆ The federal government at the national level

◆ Governments at the state and territory level

◆ Locale governments at the city, town, municipal（市政的） and shire （郡）level.

3 branches – the separation of powers

◆ The legislature（立法机关） – the Parliament（议会）

◆ The executive（执行委员会） – the Governor-General / the Federal Executive Council

◆ The judiciary – the High Court and other federal courts

Political Parties

3 major political parties

◆ The Labor Party

◆ The Liberal Party

◆ The National Party

A 2-party system

◆ The Labor Party

◆ The Coalition（结合，联合） of Liberal Party and National Party November 2007, Kevin Rudd from the Labor Party became the 26th Prime Minister of Australia.

Economy of the Country

Having one of the most outstanding（杰出的） economies of the world; With a high-growth, low-inflation, low interest rate;

With a flexible labor market and a competitive business sector（部门）; Abundant physical resources leading to a high standard of living. Having made a large investment in social infra-structure ;

With mining and farming as major industries;

◆ coal, copper, gold and iron ore（矿石）

◆ sugarcane, grapes and wheat

◆ sheep and cattle

Tourism as one of Australia’s largest and fastest-growing industries.

Environment

Much of Australia's flora and fauna(动物群，动物区系) is unique and diverse（多种多样的）.

◆ About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.

◆ Australia has the greatest number of reptiles（爬行动物） of any country, with 755 species.

Australian forests often contain a wide variety of eucalyptus（桉树） trees and are mostly located in higher rainfall regions.

Among well-known Australian fauna are the monotremes（单孔目动物） (the platypus（鸭嘴兽） and the echidna（针鼹鼠）); a host（群集） of marsupials …… 此处隐藏：3434字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……