Backbencher

The First Article I read titled,"Divert visitors to the bush or perish, says tourism chief" was about tourism in Australia. Australian cities have capacity constraints on the city without international tourists, so with them the hotels become very overcrowded and expensive do to demand. The article states to introduce more tourism in southwest Western Australia. This would spread the people out to a more comfortable level and also offer new experiences for tourists. The second article I read was about Tom Hanks and how the Philippine people have been inundating Hanks to become the new president of the Philippines. The third article was about rural Australians and how they don’t have high speed internet. Apparently, less than a quarter of these rural cities have access to high speed internet.

I thought it was interesting hearing about Australian’s housing problem. This seems to be one of Australia’s main issues right now in the country. I had recently heard about a 260 million dollar deal to create more housing in Sydney. I also thought it was interesting hearing about Tom Hanks and how popular he is in that part of the country. I mean it is pretty crazy if they’re telling you to take the job. I also thought it was interesting hearing that a lot of rural areas in Australian are still kind of behind on some things. Although, I’m not sure how many rural areas in the U.S. have access to high speed internet. This is kind of an issue that I have become curious about just because it would be interesting to know.

Effect of New Zealand’s Landscape on People

Dr. Isern spoke since the first day about how the younger generations of New Zealand took every advantage out of its land. This included rock climbing, mountain-biking, snowboarding, hiking, and hundreds of other activities. Although these are common to us, there are many others that they participate in that would seem a little awkward to our norms. One of them is slack lining. Slack lining is a sport in which the athletes try maneuvering across a rope and reach the other side without falling. Although this is similar to tight rope walking, it is not. The rope is suspended only a couple feet over the ground and is not as tight as the common "tight rope" we see on T.V.

Living in such a beautiful and rugged terrain would be tough not to take in its beauty and spend every moment outdoors. There is an extensive network of hiking trails running through New Zealand. In our situation, after classes most of us go back to dorms or homes and sit down either studying or watching T.V for the rest of the night. Take that idea versus the New Zealand citizens, who after classes go hit up the slopes or enjoy the usual jump off a 30 foot cliff into a pool of water. This quote from a New Zealand vacation advisor sums it up fairly well. "By 10 the next morning I'm on the river, heading downstream through canyons and gorges up to 325 feet high. There are a few small Grade 2 rapids, and our raft navigates leisurely between greywacke boulders and clear pools. Swallows bounce off the canyon walls, and trout jump to show us the way ahead. Native trees stand sentinel on the cliff tops, and with the familiar damp aroma of the bush, and the casual jokey attitude on board the raft, I could only be in New Zealand."

Not only does the landscape bring high intensity physical activities, it brings a sense of peace and tranquility to people. People of all ages love to view the rugged mountains from afar and maybe take in a good book and sit back and relax. Mountains and the sound of a crick running in the background can be one of the most peaceful atmospheres for vacationers and Kiwis. The outdoors can be a terrific place to escape from the bustle and hectic life of the city. Stress from your job or home life can be easily cured by Kiwis by stepping right outside their city limits and taking in the spectacular beauty. It is not uncommon for a psychologist to recommend a vacation in the mountains or journey out to the lake. Out in these types of places makes you really feel the wonders of the world and how simple life can be. But in the urban areas we get so caught up in everyday life that it seems that we cannot even cope some days. That is a problem a lot of people even in Fargo have. Even though North Dakota does not have mountains scaling 13,000 feet, we do have beautiful wide open spaces that can be enjoyed.

With the beautiful landscape comes the extensive wildlife. By just stepping into the foothills, one can find deer looking around nervously and the usual eagle soaring high above. Although it was not a popular hunting location in the world, the popularity is growing rapidly among its citizen and vacationers. Especially bow hunting, which is also a growing popularity all over the world. Bow hunting offers a unique challenge to hunters because of the rugged terrain and country that has not been over-hunted. The most common problem of hunters is finding themselves hunting the same land as others at the same time, but that problem is very rare in New Zealand. Despite the large surface area of the country, it is not commonly a rifle or gun hunting community. That is what makes the experience especially exciting for a bow hunter because they do not have to worry about game getting spooked by gun shots. It is also not rare to find deer feeding in your back yard in the early mornings.
New Zealand is a beautiful country from the beaches to the towering mountains overhead. Outdoor enthusiasts find the country to be one of the most relaxing and beautiful places on earth. Vacations and trips are highly advised because of so many exciting adventures there are to experience.

Works Cited
1. Atkinson, Brett. "High Adventure in New Zealand." Times Union 20 Mar. 2008, One Star ed., sec. Travel.
2. Donall Jr., Thomas E. "Big Game Down Under." Bowhunter 01 Feb. 2001. 30 Apr. 2008 http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/elib/do/document?set=search&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=54&edition=&ts=Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B149909027.
3. Lewon, Dennis, and Jonathon Dorn. "New Zealand!" Backpacker 01 Apr. 2005, 33 ed., sec. 3: 64.

In this extra lecture we heard from Dr. Troy Whitford, via the video class, who was in Wagga Wagga talking to us at 5am his time. His lecture was titled, "Australia: A Short History of Mentalities". In this lecture we talked about key historical events in Australia that included; settlement and the colony as an open goal, The Eureka Stockade, Federation, The 1920s, and the Post WWII Era. In the settlement topic he talked about the transfer of British culture and social values from the 18th century to Australia. We went over the convicts and how they could obtain land if they had a wife and children. A lot of this was review from one of our early lectures. The only new information was about the orphans. Even if children had a mother they were still considered orphans because to them a family had to consist of a mother and a father, which I found really odd. Dr. Whitford then talked about the Eureka stockade in 1854. It was a rebellion against taxation by self employment. This was thought to be their "working man's rebellion" even though it was a short lived revolt that ended with 22 casualties. Next was the Federation, which was the uniting of colonies to form one nation. It wasn't for ideological reasons that they became a nation, but rather for economic ones. Fourth was the 1920s which was about 'Australia Unlimited'. This time period was all about wealth and capitalism. The Prime Minister Stanley's formula was 'Men, money, and markets'. The last topic was Post WWII and dealt with recovering from the depression that the wars had brought about. A lot of money went into housing development at this time. Homeownership was promoted as the key to 'responsible citizenship'. Overall I really enjoyed this lecture, mainly because we got to hear first hand from someone in Australia what it is like over there. I thought it was funny when he talked about American football - our helmets and cheerleaders. The only question I still have is what do they teach their students in Australia about our history here in America?

This movie starts off in the mountains with a boy and his father cutting down trees. There is a herd of wild horses that pass by and startle their horse and a tree comes loose and lands on the dad and kills him. At the funeral the men of the mountain tell the boy that he needs to go down from the mountain and basically work his way back up. He goes down from the mountain into a town to find work. He finds work at a ranch where he is a hard worker. He comes to realize that the owner of the ranch is the brother of one of his fathers friends. This rancher grazes cattle up in the mountains and gathers them in the winter. In the winter gathering the boy is not allowed to come along. He stayed behind and the ranch owners daughter makes the boy break a really expensive colt and they form a love for each other. When the ranch owner comes home he is not pleased and fires the boy, but the boy left before he found out about the colt. He was sent into the mountains to get some stray cattle that ran away on the round up. The rancher's girl then runs away, gets stuck on a cliff, and the boy saves her and sends her home. Once the boy comes home with the cattle the ranch owner is very mad, because he also found out that the boy and the girl love each other. He tells the boy to go away and he does. Last the ranch owner want to get his colt back, because some of his ranch hands let it out and it started running with the same bunch that was in the beginning of the movie. The mountain boy ends up rounding them up and gets the girl in the end. I saw this movie before I heard the song about it, and I thought it was crazy how the song followed the movie so perfectly.

The movie Rabbit Proof Fence tells the story of three young Aborigine girls, Molly, Daisy and Gracie, who are taken from their mothers and put in a camp designed to help integrate the girls into white society. In these camps, the girls were not allowed to speak their native language and are supposed to forget their heritage. The three girls manage to escape during a thunderstorm and begin their 1,500 mile trek back home by following the rabbit proof fence that stretches across the country. They have to endure many obstacles along their way home. The most obvious obstacle is the 1,500 mile journey across the Australian outback. They are also being followed by a tracker who begins searching for them as soon as he realizes they are gone and who has never failed to catch escapees from the camp. Luckily Molly, the oldest girl, manages to lead them home despite the fact that the tracker and the police are after them. Unfortunately, Gracie is caught but both the other girls manage to make it to their home village, Jigalong.

It is amazing to me that this movie is based off of a true story. It is sad that this "lost generation" of children were taken from their families because the government thought it would be better for them. I do not understand how any government can believe that it is better for a child to be taken from his or her family and friends and be forced into a foreign culture. I thought this was an interesting movie to watch since it showed more of the landscape of Australia than other movie I have watched.

Ashleigh Pust

The North and South magazines really interest me. You can find a lot of great articles about the New Zealand lifestyle. One article I read was entitled A New Dark Age. The article starts out as just an idea by Graeme Murray. Murray is a prime mover behind a tentative plan to have a part of the great Mackenzie Basin designated as the first Unesco World Heritage Dark Sky Park. This park is an area where artificial lighting is kept to an absolute minimum to preserve the spectacular views of the starry night sky. It is now becoming increasingly hard to find such sites across the New Zealand world. The Mackenzie District Council has already strict regulations on lighting in the area because of the University of Canterbury’s astronomical observation is on top of Mountain John, and light pollution would interfere with the research being done there. But Murray worries that his promotion of the Dark Sky Park may be perceived by cynics merely as a way of boosting revenue for Earth and Sky, an eco-tourism venture he and a few others founded in 2004. Of course, this region has heavy tourism which brought about $96 million in 2005. The rest of the article shows how Murray might deal with this light pollution.

Another interesting article I read was titled Coastal Spirit. This article is about pollution of New Zealand beaches, especially Stewart Island. Stewart Island is in a very remote place. This is a hot spot for most New Zealanders. Clean Up Our Coast is an organization between local schools and community groups that help clean up this nasty trash. This is sort of like a field trip, because they learn about the hazards of marine debris. The rest of this article goes into detail about littering on beaches are huge hazards not only to people, but the animals around as well. An interesting fact, on this Stewart Island, there were 889 pieces of trash picked up in a two hour span. I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand a messy place, especially a great place to relax and have fun like the beach.

These two articles I read I had no clue about. The Mackenzie Basin has many different problems including light pollution, which is a major factor. I would recommend reading up on this. Not only this, but the second article I read as well, Coastal Spirit. I could not believe some of the statistics they had in this article about litter. I was surprised to say the least. I do recommend these two articles to everyone, because along with the great upside to New Zealand, there are also some downfalls, which we have not heard a lot of.

The Cold War has been a topic that I have been interested in for a long time. The book, “Menzies and the Great World Struggle” had to do with the Cold War in Australia, and focused on the Australian Prime Minister from 1949 Robert Menzies. The feeling in this book was generally what people think about when they imagine the Cold War. Australia as well as other nations like the United States were very weary of Communist powers around the world. China as well as Russia posed threats to Australia, and a lot of what Menzies did was targeted at safe guarding the country of Australia. Menzies was crucial in coming up with many different policies including an alliance with the United States and New Zealand called ANZUS. The ANZUS treaty was a military alliance which bound Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States to cooperate on defense matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though today the treaty is understood to relate to attacks in any area. Another defensive action that Menzies brought about for Austrlia was the joining of SEATO. SEATO or the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense that was signed on September 8, 1954. The organization was created to block further Communist gains in Southeast Asia. One of the points in the book that I found most interesting was that Menzies really had to push for the realization and recognition that it was necessary to take measures to protect the country of Australia. People didn’t want to accept that war was imminent and the times of peace were over, for that time at least. The high court as well as a referendum actually denied him constitution powers to treat the Cold War as an actual war like WWI and WWII. Menzies did not see anything positive about Communism, and actually probably made Communism seem worse than it actually was to the people of Australia so he could get them on his side. This book was very informative and also very interesting because of the Cold War topic. I have read books on the Cold War from an Amerian standpoint, and it was really insightful to see how the Australians dealt with the threat of communism in their area of the world.

I was listening to a Australian radio station today and it seemed very interesting. The sounds of the music sounded very much like some kind of American pop music. The guy who talks, talks way to fast. I have some idea what he is saying, but I probably couldn't repeat him. There is a narrator between the song who I am talking about. There is even a remake of a Britany Spears song of Toxic. I think maybe that American culture has influenced the culture of the land down under. I think maybe that what I listened to was a run down of there top ten list. Listening to this music sort of reminds me of when I used to go to Winnepig for recreational reasons and absorb the Canadian culture. In Canada the things that I would observe seem to be like five to ten years behind of the United States or what it seemed. This music seems like it is something that was listened to five to ten year ago. But yet some of the music seems very modern and some seems like it is from the 50s era. I think it would be neat to go to one of the concerts of one of these bands. It seems that music plays a big role in this nation. As it does in all nations. It symbolizes what a country is made of or it can just be made for pure entertainment. Ussually though the music alway has a meaning. Any where you go, any country around the world, music will have a meaning.

The book Once Were Warriors follows the life of the Heke family who live in the slums of Auckland. The family is made up of Jake and Beth Heke and their five kids. The book takes the reader through Jake's drinking, unemployment and abusive nature, and Beth trying to hold the family together. It also takes the reader into the lives of the children. Nig, the eldest, leaves home and joins a gang of Maori youth, Boggie is sent to a state run home when his parents cannot speak on his behalf at court, and Grace takes care of the younger children, writes stories and spies on her Pakeha neighbors until her life is cut short.
Since I both read the book and watched the movie, it was interesting to see the differences. One difference was the character of Beth. The movie made her appear much less complex than her character was written. The movie also left out most of the development of Nig's gang, the Brown Fists. The biggest difference between the two forms was the ending. In the movie, Grace believed that Uncle Bully raped her, but in the book she dies thinking it was her father. The book also shows that it is the death of her second child that sends Beth over the edge and makes her want to help other children. The movie ended after Grace's death.
This book was a bit difficult to read with the large amount of profanity and slang. It was also confusing because it was hard to tell who was speaking at each point. There were no quotation marks and each line of dialog was right after the last with no explanation of who was talking. Although it wasn't an enjoyable book to read, it did help me to gain an insight into what happens when a group of people loses their cultural identity.

Ashleigh Pust

Lecture ten was an audio lecture of Manning Clark talking at the National Folkfest in Australia. One of his favorite people to talk about was Henry Lawson, who he referred to a lot, and how he was influencial in the Australian culture. He had a way about him when he spoke that made me more interested in what he had to say in this lecture than anything he said in his book. If he had had the same energy in his book that he did during his speech, it would have made the book so much easier to read what he was talking about. I enjoyed that he included women more in his speech as a lot of people have said. But to be completely honest I think it is because women in society today have more of a voice now then back in the day. It was nice to hear some different songs during Clark's lecture, because they really broke up the parts of his lecture that were kind of boring. The songs gave me a sense of what their culture is like and what kind of music they see as popular.
Even though we got to see a different side of Clark through his speech it still got to be long winded in some parts. It was nice not hearing Clark's extreme bias and a lecture full of politics and religion. He definitely redeemed himself after having to read his book. My questions would have to be why didn't he write the book the way he lectured? Was it because it was the history of Australia and he had to be more serious?

For the past few days I have been paging through the March - April Edition of the New Zealand Geographic magazine. It is a very interesting thing to look at concidering what they are all covering in it. One of the first things that they talk about in this magazine is the breeding of the albatross birds. The way it sounded that they have been breeding these birds since the 1930s, to try and get them more populus in the areas. There is an article on the red deer as well. There was one phrase at the beginning of this article that I thought was kinda neat and it reads "Considered both godsend and vermin, it has been worshipped and vilified, protected and slautghter.It presence has given rise to huts and hunters, caused a few Kiwis to become the best aviators in the world, and brought about an unexpected diversification in farming." I thought that this was interesting because it can show the different cultures or maybe different points of views in looking at this animal. Just like in the US there are people who want to protect every little animal or any thing that breaths and moves and there are others who like to hunt and harvest from the land food. In this article the ways that they retrieve the deer are crazy. It showed some pitures of a helicopter pulling one out and throwing them on the hood of a car. One of the last articles features a scuba diver, which interested me because I love to scuba dive. I show picture of him retrieving all sorts of treasure. Over all I think this Geographic Magazine is really diversified in what is in it from deer hunting to scuba diving. It is not something you probably wouldn't find about the US.

Talking to us from Wagga Wagga, New South Whales, Australia at five in the morning was Troy Whitford. Dr. Whitford lectures in Australian History and Politics at Charles Stuart University. It was very fun to have the opportunity to video conference with Dr Whitford. He then had prepared for us a lecture titled Australia: A Short History of Mentalities, he talked about the settlement and the colony as an open goal, the orphans schools for girls, the eureka stockade, and the federation. What he talked about in the settlement we had mostly covered in class. I had never heard of the orphan school for girls, a school to take care of the orphaned girls (the girls who dont have fathers). Then we talked about the Eureka Stockade, it sounded a great rebellion. Whitford then moved on to The 1920's, "Australian Unlimited" was apparently a popular concept in Australia at that time, and Whitford informed us it meant Australians felt free to do anything, Unlimited.
From there he talked about Post World War II. I loved when he started talking about the TV ruining social networks. "Everyone was watching I Love Lucy, and no one was going out ot the pubs."
My favorite part of the lecture was when we were allowed to ask questions. I enjoyed hearing my classmates and Dr. Whitford discuss topics concerning history. Thanks for allowing us to have the opportunity to experience this.

Beth Heke is married to a controlling, violent, and alcoholic man named Jake who spends most of this time in the bar. Together they have five children. The second oldest boy, Boogie, gets picked up by the cops and eventually placed in a delinquent boy's home. The oldest daughter, Grace, takes care of the house and the two youngest children. I found it intersting Grace spies on the neighbors, the Tramberts, because they are wealthy and love one another, which Grace's family lacks. One night, a man enters grace's room and rapes her. She hangs herself in the Trambert's backyard. Grace leaves a note saying she was raped, but didn't know who it was and believed it to be her father. Beth kicks Jake out, even though he swears it wasn't him, and roams the streets. The oldest son, Nig, is in a gang called the Brown Fists who are all about fighting and tattoos. He gets in a fight which leads to his death. Beth begins taking children in who don't have families. Every Saturday morning the town gathers to listen to Chief Te Tupaea preach.

A strength of the book is the vast amount of detail including description of the landscape and geography of New Zealand. This is beneficial to the students of history 381. Weaknesses of the book include the high amount to profanity and domestic violence. Duff portrays the Maori women as controlled, dirty, drunks, and if I was a Maori woman I would be offended by this representation. Overall, it was an amazing book and I loved how it was different than the movie. I recommend students watch the movie as well as read the book.

Piano takes place in New Zealand in the 19th century. The movie starts out with Ada, who is a mute woman that is sent to New Zealand in an arranged marriage with a landowner. Ada and her daughter, Flora, were forced to live with this landowner. Ada wanted to bring her beloved piano with to New Zealand. Her new husband did not like this idea of bringing her piano. The movie then drifts to an island where there are a bunch of men helping her carry her stuff and what not. Her husband did not want the piano of course and also said it was too heavy to bring with. All of a sudden, one man by the name of George goes and gets Ada’s piano. George brings it to her, and claims she should be taught some songs on the piano. George forces her to teach him for the delivery of the piano. Ada was extremely excited. She is teaching him a romantic song, and George and Ada have a strong bond between each other. George and Ada are secretly in love behind her husband’s back. All of a sudden, her husband finds out and totally freaks out. He then decides to cut of her finger due to this secret affair.

This movie kept me on the edge of my seat. I really liked this. It kind of reminded me of the show Cheaters, which was a little funny at times. This movie was supposedly one of the best films in the 1990s. Again, this movie showed the settlement and land features of New Zealand. The land features fit Professor Isern’s first few lectures perfectly. I got a better view of New Zealand with this.

From Waffa Wagga in New South Wales was an interesting lecture, I thought. He talked about many things that is perceived by Australians. Australia is a country with middle class values, with that he talked of the rise of the middle class. He talked of the settlement and its goals that were set. There was a transfer of cultures of 18th century British to this land during the time period of the settlement. There was a desire to aquire an economy with good exports. They thought that the nation had to be united in order to be a nation with Australian Federation, and also with this comes the birth of a new nation and an independant Australia. In the 1920s he states that there was concern with the common wealth concept, with the maintanace of the petty capitalism. In the Post World War II era, there was a recovery from the depression in the 1930s. In this period they had a mentality that they needed to shake off government controls on things and embrace car consumerism. Large sums of money both private and public went into such things as the housing sector.
I thought this lecture was pretty neat concidering that it was 5am over where he was and it was 2pm where we were at the time. It is always interesting what other culture are doing and how they prosper in daily life. I wonder what it would be like to be in one of there classes down there?

In the recording of Manning Clark, he talks about Henry Lawson. He said that Henry Lawson wrote many great stories of Australians and who they really were. Lawson wrote stories with characters that were from the bush. In the address he says that bush culture was doomed do to thier irrelevancy by industrialization. The people of Australia were going to be nation of suburbaites with a desert at their heart. I think that phrase says alot by thinking that Australians are going to move into the city with not wanting to adapt to the culture of it. They all are men of the bush. With this brings a sort of an American culture with themes of Broadway musical comedies, for music people who remember were they came from and won't let it go. Before all of this the thoughts of the bush were of the way it should be, beautiful. The songs from Banjo Paterson held the meaning of the bush with songs such as The Man From Snowy River and Clancy of the Over Flow. Living in the bush brought a faith that was greater than that of Christian hope. The faith was of a "brotherhood of man" and "the mission of labor". Next, there was the Vietnam era, which brought an era of greed and titillation culture. This era brought on songs of protest and lacked the survival aspect.
I think that Clark has a very strong opinion about the history of Australia and likes to tell the story of it. I think he makes some good points such as being lovers and beliecers and not mockers. I wonder what gave him this great passion for his knowledge?

The film "Dead Heart" is an Australian movie made in 1996. This film can be compared to a classic western here in the United States, my Grandfather could watch this and he would assume it is an American movie. It follows a very basic formula for a classic western; violence starts something, the hero goes about his business nobly, violence ends the conflict. Bryan Brown plays lawman Ray Lorkin. Lorkin is living in the desert village of Waga Waga. He one day comes into the sheriff's office and notices that his prisoner who is an Aboriginal man is lying dead in his cell. He cannot tell what the cause of death is but feels he must investigate it. Lorkin has respect for the aborigines and allow the tribe to do the rituals the must do for the body, including a violent ceremony of vengeance. Another death occurs which makes Lorkin believe this is no ordinary death, rather a murder. I believe this film is a romantic film. By romantic I mean a story about the heroic cowboy, though it is not true for the most part stories are often fabricated because we want to believe it happened. Two interesting topics came up during this film, the idea of tribal traditions versus Australian law and law of the outback. This film does a great job showing how tribal traditions and Australian law conflicted and what the two groups must do to get around the barrier. The film also tackles the idea of outback law and if it possible. The movie likes to say it is possible to control the outback, but in my opinion it is simply two rough and rugged. The land will not allow it and there is simply too much out there to govern over, at least during this time.

Dr. Troy Whitford’s lecture was very interesting. This lecture was entitled, Australia: A Short History of Mentalities. This focused on the Australian history while the middle class ideas and values rose dramatically. These ideas emphasized from materialism, entreprenuerism, and self-reliance. This lecture was very broad. The one thing he discussed in great detail is how you can build a nation with these left values. It was very interesting having him talk about this matter. Dr. Whitford also talked about the colony and settlement being an open goal. This was based on the whole convict era and their beliefs on marriage. The Eureka Stockade also had a major impact. This was a rebellion against taxation by the self employed community. He then discussed how these miners raised this Eureka flag as a symbol and sign of the rebellion against the government. This became known as Australian’s independence. Troy Whitford also discussed the economics of Australia. At this time, the economy was in a bad state. The Australian Federation united the colonies in this economic state of mind. The post World War II era was basically a recovery era for the people in Australia. This brought consumerism into play. After this, Australians began to act like Americans with clothes, ideas, beliefs, etc. He also talked about Manning Clark, which was interesting to hear an Australian view of him. Manning Clark supposedly was their famous historian. The discussion with Clark was intriguing to say the least.

I really enjoyed this. We should have had more of these over the semester, because it was a good change of pace, not to mention very informative. We would get an Australian’s point of view on everything. One interesting thing was about the sports, since I am a big sports fan. Also, how he does not understand American football, but does like those cheerleaders. Overall, it was a great presentation.

The magazine North & South is a lot like a magazine you would find in the United States. It has a number of different articles that would attract sports fans, people interested in the geography and terrain of New Zealand, and also people just looking to read some interesting material. The April 2007 issue had a number of interesting articles, one of which focused on religion in New Zealand. The article is titled, Religion: Who Needs It? It was written by Caroline Courtney. The article starts off by talking about Bishop Brian Tamaki and his ministry. The Bishop talks about the country of New Zealand and how it is a Christian country, and people who live there, and also people who move there need to understand that. The Bishop basically explains to New Zealanders that they are in a battle because many people will oppose following Jesus Christ, but he says that they do not hate people who are against what they believe in. The article had a number of interesting statistics about the country of New Zealand. On statistic states that around 1.8 million New Zealanders either said they had no religion, or didn’t respond to the question at all. It also said that 51.2 percent of New Zealanders still call themselves Christians, but that is down from 60.8 percent in the 2001 census. Another article discussed good places to eat around the country of New Zealand. The article listed QQ Rice in Auckland, Copita in Wellington, The Waipara Springs Winery in Waipara, and Rain Espresso in Invercargill were all listed as good places to eat. This magazine has something for everybody. From rock climbing and wood chipping, to New Zealand politics, there is something for everyone. The religion article was very interesting to me. I found out that a large number of New Zealanders are Christians, but there is also a lot of diversity in what people believe.

"The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" is an Australian film which was made in 1994. It is about a group of transsexuals and their travels across the Australian outback. Anthony "Tick" Belrose or Mitzi Del Bar is a transsexual male living in Australia. He is one day contacted by a casino located in Alice Springs which wants him to perform for them in their casino. Mitzi does not want to go alone. He recruits a group of his friends together, all of which are transsexual, to travel and perform with him. Brenadette Bassenger and Adam Whitely decide to go with him. During their travels the trio faces several trials which test them physically and emotionally. Including things such as car trouble and an unforgiving Australian terrain, the three must face ridicule from the rural Australian residence. This movie reminds me a lot of the film "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." That film stars Patrick Swayze as a transsexual and is joined by two more transsexuals played by Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo as they travel across the United States. In my opinion, the Australian landscape is personified in this film. It seems to be unforgiving and non-coopoerative to the travelers and will do what it takes to stop them. The film is also a crusade for homosexuality. They go town to town "defeating" homophobia. I did enjoy the twist ending that I did not see coming. This film would benefit us studying Australia because it shows both city and rural Australia ideas. Sydney is considered the second "gayest" city in the world behind San Francisco and this just shows its openness to ambiguity. It is not always the same after venturing away from the city and things become more conservative.

Whale Rider is a movie written and directed by Niki Caro, and is based on the book by Witi Ihimaera. It is based in a Maori village in New Zealand where tradition means everything. The movie starts when Pai is born along with her twin brother. Her family comes from a long line of chiefs so when a boy was born the family thought they had their new leader in this generation. However, soon after she is born her brother dies, along with her mother. This crushes Pai's grandfather and he denounces her on the spot. From then on he never really gives her the credit she deserves for what she is doing. She proves herself worthy many times throughout the movie to be the next leader but is never taken seriously.
Pai's grandfather starts a camp with several young boys looking for the next chief. Pai tries to join the camp but he will not let her. One of the first times she really stands up to her grandfather happens here. She sits in the front row and her grandfather says that only boys sit in the front row and tells her to move. Pai remains in her spot until he finally tells her to just leave, and even then it took him a couple times to say it before she leaves. She sneaks behind though and continues to learn the ways of being a chief. The night of Pai's program her grandfather goes down to the beach and sees whales all over the beach, and the next day Pai is the only one who is able to save them which is finally what proves to her grandfather that she is worthy to be the heir.
I thought this was a really good movie and showed how important tradition is in the Maori culture, but also how it showed how change can happen in the tradition but still be accepted by the old and new generations.

Tuesday’s class period was a different and exciting one. Not only did we get to talk to someone across the world, I also found out there was a fourth floor to the IACC. We had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by a professor of History at Charles Stuart University in Wagga Wagga Australia. Troy Whitford talked a lot about early settlement of Australia and attempted to debunk some stereotypes about the convict settlers. Australia for the most part was considered an "open jail" which had the cultural and social values of 18th century Brittan. He went on to talk about the Eureka Stockade which was a labor strike. Dr. Whitford believed that this occurrence has gained way too much admiration for what it actually stood for. HE then went on to talk about Australia through the 1920s and the Australia of post WWII. A major idea Dr. Whitford was attempting to get across to us students was that Australia and Australians are not socialists. He wanted to point out that the ideas of mateship did not have social overtones. I agree with what he said, but to be honest I never really thought Australia was a socialist nation. It was interesting that Dr. Whitford was as excited as we were for this lecture because it is rare to find people studying Australia who are not Australian. Dr. Whitford was also a great counterpoint to Manning Clark. As far as we know Clark was the only historian in Australia. Obviously that is not correct, but Dr. Whitford did an excellent job of showing a different idea about the history of Australia and what is important. One major difference is the absence of bush values in Dr. Whitford's idea of Australian history.

The lecture presented by Dr. Troy Whitford was a very interesting lecture. The lecture gave us a background on the national identity of Australia, and how that identity, or mentality, came about. Throughout the lecture Dr. Whitford hammers home the theme that Australia's identity and their values come from "middle class" values. He explains that Australia was formed by the middle class in the beginning and that no aristocratic class ever really took hold in Australia. This allowed Australia to grow and develop on a more fair level than the old European countries.
Early Australians looked to develop an economy that included exports. The country wanted to be self-sufficient and not have to depend on Britain for survival. Most of the early leaders were either military leaders or church leaders, and most of these did not want to be a "colony" of Britain.
Dr. Whitford describes the first major event in Australian history as being the Eureka stockade, which was a revolt by the working class against the ruling class. He compared it to the Boston Tea Party here. This was a reaction against big government, and this attitude has stayed with Australians.
The next big development was when Australia became a Federation and all the colonies on the continent were united. Each colony wanted to make sure that each local state kept the majority control and the central government was weaker than them. This again points out the dislike of a big government.
In more recent years the big Australian concern has been home ownership. Australians believe that owning a home is a persons biggest goal in life and this ideal is universal throughout the whole country. The idea of owning a home goes hand-in-hand with the materialistic attitude of Australians. In that aspect, Australia is very much like the United States.

Walkabout features the same guy from Rabbit Proof Fence, although he's a teenage kid in this movie, and says a lot more in it, albeit the only English word he says is "water." I didn't understand the beginning of the movie at all, a dad and his 2 children drive out to the middle of the bush, and with no gasoline, decide to have a picnic. The younger boy runs around playing with his dad, shooting at him with a squirt gun, when the dad whips out a real gun and starts shooting it at the boy. The girl goes and grabs the boy and gets some cover, while the dad gets out a can of gas and lights the car on fire, before shooting himself in the head. WTF. I was so incredibly confused, but whatever hah. The two wander around the desert for a while, before almost dying of dehydration. They come across a watering hole where they "hole up" for a while before they realize they have no idea where they are or how to survive. Luckily for them, an aborigine boy finds them and gets them water from the ground. They decide to follow him, even though he speaks zero english, and the movie does a great job of showing scenery, wildlife and aborigine hunting action. They wander around for quite some time, growing fond of the aborigine boy, and he paints them up and shows them all kinds of things. They show him their things and listen to the radio constantly, which he finds interesting. There's a very strange and awkward sexual tension throughout the whole time they're with him between the aborigine boy and the girl. There's also a scene showing some weather scientists, only one of them being female, and the male ones gawking at every move she makes. Strange. Eventually they stumble across an abandoned farm, and the small boy and aborigine boy find a paved highway. The girl wanders around the house for a bit, and the boy collects trees for some reason. The aborigine boy is wrastling with a buffalo/bull of some kind, and some hunters cruise past him shooting up all the other bulls in the area. The aborigine boy is obviously saddened by this, and lays out with a big pile of bones, painted up like a skeleton himself. The girl, wandering through the house, is confronted by the aborigine boy, who is now dancing around with some plants in his hands, and she gets a little freaked out by him. She tells her little brother they're going to go off alone tomorrow after hearing there's a road nearby. The aborigine boy dances out there all night, and in the morning the little brother shows his sister that he's gone, and leads her to a tree, where the aborigine boy is hanging in like a crucifix pose. They head down the road and wind up at a town where a mean man tells them where they can stay until they find a way back. They play around with some old machinery for a while and it flashes forward to the girl, and presumably her boyfriend, in a high rise in the city, where she has memories of the time she spent in the bush with the aborigine boy.

This movie had one hell of a lot of random nudity. Not sex scenes or anything, just a lot of random naked. I'm kind of glad I watched it by myself cause that may have been strange sitting there with someone else during all of that. It was an ok movie to watch, lots of great scenery and animals (and bugs, ew.). The story seemed to be filled with holes though, most notably the beginning. I don't know what the hell was going on there, but it was entertaining to see anyways. I honestly just thought the dad was playing, carelessly playing, but you know, not directly trying to shoot his son. Some people might not like the scenes where the aborigine boy is killing animals left and right either, but I just assume that they didn't really kill animals.

This lecture, entitled Austalia: A Short History of Mentalities, was quite unique because we got to hear it from an authentic Australian. Dr. Troy Whitford is a Professor in Wagga Wagga, New South Whales and he was nice enough to get up at 5 in the morning to give us this brief lecture on Australian history. The overview of his lecture consisted of: Perception of Australian mentality, Australian history about middle class values and ideas, materialism and self-reliance, and The development of the values that came from engineering.
Dr. Troy did a really good job of putting in perspective what a convict colony would be like. He dicussed what the values were of those settlers as well as what boundaries were set up by Britain. He discussed what is known as the "Eureka Stockade" which was a rebellion against taxation by the self-employed. This was a working man's revolution which in my opinion, was very similar to the American Revolution whose slogan was "No Taxation Without Representation".
He then went on to discuss Australia's Federation which is defined as the uniting of colonies to form a single nation: done for economic rather than ideologic reasons. This marked OZ's independence from Britain and its birth as a new country. While discussing these points Dr. Whitford made it clear that Australians were intent on rejecting a big government and insisted that the focus be on the power of individual states.
He also spoke of how in the 1920's Australians were concerned with the growth of capitalism and the creation of wealth. The discussion of the Post WWII era consisted of the importance of family and home ownership.
In a brief part of the lecture he talked about "History Wars" which is something we've often talked about in class. Apparently in Australia, there are two sides in which historians are taking when it comes to teaching others. Some take the side of historians like Manning Clark and others take the side of historians such as Windshuttle (I think that's how you spell it?).
Ultimately I thought it was really good for the class to hear about OZ's history from a true Australian's point of view. He gave us perspective that I would have never imagined on my own. Actually my favorite part of the lecture was when Dr. Whitmore gave his opinion on American football. I guess I had never thought to view our sports from a foreigner's perspective, but he definitely made me realize that American football is a bit of a goofy sport. There was one question that I was dying to ask but was too embarassed to and that was "How is the weather down under?" :) .

Oh geesh this movie was interesting to say the least. Let's just say I was entertained the whole time. This movie, funny enough, is about three drag queens (yes you heard me right) who originate from Sydney, Australia. They are at a point in their lives where they are ready for a change, so they decide to travel across the barren desert of Australia to discover the claim to their fame. This movie captures the crazy adventures these three "men" experience on the journey to their destination, including the prejudiced people they often encounter.
This movie is good for understanding the geography of Australia in that you get a sense for how desert-like it is. They make it very clear that the land is quite barren, and leaves room for unfortunate circumstances. They also portray the people of Australia as being very secluded and unopen to change. I understand that to the extent they portray these people is probably a stereotype, but I feel like they were correct in indicating Australians are somewhat closed-minded and judgemental.
Ultimately, I would suggest fellow students to watch this film if they are interested in having a good laugh while learning a little bit about Australians. It's set up well and has a good lesson. You as a viewer finish the movie with a good feeling and those are my favorite types of movies.

Yesterday in class we had the wonderful opportunity to have a teleconference with Dr. Troy Whitford from Charles Sturt University. It was very interesting hearing Australian history from an actual Australian, mainly because it really gave us the perspective of a person who has studied the history in depth.
There were a few things Dr. Whitford focused on throughout the entire lecture. He emphasized that the middle-class is the ideal in Australia and that they don't have a socialist ethos, which is often misinterpreted and perceived wrongly.
He then talked about the Eureka Stockade which he called an example of an Australian rebellion. It was interpreted by the left wing as the "working man's revolution" and was a reaction to big government. Next he talked about the Federation, which is the uniting of the colonies to form a single nation and was done for economic reasons rather than ideological. It marked Australia's independence from Britain and the main concern of it was to not be a centralized government. The 1920s were thought of as a real time of growth, and according to Prime Minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce it focused on Men, Money, and Markets. Post WWII they recovered from the 1930s depression and the war. The Australian mentality was to shake off government controls and embrace a new consumerism. Throughout the Menzies years home-ownership was the key to a responsible citizen and the family was a cornership relation and constituted as a political constituency, which once again went back to the middle-class values that are so important.
I thought the whole presentation was very interesting, but especially at the end when Dr. Whitford mentioned that Australia takes their history as a whole and each citizen takes the responsibility for what has happened. It is very different than our mentality in the U.S. as we see things a lot differently. For example being around Native American reservations here in North Dakota shapes our ideas differently than we think about slavery since it happened in a different part of the country.

This is a wonderful film from director Baz Luhrmann. Viewers may recognize the slightly-choppy, quick-zoom-in film style as being similar to two of Luhrmann's other films: Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. (The three films together make up the "Red Curtain" trilogy.)

In the several times I have seen this movie before watching it for class; I have never associated it with Australia. Sure, the actors have discernable accents, but the film does not make a huge deal that it is based in Sydney. I think for me, the main reason that I previously have not associated this movie with Australia has been that I do not associate ballroom dancing with Australia.

That brings me to why I think this movie is worth watching for this class. It shows a side of Australian culture that I am sure many people would not guess to be Australian. It links Australia to other countries, and not just those such as Ireland and Britain who have given Australia many of its immigrants. This movie shows that dancing can connect the people of Australia to countries from South America and Europe. It teaches us that dancing is the same no matter where you are. That music and dancing can unite people from all over.

Over all, it is a very enjoyable movie to watch with colorful characters and an unconventional Cinderella story. I would suggest watching the extras after the movie about the real ballroom dancing competitions going on in Australia and how these are similar to those all over the world.

We had the opportunity to have a teleconference with Dr. Troy Whitford of Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, New South Whales. It was very considerate of him to do this since it was 5:00am over there for him to give us this presentation.
His presentation was titled Australia: A Short History of Mentalities. He started out by stating that it is a misinterpretation that Australian mentalities have a socialist ethos. Their history is about the rise of middle class values and ideas that emphasize materialism, entrepreneurialism, and self-reliance. Some key historical events that have shaped the country are as follows: the settlement and the colony as an open goal, the Eureka stockade, Federation, 'Australia Unlimited' of the 1920s, and the Post WWII era in which they took a lot of customs and pop-culture from Americans. I was surprised to find out that the Eureka Stockade was one of the only real rebellions that the country has had, and was very similar to our Boston Tea Party. I also learned that Australians view of home-ownership is a symbol of success to them, which strengthens the idea of materialism. In lecture, Dr. Whitford would regularly refer to groups as Leftist or extreme rights. I was a bit confused, so I was glad when one of our classmates asked if he could interpret what he meant by each. I found his conversation to be almost opposite of Manning's ideas, and also very humorous in a dry sense. I found it especially funny when Jason had asked what he thought about American Football, and he replied laughing that he doesn't understand why we take so many breaks. I agree. I would have liked to ask him what he thinks of Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin.

The teleconference with Dr Troy Whitford was an interesting experience. It was nice to get a look at Australian history through an Australian, and he made it sound like a pretty unbiased approach when it is compared to some other historians of the topic.

It was a pretty broad presentation, and even Dr. Whitford stated that it was a work in progress. He decided to touch on Settlement, the Eureka Stockade, Federation, the 1920's and Post World War II time periods. His main approach seemed to be the idea that mainstream Australian history has a political agenda with the ideas and main historical events that they bring to the forefront. He says this even of our favorite Australian historian Manning Clark, and how it appears the political left has had a strong influence on the history of Australia.

These political views have sparked what he referred to as a "History War", which really caught my attention. It was interesting to me that a country seems so split over their history and what should be taken from it. From every historian we have talked about it seems clear that they all agree that Australia needs to step up and create a national identity, but they can not decide on what should be a part of it. I never really thought about it before but it seems to me that America doesn't really have one strong national identity; that it is almost expected that everyone will have their own understanding of history and heritage depending on where they came from and where they live now. This idea was brought up in class with the idea of the South focusing more on slavery being a major part of our national identity while in the Midwest area we tend to learn more about and focus on the Native American aspect.

Once Were Warriors is a shocking movie about urban Auckland. This movie is based on Alan Duff's book with the same name. It is about a Maori woman, Beth Heke, who chooses her husband over her family and all of the struggles that come along with her abusive husband. Not only does Jake the Mus, the husband, enjoy getting into fights at the local bar, but when he gets drunk he takes his aggression out on his wife. This violence not only has an effect on his wife, but their children as well. Their youngest son is in trouble with the police while the oldest son is becoming involved with an Auckland gang. Their oldest daughter seems to be having a hard time with it as well; her best friend is a druggie who lives in an abandoned car.

As we follow the family for a few weeks we begin to see what they go through in their daily lives; from the youngest son's court dates to the daughter's writing about what is happening to her. In the end the struggle of the wife deciding where she really belongs is resolved and we see how that decision affects her family.

When looking around the video store for this movie I found the sequel to this movie. I did not know that they had made a sequel...I did not really know that it was a movie that could have a sequel. It would be interesting to see what has become of the Heke family. I would encourage others to watch this movie so that they can see what life is link in urban Auckland.

The Movie Rabbit Proof Fence takes place in the early 1930's in Western Australia in the small town of Jigalong in the Gibson desert. Now with this we come to the notion of finding out that a fence runs through jigalong and out into the desert and it was designed to keep rabbits on one side and pasture on the other so famers and ranchers in the area could raise their crops and livestock. But the thing I noticed is that the fence has a symbolic meaning to what the movie is about once we are introduced to 3 girls who are mixed aboriginines, whose fathers were white fence workers. The girls names are Molly and Daisy who are sisters, and their cousin Gracie. The problem is the fact that thier fathers have moved on and the only source of contact with the white world of Australia is the weekly ration day at the depot station in Jigalong. Now with the girls basically being on thier own with their mother, people veiw them as wild childs in a sense and send word to AO Neville in Perth, who happens to be the Chief Protector of Aborigines, and he believes that the aboriginal race is dying out and he wants to speed this up, and to do so he makes a rule saying mixed breed aborigines cannot marry full blooded aborigines, along with taking children from these mixed marriages away from their families and preparing them for life in white society with in Australia by sending them to bording schools, to learn to live as civilized people. Molly, Daisy, and Gracie are relocated as well during this time to an settlement 1200 miles away in which conditions tend to be harsh and almost unlivable, and after a time the girls devise a plan to run away back home, but the problem is the master of the settlement is a master tracker and once he realizes they are gone he takes off on a search after them across the desert as the girls try to out run him back to thier mother by following the rabbit proof fence. now the symbolic meaning I stated earlier has two meanings to me in the sense it shows the division of peoples within Australia by showing the racism towards aborigines, but it also has the meaning of a path home as shown by the girls using it as guide back home. The thing I noticed about this movie is that in a way it made escapees from settlements very relatable to what happend with black slaves in our country by trying to escape on the underground railroad and many a slave master going after them and trying to bring them back. Overall a very good movie with an interesting point of view on the way racism affected peoples within Australia.

Matt Liese

Lecture seven titled Politics: Commonwealth and Dominion talked about the evolution of politics in Australia and New Zealand, and how the styles of government have shifted from traditional monarchy to republicanism. I found it interesting that Australia started as a colony of England the same as the United States, and then ended up with a government similar to ours with a state and federal government. New Zealand has more of a federal government, with all the power centralized but since it is a relatively small area the government proves effective. Also both countries have two party systems. The creation of the Commonwealth in 1901 basically started the organization of politics in Australia and that was the beginning of the division of liberal and labour. Australia is less extensive of a welfare state as compared to New Zealand. I found most of this lecture interesting, but as with politics anywhere it is not the most interesting thing for me. I do think it will be interesting for the people of Australia, to get use to the new prime minister that took over for the Labour party in 2007.

Yesterday we had Dr. Troy Whitford, a university professor from Australia, give us a guest lecture over a webcam from Australia. I found his lecture to be a very interesting one, especially since it came from a different point of view that I have ever seen. It is not often that you can actually have a guest lecturer from the country that you are studying come and teach you about that country's history. That being said, his lecture was entitled A Short History of Mentalities, and it focused on the middle class of Australia through the years and what their mentalities were and how they helped to shape what the country is today. In the beginning Australia was a country of convicts, but there was a desire for them to be self sufficient. They were taught many things in order for them to get on their feet and establish themselves. Then came the Eureka stockade, which was a rebellion against taxation by the self employed. Dr. Whitford described this event as sort of Australia's Boston Tea Party, in that it was a statement against a strong centralized government. Then came Australia's federation, which was the uniting of the colonies. This was different from the United States, however, because in Australia it was done for economic reasons and not for idealogical ones. They once again emphasized no big government. In the 1920s Australia was concerned with creating wealth and maintaining capitalism. Then, after World War II, Australia wanted to shake off government controls once again and embrace a new consumerism. They viewed home ownership and family as a very valuable asset in doing this.
I really enjoyed this lecture. The question part at the end was interesting when someone asked him about American football and he said, "Why does it stop so much?" Another thing he asked was how our education system teaches American history, and whether they stick to just the good or focus on the bad as well. This got me thinking about my experiences. Throughout my schooling, I have had nothing but glorified American history up until high school. In high school the bad stuff was brought up, but not in much detail. It wasn't really until college that my teachers actually started teaching us about what I would call "real American history," that is including the bad with the good.

The Dig Tree, "a true story of bravery, insanity, and the race to discover Australia's wild frontier," was a great read. I just finished this book and I had a hard time putting it down. Sarah Murgatroyd, the author, wrote this novel after re-tracing the steps of the explorer Robert O'Hara Burke, the first explorer to make it coast to coast across Australia.

Before starting the story of Burke's dangerous travel she discusses some simple topics of exploring. She talks about the use of Camels in exploration, because when Burke used camels it was still a relatively new idea. One story that Murgatroyd shared was about a man who used a camel to travel and how the camel became more trouble then he was worth. Within the first day of the trip the camel bit a sheep, then went on to bite the cook in the head, leaving bite marks. Then a couple days after that experience the explorer was reloading his gun when the camel rammed in to him causing his gun to fire, shooting off 2 or 3 fingers, and knocking out multiple teeth on the left side of his jaw. Within two weeks of the accident the wound became septic and he died, making him "the only explorer ever to be killed by his own camel."

Murgatroyd then went on to tell the story of Burke and his crew. She did a beautiful job making the story realistic and enjoyable. She used journals from Wills, the company's navigator, and other members' journals. From cutting out supplies too early in the trip; to splitting the exploration group up, Murgatroyd did a great job recounting this crazy exploration. The Dig Tree kept me interested from start to finish, from leaving Meninde, to death on the Cooper. I would suggest this book to anyone, and already have a couple friends who want to read it!

Lecture 9 was title Yankee Sidekicks or Second Class Poms, and in this lecture Isern asked us to think about how other nations view us as an nation and citzens of a nation. But as we began to look into both Australia and New Zealand we see that both countries maintained good standing relationships with Britain up through the Great War and then things changed not because soldier from Australia and New Zealand werent willing to fight but because the British commanders almost treated them as if they were expendable pieces like pawns in a chess game, mainly at Gallipoli. Foriegn Policy in both countries was discussed as well in the fact the after WWII both nations joined the league of nations as independants and this revealed both countries were starting to look at themselves for answers for the government rather than depending on the help of other nations such as Britain, with this Australia began to focus its attention on Asia as they had formed an alliance with the US to help in carrying out attacks on Japan during WWII, with New Zealnd becoming concerned with where Britain's worries actually lied. One thing i found interesting is that New Zealand tends to have a little more distaste for the US than does Australia because New Zealand was used as a sort of staging point for US troops in WWII, so in a sense NZ tended to feel a tad bit used by the US. But surprisingly they are still friendly to the US, but this is due to the fact that they have a small military and still need help with protection if need be, so in that sense they feel as if they still need the US in a sort of big brother I have your back way. Overall this was another interesting lecture for me because it brought to light some of the military history of the 2 nations during WWII, which i am a huge fan of researching.


Matt Liese

lecture 7 was titled Politics: Commonwealth and Dominion, and as we have learned this entire semester Australia and New Zealand have a lot of similarties and differences that makes each of them related, yet unique from one another. Yet this lecture got into the differences of the governments in each country. For example Australia has a two part government system similar to the US in the fact that they have a federal government and a state government, but a big reason for this is because Australia tends to have a much more organized government system because of the way they were formed in the past when the nation was being developed, with very little politics getting in the way and this lead to the formation of the Confederation of the Commonwealth in 1901, and i guess you can say that that is really when and where the government began to become organized. While New Zealand only has a Federal government it is effective because it is a much smaller land than Australia and does not tend to have to have state governments in order to control things with in the nation. On an interesting note it should be stated that both governments do have a two party system with in themselves with the labour party and the liberal party, which in a sense i think comes from the British influence in these 2 nations pasts. Another thing I liked was talking about the Political leaders of the nations, with the Prime Minister of New Zealand being Helen Clark, but as Isern noted John Key might steal that powerful title away, leaving New Zealanders with questions about the government similar to what we experience here in the US with each presidential election. overall the lecture was informative but tended to be a little dry at times mainly just because of the subject matter.

Matt Liese

In lecture 8 titled bush ballads to bulibasha Professor Isern reminisced to us about the folk songs(bush ballads) of Australia and also the art of Austaralia and New Zealand. With the music of these lands we talked about Banjo Paterson, who not only wrote songs, but also was a famous Bush Poet and wrote poems about the wilderness and wilds of the Australian outback. Another person we talked about was Henery Lawson, who just happened to be a favorite of Manning Clark, Lawson who wrote the story His Father's Mate. Both Lawson and Paterson had many of their works published in the Sydney Bulletin for many years. Now as Far as New Zealand goes they had their fair share of notable poets and song writers. Two of the most notable were David Wright McKee who wrote the Station Days in Maoriland, and Jim Morris who wrote Different Worlds. Now both countries have their culture engrained in the artistic works of authors and musicians with Austraila choosing to glorify the outlaw mentality and New Zealand glorifying the mateship metality. An interesting note to me was the fact that authors and songwriters tend to be immortalized in these two countries by being put on stamps and currency, which is very different than what we do in this country with immortalizing our presidents on money and honoring patriotism with stamps, so in a sense this a contrasting disparity between our nation and Australia and New Zealand. Id say the most entertaing and humorous part of this entire lecture was the singing by Professor Isern and his rendition of Waltzing Matilda, whic he did a very good job on by the way, but the interesting part about this song is the fact it uses english words but you have to have an understanding of the culture to understand exactly what it means. Overall this was a great lecture as it provided some interesting facts about stuff you wouldnt expect to learn about in a normal history class.

Matt Liese

The Age is a newspaper from Melbourne, Australia. It was similar to other newspapers found anywhere around here. While browsing through the paper I found a couple of articles that were related to topics Dr. Isern has mentioned in class, and one that I just wanted to share.

An article I thought Dr. Isern would find particularly interesting was called "'Audacious' investment baron lines up to revive The Bulletin." I remember him saying in a lecture how it had to shut down. Well, there is a guy Peter Hall who is planning on buying it and plans to revive the "bushman's bible that became an emblem for 'Australian-ness' and a platform for the country's best writers." It will become a weekly journal (did it used to be daily?). Hall referred to the magzine as having a "financial bloodbath" before it shut down, and says it will take some work to get through the economic issues of this magazine. The Bulletin will focus on the environment, politics and business, and the feel of it will be spiky, irreverent and fun, not stodgy. He is very excited about The Bulletin and feels that there will be quite a bit of residual loyalty from readers. A media & advertising agent said that reputation doesn't always guarantee success and that times have changed how people consume news. Let's just hope that Australia's oldest magazine can make a successful revival.


Next, I came across an article that referred to Anzac Day which seemed fitting since we just discussed Anzac Day about a week ago. It was titled, "Statue of NZ digger installed on Anzac Bridge." The Anzac bridge is in Sydney, Australia and currently has an Aussie digger statue at the bridge entrance. The statue of the NZ digger was installed opposite the Aussie digger, and had sand from Gallipoli placed at it's feet. The NZ digger won't be unveiled until a special ceremony with Prime Minister Helen Clark and NSW Premier Morris Iemma in attendance. The reason for adding the NZ digger in Sydney is to honor the close ties between Australia and NZ. The article stated how the 2 countries' troops have served side by side on many occasions from Gallipoli and the Western Front to peacekeeping operations today. I didn't realize just how close they were; I guess I've heard about different times in history & from different people, so I'm bound to get different points of view.


Lastly, I found the article "Tax relief for working mums." This article isn't directly related to specific topics we've mentioned in class, however, it provides some interesting information I just thought I would share. A federal government tax cut and daycare changes have been promised by the Rudd government to Australians. Treasurer Wayne Swan said that in the past mums haven't been compensated for working extra hours outside of the home. The money from working the extra hours often goes towards the daycare costs. Swan said that people are under great pressures such as rising interest rates, fuel, groceries, and other expenses. So a rise in a childcare rebate of 30-50%, which will save about $29 per week for a mum working 2 days/week or $95 per week for a mum working 5 days/week. In addition, there will be a tax relief for working mums. If there are 2 children in daycare 2 days/week the relief will be $71 per week, or if they're in daycare 5 days/week the relief will be up to $136 per week. This would certainly be a welcome relief to American families with the falling economy/recession (whatever they want to call it). It's nice that Australia is doing this for their citizens and realize that their working families are indeed working hard and earned this relief.

The magazine Australian Geographic was filled with a lot of articles that I found interesting. I couldn't help but want to read every word of every article to learn more about the topic of each particular article. This magazine covered material such as the geography, the science behind certain geographical topics, culture, and history. The purpose was to teach Australians more about the land they live on, which was put together by the Australian Geographic Society.

One article I found fascinating was an article called Once Stung, Never Forgotten. It was about the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree that's leaves have microscopic hair that sting an unsuspecting person/animal walking by with toxic venom. They say that even a gentle brush up with this tree can cause instant itching followed by severe prickling feelings and intense pain that lasts for days to weeks. Since the hairs are so small, they may remain embedded in the skin which may become irritated years later with skin contractions during changes of weather for example. One man said he feels intense pain if he takes cold showers. Several scientists and surveyors have had to endure this pain. Stories of these encounters included horses going mad and dying, a surveyor who said it's "like being burnt with hot acid and electroculted as the same time," a guy who's pain persisted for 2 years & whenever he took cold showers, and people drinking themselves silly or shooting themselves. Those planning to explore where these trees grow (NE coastline of OZ) are supplied with thick gloves, respirators, and anti-histamine tablets as precautionary action. If one does get stung and hives form, steroid treatment can be taken, however the pain is still horrible. The Gympie-Gympie tree, one of the world's most venomous plants, is something no one wants to mess with!

Secondly, I would like to share an article called Jatbula Country: Take the Plunge. It was about a hike on Jatbula Trail in the Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park. This is a one-way, 4 or 5 day hike. The Jawoyn are the "traditional custodians" of this land, and can accompany hikers along the trail if desired. Based on what I read in this article, it sounds beneficial to have a Jawoyn along because they have a lot of stories to tell about the land and brought the land around the trail to life. The land was taken from the Jawoyn by drovers, but eventually it was returned to them. The trail goes through several terrain types, everything from rocky to flatland to swampy. The article mentioned the cane toad briefly stating how it's affected the region by depleting numbers of several species; the Jawoyn guide squashed any he found along the way. There are a total of 8 campsites from start to finish, each with their own varying character. Along the way hikers encounter various creatures, beautiful waterfalls, rock paintings in the Amphitheatre, more than 750 plant species, and so much more. This trail's standard is "challenged" but they say hikers only need to be fit, organized, and eager. This sounds like an adventure I would love to encounter.

The film based on the life of renowned author Janet Frame, Angel at My Table, is a marathon. Because it is autobiographical, there seemed to be little overarching plot and thus is episodic. It is a compelling tale, however, and it is sometimes unbelievable what transpires.

Part 1 begins with a pudgy little girl with a red (for lack of better description) 'fro. She introduces herself as Janet, but she is referred to as Jean often. Janet is one of four girls, and also has an epileptic brother. The family is poor and the father is not always the most understanding. This is especially evident when Janet meets Poppy. Later, the sisters gain a new friend and lose the eldest sister to drowning.

Part 2 is the college years. Janet would prefer to be a poet, but these were the days when there were only so many ways a woman could make a living. Thus, she is studying teaching. That plan fails during her practical exam. Soon after, Janet enters a mental institution and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. The only treatment of the day is electroshock therapy and so she endures over 200 treatments during the next eight years. During that time, she manages to get a book published so that's one bright spot. When she leaves hospital, she moves in with a fellow writer who helps her move ahead and get her funding to go abroad.

Part 3 (of 3) is Janet's trip overseas. She begins in London where she meets her odd Irish neighbor who is more than a little creepy. It is only when she moves to Spain that her life begins to change, mainly for the better...

When I heard that the main character was schizophrenic, I was expecting (and hoping for) a movie along the lines of A Beautiful Mind. The result was entirely different. I personally did not like this movie, but the film captured a good deal of critical acclaim.

- Krista Hellman

I was more than surprised to hear Manning Clark referred to as a Marxist, although on reflection it makes perfect sense. True, there is a sense of the struggle between classes, but I never considered Australia a socialist society, even with its universal healthcare. This is probably why I was eager to agree with Dr. Whitfield's assessment that Aussies were just as capitalistic and materialistic as Americans (good thing? bad thing? I don't know).

A short history was promised and was delivered, touching on major points in history that have (apparently) been misinterpreted or over-emphasized. The origins of consumerism begin when the continent was still a penal colony with an open gaol (I like the Aussie spelling). Instead of governmental control, everyone - including the higher-ups - strove for a self-sufficient economy, which would enrich both colony and motherland. The first of the middle class values were drilled in, shifting the family from shiftless single mothers to happy married families on a giant farm.

The Federation of the Australian providences reminds me of the US Articles of Confederation, in that states' rights were more important than national administration. It is also funny how the reality became what the founding fathers feared. Yet again, every one gained because of the economic reasons that led to this union.

Finally, the post-WWII era again mirrors the US at the time. It might be the fact that American pop culture was invading the island with their surfboards and Elvis music. There was also the fact that the world survived yet another great war and the depression was over, so people had money to burn. People bought cars and homes, which became status symbols. It also prepared them for 'responsible citizenship.' In the end, the mate-ship egalitarianism that is evident in Aussie society is the result of middle class values rather than socialist in nature.

*Dr. Whitfield is a professor at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.

- Krista Hellman

From the very beginning, it is apparent that Clark knows his audience when he addressed the National Folkfest. How else could he get away with a quote like "the most important things about Aussies have been said by drunkards, not all drunkards are wise" - Even if that quotation came from H. Lawson? Clark also uses that quote to differentiate Aussies from Kiwis in that he urges all listening to denounce the cult of the English and stop borrowing culture in the form of music, literature, monument epitaphs, etc. Instead, it is time make culture their own (harkening back to his nation-building days, perhaps?).

Through a collection of songs, Clark led the listeners through a brief history from when the oral tradition became written literature, from the bush to industrialization, and to present day suburbia. At turns, the sound of the speech was similar to political rhetoric and at times, it was fun, light, and amusing. To quote Bob Dylan, "times they are a-changin'" and such is true even for crusty old academics.

Here's a good question: Clark repeatedly spoke of influences on Aussie culture he listed Americans, Europeans, the British, Asians, etc. What makes the British different from the Europeans?

- Krista Hellman

Dr. Troy Whitford, of the Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga, lectured about Australia: A Short History of Mentality. This lecture focused on Australian history and the rise of Australian values and ideas. Those main values and ideas were materialism, being entrepreneurial and self-reliance. This all headed towards the development of a middle-class mentality. We started with talking about some key historical events in Australia. A few of these events were initial settlement and the colony, the Eureka Stockade, the beginning of the Federation, the 1920s in Australia and the post World War II era. One thing we stuck on for a minute was the British governments being anti-single parent. Dr. Whitford said that some girls were sent to live in orphanages if they did not have a father at home. He also mentioned that if a convict was freed, he received forty acres, twenty more acres if he got married, and twenty more acres for each child the couple had. Another point he stressed was that after World War II, lots of money went into the housing markets. To some Australians owning their own home was a big key to being considered a responsible citizen. This helped to lead to the rise in the middle-class mentality.
I thought this lecture was very interesting to listen to. I really enjoyed listening to Dr. Whitford talk and hear the questions others had for him. I was also interested to hear that Australians have been so influenced by American culture, like when Dr. Whitford was talking about The Cosby Show and Elvis. Overall, I really enjoyed this lecture.

Ashleigh Pust

The magazine North & South, which was the Newsstand Magazine of the Year in 2006, has a number of interesting articles, and also gives a person a feel for the country of New Zealand. This March 2007 issue was titled Sour Grapes: Inside The Wither Hills Wine Scandal. Since I don’t care much of grapes and wine, I chose to read a few different articles. The first article was written by Virginia Larson and was titled Crime & Again. The article talked about the frequency of crime in New Zealand, and how a person is robbed by their staff, customers, and at least once a year by thugs. This article really got my attention because I am a Criminal Justice major, and also when I think of New Zealand, I think of a calm, peaceful, crime-free country. The author also talks about the police force and how it is basically non-existent. She says that cops will not respond to shoplifting calls, and will actually chew a person out for using the emergency line for something so little. According to the cops, an agreement has been made that insurance investigators will take care of such cases so cops don’t have to worry about it. Another article I read was titled River Wizz and was written by Mike White. This article was about Peter Gordon, a white water rafting legend who has been at the sport for twenty three years. Gordon’s nickname is Wizz, and he is just that when he is on the water rafting. The article basically talked about Gordon’s love for rafting and how enjoyable a time it can be. The North & South magazine also had a number of scenery pictures along with a ton of ads. The magazine was weird to look through because many of the people wear different clothes in the pictures that we would in the US, and also the writing in the articles was worded differently. The issues were also very different than issues you would find in the US. Talk about grapes & wine, horse racing, and international polo tournaments filled the pages. It was very interesting to read, but the sports were very different, and the whole feel of the magazine was quite different than something you would find in the US.

I visited RNZ several times during the period of April 21st through the 30th. The first thing that becomes evident is that New Zealand is not a world player. The news and features tend to be more in the scope of what is reported here in our local newspapers.
My goal here was to get an overall picture of New Zealand as portrayed by their radio programming. I sampled items from the Anzac celebration, along with talk radio and news from the Morning Report link. The coverage of the Anzac memorial is touching; typical of what we have been doing here in the media as remembrance of the World War II veterans. It's a Memorial Day type of event, but this is the decade of
WWII in New Zealand as well.
The news was more like you were listening to local NBC than listening to the news of a nation. One of the top stories was the murder of a 15 year old in Christchurch. This story was reported on from the crime to capture of the killer. Another was the explosion of a facility that was using propane as a refrigerant rather than the approved freon. This one sparked several other broadcasts about the safety and legality of using propane as a refrigerant.
Talk radio is the same everywhere, but here I found it to be more left-leaning. Society issues such as Wellington’s electric network being sold to a Chinese investor talked about the general direction the country is headed. Exploitative reporting was there, telling how ING-NZ has asked approval to issue life insurance policies on un-born children, and how this prays on the fears of the wealthy. And political mud about the Deputy Secretary of Labor helping get members of her own family into the country.
There were really no stories that had global clout, but the crime rate must be really low.

This movie, The World's Fastest Indian, is a wonderful, feel good movie. It tells the story of Burt Munro, a 67 year old New Zealander who wants to achieve his dream of racing his 1920 Indian motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. After finding out he has serious heart problems and being told by his doctor to give up his dreams of racing, he scrounges up his money, tells the neighbor boy to take care of his lemon tree and leaves for America. He arrives in California, buys a car, builds a makeshift trailer for his Indian, and begins his comedic way to Utah. Along the way he meets up with an assortment of people from a transvestite