Australias Over the Past 50 Years essays

Australias Over the Past 50 Years essays Over the last 50 years, Australians have experienced more change than the history of the nation. We have fought in wars, changed our views on womens rights in the family, and in the work place, opened our arms to people in need of safe refuge as well as coming to terms with our past treatment of the aboriginal community. We have hosted the best ever Olympic games, and have gone from being a new country to well established, being shown high respect from overseas, not only for our cooperation towards other countries in need of troops to help them keep peace in countries such as East Timor, but we have also been highly commended for our willingness to accept people of other cultures, and accept them as our own. In 1946, Ben Chifleys labor government opened Australias doors to the immigrants of Europe; fleeing the destruction that world war two had left behind. 100,000 to 150,000 people from all around Europe took the chance to start fresh. Since then, more than 5 million immigrants have seeked permanent living arrangements in Australia. This number includes 500,000 refugees, who have come to Australia, seeking a way of life, from their war-torn home countries. Since the white-Australia policy was scrapped in 1973, a large proportion of immigrants have also come from Asia, making Australia a very multicultural society. While not all Australians have been accepting of these people, I believe that it is a good thing that Australia is multi-cultural, as I know many people who were not born here, and their wealth of knowledge, has helped, and will continue to help many Australians into the future. We have also become more accepting of the aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders, the original occupiers of the land. While there is still a long way to go, within the last 30 years, indigenous Australians have been accepted by the white Australians, and, through such well known sporting identities as C...