School Certificate, Term 4 – Week 5

Hi Guys

The Australian History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship School Certificate is to be held on Tuesday 11th November in the afternoon. Maths will be held in the morning so its going to be a big day.

Bye

Broken Links (State Library of Queensland)

I have added a link to this website that provides a great deal of information about the Stolen Generations. If you go to the link you can click on another link that says fiver personal stories of Aboriginal people and choose to hear about people’s personal experience of being taken away from their families.

Skwirk resource

Have a look at this website,Skwirkit includes all of the topics in History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship. Remember the topics which Cory advised will be on the School Certificate.

Bryce right for G-G job, says Jeffery

August 31st 2008

Outgoing Governor-General Michael Jeffery says his replacement is the right person for the job – regardless of her gender.

Quentin Bryce, the first woman to be appointed to the role, will be sworn in this week.

Major General Jeffery praised Ms Bryce.

“She’s a charming, articulate and highly motivated lady and she will do an outstanding job for the country,” he told Sky News.

“The fact that she is a woman I think is an added bonus but I’m never one to put much on (the issue of) men or women, I think it’s the best person for the job.

“To have our first female governor-general is going to be a wonderful thing for the country.”

When asked about the sensitive issue of a republic, Major General Jeffery said change could be a good thing, but stopped short of commenting specifically.

“What I’ve tried to say over many years now is that we should never be frightened of looking at better ways of governing ourselves,” he said.

“Now this is not talking about a republic or a constitutional monarchy or anything like that; (it’s about) better ways of governing ourselves, right through the whole spectrum.”

Major General Jeffery said people who wanted to argue for the merits of a republic or constitutional monarchy should know what they were talking about.

“I’ve always urged that by all means, all of us talk about what we think is the best thing, but let’s talk about it off the basis of knowledge,” he said.

Most Aborigines ‘leading normal lives’

August 31st 2008

Most Aborigines are leading normal Australian lives and are not in dire living conditions, outgoing Governor-General Michael Jeffery says.

Major General Jeffery said people didn’t hear much about those Aborigines who were integrated into the general community.

He estimated there were 520,000 indigenous Australians.

“I suspect that about 350-400,000 of those are already integrated satisfactorily into the country,” Major General Jeffery told Sky News.

“Integrated to such an extent that you don’t hear about them, they’re doing what we would look upon as normal jobs, living normal Australian lives.”

However, he said about 100,000 Aborigines had been “doing it hard for many years”.

They were mainly living in remote conditions in northern Australia, he said.

Major General Jeffery revealed he was concerned about climate change, and thought the public wanted politicians to act on the problem.

He said the greatest challenge facing Australia was the changing climate, the drying out of areas like the Murray-Darling basin, and tough times for farmers.

One of his pet projects is pushing to have more people move to northern Australia, where he says there is more water and fertile farming land. Major General Jeffery said better schools and hospitals should be built in the north to tempt people to relocate.

He also spoke on the war in Afghanistan, saying it would not be easy.

“It will be a hard struggle,” he said.

It was essential that coalition forces worked out exactly what their aim was, in order to devise the right strategy, he said.

ESSAY NEWS

Hi Year 10 students

Just to clarify a few points about the essay to be written in class next Thursday.

You may bring any written information you have prepared into the class. You must ensure that the work is your own, plagiarism rules apply in this task. 

You will have the full length of the class to write your essay under exam conditions.

Laptops are not allowed.

Good luck.

Jane & Gabe

P.S All the topics covered in the essay choices will need to be revised for your School Certificate. Please chat to Jane or Gabe tomorrow if you have any questions about the task.

Introduction of women’s suffrage in each state in Australia

It was the fact that South Australian women had the vote which led to Australian women getting the federal vote. The Australian Commonwealth Constitution of 1900 gave the federal franchise to all persons allowed to vote for the lower house in each state. South Australian and Western Australian women thus qualified in 1900. This table shows the dates of the introduction of the right to vote and the right to stand for State Parliaments. It is taken from It happened here: votes for South Australian women produced for the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage.

 

State     South Australia Western Australia New South Wales Tasmania Queensland Victoria

Right to vote     1894 1899 1902 1903 1905 1908

Right to stand 1894 1920 1918 1921 1915 1923

Govt to sign UN protocol on women’s rights

Friday 23rd May, 2008

The Federal Government says steps are being taken to sign a United Nations protocol that aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

Signing the optional protocol would enable women to complain to the United Nations if Australia violates its obligations and domestic remedies have been exhausted.

The Howard government refused to sign the protocol when it was adopted in 2000.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland says it is important to show leadership on women’s rights.

“We’re committed to the promotion and protection of women’s rights and making gender equality a reality in Australia,” he said.

“Obviously if we’re to promote the rights of women within our region we need to at least set the example domestically.”

New look!

Hi Guys

Gave the blog a new look. seems to work better with the links on the right hand side

Bye

Cook’s boomerang may come back: Garrett

August 22, 2008 – 3:00PM

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett is exploring the possibility of buying a boomerang given to Captain James Cook when he visited Australia.

The boomerang will be auctioned in London by Christie’s next month and could fetch as much as STG60,000 ($A128,137).

Two wooden clubs, also believed to have belonged to Aborigines Cook met when he landed on Australia’s east coast in 1770, will be offered for sale as well.

“The minister has asked his department to explore the provenance of these objects and potential avenues for their acquisition,” Mr Garrett’s spokesman Ben Pratt told AAP.

Scott Morrison, federal MP for Cook, a seat that takes in Kurnell on the southern side of Botany Bay where Cook landed, wants the government to press Britain to buy the boomerang and return it to Australia.

“(Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd should use his relationship with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to convince the UK government to purchase the boomerang and donate it to Australia in a gesture of friendship and to mark our shared heritage,” Mr Morrison said in a statement.

“The boomerang should be returned to Kurnell as a symbol of that first meeting and so all Australians have the opportunity to see it.”

Gweigal people spokesman Merv Ryan said the local Aboriginal community felt strongly about the boomerang’s return.

“Having the boomerang back in Kurnell will be an historic symbol of harmony between our two cultures and will help teach young Australians about the importance of Aboriginal culture,” he said.

Mr Morrison says he will raise his plan when parliament returns next week.

Measuring just under 56cm in length, the boomerang has no markings and comes from a collection of artefacts once owned by the British explorer’s widow Elizabeth Cook.