According to ezinereligion, in 2007, Australia had an estimated population of 20.6 million people, composed of multiple ethnic groups including British and Irish descent. The official language was English. The economy was largely based on services and manufacturing, as well as agriculture and mining. In terms of foreign relations, Australia had close ties with its neighbors in the region such as New Zealand and Indonesia. It also maintained diplomatic relations with several other countries such as the United States, China and Japan. Politically, Australia was a constitutional monarchy led by Prime Minister John Howard from 1996 to 2007. After his resignation in 2007, Kevin Rudd took over as prime minister and remained in power until 2010.
Yearbook 2007
Australia. To combat the perennial drought in Australia and increase water levels, Prime Minister John Howard in January allocated the equivalent of SEK 58 billion over a ten-year period that would go to the country’s most important rivers, Murray and Darling, among others. Control of this over-exploited river system, which is used to irrigate over 70 percent of the country’s crops, would be taken over by the federal authorities. Howard would also invest SEK 41.5 billion on, among other things, new water pipes to reduce water leakage.
- According to abbreviationfinder: AU is the 2-letter acronym for the country of Australia.
According to CountryAAH, Canberra is the capital city of Australia. The annual climate report from the country’s meteorological institute showed in January that global warming is affecting Australia more than any other continent. Ever since 1910, Australia’s temperature rise had been the fastest in the world. In the southern and south-eastern parts, bush and forest fires raged from December to February, when the Australian summer occurs. At least one person was killed and a number of homes and large areas of land were destroyed. In addition, affected the multi-million city of Melbourne of extensive power outages. In May the long-awaited rains came, but they soon led to extensive flooding, which in the state of Victoria was the worst in 17 years.
Following a disclosure of widespread alcoholism and sexual abuse of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory, the federal government in June decided to introduce a six-month ban on alcohol and hardcore in some Aboriginal communities. The federal government also, after approval by the House of Representatives, took over the management of 73 Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory that had previously been largely self-governing. Compulsory health checks were introduced for children under 16 years. In addition, the social allowance would be withdrawn for parents who did not send their children to school or who used the subsidy for games and alcohol.
The reason was that a public inquiry stated that many Aboriginal children had been sexually abused and also forced into prostitution. Contributing reasons for this were – according to the investigators – alcohol abuse, poverty, poverty and health problems. Unemployment is close to three times higher in Aborigines than in other Australians. Their health is much worse and their life expectancy is shorter, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Some Aboriginal leaders called the measures racist and authoritarian, and criticized the government for making its decisions without consulting the Aboriginal people. Opposition politicians also criticized the decision, but opposition leader Kevin Rudd said he was prepared to cooperate with the government on this issue.
In August, one of the Aborigines from the “stolen generation” was awarded damages in what was seen as a pilot case. The man, who was forcibly placed in a foster home in 1957, was awarded the equivalent of SEK 2.9 million in compensation from the Supreme Court of the State of South Australia. He was one of about 100,000 children stolen from his families and placed with whites. This so-called assimilation policy continued until the end of the 1960s.
The Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm returned the remains of ten Aborigines to an Australian delegation in October. The skeleton had been plundered from graves in Australia by Swedish expeditions in the 1910s. In 2004, Sweden had reclaimed the remains of 15 other Aborigines. Australia has also demanded two skulls to be found at the History Museum in Lund. In recent years, Australia has requested to bring back thousands of skeletons from museums around the world, but many do not want to return them.
Securing oil supplies is a decisive factor for Australia continuing to have soldiers in Iraq and the Middle East. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said this surprisingly in an interview with Australian broadcaster ABC in July. Prime Minister Howard denied that the oil plays any role for Australia’s involvement in Iraq. The reasons were, he said, to help stop the violence and to introduce democracy.
Soldiers in Iraq and environmental policy became two of the most important issues before the parliamentary elections on November 24, and at the same time the subjects in which the prime ministerial candidates had the most diverse opinions. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd from Labor promised to take back Australia’s soldiers from Iraq, as opposed to the incumbent Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader John Howard, who argued for keeping them there. Rudd also pledged to sign the Kyoto Protocol to limit carbon dioxide emissions, which Howard repeatedly refused.
Labor also promised to repeal a new criticized law that will make it easier to dismiss employees. The Liberals opted for new tax cuts, but despite that and the country’s good economic development, 68-year-old Howard lost power after eleven years. The election became a major victory for Labor, which received 53 percent of the vote and at least 83 of the House’s 150 seats.
After the election victory, Rudd said he would take home the 550 Australian soldiers in Iraq. However, the troops in the Persian Gulf, as in Afghanistan, would remain. The change of power meant that the US government lost one of its closest allies in the war on terror. Instead, 50-year-old Rudd was expected to strengthen relations with Asia, primarily China. The new prime minister speaks fluent Mandarin after being a diplomat in China. He also speaks Swedish since working at the Australian Embassy in Stockholm in the 1980s.
Rudd presented his government on November 29 with Julia Gillard as Deputy Prime Minister. She became the first woman on the record. Former Rock star Peter Garrett was named new Environment Minister. Rudd also appointed a special minister for climate and water issues.
At the same time, the Liberal Party elected former Secretary of Defense Brendan Nelson as new party leader after John Howard, who even lost his parliamentary seat in the election.
In addition to signing the Kyoto Protocol, Rudd himself went to the UN Climate Conference in Bali in December, where new emission agreements were discussed. Rudd was also expected to give the Aborigines a formal apology for how they were treated, something Howard had refused to do.
Australia weather in March, April and May
Average daily temperatures between 21 ° C and 25 ° C can be expected over the next three months. In Sydney it gets warmest in March, but May is a bit cooler.
Do you want to go on a beach holiday? The water temperatures are in March, April and May 21-23 ° C. This is great weather for a great time on the beach and in the water.
The expected rainfall is around 10 days in March, around 9 days in April and around 10 days in May.
In the period from March to May , the sun shines an average of 6 to 7 hours a day. The sunniest weather is in March in Sydney, with a little less sun you will have to get by in April.