11‘Australia’s global address.’

Australia’s place in the world

[11.1] Chinese New Year is celebrated in Sydney

Part 4 Australia in its regional and global contexts

In this chapter you will…

1:150 000 000

NEWZEALAND

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

240 Geography for Australian Citizens

learn about: Australia’s location in relation to its near neighbours

and their territorial boundaries the ways Australia interacts with other nations in

the areas of aid, communication, culture, defence, migration, tourism, trade and sport.

learn to: locate Australia in the Asia–Pacific region and the world collect data to identify and locate nations that Australia has regional

and global links with and to describe the nature of these links communicate findings that demonstrate Australia’s links in its

regional and global contexts.

Australia’s place in the worldAustralia is located in the southern hemisphere between latitudes 10° South and 44° South, and between longitudes 113° East and 154° East. [11.2] shows Australia’s position in the world and in relation to its neighbours in the Asia–Pacific region. Its nearest neighbours are Papua New Guinea to the north and New Zealand to the east.

The geographical position of Australia has meant that important economic, social, technological and political links have developed between Australia and Asia–Pacific countries.

[11.2] Australia’s position in the world

180˚ 170˚W170˚E160˚E150˚E140˚E130˚E120˚E110˚E100˚E90˚E60˚E 70˚E 80˚E

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P A C I F I C

O C E A N

I N D I A N

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Bayof

Bengal

Coral Sea

Tasman Sea

South

China

Sea

Arabian

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(Aust)(Aust)

(NSW)

(Aust)

(NZ)

(France)

Christmas IslandCocos Islands

HalmaheraBorneo

Flores

Sumba

Chatham Islands

Lord Howe Island

Norfolk Island

(USA)MarianasNorthern

(USA)Guam

HainanLuzon

Palawan Mindanao

Seram

Timor

Sulawesi

Java

Sumatra

Tropic of Capricorn

Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Albany

KalgoorlieBroken Hill

Mt Isa

Alice Springs

Broome

Launceston

Bendigo

Toowoomba

Rockhampton

Cairns

Lae

Jayapura

Laoag

DunedinChristchurch

Hamilton

Banjarmasin

Padang Pontianak

Lhasa

Chiang Mai

Baguio

GalleKota Kinabalu

George Town

Manado

Townsville

Palembang

Kagoshima

Goa

Cochin

Gold Coast

Auckland

Ujung Pandang

Cebu

Davao

SurabayaBandung

Nanchang

Jaipur

Kaohsiung

Ho Chi Minh City

Medan

Kitakyushu

Hong KongMumbai

Chongqing

Lahore Shanghai

Osaka

GuangzhouKarachiAhmadabad

Hyderabad

Bangalore

Kolkata

Brisbane

Sydney

Melbourne

Adelaide

Noumea

Perth

Hobart

Darwin

Dili

Vila

Male

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Bairiki

Palikir

Honiara

Bandar Seri Begawan

ThimphuKathmandu

Wellington

Canberra

Suva

Port Moresby

Islamabad

Colombo

Phnom Penh

Kuala Lumpur

Hanoi

Rangoon

Jakarta

New Delhi

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ManilaBangkok

Kabul

Vientiane

West Papua(Irian Jaya)

NewCaledonia

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VANUATU

KIRIBATI

C H I N AAFGHANISTAN

PAKISTANNEPAL

BHUTAN

BURMA

BANGLADESHTAIWAN

I N D I A LAOS

VIETNAMTHAILAND

PHILIPPINES

SRI LANKA M I C R O N E S I A

BRUNEI

M A L AY S I AMALDIVES

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24111 : Australia’s place in the world

Australia’s regional and global linksThroughout history Australia has been actively involved in international affairs, both within the Asia–Pacific region to which it belongs and beyond. Australia has close ties and

relationships with North America and Europe, and a history of active involvement with Asia.

Australia has many regional and global links. In the past Australia was linked very closely to Britain because of the traditional ties arising from European settlement. Australia is a Pacific nation, however, and because it is so close to the countries of South-East Asia and the South Pacific, its future lies with countries of this region [11.4].

Today Australia has regional links with the countries of the Asia–Pacific and the Pacific Rim, and various global links in the areas of:

[11.4] Australia and its neighbours in the Asia–Pacific region

[11.3] Australia has a role to play in the future of climate change

aid sport communication tourism trade defence migration culture.

242

Australia’s regional and global links

AidAustralia’s international aid programs are administered by AusAID. The main objective of Australia’s aid program is to help developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia’s national interest. The focus is on bilateral rather than multilateral aid programs. The bilateral aid program is concentrated in the Asia–Pacific region, with the largest recipient being Papua New Guinea. Australia’s 2007–08 budget provided $3.155 billion of official aid, or about 1 per cent of federal government expenditure.

[11.5] These T-shirts say ‘Watch out that you don’t get AIDS’. They are part of an education aid project sponsored by the Australian government. PNG has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the Pacific region.

CommunicationGlobalisation and advances in technology have changed the face of communication. Australia is linked to the world by improved transport and communication. In 2006–07, 64 per cent of Australian households had home Internet access and 73 per cent had access to a home computer.

[11.6] Communication towers like these link Australia with the world

TourismAustralia has developed strong regional and global links through tourism. The contribution of tourism to the Australian economy is forecast to increase from $84 billion in 2006 to just over $100 billion in 2016.

Tourism employs 464 500 people (4.6 per cent of total employment). Australia’s major tourism source markets in 2006–07 were New Zealand (975 504 visitors), the UK (690 895 visitors), Japan (581 710 visitors) and the USA (429 258 visitors).

[11.7] Bondi Beach – one of Australia’s iconic tourist destinations

See chapter 12 for more information on Australia’s international aid program.

See chapter 13 for more information about defence links.

DefenceAustralia will spend over $51 billion on defence over the next decade. Australia has established strong defence ties around the world. While Australia’s national security and its economic interests are linked strongly to the security and stability of the Asia–Pacific region, its operations are currently focused on the Middle East.

[11.8] Australian troops are currently based in Afghanistan to work on reconstruction activities

Geography for Australian Citizens

243

SportAustralia has forged sporting links with other nations with the staging of international sporting events including the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne each year, the Australian Open tennis and World Cup cricket. Our oldest sporting ties are with England through test cricket. Australia now participates in test and one-day cricket matches with England, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe – countries that are still part of the Commonwealth of Nations.

[11.9] Australia and India are traditional cricketing competitors

TradeDespite Australia’s relatively minor role in world trade (its share of world trade stands at just over 1 per cent), we rely on our trade links to promote economic development. Since the 1970s Japan has been our dominant trading partner in terms of exports and the USA has dominated imports (now followed closely by China).

[11.10] Asia is Australia’s major trading region

See chapter 15 for more information about trade links.

MigrationNearly one in four of Australia’s 21 million people were born overseas. Many residents of Australia are immigrants or are the children of immigrants.

[11.11] Nearly one in four Australians was born overseas

See chapter 14 for more information about migration links.

CultureFrom the time of European settlement, Australia’s traditional cultural links were Anglo-Saxon and Christian. Contemporary cultural relations between Australia and our neighbours are now many and varied, as represented by institutes such as the Australia–China Friendship Society, the Australian–Japan Foundation and the Australia–India Society.

Global cultural links are especially visible in the arts, religion and festivals, as well as in the diversity of restaurants in Australian cities and the different foods available. Large crowds and audiences of locals and tourists attend events such as Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Melbourne’s Comedy Festival, Brisbane’s Warana Festival, Adelaide’s WOMADelaide, which showcases world music, and St Patrick’s Day and Chinese New Year celebrations.

Australian culture can be seen in the lives of people in other countries through the spread of Aussie traditions and icons, including Australian bars and the global spread of Australia’s ‘ugh boot’.

[11.12] Chinese New Year is a festival celebrated in Australia

11 : Australia’s place in the world

244 Geography for Australian Citizens

Learning about...1 Describe Australia’s location using latitude and longitude.2 Explain why the Asia–Pacific region is significant for Australia.3 Briefly describe the ways that Australia interacts with other nations in the areas of aid, sport,

communication, tourism, trade, defence, migration and culture.

Learning to...1 Refer to [11.2] and [11.4]. Choose the most correct answer for the following statements.

a Australia is located in thei southern and western hemispheres iii northern and eastern hemispheresii northern hemisphere iv southern hemisphere.

b Australia’s nearest neighbour isi Papua New Guinea iii Antarcticaii New Zealand iv Bali.

c Australia is located between thei Pacific and Indian oceans iii Atlantic and Indian oceansii Pacific and Atlantic oceans iv Arctic and North Pacific oceans.

d Cairns is closest toi Sydney iii Timorii Port Moresby iv Brisbane.

e Geographically, economically and socially, Australia’s most important links are withi the United Kingdom iii the Asia–Pacific regionii the USA iv Antarctica.

2 Using [11.4] list these countries in order of their proximity to Australia: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan.

3 Use [11.4] to calculate the distance betweena Melbourne and Aucklandb Jakarta and Perth c Sydney and Port Moresbyd Darwin and Hobart.

4 As a class, or in groups, create a map of Australia and its neighbours for display in the classroom. Each person is responsible for labelling the distance between Canberra and one other national capital on the map.

5 Develop a list of cultural celebrations or festivals that class members have taken part in. Note the cultural origin of each event and the features that make the event culturally unique.

6 In groups, select a nation with which Australia has important links. Use the Internet to research the nature of the links with the nation you have nominated. Present your findings to the class as a PowerPoint presentation.

7 Use the class presentations (in question 6) to construct a webpage that illustrates some of Australia’s regional and global links.