Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A student: 5.1 explains social, political and cultural developments and events and evaluates their impact on Australian life 5.2 assesses the impact of international events and relationships on Australias history 5.3 explains the changing rights and freedoms of Aboriginal peoples and other groups in Australia 5.7 explains different contexts, perspectives and interpretations of the past 5.8 locates, selects and organises relevant historical information from a number of sources, including ICT, to undertake historical inquiry 5.10 selects and uses appropriate oral, written and other forms, including ICT, to communicate effectively about the past for different audiences.
Photograph taken in East Timor, July 2001, showing Australian peacekeeper Corporal Anthony Grifths treating a gash on a childs foot
INQUIRY
What role has Australia played in international affairs in the postwar period? What have been some important political developments in postwar Australian history? How have signicant individuals and groups exercised their democratic rights in the postwar period?
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annex: to take control and use of territory claimed by another archipelago: a group of islands in a large body of water autonomous: self-governing, independent constituent assembly: a group with the power to make or alter a political constitution or law containment: prevention of the expansion of communism, especially by means of military pacts whose members act to keep communism within existing borders forward defence: the policy of ghting to prevent the expansion of communism into ones country by containing its expansion elsewhere global citizen: a nation that is actively involved in the world community and that identies itself as part of that community
globalisation: the processes that make it easier for nance, trade and investment to operate on an international level humanitarian: concerning the interests and needs of human beings mandate: area of responsibility mandatory detention: the policy of imprisoning asylum seekers who dont have a valid visa until it is decided whether or not to allow them entry into Australia. The term also refers to laws in Western Australia and the Northern Territory in the late 1990s whereby judges had to impose minimum periods of imprisonment for people found guilty of certain crimes. militia: a group of soldiers called out periodically for drill and exercise ratify: to conrm an agreement made by someone representing the government subsistence farming: farming in which the produce is consumed by the farmer and his or her family, leaving little or no surplus for marketing subversion: the act of overthrowing or undermining something sustainable development: development that maintains high economic growth while making careful use of environmental resources in the interests of both current and future generations
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9.1
AUSTRALIAS POST-WAR ROLE WITHIN THE UN
FROM THE BEGINNING . . .
The United Nations (UN) came into being in 1945 as an organisation dedicated to the maintenance of world peace and security. Since then, the UN has been the focus of global initiatives for dealing with armed conict. Australia was one of its founding members, and Doc Evatt, the leader of Australias rst delegation to the UN, made a signicant contribution to the UN in its early years.
DOC EVATT
Dr Herbert Vere Evatt (18941965) served in many important roles in Australian law and politics as a High Court judge, Attorney-General, Minister for External Affairs and as leader of the Labor Party. He led Australias delegation to the meetings to establish the UNs mandate and draw up its charter. The United Nations Charter, signed on 26 June 1945, created the UNs key organs the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Secretariat. In 1947, Doc Evatt chaired the United Nations Palestine Commission. He served as rst President of the General Assembly from 1948 to 1949, was the rst chairperson of its Atomic Energy Commission and contributed to the drafting of the UNs 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Source 9.1.1
Source 9.1.2
Photograph showing the United Nations ag being raised for the rst time in 1947
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Source 9.1.3
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important recent UNESCO initiative is the Memory of the World (MOW) program, which Australia has adopted to ensure the preservation of important documents that might otherwise have been destroyed with the passing of time.
Source 9.1.4
An extract from Ross Harveys article UNESCOs Memory of the World Program and Australias lost and missing documentary heritage The principal statement about UNESCOs Memory of the World Programme is found on the UNESCO website: Documentary heritage reects the diversity of languages, peoples and cultures. It is the mirror of the world and its memory. But this memory is fragile. Every day, irreplaceable parts of this memory disappear for ever. UNESCO has launched the Memory of the World Programme to guard against collective amnesia calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world ensuring their wide dissemination. (Memory of the World 2003) The term collective amnesia refers to the vulnerability of documentary cultural heritage through losses caused by natural decay, damage through war, natural disasters, deliberate destruction and a host of other causes. The nature and magnitude of such losses are readily demonstrated. UNESCO commissioned a report, published in 1996, as part of the Memory of the World Programme (van der Hoeven and van Albada 1996) which contains two extensive listings of lost and missing documentary heritage. The rst listing, developed from a survey of the literature, lists libraries and collections damaged or destroyed in the twentieth century; and the second, based on a survey of archives, is of lost or damaged archives from 1900 to 1994. These lists indicate that natural disasters and wars are probably the most frequent causes of damage and destruction. The report is not limited to paper-based documentary heritage, noting that the most endangered carriers are not necessarily the oldest and bringing to our attention the examples of acetate discs and polymer lm (Van der Hoeven and van Albada 1996, p. 3).
The Australian Library Journal, March 2003.
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A 2002 photograph showing children protesting against their mandatory detention on the island of Nauru. This resulted from the government policy of imprisoning asylum seekers who do not have entry visas. Asylum seekers had to remain in detention until the government decided whether or not to allow them entry into Australia.
made of its policies. It has responded with four main complaints about UN committees: 1. The criticisms they have made of Australia lie outside the areas that Australia, through its treaty commitments, has agreed to support. 2. UN committees have placed undue emphasis on non-government organisations (NGOs) reports criticising the Australian government. 3. Committee members have been biased against the Australian government. 4. Committees spend too much time criticising countries with good human rights records.
Using sources
1. Use the image shown in source 9.1.1 as the centrepiece of a mind map on the theme Doc Evatt and the UN. 2. What is the signicance of the photograph in source 9.1.2? 3. Use source 9.1.3 to answer the following questions. (a) What is the origin of the image shown in source 9.1.3? (b) With which international convention is it linked? (c) What does it suggest about Australias response to that convention? (d) What message does the gure convey about the issues important to women in and beyond Australia? 4. What problem is identied in source 9.1.4 and what action is being taken to address it? 5. In what ways does the photograph in source 9.1.5 indicate that the Australian government in the early twenty-rst century was implementing policies that conicted with those of the UN?
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9.2
AUSTRALIAS POST-WAR REGIONAL AGREEMENTS
In the 60 years since World War II, Australia has sought to enhance its security and economic prosperity through a range of agreements in the AsiaPacic region. In recent years this focus has expanded to include consideration of issues related to illegal migration, refugees, transnational crime, environmental and health threats, drug trafcking and counter-terrorism. United States, even though the treaty did not commit the United States to providing military support to Australia. In 1986 the treaty relationship changed when New Zealand banned the entry of US ships it believed to be nuclear powered and to have nuclear weapons capability. The United States suspended its ANZUS commitment to New Zealand. Since then, Australia has maintained a bilateral agreement with the United States, and armed forces from the two nations regularly hold joint military exercises. Australia and the United States also share joint defence facilities on Australian soil.
ANZUS
In 1951 Australia and New Zealand joined with the United States to sign the ANZUS Treaty. Under the terms of the treaty, the nations each viewed an attack on any one of them as a threat to the security of them all. If such a threat eventuated, they would meet to discuss a response. At the same time, each nation had to develop its own defence capabilities. Australia welcomed the ANZUS Treaty as a means of strengthening its alliance with the
SEATO
The United States organised the formation of SEATO, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, in September 1954. SEATO united its members Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States in an alliance to protect countries in South-East Asia and the Pacic that felt threatened by communism. Membership of SEATO was an expression of Australias forward defence strategy and of its desire to ensure the containment of communism. SEATO was dissolved in 1977.
Source 9.2.1
Source 9.2.2
Photograph of US President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard inspecting a naval guard in Washington DC in 2001 at the time of the ftieth anniversary of the ANZUS alliance
Photograph of Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies (centre) at the SEATO conference in Canberra in 1957
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who together make up over one-third of the worlds population and contribute nearly half of the worlds trade. APEC members act on consensus decisions and are not linked by treaty commitments. Members volunteer the nature of the commitment they want to make on specic projects. APEC has worked to reduce tariffs and promote free, open and secure trade and investment throughout the Asia-Pacic region. In addition to these goals, APEC is also focusing on policies to help countries come to terms with globalisation and to improve security within the region.
Source 9.2.3
Photograph of leaders and representatives from the 21-member APEC group at the 2003 conference in Thailand
Year
1950
Name of agreement
ANZUS SEATO
Terms of agreement
1989
Using sources
1. What does source 9.2.1 indicate about the changed nature of the ANZUS alliance at the time of its ftieth anniversary? 2. What types of information could a historian nd out from looking at source 9.2.3?
APEC
Asia-Pacic Economic Cooperation, or APEC as it is usually known, came into being in 1989. APEC is an organisation that aims to promote economic development, trade and investment among its member nations. Australia is one of its 21 member economies
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9.3
EAST TIMOR KEEPING THE PEACE
Source 9.3.1
East Timor and the United Nations timeline
1913 1960 1974 1975 The island of Timor is divided into East and West. Portugal retains possession of East Timor. Timor and dependencies are included on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The Portuguese recognise East Timors right to self-government and declare their intention to withdraw after more than 400 years of rule. Conict between East Timorese groups favouring independence and those supporting integration with Indonesia. Portugal withdraws and Indonesia invades. Indonesia declares East Timor its 27th province. War between Indonesian forces and the pro-independence group Fretilin. Xanana Gusmao emerges as the East Timorese independence leader. Massacre of East Timorese independence supporters at Dilis Santa Cruz cemetery. Xanana Gusmao captured by Indonesian troops and jailed for life for subversion. Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the leaders of the East Timorese independence movement, Bishop Carlos Belo and Jose Ramos Horta. Indonesias President B. J. Habibie proposes a special autonomous status for East Timor. May UN Secretary-General Ko Annan and foreign ministers of Portugal and Indonesia agree on a political settlement for East Timor. East Timorese to vote for either complete independence from Indonesia, or autonomy within Indonesia. August 98.6% of voters in East Timor cast ballots in the referendum. 78.5% choose independence. September Militia groups supporting Indonesia attack proindependence supporters. October Indonesian government agrees to recognise the vote for East Timorese independence. The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is established to help East Timor prepare for self-government. November Last Indonesian forces leave East Timor. The UN begins efforts to return 200 000 refugees to their homes in East Timor. December Jose Ramos Horta, Nobel Laureate, returns to East Timor after 24 years in exile. First democratic parliamentary elections are held to elect the members of East Timors rst Constituent Assembly. Pro-independence party Fretilin is declared the winner. Xanana Gusmao is announced the President-elect of East Timor, the worlds newest nation.
1998 1999
2001 2002
Minister, John Howard, joined the East Timorese people in celebrating their independence. On 27 September 2002, East Timor ofcially joined the United Nations (UN). This was a great victory for the East Timorese after their decades-long struggle for selfrule. Armed resistance and international diplomacy had nally given East Timor the chance to choose its own destiny.
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INVASION
Civil war broke out when the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Fretilin) occupied the capital and called for independence, while Indonesia argued that East Timor was too small to exist as an independent nation and should join Indonesia. Indonesia feared a threat to its security from a small independent country on its eastern border and was prepared to use force to take the territory. Indonesia claimed that quick action was necessary to prevent a communist takeover of the region and set out to destabilise and invade East Timor. The East Timorese had experienced only a few days of independence when, in December 1975, Indonesia moved 3000 troops into East Timor. The capital, Dili, fell quickly to Indonesian forces and the country was annexed as Indonesias twenty-seventh province. The report of ve Australian journalists killed in the Timorese town of Balibo during the Indonesian invasion alarmed the Australian public and strained international relations. The UN did not recognise the Indonesian claim to East Timor. Nevertheless, by 1976 about 40 000 Indonesian troops occupied East Timor, and the Australian government largely accepted the invasion and reality of Indonesian control. Vigorous public protest against the invasion took place in Australia, but maintaining good diplomatic relations with Indonesia remained the Australian governments main priority. (See page 241 for more on this issue.)
Source 9.3.2
TIMOR SEA
Map showing East Timor and its location between Australia and Indonesia
In the early sixteenth century, the Portuguese arrived on the island of Timor and occupied the eastern half. Timor provided the Europeans with resources such as sandalwood, coffee and rubber. The Dutch occupied the west and included it in the Dutch East Indies. When the Dutch nally withdrew from Indonesia in 1949, the territory of West Timor became a province of the new nation of Indonesia. The Japanese invaded the region during World War II, but with their defeat in 1945 Portugal regained possession of its East Timorese territory. Portugal remained in control of East Timor until 1975 when a new Portuguese government decided to relinquish all colonies. During its years of government, Portugal had done little to assist the East Timorese. Most people lived as subsistence farmers, infant mortality was 50 per cent, only one high school had been built and only one in 50 Timorese children had the opportunity to attend primary school. Following Portugals withdrawal, East Timor was left with a literacy rate under ten per cent and no effective system of government.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the invasion and calling on the Indonesian forces to withdraw without delay. On 31 May 1976, a Timorese Peoples Assembly, selected by Indonesia, endorsed an Act of Integration with the Republic of Indonesia. Fretilin had originally been formed to ght the Portuguese. With Indonesian invasion the conict was now with a new and more brutal occupying force. By the end of February, an estimated 60 000 Timorese had lost their lives. Military violence combined with food shortages and disease to kill another 120 000 East Timorese by 1979. Attempts by the UN to investigate reports of human rights abuses were obstructed by the Indonesian military.
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Events in the late 1980s put humanitarian issues in East Timor under the international spotlight of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Australian government continued to express regret that the East Timorese had no choice in their destiny. In November 1991 the brutality of the Indonesian control of East Timor was broadcast on television screens around the world. Indonesian troops were lmed shooting unarmed demonstrators in a cemetery in Dili (see source 9.3.3). Between 200 and 300 Timorese were killed, with many more injured. The Indonesian government stated that rioting had provoked the soldiers. After an international outcry, the Indonesian government held an ofcial inquiry into the Dili massacre. The trials that followed resulted in the short imprisonment of several junior Indonesian ofcers and life sentences for the Timorese found guilty of organising the protest march.
would be held in East Timor. Voters would be offered the choice between autonomy (but remaining part of Indonesia) and complete independence. At a UNsupervised referendum on 30 August 1999, the 450 000 registered voters of East Timor used the power of the polling booth to decide their future, and voted for independence. It was a dangerous and historic moment in East Timorese history. In the weeks following the referendum, thousands of East Timorese lost their homes and their lives, as the Indonesian army and their militias took revenge on a population that had rejected Indonesian rule.
Source 9.3.4
INDEPENDENCE
The future of the independence movement appeared bleak with the 1992 capture of Fretilins leader, Xanana Gusmao. International criticism and the East Timorese resistance movement continued to keep the dream of independence alive. In 1997 a crisis in the Indonesian economy led to instability within Indonesia and the removal of Indonesian President Suharto from ofce. Suharto was replaced by President B. J. Habibie. In December 1998, the new leader made the sudden announcement that a referendum
Source 9.3.3
Photograph of pro-independence East Timorese demonstrating in the weeks before the referendum on 30 August 1999, in which they could vote for the future of their country
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Xanana Gusmao described 1999 as a year of extremes for his people. It was a year of great joy on the day of the ballot proclaiming independence, and a time of grief at the loss of life that followed. In 2004 the United Nations Secretary-General Ko Annan recommended a one-year extension of the peacekeeping force in East Timor. The United Nations force was scheduled to leave East Timor on 20 May 2004. The fear of a return to the militia-led violence kept Australians in East Timor as members of a UN force protecting the edgling nation.
Source 9.3.5
In 2002 Jose Ramos Horta unveiled a stone monument, inscribed as follows, in East Timors International Peoples Park. This site honours the historic contribution, personal commitment and achievements of the thousands of international peacekeepers, UN Police, UN civilian staff, UN volunteers, humanitarian workers, and the international community at large who have assisted the people of East Timor on its journey to Independence. We shall never forget you, our international friends . . . This site inspired and dedicated on May 9th, 2002 by Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. This site was fully sponsored by the United Nations Volunteers on the occasion of East Timors Independence and the ofcial visit of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral, Ko Annan and the UNV Executive Coordinator, Sharon Capeling-Alakija.
Using sources
1. Use source 9.3.1 as background to write a newspaper article celebrating East Timorese independence. 2. Examine source 9.3.2 to suggest why Indonesia regarded East Timor as a potential threat to its security in 1975. 3. Source 9.3.3 is a photograph of the demonstration that resulted in a massacre. How useful are photographs as historical sources? What evidence does this source provide about the independence movement in East Timor in the 1980s and 1990s? 4. How would you describe the people shown in source 9.3.4? What clues are there about their degree of wealth and their ethnic origin? Using sources 9.3.3 and 9.3.4 as evidence, explain where support for independence came from in East Timor. 5. Design a memorial in which the words from the plaque in source 9.3.5 would appear. Your memorial should reect the achievements of the East Timorese people and the ideals of the United Nations.
Source 9.3.6
Photograph of Xanana Gusmao, the rst President of an independent East Timor, 2002
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Extended response
Explain Australias role in post-war international and regional agreements. Your response to this question should be about 25 lines long.
I N VE ST I G ATE F U RT H ER
1. To nd out more about Australias regional and international role in the postWorld War II era, go to www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/retroactive2 and click on the APEC, Colombo Plan, UNESCO, Memory of the World and United Nations weblinks. 2. Using the timeline from source 9.3.1, create a collage that visually expresses the events and experiences of the East Timorese on their journey from Portuguese colony to independent nation. 3. The beginning of the United Nations charter of 1945 states the aim to practise tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace. Present a speech expressing your views on Australias role in East Timor and responsibilities to our region.
VI R TU AL TO U R O F TH E U N
Using the Internet, you can take a virtual tour of the United Nations main buildings and learn more about its history and operations. (a) Go to www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/retroactive2 and click on the UN Tour weblink to undertake the tour. (b) When you have viewed the images and read the information provided, do a search on the site for information about Australia, for example on refugees or indigenous issues. (c) Complete the tour by carrying out the United Nations Tour Quiz to see how much you have learned.
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Source 9.4.3
An extract from the ofcial Indonesian view of East Timor Every part of the archipelago that is the Republic of Indonesia has been an integral and self-determining part of this strong and unied nation. It has been and remains a goal of Indonesia to ensure that the benets of development reach every part of our vast country, proportionate to the needs. Indeed, that is the single reason why East Timor receives the largest amount of development funds on a per capita basis, an investment that has produced hospitals, schools, roads and commerce when little to none had existed under Portuguese rule . . . Since East Timor was integrated into the Republic of Indonesia, the Government has worked carefully to ensure that cultural traditions are maintained, local languages are preserved and religious practices are respected . . . This protection and nurturing in East Timor cannot be denied.
Extracts from East Timor: Building for the Future, July 1992, Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia, pp. ii, iv and vi.
1. Use source 9.4.1 to answer the following questions. (a) In your own words, explain what Richard Woolcott saw as the choice Australia had to make regarding East Timor. (b) What points did he put forward in favour of each choice? (c) What point did Woolcott want to make by saying We do not think we can have it both ways?
Source 9.4.2
3. Use source 9.4.3 to answer the following questions. (a) Where does this source come from? (b) What is the subject matter? (c) What message does the writer want to convey to the audience? (d) What has motivated him or her to do this? (e) What would you need to do in order to check the reliability of this source?
A cartoon by Peter Nicholson, 2 November 1979. The man depicted on the right is Australias Foreign Minister from 1975 to 1980, Andrew Peacock. The man shown at the rubbish bin is Indonesias president from 1967 to 1998, Suharto.
2. Use source 9.4.2 to answer the following questions. (a) What message does the cartoonist want to convey to his audience? (b) What techniques does he use to help get his message across? Consider the words used and all details of the drawing. (c) What is Nicholsons purpose and how effective do you think this cartoon would have been in achieving that purpose?
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