Chapter16 Australian History
》》Key Words
■James Cook
■the New South Wales Act
■the Commonwealth of Australia
■the White Australia policy
■Aboriginal policy
■the Defense Act of 1909
■World WarⅠ
■the Great Depression
■World WarⅡ
■the ANZUS Treaty
■postwar prosperity
■the Liberal and National Coalition
■economic deregulation
■republic referendum
Modern Australia has its origins in the 18th century when Europeans arrived on the continent.It became a national state on the first day of the 20th century.However，the Aborigine people had lived there for about 60，000 years before European settlement.They were nomadic hunters and food⁃gatherers，living in extended family groups formed into tribes.They were peace⁃loving people who had no concept of private property or warfare.Before Europeans arrived，their population was somewhere between 600，000 and one million.But about half of the population died after Europeans exposed them to diseases such as smallpox and measles，against which they had no immunity.This rendered the native population powerless against the Europeans when the latter began to arrive in large numbers in the late 18th century.