Free Sample Essays > Australian History
White Australians Attitudes to the Environment
This assessment requires a critical evaluation and a constructed argument of a selected topic. The topic that has been appointed for evaluation is as follows. ¡®Are the attitudes of non-Aboriginal Australians¡¯ to and uses of both fauna and introduced species characterised by continuity, or change over time.¡¯ To assist the evaluation of this assertion, the term continuity should be defined. The Macquarie Concise Dictionary defines continuity as, ¡®The state or quality of being continuous (Delbridge, 200).¡¯
This assessment will discuss firstly, the attitudes of White Australians to fauna and introduced species in a historical context and the impacts this has had to the environment. It will then discuss White Australians attitudes to fauna and introduced species in a contemporary context and the impacts of these attitudes. Lastly the assessment will argue the outlined hypothesis, which is as follows: The attitudes of White Australians toward Australian fauna and introduced species during the period of 1788 onwards can be characterised by continuity, however at the same time some of these attitudes have experienced minor changes.
When Australia was first discovered and inhabited by white man, particular objectives were outlined to successfully colonise a discovered land. The majority of these objectives came under the headings of room for urban growth, new development and international trade. The British considered themselves to be pioneers, who gained control and capital of everything that they discovered. The so called uninhabited land of Australia appeared to be the simple answer and relief to the crowded, hostile British lives that so many had lived in England for so long. Geoffrey Bolton supports this statement in his text ¡®Spoils and Spoilers.¡¯
¡°The British of 1788 believed themselves to be one of the worlds most advanced civilisations: not perhaps as ancient as China or as polished as France, but superior to all liberty, initiative, and prospects for economic enterprise and growth. Britain stood at the threshold of industrialisation (Bolton, 12).¡±
However along with these preconceived ideas on how colonies should be developed, run and maintained, many consequences to native flora and fauna occurred. The pastoralist, government and explorers were unprepared for the land and seasons that they would be met with when colonising Australia. The seasons were very speratic changing from a dry period when the First Fleet arrived to a wetter season in 1821, which was then followed by a drier and then finally a wetter season once again in 1842. This regular pattern caused politicians in 1860 to believe that this change in dry season to wet seasons was continuous, therefore campaigns were then developed for inland agriculture (Bolton, 29).
As the seasons continued to vary from dry to wet, agriculture grew immensely with the rise in sheep and cattle numbers. In 1860 sheep numbers rose from 20 million to 40 million by the 70s and 100 million by the 90s (Bolton 29).
Although sheep and cattle provided adequate trade for the developing nation, the detrimental affects of the introduced [next page]