11
Australia’s place in
the world
‘Australia’s global address.’
[11.1] Chinese New Year is celebrated in Sydney
Part 4 Australia in its regional and global contexts
240
Geography for Australian Citizens
In this chapter you will…
learn about:
*
*
learn to:
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.
*
*
*
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 world
Australia 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
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
NEW
ZEALAND
1:150 000 000
241
11 : Australia’s place in the world
Australia’s regional and global links
Throughout 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:
* aid
* sport
* communication
* tourism
* trade
* defence * migration
* culture.
[11.3] Australia has a role to
play in the future of climate
change
[11.4] Australia and its neighbours in the Asia–Pacific region
Islamabad
AFGHANISTAN
Kabul
Lahore
New Delhi
30˚N
Thimphu
Kathmandu
BANGLADESH
Karachi Jaipur
Dhaka
Ahmadabad
Kolkata
BURMA
I N D I A
Arabian
Goa
Sea
MALDIVES
Colombo
Galle
Male
0˚
BRUNEI
Sumatra
INDIAN
I
N
Palembang
Bandung
10˚S
Mindanao
Davao
D
O
Sulawesi
E
Banjarmasin
Java
PALAU
S
I
Bairiki
A
Seram
Ujung Pandang
Sumba
PAPUA
NEW GUINEA
West Papua
(Irian Jaya)
Lae
Dili
EAST TIMOR
Port Moresby
Timor
Darwin
Goa
Townsville
Jayapura
30˚S
Nadii
Jakarta
INDONESIA
Alice Springs
Kalgoorlie
70˚E
80˚E
90˚E
100˚E
110˚E
20˚S
Norfolk Island
(Aust)
120˚E
130˚E
140˚E
30˚S
Lord Howe Island
Canberra
(NSW)
Tasman Sea
Melbourne
150˚E
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND Hamilton
40˚S
Wellington
Hobart
N
Tropic of Capricorn
Noumea
Launceston
2000 km
1 : 72 000 000 – One centimetre on this map
represents 720 kilometres on the ground.
60˚E
Bendigo
(France)
Gold Coast
Sydney
Adelaide
FIJI
Suva
Brisbane
Toowoomba
Broken Hill
Albany
1000
VANUATU
Vila
Rockhampton
AUSTRALIA
0
10˚S
New
Caledonia
Mt Isa
Perth
Honiara
Coral Sea
Townsville
Over 5 million
1 million to 5 million
500 000 to 1 million
100 000 to 500 000
50 000 to 100 000
Under 50 000
Capital city
Country border
Country name
SOLOMON
ISLANDS
Cairns
Key
Cebu
Equator 0˚
Jayapura
Broome
Shanghai
10˚N
Majuro
Palikir
OCEAN
20˚S
MARSHALL
ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
Koror
Halmahera
Surabaya Flores
(Aust)
(Aust)
N
Jakarta
Christmas Island
Cocos Islands
(USA)
K I R I B AT I
Manado
Borneo
Pontianak
Guam
PHILIPPINES
Cebu
Bandar Seri Begawan
Medan
Padang
(USA)
Manila
Kota Kinabalu
Kuala Lumpur
M A L AY S I A
SINGAPORE
20˚N
Northern
Marianas
Baguio
Palawan
George Town
Tropic of Cancer
Laoag
Luzon
Ho Chi Minh City
SRI LANKA
OCEAN
TAIWAN
Kaohsiung
Hong Kong
(MYANMAR)
Chiang Mai
Phnom Penh
Cochin
10˚N
Hanoi
30˚N
Taipei
Guangzhou
LAOS
Hainan
South
Vientiane
Hyderabad Rangoon
THAILAND
China
Bay
VIETNAM
of
Bangkok
Sea
CAMBODIA
Bangalore Bengal
Mumbai
Kagoshima
Nanchang
Chongqing
BHUTAN
PACIFIC
Osaka
Kitakyushu
Shanghai
Lhasa
NEPAL
PAKISTAN
20˚N
SOUTH
KOREA
C H I N A
160˚E
Christchurch
Dunedin
170˚E
180˚
Chatham Islands
(NZ)
170˚W
242
Geography for Australian Citizens
Australia’s regional and
global links Tourism
Aid
Australia’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.
Australia 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
[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.
See chapter 12 for
more information on
Australia’s international
aid program.
Communication
Globalisation 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
Defence
Australia 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
See chapter 13 for more
information about
defence links.
243
11 : Australia’s place in the world
Sport
Australia 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.
Migration
Nearly 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
[11.9] Australia and India are traditional cricketing
competitors
See chapter 14 for more
information about
migration links.
Culture
Trade
Despite 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.
From 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
244
Geography for Australian Citizens
Learning about...
1
2
3
Describe Australia’s location using latitude and longitude.
Explain why the Asia–Pacific region is significant for Australia.
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
2
3
4
5
6
7
Refer to [11.2] and [11.4]. Choose the most correct answer for the following statements.
a Australia is located in the
i southern and western hemispheres
iii northern and eastern hemispheres
ii northern hemisphere
iv southern hemisphere.
b Australia’s nearest neighbour is
i Papua New Guinea
iii Antarctica
ii New Zealand
iv Bali.
c Australia is located between the
i Pacific and Indian oceans
iii Atlantic and Indian oceans
ii Pacific and Atlantic oceans
iv Arctic and North Pacific oceans.
d Cairns is closest to
i Sydney
iii Timor
ii Port Moresby
iv Brisbane.
e Geographically, economically and socially, Australia’s most important links are with
i the United Kingdom
iii the Asia–Pacific region
ii the USA
iv Antarctica.
Using [11.4] list these countries in order of their proximity to Australia: New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan.
Use [11.4] to calculate the distance between
a Melbourne and Auckland
b Jakarta and Perth
c Sydney and Port Moresby
d Darwin and Hobart.
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.
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.
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.
Use the class presentations (in question 6) to construct a webpage that illustrates some of
Australia’s regional and global links.