Australia and Oceania

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Australia and Oceania
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? Interplay between European and indigenous
culture European dominance ?? Indigenous
dominance
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Introduction

• Isolated physical setting
• Exotic plants and animals
• Late arrival of human occupations
• Interplay between indigenous peoples and European
  cultures
• Cultural adaptation, assimilation, and conflicts
• Youthful political geography
• Fluid geopolitical identity

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Environmental Geography
Varied Natural and Human Habitat
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Landform
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Australia
Landform

• Western Plateau
• Ancient shield landmass
• Interior Lowlands
• Flat, and featureless lowland
• Eastern Highlands
• Barrier between western interior and eastern
  coastal plain

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Artesian well
Landform

• Interior basin lacks water supply, but the Great
  Artesian Basin possesses a rich supply of
  underground water

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New Zealand
Landform

• Rugged mountain range featured by volcanic peaks
• ? Pacific Rim of Fire
• Fjord-like western coast in the South Island
• ? Glacial forces

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Oceania
Landform
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Volcanic Islands
Landform
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
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Evolution of Volcanic Islands
Landform
3. Islands subside below sea level
1. Active volcanism
2. Volcanism dwindles erosion intervenes
Geologic time
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Climate
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Natural Hazards
Environmental issues
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Environmental issues
Global Resource Pressures
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Mining in Papua New Guinea
Environmental issues
Mining, while providing incomes, causes immense
environmental damage to the region
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Nuclear Testing
Environmental issues
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Population and Settlement
A Diverse Cultural Landscape
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• Indigenous settlement
• Aborigines in Australia, Maori in New Zealand
• New Guinea Highlands, Society Islands
• European migrations
• Sydney, Melbourne
• Asian laborers and immigrants
• Indian in Fiji, Japanese in Hawaii
• Recent Asian immigrants in Australia

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• Australia and New Zealand are highly urbanized
  and Westernized
• Most of pacific islands are rural (eg. Papua New
  Guinea)

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Population distribution
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Sydney, Australia
Most Australians (85) live in cities
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Peopling the Pacific
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European Colonization

• Australia
• Served as a penal colony (1788)
• Decimation of Aborigines
• New Zealand
• Wars with Maori chiefdoms (1845 1870)
• Hawaii
• U.S. annexed Hawaiian kingdom (1898)

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Australian agriculture

• Too dry for farming ? extensive ranching

• Hunting, gathering by Aborigines

• Commercial farming in the coastal plains

• Viniculture in Mediterranean climate region
• Sugarcane in subtropical climate region
• Dairy farming in well-watered area

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Oceanic agriculture

• Village-centered shifting cultivation
• Papua New Guinea highlands
• Plantation agriculture in coastal plains
• Sugarcane fields in Fiji and Hawaii

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Current population issues

• Australia and New Zealand
• Influx of Asian immigrants
• Less-developed island nations
• Growing population given limited land

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Cultural Coherence and Diversity
A Global Crossroads
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Process of Cultural Change

• Cultural differentiation
• ? geographical isolation
• Cultural accommodation/assimilation
• ? European colonialism
• Cultural homogenization or preservation
• ? globalization

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Multicultural Australia

• Dominance of colonial European roots
• 70 of population is British or Irish
• White Australia Policy (1973)
• Remaining links with the British Crown
• But increasingly multicultural due to
• Political movement of native inhabitants
• Inflows of Asian immigrants with a skill
• Asianization policy
• Two-way globalization

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Multicultural New Zealand

• Parallel the story of Australia with a slightly
  different cultural mix
• Unique Polynesian roots
• Maori (15)
• Pacific islanders (5)

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The Mosaic of Pacific Cultures (1)

• Traditional culture worlds
• The division of Oceania into Melanesia,
  Micronesia, and Polynesia is based on racial and
  cultural distinctions by 19c anthropologists
• Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia
• Skin color dark brown
• Social system village chiefdom kingdom
• But the actual distinction is rather subtle
• Revolves around village life
• Highlanders in Papua New Guinea

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The Mosaic of Pacific Cultures (2)

• External cultural influences
• Colonial plantation brought contact laborers
• Japanese/Chinese in Hawaii, Indian in Fiji
• Creole cultures
• Multicultural Hawaiians
• French New Caledonia
• Pidgin English Christianity
• International tourism transforms their
  livelihoods
• Fiji, French Polynesia, The Hawaiian Islands,
  Samoa

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Language of Australia and Oceania
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Geopolitical Framework
A Land of Fluid Boundaries
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• Colonial legacy
• Ever-changing political map
• Over the last two centuries
• Persisting colonial ties
• French Polynesia
• U.S. territory
• Youthful states
• Oldest political states are the 20th century
  creation
• Australia, New Zealand (1907)

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Indigenous Patterns

• Prior to European contact, the political
  geography was mosaic of indigenous territories
• Melanesia based on kinship
• Polynesia based on chiefdom
• Some large volcanic islands of Polynesia formed
  kingdom (eg. Hawaii)

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An Imposed Colonial Framework(circa 1900)
U.S.
Germany
France
Britain
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An Imposed Colonial Framework(After WWI)
U.S.
Japan
Britain
France
Australia
New Zealand
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An Imposed Colonial Framework(After WWII)
U.S.
Britain
France
Australia
New Zealand
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An Imposed Colonial Framework(present day)
U.S.
France
New Zealand
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Marshall Islands
Spanish (15261885)
Independence (1990s)
WWI
WWII

• Political control of Micronesia has shifted
  numerous times during the last two centuries

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Native Rights in Australia and New Zealand
Geopolitical tensions

• General trends are to acknowledge the land rights
  of indigenous people
• Establishment of Aboriginal reserves
• Native Title Bill (1993)

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Ethnic tension in Fiji
Geopolitical tensions

• The populations of indigenous Fijians and South
  Asian immigrants are roughly equal
• The violation of democratic process by the
  Fijians (eg. military coup in the late 1980s and
  2000)

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Rebellion in Papua New Guinea
Geopolitical tensions

• Resource-rich Bougainvilles indigenous
  inhabitants demand local control
• Suppressed by military force

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Geopolitical tensions
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Economic and Social Development
A Hard Path to Paradise
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• Wealthy Australia, New Zealand, French
  territories
• Impoverished remainders

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Economy of Australia and New Zealand

• Economic assets
• Highly educated population
• Diverse base of natural resources
• Modern urban and industrial infrastructure
• Challenges
• Dependence on extraction of raw materials
• Small domestic markets
• Lack of high-tech and IT industries
• ? Efforts to diversify economic bases

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Economy of Australia and New Zealand economic
diversification

• Moving away from the traditional extractive
  economies (eg. tourism)
• Promoting economic integration within the region
• CER (Closer Economic Relationship) Agreement
• Shifting away from Europe and North America in
  favor of closer links with Asia
• Recent immigration policy
• ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum)
• APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Group)

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Global trade in Australia and New Zealand
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Oceanias Economic Diversity

• Subsistence-based economies
• Shifting cultivation, fishing
• Commercial extractive economy
• Plantation, mining, logging
• Global tourism
• Subsidies from the present/former colonial powers

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• Relatively fared well regardless of varied level
  of economic development with the exception of
  Papua New Guinea