LC Australia Program 2011: Out of the Bush and into the Classroom

By Kathryn Hart Wlodarczyk

Sunday, the day of rest, proved to be just what we all needed. We all settled into our new homes with our temporary parents, siblings and pets. Some of us are lucky enough to have temporary pools (Allison), trampolines (John & Drew) and tennis courts (Emily &Katy). We are being fed according to our specific dietary requirements and some of us are even praying before meals. Let it be known: we do not lead very tough lives.

Anna-Brooke and I are staying with a lovely newlywed couple that just purchased a new house with four extra bedrooms for all of the babies that they can’t wait to have. They have graciously set us up with our own rooms, a private bathroom, living room and kitchen area. We are very content to act as their temporary children.

On Monday morning our temporary Mom had our lunches packed for us complete with our initials on our sandwiches; this could only mean one thing: it was time to go back to school. I, for one, was excited about the prospect of getting back into a semi-regular routine. The first thing that we learned is that the Brisbane bus system is not very reliable, especially if punctuality is important to you. However, I took comfort in the fact I saw about half of our group walking to class about fifteen minutes after we should have arrived.

Monday’s discussion was all about comparing Australia to the United States with a focus on Oregon. There are many differences but there are more similarities. Much of the discussion focused on comparing Native Americans to Australian Aboriginals. What really shocked me is that we seem to know much more about Australia’s native people than our own country’s native people. It also seems like we know more about Aboriginal culture than most Australians and even some Aboriginals. It is clear that in both countries when the native people are out of sight they are also out of mind, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still suffering. We noted that the Native Americans had a few small advantages over the Aboriginals at the time of colonization. Many Native American tribes were able to make treaties and trade with the Europeans. It is unlikely that any of the Native Americas tribes lived in total harmony with their new European neighbors but they still had it better than their Australia counterparts. Australia was declared to be uninhabited and there was never any effort to strike up a deal with the Aboriginals that did inhabit the country; instead they were routinely killed, raped, ignored and stolen. However, in the end, treaty or no treaty, alcoholism, unemployment and incarceration rates are through the roof for both of the native populations. At least the Native Americans have their casinos.

Many of our other comparisons had to do with the land and ways in which humans have changed it to fit their needs. In Australia coal is the natural resource. There is a lot of it here and they plan on mining all of it like it’s going out of style tomorrow. Oregon is all about the timber and yes, timber is a renewable resource but no, it is not going to renew itself as fast as it is being cut down. What is clear is that everything becomes secondary when an economy depends on a particular resource.

Water, perhaps the world’s most important resource, is constantly being manipulated and mismanaged. The Columbia River, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, is less of a river and more of a series of lakes that can be filled and drained by a person sitting at a computer. Salmon is the important issue on the Columbia while the Australians are just hoping for enough water due to the frequent and severe droughts that plague the country. The Murray-Darling River system flows through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, except sometimes there isn’t enough water for the towns closer to the bottom of the river. This seems wrong, and it is wrong, just about as wrong as growing cotton in Australia. Cotton isn’t native to Australia because there isn’t enough water in Australia to grow cotton; the climate is all wrong. That fact hasn’t stopped many people from using huge amounts of the water to make the dream of Australian cotton a reality despite the devastating toll it’s taking on the eco-systems in the lower part of the river system.

The introduction of non-native animals by European settlers has, in both locations, dramatically altered the landscapes. Once again, the Australian landscape and the animals that were brought to it had it worse than their American counterparts. Most of the United States in temperate and, in contrast, Australia is extreme. Sheep, which are used for growing thick wool, should not be raised in Australia; it is simply too hot for them. Settlers saw all of the open space and decided to plant many varieties of non-native grasses for their non-native sheep and cattle to feast on. In Oregon many forests were clear-cut to make room for animals to graze.

When we finished comparing we walked about three blocks to the library, a wonderful place where we can escape the heat, surf the Internet for free and, of course, study. Then it was time to explore the city. I chose to walk around the Queen Street mall before retreating to a nearby park, which provided a shady place to read. From there it was back to my temporary residence to enjoy yet another home cooked meal and a good night’s sleep in my queen-sized bed.

Despite catching the wrong bus to school on Tuesday morning and getting dropped off on the other side of the river we still managed to make it to class with a few minutes to spare. I was quite pleased to discover that we were about to learn about Australia’s political system from Dr. Ian Ward of the University of Queensland. He didn’t waste a single minute of our time and by the end of the first session I felt fully prepared to suggest a new system of government for the United States that incorporates a few elements of the Australian system. I will refrain from outlining my personal suggestions; instead I will highlight the most important parts of the Australian political system.

The lecture started off in a very familiar fashion when we learned that the parliament building in Canberra is, in fact, the biggest building in the southern hemisphere. This does not say much about the size of the building but it does illustrate the fact that the federal government is more important than the state governments. The flag, like many things here, demonstrates how Australia is a blend of Great Britain and The United Sates. They have retained the Union Jack in the upper left corner and have added a star for each of their six states (they do not have a star for the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory just as we do not have a star for Washington D.C.).

Australia has a prime minster instead of a president and they are not just different names for the same thing. The prime minister is Julia Gillard and she leads a minority labor party government. She was not directly elected and she does not have a fixed term in office. She is not the head of state but she is the focus of executive power even though there is no mention of her position in the constitution. Are you confused yet? By this point we were all fairly confused too, so don’t worry.

The key feature of the American constitution is the separation between the three branches of government but here the executive and legislative branches are fused. Julia Gillard, like all prime ministers, can only hold the position as long as she has majority support of the Parliament. Without the support of the majority the prime minister wouldn’t be able to get legislation passed, and if you fail to get legislation passed you resign. I will digress for a moment to allow everyone that is reading this to think about how things might have been different at home if presidents felt compelled to resign if they no longer had the majority support of congress.

During the lecture we heard phrases like ‘party discipline,’ ‘responsible government’ and ‘chain of accountability,’ and it is because of these things that the Australians system of government seems to work for them.

The parliament, like our congress, has a house of representatives and a senate. However, the house is much more important. The house is made up of the government that is in power and the opposition, which is basically an alternative government. The leader of the opposition would most likely become the prime minister if the current government were voted out of power.

Oh, and since Australia is still a constitutional monarchy, the Queen is represented by the Governor-General. The Governor-General has many of the same powers as our president but can only use those powers when advised to do so by the Prime Minister. As for the issue of who really holds the power in this situation, well, your guess is as good as mine.

It was then that we had a short break so that everyone could get a cup of tea. I can’t seem to understand why Australians are so eager to ingest hot liquids at each and every opportunity; Australian summers do tend to be quite hot. People here have told me that the hot liquid can actually cool them down. To everyone that is back home in America and getting bombarded with snowstorms biweekly (Hi Mom and Dad) please try to take comfort in the fact that we are in a country that actually drinks boiling water to cool down.

During the second half of the morning we became familiar with Australia’s two major political parties and the way in which they are elected. Since 1944 either the Labor Party or the Liberal Party has been in power. The Labor Party was founded by trade unions in the 1890’s and still retains formal ties to unions. The Labor Party is similar to our Democratic Party. The liberal party is the conservative, pro-business party and can be compared to the Republican Party.

When Australians head to the polls (and they all do because voting is compulsory) they vote for candidates that the parties have preselected because individual candidates are not as important here because parties decide together how they are going to vote on each issue. Instead of voting for one person they rank every candidate from their first choice all the way down to their last choice; this eliminates the need for runoff elections. With that we were ready to make our way to the Queensland Parliament Building while still trying to process all of our new knowledge.

The parliament building is very nice; it has been fully restored to look like it did in 1868 when it was opened. We were let up a beautiful staircase and upon reaching the top we admired the giant stained glass window that features Queen Victoria. We then took seats in the legislative assembly chamber and we found out how a typical morning at state parliament works. At 9:30 there is a prayer and then the traditional owners of the land are acknowledged simply by saying, “I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which parliament meets.” Like many things having to do with parliament’s ritualistic nature, it is symbolic but not significant. Then comes the fun part: at 10:30 the opposition is given the opportunity to ask the government questions. In other words, the people in power must routinely defend themselves and their policies to the opposition. Seriously, imagine if the same thing happened at home, it might be a good idea. We talked more and took some photos and on the way out we were lucky enough to meet the speaker of the house, Hon. John Mickel. In Australia the speaker must impartially observe all debates and only casts a vote in the event of a tie. His duties can be categorized as ceremonial, procedural and administrative but he seems like a really nice guy.

We finished around three; this was good because I think my brain wasn’t capable of learning any more for the day. We were out of the bush and back in the classroom and I was happy about it. The only thing left to do was go for a dip in Allison’s temporary swimming pool, so that is exactly what I did. We reflected on the day, we talked about home but mostly we just relaxed and it was good.

Until next time,

Xoxo Kathryn.