Talk:History of Australia/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Society and culture: 1960s to present

Hello all

I have significantly expanded this section to take it up to the present. I have also moved the section towards the end of the article to achieve a better balance between a chronological and thematic presentation of information. The section on culture still needs a lot of work. Happy to discuss.Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 04:42, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

Indigenous prehistory

Hello all

I have considerably expanded this section. I have replaced some material based on outdated sources with new information based on more recent sources. Happy to discuss. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 01:52, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

Indigenous history

Hello all

I have significantly expanded the sections on Indigenous history from settlement to the 1960s and have restructured the sections into a more logical order. Previously Indigenous history from 1788 to the 1960s was very potted and presented separately from the the rest of Australian history. This is unsatisfactory because, for better or for worse, the history of Indigenous Australians since 1788 is inextricably interlinked with the history of British settlement and subsequent waves of immigration. In any event, there is already a separate wikipedia article on Australian Indigenous History. The revised article has a more logical order: 1. Indigenous prehistory 2. European exploration 3. British colonisation 4. Impact of British colonisation on Indigenous people. 5. The subsequent history of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Happy to discuss. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 06:24, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

Early European exploration and colonisation

Hello all

I have made substantial edits to the sections on Early European exploration and Colonisation in order to make the existing information more concise and relevant and to make it less reliant on one or two articles. I have also added some new material. Specifically I have:

• Rewritten and summarised information which was lightly paraphrased from articles by Robert J. King. In some cases strings of citations were also lifted from articles by King and presented as if they were separate, supporting, citations. (King’s article Terra Australls, New Holland And New South Wales: The Treaty Of Tordesillas And Australia had been extensively used.)
• Summarised information on early maps of New Holland which was repeated three times in the article and also covered at length in the main article European maritime exploration of Australia.
• Summarised existing information on the plans for colonisation and added new information on the alternative plans for African settlement which were arguably the British government’s preferred option.
• Added new information so the article is less reliant on the views of King (distinguished as he is).
• Moved some information so it is presented in a more logical order. For example, much of the information in the Early European exploration section was about proposals for colonisation which more logically belongs in the Plans for colonisation section.
• Changed the names of some of the subheadings to more accurately reflect their contents.

I think these sections of the article are still too long and include too much tangential information which could easily be cut or spun off into other articles. The article also reads like an essay (or even chapters of a full length book) rather than a concise narrative and summary of the state of the latest scholarship on the topic. I’d be interested to hear the views of other editors on this.Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 01:28, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

Your edits to this section look good to me. This section particularly has suffered over the years with enthusiastic nationalistic narratives being dropped in. It was high time for a cleanup.Nickm57 (talk) 05:19, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

Colonisation

Hello all I have revised and expanded the sections on the establishment of the various Australian colonies, convicts and colonial society, and exploration of the continent. I have put the material in a more logical order and added more subheadings which better summarise the content. Happy to discuss. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 05:02, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 August 2021

Lieutenant James Cook charted the east coast of Australia for Great Britain. He returned to London with accounts *favouring* (favoring) *colonisation* (colonization) at Botany Bay (now in Sydney). 2A04:4540:6D1C:4200:D90C:8533:1168:E987 (talk) 13:56, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. —Sirdog9002 (talk) 20:18, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

From autonomy to federation

Hello all

I have added information to this section and put the information in a more logical order. I have added sub-headings for clarity. I have also summarised some information to remove repetitions and excessive detail which is included in linked daughter articles. Happy to discuss. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 04:58, 2 September 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for your work on this article.Nickm57 (talk) 07:36, 2 September 2021 (UTC)

Establishment of the colony of New South Wales

@Camira: You don't seem to have an active talkpage so I have added this here. Please look at my compromise wording to see if you agree. My understanding of King's article is that the some people compared the Colony of NSW to the foundation of the Roman Empire. The point being that Rome was founded by criminals. The first great seal alludes to this: see convicts casting off their chains and being led into the bright new future. The idea of convicts founding an empire was widely ridiculed in Britain, and the short quote from Phillip indicates that he too dismissed the idea of criminals founding an empire. The full quote doesn't change this point.--Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 05:10, 11 September 2021 (UTC)

Federation

Hello all

I have added information to this section and put the information in a more logical order. I have added sub-headings for clarity. I have also summarised some information to remove repetitions and excessive detail which is already included elsewhere in the article and in daughter articles. I have replaced inadequately sourced information with sourced information. Happy to discuss. --Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 01:38, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

Use of Peter Gouldthorpe convict flash mob artwork

I suggest the illustration "A singular act of female rebellion in Van Diemen's land" be removed immediately. It appears to be a 2004 artwork by Tasmanian artist Peter Gouldthorpe, not an 1838 work by an unknown author, as originally claimed by the uploader to commons. I have nominated it for deletion. That possibly infringement of copyright aside, respected historian Lucy Frost has argued the event did not even occur. See [[1]]. While it’s true that another well respected historian – Claire Wright has suggested it may have happened, [[2]] there is enough controversy that it should not be used without fair and balanced discussion - which would not be appropriate here anyway. Nickm57 (talk) 01:37, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

I have just noticed, Michael Connor also provided a summary of the problem with this story in Quadrant back in 2010. [[3]] Nickm57 (talk) 02:00, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Establishment of further colonies

Hello all

I have reversed repeated edits to this section by Caltraser5. The reason why Queensland is discussed last in this section is simply because it was the last colony to be proclaimed. There is no good reason to change this or to delete the sourced sentences which discuss the background to the establishment of Queensland as a separate colony from New South Wales. I have previously raised this in my edit summaries and on the user's talkpage.

@Caltraser5: Hello Caltraser. Please discuss your concerns with this section here and seek consensus before you make any changes. Thank you. --Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 00:43, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

The use of founding of colonies in the subheading misled me to assume it was about the founding of settlements but according to Aemilius Adolphin, that it is about self government only. With that I have restored my prior edit, and removed the section on Moreton Bay Penal settlement which is irrelevant to the subheading, since it is only referencing self governing provinces, of which Queensland was not independent until 1859.--Caltraser5 (talk) 02:28, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

First World War

Hello all

I have significantly expanded this section, I have added sub-headings on the Home Front and the Paris Peace Conference for clarity. I have also summarised some information to remove detail which is already in daughter articles. I have replaced inadequately sourced information with sourced information. Happy to discuss.Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 06:24, 5 November 2021 (UTC)

That might be getting a bit long, especially as we have good-quality articles on various aspects of Australia's involvement in the war. The article as a whole probably has too much material on military and political history (I say as someone who mainly edits on both topics!). Nick-D (talk) 08:26, 5 November 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for your work. The addition is well written but I tend to agree with the other Nick. (I speak from experience. I spent a lot of time on this article a few years ago and found it very difficult to get the balance right). Cheers Nickm57 (talk) 12:20, 5 November 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll go back to it later and trim some of the detail. I think the section on the inter-war years also needs some trimming so I will have a go at paring them both back. --Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 22:00, 5 November 2021 (UTC)

Story

I replaced the word "story" in the lead sentence with "history". I'm sure there's a better way to word the lead sentence, but I had to get "story" outta there. Masterhatch (talk) 14:41, 12 September 2023 (UTC)