South
Australia
South
Australia is a state of Australia
in the southern central part of the country. It covers some
of the most arid parts of the continent and with a total
land area of 984,377 square kilometres (380,070 sq mi),
it is the fourth largest of Australia's eight states and
territories. It is bordered to the west by Western
Australia, to the north by the Northern Territory
and Queensland, to the east by Queensland, New South Wales
and Victoria, and along the south by the Great Australian
Bight and the Indian Ocean. With 1.5 million people, the
state comprises less than 10 per cent of the Australian
population and ranks fifth in population among the states
and territories. The majority of its people reside in the
state capital, Adelaide, with most of the remainder settled
in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River
Murray.
The
state's origins were unique in Australia as a freely-settled,
planned British
province rather than a convict settlement. Official settlement
began on 28 December 1836 when the state was proclaimed
at The Old Gum Tree by Governor Hindmarsh. The guiding principle
behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a
theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later
employed by the New Zealand Company. The aim was to establish
the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants,
promising civil liberties and religious tolerance. Although
its history is marked by economic hardship, South Australia
has remained politically innovative and culturally vibrant.
Today, the state is known as a state of festivals, and of
fine wine.
The
state's economy centres on the agricultural, manufacturing
and mining industries and has an increasingly significant
finance sector as well.
History
The first recorded European
sighting of the South Australian coast was in 1627 when
the Dutch ship the Gulden Zeepaert, skippered by Francois
Thijssen, examined the coastline. Thijssen named his discovery
"Pieter Nuyts Land", after the highest ranking
individual on board. The coastline of South Australia was
first mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin in 1802.
Baudin referred to the land as "Terre Napoléon".
In
1834, the British
Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834, which enabled
the province of South Australia to be established. The Act
stated that 802,511 square kilometres (309,851 sq mi) would
be allotted to the colony, and it would be convict-free.
The plan for the colony was that it be the ideal embodiment
of the best qualities of British society, that is, no religious
discrimination or unemployment.
Settlement
of nine vessels and 636 people was temporarily made at Kingscote
on Kangaroo Island, until the official site of the colony
was selected where Adelaide is currently located. The first
immigrants arrived at Holdfast Bay (near the present day
Glenelg) in November 1836 and the colony was proclaimed
on December 28, 1836, now known as Proclamation Day. South
Australia is the only Australian state to be settled entirely
by free settlers.
The
current flag of South Australia was adopted on January 13,
1904, and is a British blue ensign defaced with the state
badge. The badge is described as a Piping Shrike with wings
outstretched on a yellow disc. The state badge is believed
to have been designed by Robert Craig of the Adelaide School
of Arts.
South
Australia granted restricted women's suffrage in 1861, and
in 1894 became the first place in the world to grant universal
suffrage where women had the dual rights to vote and to
stand for election.
Geography
Satellite image of eastern South
Australia. Note the dry lakes (white patches)
in the northThe terrain consists largely of arid and semi-arid
rangelands, with several low mountain ranges in which the
most important mountains are the Mt Lofty-Flinders Ranges
system which extends north about 800 kilometres (500 mi)
from Cape Jervis to the northern end of Lake Torrens and
salt lakes. The highest point in the state is not in those
ranges, but Mount Woodroffe at 1,435 metres (4,708 ft) in
the Musgrave Ranges in the extreme northwest of the state.
The western portion of the state consists of the sparsely-inhabited
Nullarbor Plain fronting the cliffs of the Great Australian
Bight.
The
principle industries and exports of South Australia are
wheat, wine and wool. More than half of Australia's wines
are produced here.
South
Australia has boundaries with every other Australian state
and territory except the Australian Capital Territory and
Tasmania. The area now known as the Northern Territory was
annexed to South Australia in 1863, however it was handed
over to the Federal government in 1911 and became a separate
territory. South Australia's south coast is flanked by the
Southern Ocean. Its mean temperature range is 29 °C
in January and 15 °C in July. Daily temperatures in
parts of the state in January & February can be up to
48 °C.
Highest
maximum temperature: 50.7 °C (123.3 °F), Oodnadatta,
2 January 1960 (The highest official temperature recorded
in Australia).
Lowest
minimum temperature: -8.0 °C (17.2 °F), Yongala,
20 July 1976
Economy
The manufacturing industry plays a very important role in
South Australia's economy, generating 15% of the state's
Gross State Product and playing a large part in exports.
The manufacturing industry consists of automotive (44% of
total Australian production, 2006) and component manufacturing,
pharmaceuticals and defence technology (2.1% of GSP, 2002-2003).
South Australia's economy relies on exports more than any
other state in Australia. Export earnings stand at AUD$10
billion worth per year and grew by 8.8% from 2002 to 2003.
Production
of South Australian food and drink (including agriculture,
horticulture, aquaculture, fisheries and manufacturing)
is a $10 billion industry.
South
Australia's economic growth has lagged behind the rest of
Australia for some time (2.1% from 2002 to 2003), but performance
seems to be improving (forecast 3.5% for 2006/2007). South
Australia's credit rating was upgraded to AAA+, having lost
it in the State Bank collapse. South Australia's Gross State
Product was AUD$48.9 billion starting 2004, making it AUD$32,996
per capita. Exports for 2006 were valued at $9.0bn with
imports at $6.2bn. Private Residential Building Approvals
experienced 80% growth over the year of 2006.
Welcome to South AustraliaSouth Australia's economy includes
the following major industries (Oct 2006 in AUD$M):
Meat
& Meat Preparations: 463.1
Wheat: 487.5
Wine: 1,482.2
Wool & Sheepskins: 160
Machinery: 379.5
Metal & Metal Manufactures: 1,888.7
Fish and Crustaceans: 316.1
Road Vehicles, parts & accessories: 1,196.9
Petroleum & products: 227.7
Other & confidential: 2,393.6
Other industries, such as education and defence technology,
are of growing importance.
South
Australia receives the least amount of Federal funding for
its local road network than any other state on a per capita
or per kilometre basis.
Government
Parliament House, AdelaideSouth Australia is a constitutional
monarchy with the Queen of Australia as the head of state.
It is a state of the Commonwealth of Australia. Its bicameral
parliament consists of a House of Assembly (lower house)
and a Legislative Council (upper house), with legislative
elections held every four years. The current Premier of
South Australia is Mike Rann, a member of the Australian
Labor Party.
Initially,
the Governor of South Australia (the first was Captain John
Hindmarsh) held almost total power that he derived from
the Letters Patent created by the Imperial Government to
create the colony. He was only accountable to the British
Colonial Office and thus democracy did not exist in the
colony. A new body was created to advise the Governor on
the administration of South Australia in 1843 called the
Legislative Council. It consisted of three representatives
of the British Government and four colonists appointed by
the Governor. The Governor retained total executive power.
In
1851, the Imperial Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies
Government Act which allowed for the election of representatives
to each of the colonial legislatures and the drafting of
a Constitution to properly create representative and responsible
Government in South Australia and later that year, wealthy
male colonists were allowed to vote for 16 members on a
new 24 seat Legislative Council. Eight members continued
to be appointed by the Governor.
The
main responsibility of this body was to draft a Constitution
for South Australia. The body drafted the most democratic
constitution ever before seen in the British Empire and
provided for manhood suffrage. It created the bicameral
Parliament of South Australia and the two houses of parliament.
For the first time in the colony, the executive was elected
by the people and the colony used the Westminster system
where the government is the party or coalition that exerts
a majority in the House of Assembly. In 1894, South Australia
was the first Australian colony to allow women to vote and
it had the first Parliament in the world to allow women
to be elected as members. Catherine Helen Spence was the
first woman in Australia to be a candidate for political
office when she nominated to be one of South Australia's
delegates to the constitutional conventions that drafted
the Constitution. South Australia became an original state
of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901.
Education
University of Adelaide from North Terrace.Education is compulsory
for all children until the age of 16, however, the majority
of students stay on to complete their South Australian Certificate
of Education (SACE). School education is the responsibility
of the South Australian government, but the public and private
education systems are funded jointly by it and the Commonwealth
Government. The South Australian Government provides, to
schools on a per student basis, 89 percent of the total
Government funding while the Commonwealth contributes 11
percent. Since the early 1970's it has been an ongoing controversy
that 68 percent of Commonwealth funding (increasing to 75%
by 2008) goes to private schools that are attended by 32%
of the states students.
From
January 1, 2009, the school leaving age will be raised to
17.
There
are three universities in South Australia: University of
Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South
Australia. All are based in Adelaide, although the University
of South Australia also has campuses in Whyalla and Mount
Gambier.Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School and "Entertainment
Technology Center" have campuses in Adelaide.
Tertiary
vocational education is provided by TAFE South Australia
colleges throughout the state.
Sports
Australian rules football is the most popular sport in South
Australia. The state has the highest participation rate
of people taking part in Australian Football, with over
2.2% of the population aged 18 years and over participating
in the sport. South Australia fields 2 teams, the Adelaide
Crows and Port Adelaide Power in the Australian Football
League national competition. The Adelaide Crows have a membership
base of 50,000, higher than any of the other 15 teams in
the competition. Both teams regularly draw large crowds.
The South Australian National Football League, which owns
the dedicated Australian Football stadium AAMI Stadium,
is a popular local league comprising nine teams.
South
Australia's soccer team in the new A-League is Adelaide
United. Basketball also has a big following in South Australia
with the Adelaide 36ers playing out an 8,070 seat stadium
in Findon and winning 4 championships in the last 20 years
in the National Basketball League (Australia). South Australia
also has a cricket team, the Southern Redbacks, who play
at Adelaide Oval in North Adelaide during the summer; however
they have not won a title since 1996. The Redbacks currently
have four players who hold a contract with Cricket Australia.
Fifty
Nine percent of children take part in organised sports.
For boys, Soccer has the highest participation rate (22%)
followed by Swimming (16%). For girls Netball is most popular
(18%) followed by Swimming (16%).