Discussion thread is at https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=38412. Well, here goes nothing.
Author’s Note
This timeline was written as a sequel to DMA’s excellent Makarrata timeline, which I highly recommend you read (not least because a plug means I can get away with some infringement). For those of you without the time, essentially the pitch is this: the Bathurst War of 1823-1825 of our TL between Australia and the Wiradjuri nation near Bathurst leads to the signing of the Makarrata, a treaty guaranteeing the safety and protection of Wiradjuri lands and the recognition of their land rights. In DMA’s TL, things go downhill from there, with events progressing much as in OTL until the 1960s; I take a much more hopeful interpretation.
Thanks to DMA for help with the timeline, and also giving me the idea. Just as a disclaimer, I am not Wiradjuri, I do not speak for the Wiradjuri people and I apologise if any of the contents offend anyone.
Chapter 1
After the signing of the historic Parramatta Treaty (Makarrata) of 1827, after a sustained four-year campaign by the Wiradjuri people, public opinion was immediately divided. Some, including John Macarthur, a notable wool magnate who had recently been appointed to the Legislative Council, condemned the measure, and sought Brisbane's removal. Officials in London were more than happy to oblige, having previously come close to dismissing Brisbane during a dispute with the colonial secretary, Frederick Goulburn, which was only delayed due to the pressures of the war. The break in hostilities allowed for Brisbane's dismissal, to be replaced by Sir Ralph Darling.
Amongst the Wiradjuri, internal conflicts arose over relations with Britain. At the time, the Wiradjuri were largely partitioned into wandering bands, with no central governing authority; Wiradjuri society was largely egalitarian, with adult males having generally equal status in tribal affairs, beyond general influence based on age or actions. As a result, no one person could 'speak' for the Wiradjuri, due to the large distances involved between separate groups. This led to the creation of small 'militia bands' of disaffected Aboriginal youths, unwilling to accept British sovereignty, who led attacks on friendly European farmers on Wiradjuri territory. The various bands that made up the Wiradjuri were unable to police or to stop these attacks, which further exacerbated divides within Wiradjuri society.
In 1829, these disputes were at a fever pitch, as several leaders of more distant clans in the northeast refused to accept Windradyne's authority. New 'war bands' began attacks on both the European settlers and Windradyne's followers in the Bathurst district. Darling, and other colonial leaders, placed pressure on Windradyne to halt the attacks, or risk renewed war. A tribal gathering (often anachronistically referred to as a 'Corroboree', although this term refers mostly to gatherings in northwestern Australia) was held to determine the dispute near modern-day Bathurst, of leaders from clans throughout Wiradjuri territory. At this gathering, observed by white officials, Windradyne was affirmed as leader of the Wiradjuri people, and British citizenship was generally accepted. Suttor, by this time a respected intermediary between the Europeans and Aborigines, helped draft a 'constitution', in which the Wiradjuri, while subject to the crown, were allowed a degree of self-government under self-appointed leaders. Whereas previously the Wiradjuri had been divided into a variety of tribes and clans, the 1829 tribal gathering formed the first step towards a united Wiradjuri nation. Whereas previously the Wiradjuri had been a loose band of clans, tribes and families, bound together by little more than religion and language, the affirmation of Windradyne as leader allowed them to present a united front to Britain.
Darling retired in 1831. Despite the efforts of the growing pastoralist lobby in New South Wales, who through the Legislative Council were gaining increasing influence, the Colonial Office appointed Richard Bourke to the governorship, who continued to respect the Makarrata. John Macarthur, the leader of the pastoralist lobby, died in 1834; this dealt a major blow to the anti-treaty faction in the Legislative Council. However, in 1836, reforms to the Legislative Council allowed for the election of 36 out of the 54 members; since the franchise was restricted to wealthy landowners, a large number of graziers opposed to the treaty gained election.
Meanwhile, in the Wiradjuri Nation, Windradyne continued to be a respected leader. In 1832, in response to a dispute over the handling of the war (in which he was injured, but not killed), he called the first Wiradjuri Assembly, an assembly of influential tribal leaders based along the lines of the Legislative Council, in order to fend off claims of growing autocratic rule. At its first meeting, the Assembly sponsored a bill to form a militia to guard Wiradjuri lands against growing encroachment by landowners. The sale of land to the north allowed for the purchase of European muskets from the New South Wales government, ostensibly for 'hunting'. The stage was set for a renewed war.
The first skirmishes came, as these things generally do, through a dispute over a woman. Many Wiradjuri had taken to living on the border of the 'white' territories in the Blue Mountains, and prostitution had become a major trade to cater for lonely pioneers. In 1837, John Macintyre, a trapper in the Blue Mountains, refused to pay after receiving 'services', as they were euphemistically referred to in the press at the time, from an Aboriginal woman. He was later found dead, in mysterious circumstances. Despite Macintyre's rather dubious history and nature, the anti-treaty faction in the Legislative Council used this to prompt a military expedition into Wiradjuri territory. Although this was in theory to 'apprehend the most notorious murderers' and was justified as a police action, it was largely interpreted at the time, by both sides, as a seizure of Wiradjuri lands. Major Ralph Nunn was placed in command of the expedition. Despite protests from the Wiradjuri government and Suttor, who by this point was serving as an unofficial 'ambassador', the expedition proceeded over the Blue Mountains into Wiradjuri land.
Ten years had made much difference to both sides. In the case of the Wiradjuri, a semi-professional militia, trained in weaponry, had been set up, with extensive knowledge of the terrain. Major Nunn's expedition, on the other hand, was poorly equipped, had no way of protecting its supply train and faced substantial opposition within the government, where it was viewed as being a violation of treaty terms. Guerrilla attacks by Wiradjuri sapped the expedition's strength. Near modern-day Wagga Wagga, an ambush, lead by Wiradjuri himself, led to dozens of deaths on both sides. Finally, cut off from his supplies and facing mounting casualties, Nunn was forced to retreat. Back home, many landowners advocated the immediate subjugation of the Wiradjuri.
Into the growing conflict stepped the Colonial Office in London. The expedition was found to have breached the rights of the Wiradjuri, as British citizens, to their own land and to due process as given in the Treaty. The disaster of the expedition forced Bourke to retire, and George Gipps, who was greatly sympathetic to the Wiradjuri, was appointed in his place. The Second Parramatta Conference was held in 1838 between Windradyne and Gipps, reaffirming the treaty 'for all time', and assuring Wiradjuri autonomy would be respected. The 1838 War was an important step in assuring Wiradjuri autonomy; it led to legal precedent against military action against the Wiradjuri, it allowed the Wiradjuri to become a respected military force in the colonies, and it greatly enhanced Wiradjuri prestige amongst neighboring Aboriginal nations. By managing to hold off British forces for long enough for the Colonial Office resolution, Wiradjuri autonomy was safeguarded for future generations. Windradyne died of natural causes in 1842, but he had assured the future of his nation. He was succeeded by his son, Dhinawan, who began a policy of greater solidarity with other Aboriginal nations. By 1850, several other tribes had accepted Wiradjuri sovereignty, leading to the creation of the Wiradjuri Confederacy, a non-sovereign confederation of Aboriginal tribes, dominated and led by the Wiradjuri.
However, in 1851, the Wiradjuri gained their greatest opportunity and greatest threat yet. An Aboriginal prospector discovered a shiny rock, previously thought worthless, near Bathurst. The Gold Rush was on…
Chapter 2
The Wiradjuri gold rush has received less attention than the comparable gold rush in Victoria at the same time, yet its eventual consequences have shaped the Australian map for centuries. At the time of the gold rush, the Wiradjuri had gained some autonomy over internal affairs, yet were by and large still under the rule of the British governor in Sydney. The discovery of gold led to a massive influx of colonists into Wiradjuri lands, most hoping to 'strike it rich'.
The Wiradjuri administration, under the rule of Dhinawan, Windradyne’s son, acted with panic to the influx of colonists. The Wiradjuri assembly, which although influential still had no real power, saw the election in 1853 of several anti-immigration delegates, who were quickly dubbed by outsiders the Conservative Party (in the Wiradjuri language, their name is better translated as 'United Nation'). They began to lobby the government, which was still largely dominated by descendents of Windradyne and his followers, to use the gold wealth to build up the Wiradjuri economy. The Makarrata ensured that most of the wealth from the goldfields remained in Wiradjuri hands.
The effects were sudden. With an influx of foreigners, the Wiradjuri began to rapidly urbanize based on gold wealth; by the end of the decade, much of the population were living in mining boom towns, particularly Bathurst. In rural areas, the new gold wealth allowed for the purchase of large amounts of crops from Britain; a program of agricultural development was pursued across Wiradjuri lands, making farming the primary pursuit of most Wiradjuri. The newly wealthy Wiradjuri elite began to lobby the New South Wales government for greater autonomy. At this time, Chinese influences began to become prominent in Wiradjuri life, due to the large number of Chinese immigrants; due to the lack of discrimination largely experienced on the Wiradjuri gold fields, they quickly became a large and influential community. The arrival of many European immigrants made Christianity widespread; in response, the Wiradjuri government had Alcheringa, a religious text acting as a ‘bible’ for Wiradjuri beliefs, published, in order to maintain traditions in the face of external pressures. Amongst the Wiradjuri people, Aboriginal traditions intermingled with Chinese and European traditions; in many remote areas, Jesus became part of the traditional Wiradjuri pantheon as a traditional creator spirit, thanks to the work of Christian missionaries.
Within New South Wales, which gained responsible government in 1855, there was division over how to deal with the newly influential Wiradjuri, who by this time had gained a population of almost one million. William Charles Wentworth advocated scrapping the Makarrata, which restricted the ability of prospectors to gain wealth. However, the New South Wales government saw good relations with the Wiradjuri as a high priority, and decided to accede to their demands. In 1859, the colonial authorities finally acted. In the New South Wales Partition Bill, the state was separated. The traditional Wiradjuri communities and their allies became an enclave within the state as a protectorate of the British Empire, granted self-government and the ability to make its own laws (prior to this, Wiradjuri Assembly decisions were largely advisory, similar to modern UN General Assembly decisions). George Suttor lived just long enough to see the act's proclamation, which he had done so much to create. John Young, the 1st Baron Lisgar, was made Governor of the protectorate. In the first elections for the Wiradjuri Legislative Assembly, the Conservative Party gained a working majority under Dhinawan, who had joined the party once their popularity became evident.
For the next 40 years, the Conservative Party dominated the state. The gold rush saw the creation of a largely Westernized elite, led by Windradyne’s descendents; often Christian adherents and educated at British schools, they largely dominated politics, and pursued pro-business, protectionist economic policies to promote industrial growth. The mining boom in the far west of the Protectorate led to a growth in industrialization, creating a new class of industrial workers. At the time, much of the Wiradjuri population practiced subsidence farming, with some bands still continuing a hunter-gatherer existence; as time went on, the elite came to be regarded with suspicion. Dhinawan Windradyne (whose taking of a last name was regarded as suspect by many traditionalists) died in 1862 while still premier, and was succeeded by his son, Ganyi Windradyne. Ganyi promoted policies of agricultural development, which saw the further consolidation of Western crops in the Protectorate; over time, these crops would become the primary Wiradjuri export. Ganyi's policies largely ended the hunter-gatherer tradition in Wiradjuri society.
Chapter 3
The move to form a federation of the Australian colonies was greatly complicated by the presence of the Wiradjuri Protectorate. On one level, the vast agricultural and mineral resources of the Wiradjuri lands were seen as being vital to any federation; on the other hand, notions of racial purity made the notion of a 'separate but equal' status abhorrent to many Australians, especially considering the large Chinese population of the Protectorate. In addition, the creation of a 'free' Aboriginal state was seen as being a prelude to true racial equality within Australia, something seen as unacceptable to many states, especially Western Australia. Within the Wiradjuri lands, there was general support for the idea of Federation, as the Protectorate had no port through which it could export minerals overseas; the introduction of a free trade zone within Australia was seen as beneficial. However, they would only join if they were granted equal status with other Australians, which created much tension.
Within the Wiradjuri lands, tensions were rising with the rule of the Conservative Party, and its strong relationship with religious authority. A new doctrine, Aboriginal socialism, gained popularity amongst many young Wiradjuri, building on existing traditions of egalitarianism and environmentalism, and seeking a return to previous systems of communal land. This proved unacceptable to the Conservative Party, which had been pursuing a program of 'Westernization' in order to further exploit the gold boom. In the 1898, the Wiradjuri Socialist Party (again, a Western translation; the Wiradjuri word, Amaroo, means 'a beautiful place', used in terms akin to OTL Ben Chifley's 'light on the hill' speech) swept to power, forming the first socialist government in the world and finally bringing an end to the oligarchic control of the business elites. It began a more aggressive foreign policy, in many ways echoing the early Conservative Party, and demanded 'equality or nothing' with regards to Federation. This was rejected by the other delegates, after Western Australia threatened to boycott Federation in protest.
In the 1899 referendum on federation, the Wiradjuri Protectorate rejected the referendum with almost two to one against. As the new century dawned, the Wiradjuri Protectorate remained under British control, even as the rest of the nation formed the Commonwealth of Australia. There would be no nation for a continent after all.
In 1907, Australia and Wiradjuri became dominions under the British Empire, gaining substantial autonomy. The Wiradjuri nation changed its name to the Wiradjuri Confederacy, even though British authority remained through the governor-general. The Socialist Prime Minister, Amaroo Mandagery, pursued a program of extensive land reforms, nationalizing many industries and pursuing programs of universal health care and education. His programs sparked alarm from conservatives in both Australia and the Wiradjuri Confederacy. The Conservative Party became the leader of the National Front coalition, aimed at 'protecting Wiradjuri freedom, religion and sovereignty from the menace of Western socialist doctrines.' In response, the Socialist Party formed the League for True Equality, with the support of several minor parties supporting it in the Wiradjuri Assembly. In effect, the Wiradjuri political system, which had previously been dominated by a plethora of small parties and one dominant one, formed a de facto two-party system. Ironically, both parties accused the other of disloyalty to Wiradjuri traditions.
1910 saw the election of the Fisher Labor government in Australia, and the defeat of the Socialist Party in the Wiradjuri Confederacy, to be replaced by a National Front coalition led by the Conservative Party. At the declaration of World War 1 in 1914, the Conservative Prime Minister, Tooraweenah Cudal, pledged Wiradjuri support to the British Empire. He was not to know the trouble this would bring...
Chapter 4
At the time of World War I, the Wiradjuri Confederacy's foreign policy was still dictated by Britain, and it enjoyed less relative independence than many other dominions. However, this did not make Tooraweenah Cudal's support for the war uncontroversial; to the contrary. The war split the community, based largely on regional divides; whereas miners and townspeople generally supported the war, it proved incredibly costly for farmers. As a result, the Socialist Party adopted an anti-war policy, which caused bitter recriminations from many, including Andrew Fisher, the Australian Prime Minister.
Wiradjuri forces fought in the war with distinction; the WANZAC (Wiradjuri Australian New Zealand Army Corps) landing at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire is considered the 'baptism of fire' for all three states. At home, however, the growing cost of the war began a series of bitter recriminations. The Wiradjuri Communist Party, previously a fringe element, began to grow in strength. In the 1916 elections, Tooraweenah Cudal lost his own seat, although the Conservative Party maintained power through a complicated alliance with several rural independents. Ye Yiwei (葉宜偉) became the first non-Aboriginal Prime Minister.
In 1916, Australian Prime Minister Frank Tudor (Billy Hughes having failed to gain election to Parliament in 1901) announced that a policy of conscription was necessary, after Britain adopted a similar policy. Ye Yiwei declared his support for the proposal, leading to mass protests within the Wiradjuri Confederacy. The Conservative government collapsed after rural independents withdrew their support from the government; in Windradyne City (formerly known as Bathurst), Communist Party agitators urged revolution. Hysterical editorials in Australia saw this as being the prelude to a 'red infiltration of White Australia', and urged the Australian government to take action. Rural agitators in the Confederacy urged the final defeat of the urban elite; urban commentators urged citizens to take to the streets to protect their liberties.
Finally, the British governor acted. An all-party coalition government was installed, and order was returned to the streets. Conscription was dropped as a policy, in both the Confederacy and Australia, after Tudor's proposal was defeated in a party room vote. In 1919, Tudor's government was forced into a coalition with the new Country Party (smaller than in OTL, and less conservative), whereas the Conservative government in the Confederacy was returned with an increased majority.
The 1920s were an era of prosperity for the Wiradjuri Confederacy. A new flag, with the Union Jack in the top left corner and a stylized Cootamundra Wattle in the bottom right, symbolized a newfound confidence. The laissez faire policies of the Conservative government during the 1920s led to a massive economic boom; with only 35% of Wiradjuri living in urban areas, primary industries were a major benefactor. Wiradjuri wool became a major fashion item in stores worldwide. In such a relaxed environment, talk again began of independence, despite the Conservative Party's objections.
However, October 1929 changed everything. The massive economic crash wreaked havoc on the Wiradjuri economy, which far from just riding on the sheep's back was entirely dependent upon it. The bad years had begun...
Chapter 5
The effects of the Great Depression on the Wiradjuri Confederacy were devastating. The Confederacy's economy had always been heavily dependent upon primary industries; the worldwide price slump caused massive job losses, up to 40% by some estimates. The Conservative government attempted a widespread prices and wages freeze; this attracted strong opposition within the community. In the 1930 election, the Conservatives were swept from power, and several Wiradjuri Communist Party representatives gained election in rural areas. A Popular Front coalition was formed, led by the Socialist Marang Garawa, a charismatic train driver whose metaphor of the 'amaroo', a prospective future society built upon socialist doctrines. Needless to say, this new government provoked widespread alarm.
The new government initiated proto-Keynesian economic policies, which were wildly ridiculed at the time by conservative columnists in both the Confederacy and Australia. Public works projects were initiated, and welfare benefits were increased. At the same time, though, the state grew more authoritarian; public demonstrations were banned, and banks were nationalized. To many people, the government looked on the verge of a communist takeover. Garawa's meeting with Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, in talks concerning mineral exports further provoked alarm. In this environment of fear and paranoia, talk on both sides became increasingly radical; the conservatives spoke of overthrowing Garawa by force, whereas many communists urged the Garawa government to unilaterally declare independence.
The growing anti-communist hysteria placed pressure on the government of Matthew Charlton, who had taken power in 1929 after defeating W A Watt of the Liberal Party in a landslide. The Charlton government, in coalition with the Country Party, was torn apart by ideological divisions regarding the Wiradjuri regime, amidst pressure to adopt similar measures to those taken by the Popular Front. In the 1931 elections, the Liberal Party (much more small-l liberal than in OTL, without the Nationalist or United Australia interludes) regained power under Stanley Bruce.
Finally, in 1932, tensions in the Confederacy reached their zenith. In a public demonstration against the growing anti-British sentiment of the Garawa government, police fired on protestors, killing 13. The British governor, Baron Huntingfield, dismissed PM Marang Garawa, who refused to accept his authority. The next day, the Wiradjuri government, under rebel PM Garawa, unilaterally declared the Wiradjuri People's Socialist Republic, and fled Windradyne City.
Needless to say, things would not go well.
Chapter 6
The surprising thing about the Wiradjuri People's Socialist Republic is not that it existed, as conflicts had been growing between Aboriginal and British customs and leadership for decades, but that it survived so long. This is primarily due to the very same economic duties that led to its creation; Australia had almost no armed forces, and in the Depression was in no condition to launch a costly war. However, the Australian government, under Stanley Bruce, supplied logistics and 'advisers' to the anti-Garawa faction, aided by the United Kingdom. However, communist supporters in the Australian community, covertly supported by the Soviet Union, went to fight for the Republican forces.
The Wiradjuri Civil War lasted for 3 years, and caused widespread economic devastation in addition to the extensive damage of the Depression. The war was not so much between ‘socialists’ and ‘capitalists’ as it was between rural and urban lobbies. Since the gold rush, an urban elite had grown rich of mining profits, leading to widening cultural gap between the traditionalist rural population and the pro-British urban population Garawa, himself from a poor farming family, depicted himself as the defender of the rural poor against a corporate oligarchy. As it was, the war took place mostly as a rural rebellion, with the ‘Wiradjuri People’s Socialist Republic’ acting not so much as a state than as an idea to inspire Garawa’s followers.
Windradyne City fell to Loyalist (the anti-Garawa faction) forces after several days of fighting early in the war, but Garawa managed to escape west, where he still enjoyed widespread support. From that point on, the war was largely fought as a guerrilla conflict; the Loyalist forces, who controlled most of the major cities, had little support in the countryside, and were thus dependent upon Australian food imports. There were few 'major' battles; instead, a constant campaign of attrition by the Republicans, aided by Communist sympathizers, caused havoc for the Loyalist government through a campaign of bombings and militia skirmishes. It is estimated that the war cost nearly 5 000 lives in total.
The war abruptly ended in 1935, when Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, sent aid and advisors to the Loyalist government, in order to foster better relations with Britain and to defeat the communist Republicans, who were quickly crushed. The Wiradjuri Confederacy, which was devastated by the war, limped on for a few years under the non-partisan Wiradjuri Provisional Government but was clearly crushed. In 1938, Stanley Bruce was defeated in a leadership ballot by Robert Menzies. The following year, war was declared between Germany and Britain. The Wiradjuri Confederacy, on a pretext of an 'allied front' to defend Britain, was absorbed into the Commonwealth of Australia as the seventh state. Its citizens were allowed to vote in federal elections, although this was denied to all other Australian Aborigines. To most observers, the dream of an independent Aboriginal state appeared finally over.
Chapter 7
They say World War I was the 'baptism of fire' for Australia, but World War II served to bind the nation, newly enlarged, closer together than ever before. The 1930s had been difficult times for Australia; fascist groups such as the New Guard, the secessionist movements in Tasmania and Western Australia and a rural-based rebellion in the Wiradjuri Confederacy had threatened the very fabric of the nation. It was only the threat of Japanese invasion which managed to bind the nation closer together than ever before.
Prime Minister Robert Menzies, although derided in some corners as an inefficient war leader, provided capable leadership due to his strong support by his party. The Australian Labor Party, under the leadership of Frank Forde, formed a National Government with Menzies due to the Liberal Party's popularity. At first, Menzies was criticized for an over-involvement in British affairs; however, the attack on Pearl Harbour by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941 changed everything.
Wiradjuri soldiers, both enlisted and conscript, fought in desperate campaigns alongside Australian soldiers to stop the Japanese advance. Although this was criticized in many quarters at the time, the threat was seen to merit the use of Aboriginal troops, especially considering the previous experience of many of them in the Wiradjuri Civil War. Institutional racism posed a problem, especially with the large Chinese population of the state; however, their bravery and courage in battle led to a greater acceptance of the Wiradjuri. However, there was still a long way to go before the Wiradjuri could ever be accepted as equals.
After the war ended in 1945, returning Wiradjuri soldiers were treated as heroes in their homeland, but largely ignored by the rest of Australia. The Returned Soldiers League refused to accept Wiradjuri troops as members until 1958. The National Government collapsed in 1945, and Frank Forde, promising economic reform, swept to victory over the Liberal government for the first Labor government in 14 years. In 1947, a referendum granting the federal government powers to make laws for Aborigines was narrowly passed; this amendment to the constitution, passed largely due to the large-scale Wiradjuri support for Labor, was bitterly contested by groups protesting that it would 'begin a black onslaught into our cities and suburbs' (different from OTL, due to the more conservative society at the time); its passing allowed for greater Commonwealth involvement in Aboriginal affairs.
The 1950s are widely regarded as the Wiradjuri 'golden age'; the Korean War led to a boom in wheat exports, the booming Australian economy provided for large-scale development, and the Wiradjuri people reveled in a new-found confidence due to the easing of the scars of the past. The economic boom allowed for a drastic increase in Wiradjuri prosperity; in 1939, Wiradjuri GDP per capita was one-third of Australia, yet in 1959 it was nearly 1.5 times more. This prosperity allowed for greater Wiradjuri influence in Australian life; Wiradjuri restaurants and shops began to open up in Sydney. Although they were still treated with racism and discrimination, particularly in the western states, the Wiradjuri began the process of integration into Australian society.
At the same time, the large Chinese population of Wiradjuri began a slow migration into greater Australia; however, the greater discrimination they faced ensured that there would be a long way still to go before they gained acceptance.
Chapter 8
The leaps and bounds the Wiradjuri took during the 1950s in entering Australian society were hard-fought. Frank Forde, who succeeded Robert Menzies as Prime Minister in 1945 on a platform of national rebuilding and general welfare, won office largely based on a large bloc of Wiradjuri support; although the communists had lost the war, the Labor Party were still largely preferred in the state of Wiradjuri to the somewhat more elitist Liberals. This presented a major problem, in that much of the Labor Party's base were still heavily against racial integration and immigration; the conflict between these conservative blue-collar workers and the somewhat more leftist Wiradjuri dominated the Forde administration, particularly after the election of the first Wiradjuri MP, Cabonne Tomingley in 1945 (Wagga Wagga, Labor)
The strength of Wiradjuri support for the Forde government forced it to toe a fine line between the interests of its Aboriginal and white supporters, with mixed success. Over time, rampant factionalism led to two major 'groups'; the Catholic Movement, comprised primarily of those opposed to Wiradjuri and socialist 'infiltration' of the party, and True Labor, a group composed of the more radical and Wiradjuri members of the party. Forde, although non-factional, was privately considered sympathetic to True Labor.
In 1948, following the success of the referendum, all Aboriginals were granted the vote, a radical change from the previous Wiradjuri-restricted Aboriginal franchise. This led to increasing demands for Aboriginal rights, leading the new leader of the Liberal Party, Richard Casey, to accuse the government of 'being a Trojan Horse for an army of yellow, black and red infiltrators, dedicated to undermining the foundations of White Australia'. Although Labor won the 1948 election narrowly, divisions within the party were evident. The Country Party broke off its coalition with the Labor Party, in opposition to Forde's policies.
In 1950, Arthur Calwell, leader of the True Labor faction, led a group of his supporters out of the party room to form the Democratic Labor Party, bringing down the government on the floor of the house. In the ensuing elections, Richard Casey led the Liberal Party to victory. Ironically, his free-market policies led to greater Wiradjuri prosperity, increasing their role in Australian society. The bitter conflict between the Labor Party and Democratic Labor Party continued throughout the 1950s, allowing Casey to win an unprecedented four elections. He retired in 1963, to be succeeded by Garfield Barwick. In 1960, the Democratic Labor Party and Country Party merged, in opposition to Wiradjuri influence in the Labor Party, to form the National Party.
The 1960s were an era of increasing liberalism in Australian society; the Wiradjuri became increasingly accepted as citizens. The White Australia Policy was ended in 1963, thanks largely to the lobbying of the increasingly influential Chinese population of the Wiradjuri state, who became steadfast Liberal voters. This led to increased Asian immigration, further progressing Australia's transformation into a multicultural society. This increased acceptance lead to the return of former Wiradjuri premier Marang Garawa from self-imposed exile in the Soviet Union in 1961; he received a hero's welcome in rural areas, before dying two years later.
Finally, in 1966, the real 60s began in Australia. Boree Canobolas, an urbane Sydney-educated Wiradjuri lawyer, in many ways representative of the 'new' generation of well-educated, wealthy Wiradjuri, became leader of the Labor Party, and began promises of new multicultural and social democratic reforms. Although despised by the National Party, he formed a minority government with the support of three independents in the 1969 elections. Australia had no idea of the ride it was in for...
Chapter 9
For every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. The 1960s were a time of increased multicultural integration in Australian society; the Wiradjuri band Corroboree scored a No. 1 hit with 'All Together Now', a song blending Beatles-style rock with traditional Wiradjuri rhythm and instruments. There was a thankfully brief vogue for 'dot flares' in 1967, a form of bell-bottom trousers decorated in a style reminiscent of Northern Territory didgeridoos. However, these cultural innovations faced increasing opposition. The Country Party, whose vote had been declining since the 1950s, merged with the Democratic Labor Party in 1960 to form the National Party in opposition to increasing Asian and Aboriginal influences in Australian society; it won 12 seats in the 1963 election, all in rural areas of Queensland and Western Australia, and served mostly to draw off working class supporters of the Labor Party. It drifted further to the right throughout the 1960s, to the point where its 1969 campaign slogan was 'No Chinks In The Defences of White Australia'. Although Boree Canabolas of the Labor Party managed to win 58 seats and form a government with the support of two independents, the National Party increased its representation to 16 seats, including its first urban seat in Perth.
The Canabolas government immediately began a wide range of changes; Australia was declared a multicultural society, equal opportunity employment was instituted for Aborigines, immigrants and women, tertiary fees were abolished, and a free, universal health system was instituted. Arrangements were made for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights, with the first 'native title' land being given back to its traditional inhabitants, the Mer nation of the Torres Strait, in 1970. Perhaps most symbolically, Australia was declared 'a bilingual nation', with both English and Wiradjuri used officially. To the 2 million Wiradjuri in Australia in 1970, it seemed the dawning of a new age.
Yet from the beginning, the Canabolas government was wreaked by turmoil. The Australian Labor Party, after 19 years in opposition, had won election largely on Wiradjuri support; to many Australians, this made it seem captive to minority interests. Relations with the United States had declined since the Barwick government, which refused to participate in the Vietnam War; this was interpreted by many as evidence of 'growing red infiltration' in Australian society, and led to a plethora of scandalized editorials. But most dangerous of all was the chronic instability of the Canabolas government; in the 19 years the ALP had spent in opposition, much of its time had been spent in factional warfare. The Cabinet was less a unified party than a coalition of factions, united only by a desire to hold power. As a result, the government experienced chronic ministerial instability, which combined with the unprecedented reforming zeal of the government led to a growth in support for the conservative, reactionary National Party.
In the 1972 election, the Labor Party was reduced to 53 seats, with the Nationals increasing their power to 19. The Liberals, on 48 seats, could potentially have held power with National support; however, widespread outcry from the more moderate sections of the party led to threats of a party room split. Coupled with widespread middle-class uneasiness with the Nationals and their leader, Doug Anthony, the Liberal Party decided to form a 'grand coalition' with the Labor Party. Canabolas would remain leader, but the Liberal leader, Don Chipp, would become treasurer, and would restrain the previous profligacy of the government.
For the next year, it seemed the government had finally achieved peace, despite widespread uneasiness about the stability of the Grand Coalition. An attempted leadership coup by Malcolm Fraser, who promised to break off the Grand Coalition and form an alliance with the Nationals, was defeated. In the words of journalist Mungo MacCallum, 'It seems Australia is not yet ready for a man with an iron fist inside a barbed wire glove. Hopefully, it never will be'.
Then, on October 17, 1973, Arab nations launched an oil embargo against the West. Although Australia was not targeted specifically, the oil shock served to create a global economic crisis. The 1973 budget, widely derided as 'a mess', tried to use Keynesian methods to repair the crisis, but to no avail. On June 17, 1974, Don Chipp lost the Liberal leadership to Malcolm Fraser, who then brought down the Labor government in Parliament, triggering an election. In the election, the Labor Party was decimated, losing 20 seats. The Liberal Party gained enough support to form government in their own right. In Wiradjuri state elections held the same day, the Liberal Party managed to overthrow the Labor state government for the first time in the state's 35 year history. The age of idealism was over.
Despite the fears of many on the left, the Fraser/Anthony government did not reverse many of Canabolas' reforms; this can be largely ascribed to Malcolm Fraser, a 'traditional conservative' who, although pragmatically accepting the need for the National coalition, was largely sympathetic towards the Wiradjuri. Although many scholars have recently ascribed this to the need to maintain the large block of Chinese Wiradjuri votes, most scholars believe that Fraser, an internationalist, was in many ways a moderate within the Liberal Party regarding issues of race. However, Canabolas' native title legislation was slowed to a large degree, due to the demands of the predominantly rural Nationals. As the Nationals gained in power throughout successive elections due to the collapse of the Labor Party, more strident rhetoric emerged from the government, culminating in the announcement by Doug Anthony in 1985 that 'Australia has one culture, and that is Anglo-Saxon. Accept this, or get out.'
After the defeat of the Canabolas government, the Labor Party largely lost its way; Canabolas fell in a party room coup early in 1975, and was replaced by Lionel Bowen, a lackluster leader who failed to capture much of his charm. The Canabolas government, although popular early in its reign, had become hugely unpopular due to the oil prices crisis. The party split of 1950 had caused a split in its working-class base; many blue-collar workers had grown disillusioned with Labor, and had flocked to the populist, conservative Nationals in droves. Although the Labor Party managed to recover seats in the 1977 election, it never again became a serious political force. A split in early 1980 was the final death toll; much of its base flocked to the Nationals, with its Wiradjuri wing rebanding as the Wiradjuri Party, an autonomist, social democratic party. In the election that year, it lost all but 12 seats. In 1983, it finally disbanded. Internecine struggles of ideology and personality had finally torn the Australian Labor Party to shreds.
Chapter 10
The 1987 election was one of the most epochal elections ever held in Australian history, equal to that of 1910 (the first two-party election), 1950 (the first Labor split election), or 1969 (the Canabolas election) in its significance. The Liberal Party had largely ruled supreme with National support since the collapse of Labor, with Malcolm Fraser resigning in 1985 undefeated, to be replaced by Andrew Peacock. In 1987, for the first time, this superiority was challenged. Populist Queensland National premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson, who was elected to the federal parliament in 1983, assumed leadership of the National Party in 1986 and promptly broke off the coalition. As the Liberal Party had enough numbers to govern on its own and had largely maintained the coalition for electoral reasons, this had no immediate effect, but served to illustrate Bjelke-Peterson's own prime ministerial ambitions. In the bitterly contested election, Bjelke-Peterson won 69 seats, with the Liberal Party on 62, the Wiradjuri Party on 15 and with 5 former Labor MPs retaining their seats. Several weeks of frenzied coalition-building followed. The National Party refused to take part in any coalition unless Bjelke-Peterson would be Prime Minister, the Wiradjuri Party were determined to hold a referendum on Wiradjuri independence, a topic largely condemned by other parties, and the five former Labor MPs refused to have talks with anyone. In this environment, the Liberal Party largely emerged as the kingmakers; stuck between the Nationals, who they distrusted as rural xenophobes, and the Wiradjuri, who were regarded as 'secessionist socialist fairies at the bottom of the garden' (in the words of conservative commentator John Howard), the Liberals were admittedly tempted to write 'none of the above', and indeed ran a minority government for several weeks after the election. However, faced with defeat on the floor of the house and another election so soon after the first, Peacock finally capitulated to Bjelke-Peterson's demands.
Despite the fears of some Wiradjuri, the Bjelke-Peterson Prime Ministership was not as reactionary as first feared; this was to a large extent due to the influence of Andrew Peacock, a moderate, as treasurer. However, Bjelke-Peterson's policies of 'one Australia for one people', although generally more rhetoric than practice, aroused considerable fear and concern amongst the Wiradjuri population. In the 1988 Wiradjuri state election, the Wiradjuri Party won a majority for the first time, and began preparations for a referendum on independence by 1990. In the words of the Chinese Wiradjuri Premier, Han Zheng (韩正), 'The Wiradjuri can finally come out of the shadow of White Australia. We seek not to divide Australia, but to unite our people in patriotism for our great nation. To be Wiradjuri is more than being Aboriginal or Chinese or European; it is a mindset, of equality and justice for all. Our new nation shall be the culmination of that mindset.'
As the 1980s ended, Han Zheng and Joh Bjelke-Peterson came into increasing conflict. This conflict took place in the wider scope of what was later dubbed 'the culture wars', or the debate over the study of Australian culture and history. This accompanied a rise in racial tensions in Australia, including from Wiradjuri towards other Australians; these culminated in the notorious Windradyne riots on December 8 1989, in which Wiradjuri youths attacked Australian shops and businesses. Ugly shots of drunken youths, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with 'Go back to England', hit the front pages the next day, with large-scale recriminations.
Yet, paradoxically, the 1980s were also a decade of social progress, admittedly largely inspired by opposition to Bjelke-Peterson. The environmentalist movement gained strength in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Greens forming the Official Opposition in 1989. More women gained positions of power across the country, including the elevation of Liberal Bronwyn Bishop to the deputy leadership of the Liberal Party in 1990. Although the government created immigration policies seen as discriminatory towards Asian immigration, it also pursued a program of economic liberalism, creating closer economic links with the 'Asian tigers'.
In the Wiradjuri independence referendum of 1990, those in favour of remaining within Australia won out, 55%-45%. After the referendum, Han Zheng, accompanied by prominent leftist figures Boree Canabolas and Bob Hawke, announced the formation of the Australian Progressive Alliance, a left-wing coalition seeking to reunite the environmentalist, former Labor and Wiradjuri nationalist parties across the country. Although derided as 'the chardonnay party', the APA won 19 seats in the 1990 election, helping to bring down the Bjelke-Peterson government through promises of supply to the Liberals.
Chapter 11
The 1970s and 1980s are often derided by those on the left as the 'wasted years'; it is generally considered that Australian history only really began again after 1974 in 1990, with the election of the Hewson government. However, this ignores the very real role the Fraser and Bjelke-Peterson governments had in encouraging multiculturalism, ironically by rejecting it. Their 17-rule rule saw greater integration of minority groups into Australian society as government policy, while still retaining elements of their original cultures; this softened the effect of racism in Australia, as minority groups came to be seen as 'one of us'. The breaking of tariff barriers in the 1980s allowed for greater Wiradjuri prosperity, furthering integration. Perhaps most important of all was pop singer Jia Qinglin. His songs became smash hits across Australia, and polling showed that his example, as a loyal Australian nationalist who still respected Chinese culture, served as an inspiration for all Australians.
However, it is true that the pace of reform established under the Canabolas administration only really began again under the second Peacock government. The Australian Progressive Alliance rebadged itself as a unified party, the Australian Democrats, following the election, and formed a coalition with the Liberal Party in 1991. Under Hewson, who won the leadership of the Liberal Party following the 1989 following Peacock's resignation, the Liberal Party followed an economically libertarian doctrine; combined with the social liberalism of the broad-left Australian Democrats, this led to a government defined by many as 'Australia's first libertarian government'. The government actively encouraged multiculturalism, not so much from doctrine but, in the memorable words of immigration spokesman Amaroo Cudal of the AD, 'Why should we tell people how to live their lives? Australia is a tolerant place; that includes the tolerance to make choices. We are proud to be a nation that lets people be proud of who they are.'
This libertarianism came as an unorthodox change to the social conservatism of previous years, especially under Bjelke-Peterson. Although much progressive legislation came as a result, including the legalization of homosexual marriage, much of the social democratic legislation of the Canabolas era was dismantled. Although this caused dismay amongst the Old Left, it served as the final recognition that the era of social democracy was over.
In contrast to the LP-AD coalition, the Nationals seemed to lose their way. The party had always been a broad coalition of conservative and nationalist interest groups; now, conflicts over economic rationalist doctrine caused widespread factional conflict within the party. Bjelke-Peterson was sacked soon after the election loss, and the party never recovered from the lack of strong leadership. It had existed to prevent Wiradjuri infiltration of Australian society yet, ironically, through greater assimilationist policies it had made them accepted as ever before. The party lost half its seats in the 1993 election, and faded away as a political force soon after.
In 1996, the Australian Democrats won more seats than the Liberals, and formed government in their own right under Cheryl Kernot, the first female Prime Minister. Talks to form an Australian republic followed. By this time, Wiradjuri secessionist sentiment, which had reached its height during the Bjelke-Peterson era, was almost entirely quashed. The referendum, held in 1999, was passed narrowly.
And so, as the millennium ended, the crowning glory of what has been called 'the Australian century', the 2000 Sydney Olympics, were held. Han Zheng, a former Wiradjuri Premier of European and Chinese parents, opened the games as Australian President. Although the three mascots (Ollie, Borlung, and Lóng) were dismissed as too cutesy and 'politically correct' by columnists, they were undeniably popular symbols of multicultural diversity. As the fireworks boomed over Sydney, it seemed a moment worth fighting for.
The Legacy Continues
This timeline was written as a sequel to DMA’s excellent Makarrata timeline, which I highly recommend you read (not least because a plug means I can get away with some infringement). For those of you without the time, essentially the pitch is this: the Bathurst War of 1823-1825 of our TL between Australia and the Wiradjuri nation near Bathurst leads to the signing of the Makarrata, a treaty guaranteeing the safety and protection of Wiradjuri lands and the recognition of their land rights. In DMA’s TL, things go downhill from there, with events progressing much as in OTL until the 1960s; I take a much more hopeful interpretation.
Thanks to DMA for help with the timeline, and also giving me the idea. Just as a disclaimer, I am not Wiradjuri, I do not speak for the Wiradjuri people and I apologise if any of the contents offend anyone.
Chapter 1
After the signing of the historic Parramatta Treaty (Makarrata) of 1827, after a sustained four-year campaign by the Wiradjuri people, public opinion was immediately divided. Some, including John Macarthur, a notable wool magnate who had recently been appointed to the Legislative Council, condemned the measure, and sought Brisbane's removal. Officials in London were more than happy to oblige, having previously come close to dismissing Brisbane during a dispute with the colonial secretary, Frederick Goulburn, which was only delayed due to the pressures of the war. The break in hostilities allowed for Brisbane's dismissal, to be replaced by Sir Ralph Darling.
Amongst the Wiradjuri, internal conflicts arose over relations with Britain. At the time, the Wiradjuri were largely partitioned into wandering bands, with no central governing authority; Wiradjuri society was largely egalitarian, with adult males having generally equal status in tribal affairs, beyond general influence based on age or actions. As a result, no one person could 'speak' for the Wiradjuri, due to the large distances involved between separate groups. This led to the creation of small 'militia bands' of disaffected Aboriginal youths, unwilling to accept British sovereignty, who led attacks on friendly European farmers on Wiradjuri territory. The various bands that made up the Wiradjuri were unable to police or to stop these attacks, which further exacerbated divides within Wiradjuri society.
In 1829, these disputes were at a fever pitch, as several leaders of more distant clans in the northeast refused to accept Windradyne's authority. New 'war bands' began attacks on both the European settlers and Windradyne's followers in the Bathurst district. Darling, and other colonial leaders, placed pressure on Windradyne to halt the attacks, or risk renewed war. A tribal gathering (often anachronistically referred to as a 'Corroboree', although this term refers mostly to gatherings in northwestern Australia) was held to determine the dispute near modern-day Bathurst, of leaders from clans throughout Wiradjuri territory. At this gathering, observed by white officials, Windradyne was affirmed as leader of the Wiradjuri people, and British citizenship was generally accepted. Suttor, by this time a respected intermediary between the Europeans and Aborigines, helped draft a 'constitution', in which the Wiradjuri, while subject to the crown, were allowed a degree of self-government under self-appointed leaders. Whereas previously the Wiradjuri had been divided into a variety of tribes and clans, the 1829 tribal gathering formed the first step towards a united Wiradjuri nation. Whereas previously the Wiradjuri had been a loose band of clans, tribes and families, bound together by little more than religion and language, the affirmation of Windradyne as leader allowed them to present a united front to Britain.
Darling retired in 1831. Despite the efforts of the growing pastoralist lobby in New South Wales, who through the Legislative Council were gaining increasing influence, the Colonial Office appointed Richard Bourke to the governorship, who continued to respect the Makarrata. John Macarthur, the leader of the pastoralist lobby, died in 1834; this dealt a major blow to the anti-treaty faction in the Legislative Council. However, in 1836, reforms to the Legislative Council allowed for the election of 36 out of the 54 members; since the franchise was restricted to wealthy landowners, a large number of graziers opposed to the treaty gained election.
Meanwhile, in the Wiradjuri Nation, Windradyne continued to be a respected leader. In 1832, in response to a dispute over the handling of the war (in which he was injured, but not killed), he called the first Wiradjuri Assembly, an assembly of influential tribal leaders based along the lines of the Legislative Council, in order to fend off claims of growing autocratic rule. At its first meeting, the Assembly sponsored a bill to form a militia to guard Wiradjuri lands against growing encroachment by landowners. The sale of land to the north allowed for the purchase of European muskets from the New South Wales government, ostensibly for 'hunting'. The stage was set for a renewed war.
The first skirmishes came, as these things generally do, through a dispute over a woman. Many Wiradjuri had taken to living on the border of the 'white' territories in the Blue Mountains, and prostitution had become a major trade to cater for lonely pioneers. In 1837, John Macintyre, a trapper in the Blue Mountains, refused to pay after receiving 'services', as they were euphemistically referred to in the press at the time, from an Aboriginal woman. He was later found dead, in mysterious circumstances. Despite Macintyre's rather dubious history and nature, the anti-treaty faction in the Legislative Council used this to prompt a military expedition into Wiradjuri territory. Although this was in theory to 'apprehend the most notorious murderers' and was justified as a police action, it was largely interpreted at the time, by both sides, as a seizure of Wiradjuri lands. Major Ralph Nunn was placed in command of the expedition. Despite protests from the Wiradjuri government and Suttor, who by this point was serving as an unofficial 'ambassador', the expedition proceeded over the Blue Mountains into Wiradjuri land.
Ten years had made much difference to both sides. In the case of the Wiradjuri, a semi-professional militia, trained in weaponry, had been set up, with extensive knowledge of the terrain. Major Nunn's expedition, on the other hand, was poorly equipped, had no way of protecting its supply train and faced substantial opposition within the government, where it was viewed as being a violation of treaty terms. Guerrilla attacks by Wiradjuri sapped the expedition's strength. Near modern-day Wagga Wagga, an ambush, lead by Wiradjuri himself, led to dozens of deaths on both sides. Finally, cut off from his supplies and facing mounting casualties, Nunn was forced to retreat. Back home, many landowners advocated the immediate subjugation of the Wiradjuri.
Into the growing conflict stepped the Colonial Office in London. The expedition was found to have breached the rights of the Wiradjuri, as British citizens, to their own land and to due process as given in the Treaty. The disaster of the expedition forced Bourke to retire, and George Gipps, who was greatly sympathetic to the Wiradjuri, was appointed in his place. The Second Parramatta Conference was held in 1838 between Windradyne and Gipps, reaffirming the treaty 'for all time', and assuring Wiradjuri autonomy would be respected. The 1838 War was an important step in assuring Wiradjuri autonomy; it led to legal precedent against military action against the Wiradjuri, it allowed the Wiradjuri to become a respected military force in the colonies, and it greatly enhanced Wiradjuri prestige amongst neighboring Aboriginal nations. By managing to hold off British forces for long enough for the Colonial Office resolution, Wiradjuri autonomy was safeguarded for future generations. Windradyne died of natural causes in 1842, but he had assured the future of his nation. He was succeeded by his son, Dhinawan, who began a policy of greater solidarity with other Aboriginal nations. By 1850, several other tribes had accepted Wiradjuri sovereignty, leading to the creation of the Wiradjuri Confederacy, a non-sovereign confederation of Aboriginal tribes, dominated and led by the Wiradjuri.
However, in 1851, the Wiradjuri gained their greatest opportunity and greatest threat yet. An Aboriginal prospector discovered a shiny rock, previously thought worthless, near Bathurst. The Gold Rush was on…
Chapter 2
The Wiradjuri gold rush has received less attention than the comparable gold rush in Victoria at the same time, yet its eventual consequences have shaped the Australian map for centuries. At the time of the gold rush, the Wiradjuri had gained some autonomy over internal affairs, yet were by and large still under the rule of the British governor in Sydney. The discovery of gold led to a massive influx of colonists into Wiradjuri lands, most hoping to 'strike it rich'.
The Wiradjuri administration, under the rule of Dhinawan, Windradyne’s son, acted with panic to the influx of colonists. The Wiradjuri assembly, which although influential still had no real power, saw the election in 1853 of several anti-immigration delegates, who were quickly dubbed by outsiders the Conservative Party (in the Wiradjuri language, their name is better translated as 'United Nation'). They began to lobby the government, which was still largely dominated by descendents of Windradyne and his followers, to use the gold wealth to build up the Wiradjuri economy. The Makarrata ensured that most of the wealth from the goldfields remained in Wiradjuri hands.
The effects were sudden. With an influx of foreigners, the Wiradjuri began to rapidly urbanize based on gold wealth; by the end of the decade, much of the population were living in mining boom towns, particularly Bathurst. In rural areas, the new gold wealth allowed for the purchase of large amounts of crops from Britain; a program of agricultural development was pursued across Wiradjuri lands, making farming the primary pursuit of most Wiradjuri. The newly wealthy Wiradjuri elite began to lobby the New South Wales government for greater autonomy. At this time, Chinese influences began to become prominent in Wiradjuri life, due to the large number of Chinese immigrants; due to the lack of discrimination largely experienced on the Wiradjuri gold fields, they quickly became a large and influential community. The arrival of many European immigrants made Christianity widespread; in response, the Wiradjuri government had Alcheringa, a religious text acting as a ‘bible’ for Wiradjuri beliefs, published, in order to maintain traditions in the face of external pressures. Amongst the Wiradjuri people, Aboriginal traditions intermingled with Chinese and European traditions; in many remote areas, Jesus became part of the traditional Wiradjuri pantheon as a traditional creator spirit, thanks to the work of Christian missionaries.
Within New South Wales, which gained responsible government in 1855, there was division over how to deal with the newly influential Wiradjuri, who by this time had gained a population of almost one million. William Charles Wentworth advocated scrapping the Makarrata, which restricted the ability of prospectors to gain wealth. However, the New South Wales government saw good relations with the Wiradjuri as a high priority, and decided to accede to their demands. In 1859, the colonial authorities finally acted. In the New South Wales Partition Bill, the state was separated. The traditional Wiradjuri communities and their allies became an enclave within the state as a protectorate of the British Empire, granted self-government and the ability to make its own laws (prior to this, Wiradjuri Assembly decisions were largely advisory, similar to modern UN General Assembly decisions). George Suttor lived just long enough to see the act's proclamation, which he had done so much to create. John Young, the 1st Baron Lisgar, was made Governor of the protectorate. In the first elections for the Wiradjuri Legislative Assembly, the Conservative Party gained a working majority under Dhinawan, who had joined the party once their popularity became evident.
For the next 40 years, the Conservative Party dominated the state. The gold rush saw the creation of a largely Westernized elite, led by Windradyne’s descendents; often Christian adherents and educated at British schools, they largely dominated politics, and pursued pro-business, protectionist economic policies to promote industrial growth. The mining boom in the far west of the Protectorate led to a growth in industrialization, creating a new class of industrial workers. At the time, much of the Wiradjuri population practiced subsidence farming, with some bands still continuing a hunter-gatherer existence; as time went on, the elite came to be regarded with suspicion. Dhinawan Windradyne (whose taking of a last name was regarded as suspect by many traditionalists) died in 1862 while still premier, and was succeeded by his son, Ganyi Windradyne. Ganyi promoted policies of agricultural development, which saw the further consolidation of Western crops in the Protectorate; over time, these crops would become the primary Wiradjuri export. Ganyi's policies largely ended the hunter-gatherer tradition in Wiradjuri society.
Chapter 3
The move to form a federation of the Australian colonies was greatly complicated by the presence of the Wiradjuri Protectorate. On one level, the vast agricultural and mineral resources of the Wiradjuri lands were seen as being vital to any federation; on the other hand, notions of racial purity made the notion of a 'separate but equal' status abhorrent to many Australians, especially considering the large Chinese population of the Protectorate. In addition, the creation of a 'free' Aboriginal state was seen as being a prelude to true racial equality within Australia, something seen as unacceptable to many states, especially Western Australia. Within the Wiradjuri lands, there was general support for the idea of Federation, as the Protectorate had no port through which it could export minerals overseas; the introduction of a free trade zone within Australia was seen as beneficial. However, they would only join if they were granted equal status with other Australians, which created much tension.
Within the Wiradjuri lands, tensions were rising with the rule of the Conservative Party, and its strong relationship with religious authority. A new doctrine, Aboriginal socialism, gained popularity amongst many young Wiradjuri, building on existing traditions of egalitarianism and environmentalism, and seeking a return to previous systems of communal land. This proved unacceptable to the Conservative Party, which had been pursuing a program of 'Westernization' in order to further exploit the gold boom. In the 1898, the Wiradjuri Socialist Party (again, a Western translation; the Wiradjuri word, Amaroo, means 'a beautiful place', used in terms akin to OTL Ben Chifley's 'light on the hill' speech) swept to power, forming the first socialist government in the world and finally bringing an end to the oligarchic control of the business elites. It began a more aggressive foreign policy, in many ways echoing the early Conservative Party, and demanded 'equality or nothing' with regards to Federation. This was rejected by the other delegates, after Western Australia threatened to boycott Federation in protest.
In the 1899 referendum on federation, the Wiradjuri Protectorate rejected the referendum with almost two to one against. As the new century dawned, the Wiradjuri Protectorate remained under British control, even as the rest of the nation formed the Commonwealth of Australia. There would be no nation for a continent after all.
In 1907, Australia and Wiradjuri became dominions under the British Empire, gaining substantial autonomy. The Wiradjuri nation changed its name to the Wiradjuri Confederacy, even though British authority remained through the governor-general. The Socialist Prime Minister, Amaroo Mandagery, pursued a program of extensive land reforms, nationalizing many industries and pursuing programs of universal health care and education. His programs sparked alarm from conservatives in both Australia and the Wiradjuri Confederacy. The Conservative Party became the leader of the National Front coalition, aimed at 'protecting Wiradjuri freedom, religion and sovereignty from the menace of Western socialist doctrines.' In response, the Socialist Party formed the League for True Equality, with the support of several minor parties supporting it in the Wiradjuri Assembly. In effect, the Wiradjuri political system, which had previously been dominated by a plethora of small parties and one dominant one, formed a de facto two-party system. Ironically, both parties accused the other of disloyalty to Wiradjuri traditions.
1910 saw the election of the Fisher Labor government in Australia, and the defeat of the Socialist Party in the Wiradjuri Confederacy, to be replaced by a National Front coalition led by the Conservative Party. At the declaration of World War 1 in 1914, the Conservative Prime Minister, Tooraweenah Cudal, pledged Wiradjuri support to the British Empire. He was not to know the trouble this would bring...
Chapter 4
At the time of World War I, the Wiradjuri Confederacy's foreign policy was still dictated by Britain, and it enjoyed less relative independence than many other dominions. However, this did not make Tooraweenah Cudal's support for the war uncontroversial; to the contrary. The war split the community, based largely on regional divides; whereas miners and townspeople generally supported the war, it proved incredibly costly for farmers. As a result, the Socialist Party adopted an anti-war policy, which caused bitter recriminations from many, including Andrew Fisher, the Australian Prime Minister.
Wiradjuri forces fought in the war with distinction; the WANZAC (Wiradjuri Australian New Zealand Army Corps) landing at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire is considered the 'baptism of fire' for all three states. At home, however, the growing cost of the war began a series of bitter recriminations. The Wiradjuri Communist Party, previously a fringe element, began to grow in strength. In the 1916 elections, Tooraweenah Cudal lost his own seat, although the Conservative Party maintained power through a complicated alliance with several rural independents. Ye Yiwei (葉宜偉) became the first non-Aboriginal Prime Minister.
In 1916, Australian Prime Minister Frank Tudor (Billy Hughes having failed to gain election to Parliament in 1901) announced that a policy of conscription was necessary, after Britain adopted a similar policy. Ye Yiwei declared his support for the proposal, leading to mass protests within the Wiradjuri Confederacy. The Conservative government collapsed after rural independents withdrew their support from the government; in Windradyne City (formerly known as Bathurst), Communist Party agitators urged revolution. Hysterical editorials in Australia saw this as being the prelude to a 'red infiltration of White Australia', and urged the Australian government to take action. Rural agitators in the Confederacy urged the final defeat of the urban elite; urban commentators urged citizens to take to the streets to protect their liberties.
Finally, the British governor acted. An all-party coalition government was installed, and order was returned to the streets. Conscription was dropped as a policy, in both the Confederacy and Australia, after Tudor's proposal was defeated in a party room vote. In 1919, Tudor's government was forced into a coalition with the new Country Party (smaller than in OTL, and less conservative), whereas the Conservative government in the Confederacy was returned with an increased majority.
The 1920s were an era of prosperity for the Wiradjuri Confederacy. A new flag, with the Union Jack in the top left corner and a stylized Cootamundra Wattle in the bottom right, symbolized a newfound confidence. The laissez faire policies of the Conservative government during the 1920s led to a massive economic boom; with only 35% of Wiradjuri living in urban areas, primary industries were a major benefactor. Wiradjuri wool became a major fashion item in stores worldwide. In such a relaxed environment, talk again began of independence, despite the Conservative Party's objections.
However, October 1929 changed everything. The massive economic crash wreaked havoc on the Wiradjuri economy, which far from just riding on the sheep's back was entirely dependent upon it. The bad years had begun...
Chapter 5
The effects of the Great Depression on the Wiradjuri Confederacy were devastating. The Confederacy's economy had always been heavily dependent upon primary industries; the worldwide price slump caused massive job losses, up to 40% by some estimates. The Conservative government attempted a widespread prices and wages freeze; this attracted strong opposition within the community. In the 1930 election, the Conservatives were swept from power, and several Wiradjuri Communist Party representatives gained election in rural areas. A Popular Front coalition was formed, led by the Socialist Marang Garawa, a charismatic train driver whose metaphor of the 'amaroo', a prospective future society built upon socialist doctrines. Needless to say, this new government provoked widespread alarm.
The new government initiated proto-Keynesian economic policies, which were wildly ridiculed at the time by conservative columnists in both the Confederacy and Australia. Public works projects were initiated, and welfare benefits were increased. At the same time, though, the state grew more authoritarian; public demonstrations were banned, and banks were nationalized. To many people, the government looked on the verge of a communist takeover. Garawa's meeting with Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, in talks concerning mineral exports further provoked alarm. In this environment of fear and paranoia, talk on both sides became increasingly radical; the conservatives spoke of overthrowing Garawa by force, whereas many communists urged the Garawa government to unilaterally declare independence.
The growing anti-communist hysteria placed pressure on the government of Matthew Charlton, who had taken power in 1929 after defeating W A Watt of the Liberal Party in a landslide. The Charlton government, in coalition with the Country Party, was torn apart by ideological divisions regarding the Wiradjuri regime, amidst pressure to adopt similar measures to those taken by the Popular Front. In the 1931 elections, the Liberal Party (much more small-l liberal than in OTL, without the Nationalist or United Australia interludes) regained power under Stanley Bruce.
Finally, in 1932, tensions in the Confederacy reached their zenith. In a public demonstration against the growing anti-British sentiment of the Garawa government, police fired on protestors, killing 13. The British governor, Baron Huntingfield, dismissed PM Marang Garawa, who refused to accept his authority. The next day, the Wiradjuri government, under rebel PM Garawa, unilaterally declared the Wiradjuri People's Socialist Republic, and fled Windradyne City.
Needless to say, things would not go well.
Chapter 6
The surprising thing about the Wiradjuri People's Socialist Republic is not that it existed, as conflicts had been growing between Aboriginal and British customs and leadership for decades, but that it survived so long. This is primarily due to the very same economic duties that led to its creation; Australia had almost no armed forces, and in the Depression was in no condition to launch a costly war. However, the Australian government, under Stanley Bruce, supplied logistics and 'advisers' to the anti-Garawa faction, aided by the United Kingdom. However, communist supporters in the Australian community, covertly supported by the Soviet Union, went to fight for the Republican forces.
The Wiradjuri Civil War lasted for 3 years, and caused widespread economic devastation in addition to the extensive damage of the Depression. The war was not so much between ‘socialists’ and ‘capitalists’ as it was between rural and urban lobbies. Since the gold rush, an urban elite had grown rich of mining profits, leading to widening cultural gap between the traditionalist rural population and the pro-British urban population Garawa, himself from a poor farming family, depicted himself as the defender of the rural poor against a corporate oligarchy. As it was, the war took place mostly as a rural rebellion, with the ‘Wiradjuri People’s Socialist Republic’ acting not so much as a state than as an idea to inspire Garawa’s followers.
Windradyne City fell to Loyalist (the anti-Garawa faction) forces after several days of fighting early in the war, but Garawa managed to escape west, where he still enjoyed widespread support. From that point on, the war was largely fought as a guerrilla conflict; the Loyalist forces, who controlled most of the major cities, had little support in the countryside, and were thus dependent upon Australian food imports. There were few 'major' battles; instead, a constant campaign of attrition by the Republicans, aided by Communist sympathizers, caused havoc for the Loyalist government through a campaign of bombings and militia skirmishes. It is estimated that the war cost nearly 5 000 lives in total.
The war abruptly ended in 1935, when Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, sent aid and advisors to the Loyalist government, in order to foster better relations with Britain and to defeat the communist Republicans, who were quickly crushed. The Wiradjuri Confederacy, which was devastated by the war, limped on for a few years under the non-partisan Wiradjuri Provisional Government but was clearly crushed. In 1938, Stanley Bruce was defeated in a leadership ballot by Robert Menzies. The following year, war was declared between Germany and Britain. The Wiradjuri Confederacy, on a pretext of an 'allied front' to defend Britain, was absorbed into the Commonwealth of Australia as the seventh state. Its citizens were allowed to vote in federal elections, although this was denied to all other Australian Aborigines. To most observers, the dream of an independent Aboriginal state appeared finally over.
Chapter 7
They say World War I was the 'baptism of fire' for Australia, but World War II served to bind the nation, newly enlarged, closer together than ever before. The 1930s had been difficult times for Australia; fascist groups such as the New Guard, the secessionist movements in Tasmania and Western Australia and a rural-based rebellion in the Wiradjuri Confederacy had threatened the very fabric of the nation. It was only the threat of Japanese invasion which managed to bind the nation closer together than ever before.
Prime Minister Robert Menzies, although derided in some corners as an inefficient war leader, provided capable leadership due to his strong support by his party. The Australian Labor Party, under the leadership of Frank Forde, formed a National Government with Menzies due to the Liberal Party's popularity. At first, Menzies was criticized for an over-involvement in British affairs; however, the attack on Pearl Harbour by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941 changed everything.
Wiradjuri soldiers, both enlisted and conscript, fought in desperate campaigns alongside Australian soldiers to stop the Japanese advance. Although this was criticized in many quarters at the time, the threat was seen to merit the use of Aboriginal troops, especially considering the previous experience of many of them in the Wiradjuri Civil War. Institutional racism posed a problem, especially with the large Chinese population of the state; however, their bravery and courage in battle led to a greater acceptance of the Wiradjuri. However, there was still a long way to go before the Wiradjuri could ever be accepted as equals.
After the war ended in 1945, returning Wiradjuri soldiers were treated as heroes in their homeland, but largely ignored by the rest of Australia. The Returned Soldiers League refused to accept Wiradjuri troops as members until 1958. The National Government collapsed in 1945, and Frank Forde, promising economic reform, swept to victory over the Liberal government for the first Labor government in 14 years. In 1947, a referendum granting the federal government powers to make laws for Aborigines was narrowly passed; this amendment to the constitution, passed largely due to the large-scale Wiradjuri support for Labor, was bitterly contested by groups protesting that it would 'begin a black onslaught into our cities and suburbs' (different from OTL, due to the more conservative society at the time); its passing allowed for greater Commonwealth involvement in Aboriginal affairs.
The 1950s are widely regarded as the Wiradjuri 'golden age'; the Korean War led to a boom in wheat exports, the booming Australian economy provided for large-scale development, and the Wiradjuri people reveled in a new-found confidence due to the easing of the scars of the past. The economic boom allowed for a drastic increase in Wiradjuri prosperity; in 1939, Wiradjuri GDP per capita was one-third of Australia, yet in 1959 it was nearly 1.5 times more. This prosperity allowed for greater Wiradjuri influence in Australian life; Wiradjuri restaurants and shops began to open up in Sydney. Although they were still treated with racism and discrimination, particularly in the western states, the Wiradjuri began the process of integration into Australian society.
At the same time, the large Chinese population of Wiradjuri began a slow migration into greater Australia; however, the greater discrimination they faced ensured that there would be a long way still to go before they gained acceptance.
Chapter 8
The leaps and bounds the Wiradjuri took during the 1950s in entering Australian society were hard-fought. Frank Forde, who succeeded Robert Menzies as Prime Minister in 1945 on a platform of national rebuilding and general welfare, won office largely based on a large bloc of Wiradjuri support; although the communists had lost the war, the Labor Party were still largely preferred in the state of Wiradjuri to the somewhat more elitist Liberals. This presented a major problem, in that much of the Labor Party's base were still heavily against racial integration and immigration; the conflict between these conservative blue-collar workers and the somewhat more leftist Wiradjuri dominated the Forde administration, particularly after the election of the first Wiradjuri MP, Cabonne Tomingley in 1945 (Wagga Wagga, Labor)
The strength of Wiradjuri support for the Forde government forced it to toe a fine line between the interests of its Aboriginal and white supporters, with mixed success. Over time, rampant factionalism led to two major 'groups'; the Catholic Movement, comprised primarily of those opposed to Wiradjuri and socialist 'infiltration' of the party, and True Labor, a group composed of the more radical and Wiradjuri members of the party. Forde, although non-factional, was privately considered sympathetic to True Labor.
In 1948, following the success of the referendum, all Aboriginals were granted the vote, a radical change from the previous Wiradjuri-restricted Aboriginal franchise. This led to increasing demands for Aboriginal rights, leading the new leader of the Liberal Party, Richard Casey, to accuse the government of 'being a Trojan Horse for an army of yellow, black and red infiltrators, dedicated to undermining the foundations of White Australia'. Although Labor won the 1948 election narrowly, divisions within the party were evident. The Country Party broke off its coalition with the Labor Party, in opposition to Forde's policies.
In 1950, Arthur Calwell, leader of the True Labor faction, led a group of his supporters out of the party room to form the Democratic Labor Party, bringing down the government on the floor of the house. In the ensuing elections, Richard Casey led the Liberal Party to victory. Ironically, his free-market policies led to greater Wiradjuri prosperity, increasing their role in Australian society. The bitter conflict between the Labor Party and Democratic Labor Party continued throughout the 1950s, allowing Casey to win an unprecedented four elections. He retired in 1963, to be succeeded by Garfield Barwick. In 1960, the Democratic Labor Party and Country Party merged, in opposition to Wiradjuri influence in the Labor Party, to form the National Party.
The 1960s were an era of increasing liberalism in Australian society; the Wiradjuri became increasingly accepted as citizens. The White Australia Policy was ended in 1963, thanks largely to the lobbying of the increasingly influential Chinese population of the Wiradjuri state, who became steadfast Liberal voters. This led to increased Asian immigration, further progressing Australia's transformation into a multicultural society. This increased acceptance lead to the return of former Wiradjuri premier Marang Garawa from self-imposed exile in the Soviet Union in 1961; he received a hero's welcome in rural areas, before dying two years later.
Finally, in 1966, the real 60s began in Australia. Boree Canobolas, an urbane Sydney-educated Wiradjuri lawyer, in many ways representative of the 'new' generation of well-educated, wealthy Wiradjuri, became leader of the Labor Party, and began promises of new multicultural and social democratic reforms. Although despised by the National Party, he formed a minority government with the support of three independents in the 1969 elections. Australia had no idea of the ride it was in for...
Chapter 9
For every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. The 1960s were a time of increased multicultural integration in Australian society; the Wiradjuri band Corroboree scored a No. 1 hit with 'All Together Now', a song blending Beatles-style rock with traditional Wiradjuri rhythm and instruments. There was a thankfully brief vogue for 'dot flares' in 1967, a form of bell-bottom trousers decorated in a style reminiscent of Northern Territory didgeridoos. However, these cultural innovations faced increasing opposition. The Country Party, whose vote had been declining since the 1950s, merged with the Democratic Labor Party in 1960 to form the National Party in opposition to increasing Asian and Aboriginal influences in Australian society; it won 12 seats in the 1963 election, all in rural areas of Queensland and Western Australia, and served mostly to draw off working class supporters of the Labor Party. It drifted further to the right throughout the 1960s, to the point where its 1969 campaign slogan was 'No Chinks In The Defences of White Australia'. Although Boree Canabolas of the Labor Party managed to win 58 seats and form a government with the support of two independents, the National Party increased its representation to 16 seats, including its first urban seat in Perth.
The Canabolas government immediately began a wide range of changes; Australia was declared a multicultural society, equal opportunity employment was instituted for Aborigines, immigrants and women, tertiary fees were abolished, and a free, universal health system was instituted. Arrangements were made for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights, with the first 'native title' land being given back to its traditional inhabitants, the Mer nation of the Torres Strait, in 1970. Perhaps most symbolically, Australia was declared 'a bilingual nation', with both English and Wiradjuri used officially. To the 2 million Wiradjuri in Australia in 1970, it seemed the dawning of a new age.
Yet from the beginning, the Canabolas government was wreaked by turmoil. The Australian Labor Party, after 19 years in opposition, had won election largely on Wiradjuri support; to many Australians, this made it seem captive to minority interests. Relations with the United States had declined since the Barwick government, which refused to participate in the Vietnam War; this was interpreted by many as evidence of 'growing red infiltration' in Australian society, and led to a plethora of scandalized editorials. But most dangerous of all was the chronic instability of the Canabolas government; in the 19 years the ALP had spent in opposition, much of its time had been spent in factional warfare. The Cabinet was less a unified party than a coalition of factions, united only by a desire to hold power. As a result, the government experienced chronic ministerial instability, which combined with the unprecedented reforming zeal of the government led to a growth in support for the conservative, reactionary National Party.
In the 1972 election, the Labor Party was reduced to 53 seats, with the Nationals increasing their power to 19. The Liberals, on 48 seats, could potentially have held power with National support; however, widespread outcry from the more moderate sections of the party led to threats of a party room split. Coupled with widespread middle-class uneasiness with the Nationals and their leader, Doug Anthony, the Liberal Party decided to form a 'grand coalition' with the Labor Party. Canabolas would remain leader, but the Liberal leader, Don Chipp, would become treasurer, and would restrain the previous profligacy of the government.
For the next year, it seemed the government had finally achieved peace, despite widespread uneasiness about the stability of the Grand Coalition. An attempted leadership coup by Malcolm Fraser, who promised to break off the Grand Coalition and form an alliance with the Nationals, was defeated. In the words of journalist Mungo MacCallum, 'It seems Australia is not yet ready for a man with an iron fist inside a barbed wire glove. Hopefully, it never will be'.
Then, on October 17, 1973, Arab nations launched an oil embargo against the West. Although Australia was not targeted specifically, the oil shock served to create a global economic crisis. The 1973 budget, widely derided as 'a mess', tried to use Keynesian methods to repair the crisis, but to no avail. On June 17, 1974, Don Chipp lost the Liberal leadership to Malcolm Fraser, who then brought down the Labor government in Parliament, triggering an election. In the election, the Labor Party was decimated, losing 20 seats. The Liberal Party gained enough support to form government in their own right. In Wiradjuri state elections held the same day, the Liberal Party managed to overthrow the Labor state government for the first time in the state's 35 year history. The age of idealism was over.
Despite the fears of many on the left, the Fraser/Anthony government did not reverse many of Canabolas' reforms; this can be largely ascribed to Malcolm Fraser, a 'traditional conservative' who, although pragmatically accepting the need for the National coalition, was largely sympathetic towards the Wiradjuri. Although many scholars have recently ascribed this to the need to maintain the large block of Chinese Wiradjuri votes, most scholars believe that Fraser, an internationalist, was in many ways a moderate within the Liberal Party regarding issues of race. However, Canabolas' native title legislation was slowed to a large degree, due to the demands of the predominantly rural Nationals. As the Nationals gained in power throughout successive elections due to the collapse of the Labor Party, more strident rhetoric emerged from the government, culminating in the announcement by Doug Anthony in 1985 that 'Australia has one culture, and that is Anglo-Saxon. Accept this, or get out.'
After the defeat of the Canabolas government, the Labor Party largely lost its way; Canabolas fell in a party room coup early in 1975, and was replaced by Lionel Bowen, a lackluster leader who failed to capture much of his charm. The Canabolas government, although popular early in its reign, had become hugely unpopular due to the oil prices crisis. The party split of 1950 had caused a split in its working-class base; many blue-collar workers had grown disillusioned with Labor, and had flocked to the populist, conservative Nationals in droves. Although the Labor Party managed to recover seats in the 1977 election, it never again became a serious political force. A split in early 1980 was the final death toll; much of its base flocked to the Nationals, with its Wiradjuri wing rebanding as the Wiradjuri Party, an autonomist, social democratic party. In the election that year, it lost all but 12 seats. In 1983, it finally disbanded. Internecine struggles of ideology and personality had finally torn the Australian Labor Party to shreds.
Chapter 10
The 1987 election was one of the most epochal elections ever held in Australian history, equal to that of 1910 (the first two-party election), 1950 (the first Labor split election), or 1969 (the Canabolas election) in its significance. The Liberal Party had largely ruled supreme with National support since the collapse of Labor, with Malcolm Fraser resigning in 1985 undefeated, to be replaced by Andrew Peacock. In 1987, for the first time, this superiority was challenged. Populist Queensland National premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson, who was elected to the federal parliament in 1983, assumed leadership of the National Party in 1986 and promptly broke off the coalition. As the Liberal Party had enough numbers to govern on its own and had largely maintained the coalition for electoral reasons, this had no immediate effect, but served to illustrate Bjelke-Peterson's own prime ministerial ambitions. In the bitterly contested election, Bjelke-Peterson won 69 seats, with the Liberal Party on 62, the Wiradjuri Party on 15 and with 5 former Labor MPs retaining their seats. Several weeks of frenzied coalition-building followed. The National Party refused to take part in any coalition unless Bjelke-Peterson would be Prime Minister, the Wiradjuri Party were determined to hold a referendum on Wiradjuri independence, a topic largely condemned by other parties, and the five former Labor MPs refused to have talks with anyone. In this environment, the Liberal Party largely emerged as the kingmakers; stuck between the Nationals, who they distrusted as rural xenophobes, and the Wiradjuri, who were regarded as 'secessionist socialist fairies at the bottom of the garden' (in the words of conservative commentator John Howard), the Liberals were admittedly tempted to write 'none of the above', and indeed ran a minority government for several weeks after the election. However, faced with defeat on the floor of the house and another election so soon after the first, Peacock finally capitulated to Bjelke-Peterson's demands.
Despite the fears of some Wiradjuri, the Bjelke-Peterson Prime Ministership was not as reactionary as first feared; this was to a large extent due to the influence of Andrew Peacock, a moderate, as treasurer. However, Bjelke-Peterson's policies of 'one Australia for one people', although generally more rhetoric than practice, aroused considerable fear and concern amongst the Wiradjuri population. In the 1988 Wiradjuri state election, the Wiradjuri Party won a majority for the first time, and began preparations for a referendum on independence by 1990. In the words of the Chinese Wiradjuri Premier, Han Zheng (韩正), 'The Wiradjuri can finally come out of the shadow of White Australia. We seek not to divide Australia, but to unite our people in patriotism for our great nation. To be Wiradjuri is more than being Aboriginal or Chinese or European; it is a mindset, of equality and justice for all. Our new nation shall be the culmination of that mindset.'
As the 1980s ended, Han Zheng and Joh Bjelke-Peterson came into increasing conflict. This conflict took place in the wider scope of what was later dubbed 'the culture wars', or the debate over the study of Australian culture and history. This accompanied a rise in racial tensions in Australia, including from Wiradjuri towards other Australians; these culminated in the notorious Windradyne riots on December 8 1989, in which Wiradjuri youths attacked Australian shops and businesses. Ugly shots of drunken youths, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with 'Go back to England', hit the front pages the next day, with large-scale recriminations.
Yet, paradoxically, the 1980s were also a decade of social progress, admittedly largely inspired by opposition to Bjelke-Peterson. The environmentalist movement gained strength in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Greens forming the Official Opposition in 1989. More women gained positions of power across the country, including the elevation of Liberal Bronwyn Bishop to the deputy leadership of the Liberal Party in 1990. Although the government created immigration policies seen as discriminatory towards Asian immigration, it also pursued a program of economic liberalism, creating closer economic links with the 'Asian tigers'.
In the Wiradjuri independence referendum of 1990, those in favour of remaining within Australia won out, 55%-45%. After the referendum, Han Zheng, accompanied by prominent leftist figures Boree Canabolas and Bob Hawke, announced the formation of the Australian Progressive Alliance, a left-wing coalition seeking to reunite the environmentalist, former Labor and Wiradjuri nationalist parties across the country. Although derided as 'the chardonnay party', the APA won 19 seats in the 1990 election, helping to bring down the Bjelke-Peterson government through promises of supply to the Liberals.
Chapter 11
The 1970s and 1980s are often derided by those on the left as the 'wasted years'; it is generally considered that Australian history only really began again after 1974 in 1990, with the election of the Hewson government. However, this ignores the very real role the Fraser and Bjelke-Peterson governments had in encouraging multiculturalism, ironically by rejecting it. Their 17-rule rule saw greater integration of minority groups into Australian society as government policy, while still retaining elements of their original cultures; this softened the effect of racism in Australia, as minority groups came to be seen as 'one of us'. The breaking of tariff barriers in the 1980s allowed for greater Wiradjuri prosperity, furthering integration. Perhaps most important of all was pop singer Jia Qinglin. His songs became smash hits across Australia, and polling showed that his example, as a loyal Australian nationalist who still respected Chinese culture, served as an inspiration for all Australians.
However, it is true that the pace of reform established under the Canabolas administration only really began again under the second Peacock government. The Australian Progressive Alliance rebadged itself as a unified party, the Australian Democrats, following the election, and formed a coalition with the Liberal Party in 1991. Under Hewson, who won the leadership of the Liberal Party following the 1989 following Peacock's resignation, the Liberal Party followed an economically libertarian doctrine; combined with the social liberalism of the broad-left Australian Democrats, this led to a government defined by many as 'Australia's first libertarian government'. The government actively encouraged multiculturalism, not so much from doctrine but, in the memorable words of immigration spokesman Amaroo Cudal of the AD, 'Why should we tell people how to live their lives? Australia is a tolerant place; that includes the tolerance to make choices. We are proud to be a nation that lets people be proud of who they are.'
This libertarianism came as an unorthodox change to the social conservatism of previous years, especially under Bjelke-Peterson. Although much progressive legislation came as a result, including the legalization of homosexual marriage, much of the social democratic legislation of the Canabolas era was dismantled. Although this caused dismay amongst the Old Left, it served as the final recognition that the era of social democracy was over.
In contrast to the LP-AD coalition, the Nationals seemed to lose their way. The party had always been a broad coalition of conservative and nationalist interest groups; now, conflicts over economic rationalist doctrine caused widespread factional conflict within the party. Bjelke-Peterson was sacked soon after the election loss, and the party never recovered from the lack of strong leadership. It had existed to prevent Wiradjuri infiltration of Australian society yet, ironically, through greater assimilationist policies it had made them accepted as ever before. The party lost half its seats in the 1993 election, and faded away as a political force soon after.
In 1996, the Australian Democrats won more seats than the Liberals, and formed government in their own right under Cheryl Kernot, the first female Prime Minister. Talks to form an Australian republic followed. By this time, Wiradjuri secessionist sentiment, which had reached its height during the Bjelke-Peterson era, was almost entirely quashed. The referendum, held in 1999, was passed narrowly.
And so, as the millennium ended, the crowning glory of what has been called 'the Australian century', the 2000 Sydney Olympics, were held. Han Zheng, a former Wiradjuri Premier of European and Chinese parents, opened the games as Australian President. Although the three mascots (Ollie, Borlung, and Lóng) were dismissed as too cutesy and 'politically correct' by columnists, they were undeniably popular symbols of multicultural diversity. As the fireworks boomed over Sydney, it seemed a moment worth fighting for.