AUSTRALIA’S MEETING PLACE
Less than a hundred years ago, Australia was made up of six separate
colonies. These colonies were ruled by the British. Then, in 1901, the
colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
Today, Australia is an independent country. But it is also a member of
the Commonwealth of Nations. This is a group of countries that were once
under British rule. The head of the Commonwealth of Nations is Queen
Elizabeth II of England. This also makes her queen of Australia. But the
queen doesn’t rule the Australians. They vote for their own lawmakers,
who meet in Parliament House in Canberra, the capital city.
The name Canberra comes from the Aboriginal word kamberri, which may
mean “meeting place. When it was chosen as the capital, this “meeting
place” had few trees. As part of an experiment, oaks, elms, beeches,
birches, cottonwoods, firs, and cypresses were brought in from other
parts of the world. But the people also wanted native Australian trees.
One kind they planted was eucalyptus, which they call gum trees. They
also put in acacias, known as wattles in Australia.
The wattle and gum tree are especially important because they are among
Australia’s unofficial emblems. In fact, flowering branches of wattle
form the background of Australia’s coat of arms. In all, more than one
and a half million trees and shrubs were planted to make Australia’s
capital more beautiful.
