Australia (1948)

so this is australia and is that the australian flag yes the union jack in the corner is a reminder that the british originally colonized australia and what did this stand for the large star has seven points six of these points represent australia's six states the capital cities are on the coast the seventh point stands for australia's territories two are on the mainland canberra is the federal capital of the six states and all the territories and the smaller stars they represent the constellation of the southern cross visible mainly south of the equator they are reminders that australia is in the southern hemisphere you australians have a mighty big country and we do but most of us live in the cities on the coast over a million live in sydney and another million in melbourne most of the rest of australia's seven million people are also found in the southeast why are you all so crowded into one corner because this is the good country our best farmlands are here and our industries are here why is so much of australia empty because there's not enough water in the back country you see the prevailing winds in the zone are the southeast trades as they blow up the ocean they are full of moisture when they reach the mountain ward the eastern highlands the southeast trade winds lose most of their moisture on the windward slopes back of the mountains there is little rainfall here is the central basin drained by australia's only large river system still farther west on the great plateau there is very little water this land is mostly desert rain bearing winds are very important to us australians all year the prevailing winds bring rain to the eastern highlands in summer tropical monsoons last the northern coast in winter the westerlies bring gentle rain to the southern coast spring [Music] summer autumn winter spring summer autumn winter only a narrow margin receives an annual rainfall of 30 inches or more farther inland is a zone where the rainfall is between 15 and 30 inches a year and in this area rainfall is even less so you see it's important to remember first that australia has three major regions the eastern highlands the central basin and the great plateau of the west second that the rainfall is confined mainly to the coastal areas and third that the good country where most of us live is only a small part of a large continent now let's have a look at it in large cities like sydney we find most of the people sydney is the site of australia's first settlement today it is the third largest city in the british commonwealth and australia's main port from many walls along sydney's long harbor line the produce of australia is shipped to other parts of the world most of australia's exports go to the united kingdom and other british countries what's the leading export animal products meat such as beef and mutton which cross the sea in refrigerated ships animal products also include hides and skins used for making shoes and suitcases those are bales of wool aren't they yes australia produces more than one-fourth of the world's wool australian wool is valued for its uniform texture next an export value is wheat wheat that helps provide bread for the peoples of the united kingdom the waterfront at sydney is surely a busy place well you'll find it interesting in the business section too we'll see there are some things australia must import there seem to be a lot of cars here yes many of them are brought in from other countries many large industrial machines are imported too oils and petrol and rubber for tires must be imported and chemicals and drugs along this narrow street we'll see shops displaying textiles and clothing some of them were woven or tailored in faraway britain out of australia's own wall tea and coffee are shipped in from overseas for most of its paper australia imports timber and wood puffs now suppose we see how the australian people live in the larger cities many people live in flats but more people live in houses city homes are usually brick or concrete and scattered among the homes of churches of several denominations and modern schools all the boys and girls go to separate schools they include students from out back what does it look like outback well the quickest way to show you is to fly here below us we see many factories symbols of australia's rapidly growing industry now we're over the blue mountains part of the eastern highlands over these mountains the early australian pioneers moved westward into the back country and here are the irrigated farmers of the central basin in this region of limited rainfall much fertile soil has become productive because of a state program for water conservation this is the hume dam across murray river it marks the most important water conservation project in australia farther out back there are large stations or what in america would be called ranchers and here is one of them each station must have its bore or well as you would call it the precious water from the bore is stored in a tank for household use throughout the central basin very deep artesian bores provide enough water for raising livestock in spite of the limited rainfall australia's fine flocks include more than 100 million sheep on the average each sheep gives almost 10 pounds of wool a year tell me why do you sometimes call the back country the bush the bush is where animals and plants may be seen in their natural conditions the bush is the home of the kangaroo one of the unusual animals native to australia a young kangaroo spends much time in his mother's pouch until it's quite large i'd like to see a kangaroo run and there goes one now do you know that a kangaroo can jump as fast as a horse can run now we'll go on across the continent by the trans-australian railway on the treeless plains of the great plateau the railway may run several hundred miles in a straight line never does it cross one permanent stream the water for the gold mining town of calgary in western australia was brought more than 300 miles over the mountains production of gold exceeds in value australia's production of other minerals such as coal lead silver and iron today western australia produces eighty percent of the country's gold now finally let's take a look at the capital city canberra here the wise use of water has made a garden city on the side of an old sheep run here is the national library and here is parliament house the seat of the government of one of the world's great democracies australia the expansive island continent of the southern hemisphere [Music] you