Word: australians
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Thinking every man as good as the next, the prewar Australian worker was a passionate believer in class warfare and working-class solidarity. Australia got its first Labor Prime Minister in 1904, 20 years before Britain. Labor unions acquired a major voice in government and a death grip on the economy. The worst sin in the Australian calendar was scabbing, and the prevailing work pace was one that G.I.s came to call "the Australian crawl...
Voting for Freedom. Pearl Harbor surprised the U.S.; it awakened Australia. As the Japanese overran Singapore and invaded New Guinea,- and even bombed Darwin in Australia's own Northern Territory, Australians abruptly lost their sense of secure remoteness. Britain, fighting for its life, was in no position to help -and was reluctant to lose the battle-hardened Australian troops in the Middle East. "Without any inhibitions of any kind," wrote Prime Minister Curtin in January 1941, "I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with...
...eight years out of power, he had given his party not only a new name-the Liberal Party-but a tight new grass-roots organization. In December 1949, responding to Menzies' cry that "a vote for Labor is a vote for the ultimate bereavement of freedom," Australians brought the Liberals into power in coalition with the Australian farm bloc's Country Party. Four times since, Menzies and his government have been confirmed in office...
...Breakthrough. Australian workers not only do not strike as often, but they are, by common consent, working harder than ever before, and in the past five years productivity has increased 5% annually. In part, this reflects the impact of the New Australians, who now make up 20% of the labor force, and who, in their anxiety to build new lives, have flocked to the tough jobs in the steel, automotive and transport industries. But the Old Australian hustles more, too, and sees his own stake in prosperity...
Along with new hustle, a new diversity has entered Australian life. Staid Melbourne still languishes under the blue laws that turn it into "a Sunday necropolis," and in most of Australia strict drinking hours still produce a custom known as "the 6 o'clock swill"-which contributes mightily to an annual beer consumption of 23 gallons per man, woman and child. But it is now possible, in the big cities, to find a gas station open before 9 a.m. and a stationery store after 5 p.m. In Sydney or Melbourne, a man who doesn't feel like Australia...