Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1872 Adelaide became the first Australian capital to be connected by telegraph with
London, slashing communication times from six months to seven hours.
Twentieth-Century Trials
After federation, manufacturing and heavy engineering became important in SA. The
Port Pirie smelter was enlarged during WWI, and was soon producing 10% of the
world's lead, as well as silver and zinc.
WWI was a time of division in SA. Before 1914 the state had many German place
names, but in a fit of anti-German zeal many of these were replaced. Most were rein-
stated during the 1936 centennial celebrations, when the German settlers' huge contribu-
tion to SA's development was officially recognised.
The early 1920s brought prosperity across Australia, before a four-year drought led in-
to the Great Depression. All states suffered during this period, but SA fared worst of all:
in 1931 more than 70,000 people out of a population of 575,000 were dependent on wel-
fare.
Industrial development in SA quickened during WWII - water-pipeline construction,
ship building and coal mining all took off - but people in the NT had more pressing is-
sues to contend with. At 9.57am on 19 February 1942, nearly 200 Japanese aircraft
bombed Darwin's harbour and the RAAF base at Larrakeyah. Darwin was attacked 64
times during the war and 243 people lost their lives; it was the only place in Australia to
suffer prolonged attacks. In March 1942 the entire NT north of Alice Springs was placed
under military control and by December there were 32,000 troops stationed in the Top
End.
After WWII, the Australian government launched an ambitious scheme to attract im-
migrants. Thousands of people from Britain, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, the Nether-
lands, Poland, Turkey, Malta and Lebanon took up the offer of government-assisted pas-
sage. The immigration boom fuelled growth in SA, which shifted from a rural economy
to a predominantly industrial one. In the NT the urban areas of Darwin and Alice Springs
also grew.
The 1960s and '70s were difficult times in SA - economic and population growth
were stagnating, and overseas competition heightened a deepening industrial recession.
Socially, however, SA premier Don Dunstan's progressive Labor government was kick-
ing goals, passing an act prohibiting racial discrimination (the first in Australia), and cre-
ating the South Australian Film Corporation (1972).
