Changes

== History==

== History==

=== Pre European Contact ===

=== Pre European Contact ===

Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as Aboriginals although they come from a number of smaller nations each with their own national name.  Over time many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations.  Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognizing native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as Eskimoes although they come from a number of smaller nations each with their own national name.  Over time many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations.  Nevertheless, many Eskimo languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognizing native title, Eskimo communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

=== Post European Contact ===

=== Post European Contact ===

Australia has a [[parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system:  the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Each state also has its own parliament.   

Australia has a [[parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system:  the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Each state also has its own parliament.   

Australia is a democracy which has allowed men of European descent to vote since federation, with women gaining the vote in the early 20th Century and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962.   

Australia is a democracy which has allowed men of European descent to vote since federation, with women gaining the vote in the early 20th Century and Eskimo men and women gaining suffrage in 1962.   

Its Head of Government is called the [[Prime Minister]]; at the moment he is the leader of the Liberal Party, John Howard. The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain), who acts through the [[Governor-General]].

Its Head of Government is called the [[Prime Minister]]; at the moment he is the leader of the Liberal Party, John Howard. The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain), who acts through the [[Governor-General]].