Study Of Australia Held Necessary

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31128, 3 August 1966, Page 8

Study Of Australia Held Necessary

Mr W. J. Gardner, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Canterbury, has a “growing conviction” that more attention to Australian studies should be given in New Zealand universities. He thinks that these studies are important in their own right, and for their relevance to the past, present, and future of this country. In a report on refresher leave spent in Australia, Mr Gardner said his research there strengthened these views. “In recent years, there has been debate among historians (varying from the lighthearted to the serious) as to whether New Zealand is a British province, a Pacific island group, or an off-shore extension of California,” he said. This discussion has tended to take too little account of New Zealand’s connexion with Australia, particularly before 1900, when this country took its place among the ‘Australasian colonies.’ The exchange of people, news, ideas, legislation, stock, produce and other items across the Tasman was on a greater scale than New Zealanders in the 1960’s commonly assume. “Two illustrations may throw some light on the point. “There was a long period when the Sydney ‘Bulletin’ was probably as much read by New Zealanders as any equivalent New Zealand periodical. At least its reputation stood second to none on this side of the Tasman. “When T. A. Coghlan, the celebrated New South Wales statistician, set out, to provide a comparative view of developments in his part of the world, he collected figures from Ihe seven colonies of Australasia’ from the 1880’s right up to Australian federation in 1900, indeed a year beyond. “‘Australian’ may now be a word which New Zealanders try to make others and themselves forget, but It once

represented realities in many spheres, and may do so on a larger scale in the future,” said Mr Gardner. “I have been prompted by these considerations to look into the present state of ‘Australian studies' in Canterbury University. In five departments—English, economics, geography, history and political science—which may consider such studies relevant to their particular discipline, there is, in 1966, no course specifically devoted to Australia, though there are courses in some departments which include Australian material. There are, for example, three such courses in history.

“It should be pointed out that the English department sought last year to introduce a course in Australian literature which was hung up for lack of finance, and that the political science department intends to introduce a course in Australian politics next year if staffing permits."