Australia turns 100 in January 2001

In 2001, the Commonwealth of Australia will be 100 years old and there will be parades, festivals, remembrance services, sporting events, indigenous celebrations, parties and other events throughout the year to mark the centennial.

The construction of a new National Museum of Australia, an awareness-raising advertising campaign and a one-man around- Australia marathon are now under way.

In July, 2000, there will be celebrations in London marking when the Constitution Act, passed by British Parliament to enable the Australian colonies to join together, received Royal Assent from Queen Victoria.

Formally created on Jan. 1, 1901, Australia was formed when six separate coexisting British colonies came together in a federation.

The movement toward federation gained impetus toward the end of the 1880s and a long process of constitutional conventions followed until, by a series of referendums, the people of separate colonies voted for federation.

During the centenary celebrations, the national spotlight will move around the country featuring events in the capital city of each state or territory.

The celebrations

Celebrations will begin on Federation Day in New South Wales on Jan. 1, 2001, with a massive street parade in Sydney and a ceremony in Centennial Park to mark the centennial of the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The Centenary of Federation cricket test match between Australia and the West Indies will begin the next day.

In early February, attention will swing to Hobart in Tasmania with a major festival in and around the Derwent River commemorating Australia's maritime and boating heritage.

On Feb. 19 (the anniversary of the bombing of Darwin -- capital of the Northern Territory -- during World War II) there will be a service marking Darwin's role in defending the Federation, to be broadcast nationally.

In Canberra, the national capital, the National Museum of Australia will be opened on March 12. This event will include a spectacular on Lake Burley Griffin and a national multicultural festival.

Brisbane, in Queensland, will mark the centennial of the election of its first Federal Parliamentarians with four days of cultural and sporting celebrations from March 29 to April 1.

Melbourne, Australia's second biggest city and capital of Victoria, will stage the May 2001 Celebrations, revolving around the opening of the first parliament of the commonwealth. The program will include three weeks of major events, celebrations and activities.

In September, a special indigenous event will showcase Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists as part of a Centenary of Federation Festival in Alice Springs in central Australia.

This will be followed in October by events hosted by South Australia and Western Australia, including the trans-Australian rail project retracing the first rail journey that joined east and west.

National Museum of Australia

Early in 1999, building started on a A$152 million National Museum of Australia.

At a ceremony marking the building's start, the Minister for the Centenary of Federation, Mr. Peter McGauran, described the building as a reminder of Australia's collective past and a symbol of a promising future.

"What better way to celebrate the Centenary of Federation, and the history of the Australian people that preceded it, than the creation of a new cultural institution which celebrates our cultural heritage?" he asked.

The museum will include a multimedia theatrical introduction, broadcast facilities, state of the art theater and more than 6,500 square metres of exhibition space.

TV campaign

The Australian Government has sponsored a media campaign to raise awareness of the birthday and the nation's colorful past, centered on television commercials, which will run into 2000.

"The campaign aims to provoke Australians to know more about the events, the stories and the humor behind the development of our nation," Federal Minister for the Centenary of Federation Mr. Peter McGauran said.

"Federation was a remarkably peaceful and democratic process, achieved with a vote, not a war. That may be why Australians sometimes take the story of their nation's birth for granted," McGauran said.

Ultramarathon man

One man really exerting himself for Australia's centenary is ultramarathon runner Pat Farmer. The 37-year-old landscape gardener from Sydney has run 14,400 kilometers around the nation -- the whole continent plus the island state of Tasmania.

He did it in 191 days, breaking the previous record by 26 days and averaging 80 km a day.

Pat Farmer said he was inspired after hearing the story of Donald Mackay who rode a bicycle around the continent in 1900 as a symbolic journey to mark the then forthcoming federation between the six Australian colonies.

The Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. John Howard, started Farmer on his run from the national capital, Canberra, on May 31 and welcomed him back on Dec. 8.

On his return, he described Farmer as "a superb ambassador for what it means to be an Australian".