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As about one-half of the colony of Queensland lies within the tropics, it is but natural to expect that the climate should be very warm. The temperature, however, has a less daily range than that of other countries under the same isothermal lines. This circumstance is due to the sea-breezes, which blow with great regularity and temper what would otherwise be an excessive heat. The hot winds which prevail during the summer in some of the other colonies are unknown in Queensland. Of course, in a territory of such large extent there are many varieties of climate, and the heat is greater along the coast than on the elevated lands of the interior. In the northern parts of the colony the high temperature is very trying to persons of European descent. The mean temperature at Brisbane, during December, January, and February, is about 76°, while during the months of June, July, and August it averages about 60°. Brisbane, however, is situated near the extreme southern end of the colony, and its average temperature is considerably less than that of many of the towns farther north. the winter in Rockhampton averages nearly 65°, while the summer heat rises almost to 85°; and at Townsville and Normanton the average temperature is still higher.

Thus

The average rainfall of Queensland is high, especially along the northern coast, where it ranges from 60 to 70 inches per annum. At Brisbane 50.01 inches is the average of thirty-five years, and even on the plains of the interior from 20 to 30 inches usually fall every year. During 1897, 42.53 inches of rain fell in Brisbane, the number of wet days being 115.

South Australia, extending as it does over about 26 degrees of latitude, naturally presents considerable variations of climate. The southern portions have a climate greatly resembling that of the coast of Italy. The coldest months are June, July, and August, during which the temperature is very agreeable, averaging for a series of years 53.6°, 51.7°, and 54° for those months respectively. On the plains slight frosts occasionally occur, and ice is sometimes seen on the highlands. The summer is the only really disagreeable portion of the year. The sun at that season has great power, and the temperature frequently reaches 100° in the shade, with hot winds blowing from the interior. The weather on the whole is remarkably dry. At Adelaide there are on an average 120 rainy days per annum; during the last twenty-eight years the mean rainfall has been 20-40 inches per annum, while farther north the quantity recorded was considerably less. The country is naturally very healthful, and in evidence of this it may be mentioned that no great epidemic has ever visited the colony.

The climate of the Northern Territory of South Australia is extremely hot, except on the elevated table-lands. Altogether, the temperature of this part of the colony is very similar to that of Northern Queensland, and the climate is equally unfavourable to Europeans. It is a fact worthy of notice that the malarial fevers which are so troublesome to the pioneers of the northern parts of Australia almost, and in some cases

entirely, disappear after the land has been settled and consolidated by stock. The rainfall in the extreme north, especially in January and February, is exceedingly heavy. The average yearly rainfall in the coast districts is about 63 inches.

Western Australia has practically only two seasons-the winter, or wet season, which commences in April and ends in October; and the summer, or dry season, which comprises the remainder of the year. During the wet season frequent and heavy rains fall, and thunderstorms with sharp showers occur in the summer. The extremes of drought and flood experienced in the other colonies are almost unknown in Western Australia, but during the summer months the north-west coast is sometimes visited by hurricanes of great violence. In the southern and earlysettled parts of the colony the mean temperature is about 64°; but in the more northern portions the heat is excessive, though the dryness of the atmosphere makes it preferable to most tropical climates. At Perth, in 1897, the mean temperature was 63.7°, the maximum being 107° and the minimum 37.5°; and the rainfall for the same year was 27·17 inches, rain having fallen on 106 days. Although the heat is very great during three months of the year, the nights and mornings are almost always cool, and there being so little moisture in the air no danger arises from camping out.

Tasmania, protected as it is by its geographical position and by the tempering influence of the surrounding ocean from extremes of heat of cold, enjoys an exceedingly genial climate. The greater part of the island in the settled regions is characterised by a mild and equable temperature, ranging between the extremes of 20° to 44° in winter and 78° to 96° in summer. Spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons of the year, especially the latter, when the mean reading of the thermometer is about 57°. The mean temperature of Hobart for the last fifty years has been 55°. The richness of its flora is an evidence of the genial nature of the climate of the colony, while the purity of its atmosphere is proved by the small proportion of zymotic diseases recorded in the bills of mortality. The hot winds of the continent of Australia are felt in the northern parts of the island only, and even there they are greatly reduced in temperature by their passage across Bass Straits. Generally speaking, all through the

summer months there are alternate land and sea breezes which tend to cool the atmosphere even in the hottest days. The climate is fresh and invigorating, and is much recommended as a restorative for those whose constitutions have been enfeebled by residence in hotter climes. Large numbers of tourists in search of health visit the island every summer. The rainfall, except in the mountain districts, is moderate and regular. The average downfall at Hobart for a long series of years was 22.93 inches, with 143 wet days per annum.

The climate of New Zealand is in some respects similar to that of Tasmania, but the changes of weather and temperature are often very sudden. As the colony extends over more than 10 degrees of latitude, its climate is very varied. That of the North Island is somewhat similar

to the climate of Rome, Montpellier, and Milan; while the Middle or Southern Island more resembles Jersey, in the Channel Islands. The mean annual temperature of the North Island is 57°, and of the Middle Island 52°, while the yearly average of the whole colony for each season is as follows:-Spring, 55°; summer, 63°; autumn, 57°; and winter, 48°. The mean temperature of New Zealand is lower than that of similar latitudes in Europe, though higher than is experienced in America on corresponding parallels. The mean temperature of the South or Middle Island is less by about 5° than that of the North Island. Snow very seldom lies on the ground at the sea-level in the North Island, and only occasionally in the South Island. The summits of Ruapehu, the highest mountain in the North Island, and of the great mountain chain in the South Island, are covered with perpetual snow from an altitude of 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. Ice is occasionally seen in wintertime in all parts of New Zealand. The whole colony is subject to strong breezes, which frequently culminate in gales. The rainfall during 1897 varied very much at the several observing stations. At Auckland it amounted to 45-36 inches, while at Wellington it reached as high as 48.89 inches. At Maheno, on the east coast of the Middle Island, only 11.35 inches fell; at Dunedin, on the same coast, but more to the south, there was a fall of 38.07 inches; at Hokitika, on the west coast of the South Island, a rainfall of no less than 129.83 inches was recorded; while at Puysegur Point, on the same coast, a total of 258-60 inches was reached. Periods of lasting drought are almost unknown in the colony; indeed, it is very seldom that the records of any station show the lapse of a whole month without rain. The number of days in the year on which rain fell varied from 59 at Cape Campbell to 270 at Puysegur Point.

The following table illustrates the rainfall of Australasia :

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16

FROM

PARLIAMENTS.

ROM the nature and composition of the population of Australia at and for some time after its first settlement, the government and direction of affairs naturally rested in the hands of the Governor alone, and it was not until the year 1824, during the time of Sir Thomas Brisbane, that any attempt was made to provide the Governor with recognised advisers. In that year the first Legislative Council was appointed, consisting of six gentlemen, of whom five held the principal official positions in the colony, the sixth being Mr. John Macarthur, the founder of the Australian wool industry. The first Act of Parliament ever passed in Australia was a measure dealing with the currency, in 1824. Four more members were added to the Council in the following year, by Governor Darling, and further additions were made from time to time. On the 6th June, 1838, the public were first admitted to hear the debates, for up to that time even the representatives of the Press had been excluded. Thenceforth the proceedings were more or less fully reported.

Until 1843 the members of the Legislative Council were all nominated by the Governor, but in that year the principle of election was introduced, in conjunction with that of nomination. The nominated

members were twelve in number, six being official and six non-official. The elected members comprised a number of men whose names have become historic, such as W. C. Wentworth, William Bland, William Lawson, Charles Cowper, Terence Aubrey Murray, W: H. Suttor, Francis Lord, Richard Windeyer, Alexander Macleay, Roger Therry, Charles Nicholson, and John Dunmore Lang, the two last mentioned being among the representatives of the Port Phillip district, now known as Victoria. Mr. Alexander Macleay was the first Speaker of this body, succeeded by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1846.

Partial representation in the Legislature did not altogether satisfy the colonists, for as far back as the year 1845 the question of Responsible Government was publicly discussed. The agitation once awakened was never allowed to slumber, and aided by a vigorous and outspoken Press, as well as by the talented oratory of some of the patriotic members of the Legislature, it continually became more active until in the year 1855 the Imperial Parliament passed a measure to sanction the new Constitution that the colonists sought. On the 22nd May, 1856, the first Australian Parliament under Responsible Government was opened by Sir William Denison in Sydney. It consisted of a nominated Upper House, called the Legislative Council, the number of members of which

was not definitely fixed; and a Legislative Assembly, consisting of fiftyfour elected members, of whom Sir Daniel Cooper was chosen the first Speaker. The first Ministry consisted of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, as Colonial Secretary and Premier; Mr. Thomas Holt, Colonial Treasurer; Sir William Manning, Attorney-General; Mr. J. B. Darvall, Solicitor-General; Mr. G. R. Nichols, Auditor-General; and Mr. W. C. Mayne as Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council. From that period the principles upon which the government of New South Wales is based have never altered, though there have been some changes in the details. Various amendments of the Electoral Act have taken place from time to time, by which the number of representatives to the Legislative Assembly has been largely increased, and alterations have taken place in the direction of the removal of restrictions, and the extension of the liberties of the people. The Legislative Council now numbers fifty-eight members, and the tenure of a seat in that body is for life. The only qualification required of members is that they shall be 21 years of age, and natural-born or naturalised subjects. The qualification for a member of the Assembly is the holding of an elector's right. Members of the Lower House receive a remuneration of £300 a year, but members of the Council are unpaid. Free passes by rail and tram are received by members of both Houses.

A new Electoral Act, assented to on the 13th June, 1893, remodelled the whole electoral system of New South Wales. The number of members of the Assembly is fixed at 125, and the colony is divided into 125 electoral districts. No elector can have more than one vote, or, in other words, the "one man one vote" principle is enforced. Every person entitled to vote must see that his name is inscribed on the electoral roll and must provide himself with a document called an "elector's right," without the production of which he cannot demand a ballot-paper. The suffrage is manhood, the only conditions being twelvemonths' residence in the colony in the case of an immigrant, and three months' residence in the electoral district in which the right to vote is claimed. In the case of removal from one district to another, the qualifying residential period is reduced to one month, and the elector may vote in his old district until he has acquired the month's residential qualification in the district to which he has removed. In 1896 the franchise was extended to the police force. The duration of Parliament is limited to three years. There have been seventeen Parliaments in New South Wales, the average existence of which has been two years. three months and five days. At the general election for the eighteenth Parliament, which took place on the 27th July, 1898, there were 324,338 electors on the roll, 316,819 of whom were in 122 contested constituencies. Of the latter, 178,717 exercised their right to vote, forming only 56.41 per cent. of the electors enrolled. It must be pointed out, however, that the number of names enrolled is largely in excess of the number of electors entitled to vote, and that the true proportion would be about 64.75 per cent.

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