Work in small groups for these activities.
Activity 1: What was the view of politicians in the past?
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a number of
Acts of Parliament were passed that affected the way Victorians
use water. This continues today.
Those acts included:
- An
Act to consolidate the laws Relating to Public health
(Clauses 1 and Part IV clauses 69 and 70)
- An
Act to provide for the granting of certain loans for Water
Supply in the country districts
- An
Act to authorise Works for Supplying Water to certain districts
and places in Victoria (Clauses 2, 3, 5 and 7)
- An
Act to provide for the Conservation and Distribution of water
throughout Victoria (Part IV clauses 37 and 38)
- An
Act to make better provision for the Supply of Water for Irrigation
and also for Mining Manufacturing and other purposes (Clauses
4, 5 and 6)
- An
Act to provide for the better Local Management of the Metropolis
and for the creation of a Melbourne and Metropolitan Board
of Work (Clauses 5, 33, 75, 79 and 97)
- An
Act to ratify and provide for carrying out an Agreement entered
into between the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia
and the premiers of the States of New South Wales, Victoria
and South Australia, respecting the River Murray and Lake
Victoria and other waters and for other purposes (Clauses
19, 20, 45, 46, 51 from the Schedule at the end of the Act)
- Heritage
Rivers Act (Clauses 1, 8; Management plans on page 324
only to part (7); clauses 10, 11, 12)
Divide the acts between group members. Click on the Act(s)
of Parliament you have selected, read the title, date and clauses
listed and:
- describe its purpose
- identify the need it tried to meet, or the problem it
tried to solve
- describe how it hoped to do this
- decide, with the evidence that you have from each act,
whether or not you think that the act did enough to address
the issue. If not, what else would you have done?
Share findings and opinions as a class. Try to resolve any
differences.
Activity 2: It seemed like a good idea at the time. Was it?
Find Mildura on a map of Victoria and collect information about
the climate, soil and primary industries in this area and the
Mallee or north-west Victoria generally. Establish an email
link with a local school to find this information and to identify
current issues for people living in the region.
Mildura was established following the successful passing of
the Waterworks Construction Encouragement Act of 1886 and the
signing of the Chaffey Agreement. The agreement is written in
legal language.
Read the summary notes prepared by a 'person'
who had to explain the agreement to their local historical society.
Check these notes to make sure:
- the information is accurate
- all major ideas have been included.
Use the copy of the Chaffey
Brothers' Agreement to help you do this. Match main ideas
in the summary notes to text in the agreement. Cut and paste
both texts to make this task easier to complete.
Discuss the following questions about the agreement and the
settlement at Mildura since that time. Contact a local school
by email to find relevant supporting information, to discuss
and debate these ideas:
- Why do you think the government entered into this agreement?
- What need was it trying to meet, what problems was the
agreement trying to solve?
- Why do you think Mildura was chosen for this experiment?
- What do you think would have been some of the challenges
for people settling in this area in the late 1880s and 1890s?
- How successful do you think the settlement was? What
evidence do you have to prove that the experiment was a success
or a failure, or a mix of both?
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