Australia

===Post-war and contemporary eras===
{{Main|History of Australia (1945–present)}}
[[File:Dutch Migrant 1954 MariaScholte=50000thToAustraliaPostWW2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Post-war immigration to Australia|Postwar migrants]] from Europe arriving in Australia in 1954]]
In the decades following World War II, Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards, leisure time and suburban development.<ref name="Susan_Something">{{Cite book|editor-first=Susan|editor-last=Hosking|display-editors=etal |title=Something Rich and Strange: Sea Changes, Beaches and the Littoral in the Antipodes|url={{GBurl|id=6mQ_-ZD5xBUC|p=6}}|year=2009|publisher=Wakefield Press|isbn=978-1-8625-4870-1|pages=6–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first1=Brian|last1=Hodge|first2=Allen|last2=Whitehurst|title=Nation and People: An Introduction to Australia in a Changing World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qE0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA184|year=1967|publisher=Hicks, Smith|pages=184–|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328153346/https://books.google.com/books?id=qE0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA184|url-status=live}}</ref> Using the slogan "populate or perish", the nation encouraged a [[Post-war immigration to Australia|large wave of immigration from across Europe]], with such immigrants referred to as "[[New Australians]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/federation/timeline1.pdf |title=Immigration to Australia During the 20th Century – Historical Impacts on Immigration Intake, Population Size and Population Composition – A Timeline |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080801014246/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/federation/timeline1.pdf |archive-date=1 August 2008 |publisher=Department of Immigration and Citizenship (Australia) |year=2001| access-date=18 July 2008}}</ref>

A member of the [[Western Bloc]] during the [[Cold War]], Australia participated in the [[Australia in the Korean War|Korean War]] and the [[Military history of Australia during the Malayan Emergency|Malayan Emergency]] during the 1950s and the [[Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War|Vietnam War]] from 1962 to 1972.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Fighting Australia's Cold War |date=2021 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-76046-482-0 |editor-last=Dean |editor-first=Peter |location=Canberra |pages=1 |chapter=Introduction |editor-last2=Moss |editor-first2=Tristan |chapter-url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n9414/pdf/introduction.pdf |access-date=9 February 2024 |archive-date=12 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112170033/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n9414/pdf/introduction.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> During this time, tensions over communist influence in society led to [[1951 Australian Communist Party ban referendum|unsuccessful attempts]] by the [[Menzies Government (1949–1966)|Menzies Government]] to ban the [[Communist Party of Australia]],<ref>Frank Crowley (1973) ''Modern Australia in Documents, 1939–1970''. pp. 222–26. Wren Publishing, Melbourne. {{ISBN|978-0-1700-5300-6}}</ref> and a [[Australian Labor Party split of 1955|bitter split]] in the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] in 1955.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Calwell|first=Arthur Augustus |title=Be just and fear not|url=https://archive.org/details/bejustfearnot0000calw|url-access=registration|publisher=Lloyd O'Neil Pty Ltd.|location=[[Hawthorn, Victoria|Hawthorn]], [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]]|year=1972|isbn=978-0-8555-0352-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bejustfearnot0000calw/page/188 188]}}</ref>

As a result of a [[Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)|1967 referendum]], the federal government gained the power to legislate with regard to Indigenous Australians, and Indigenous Australians were fully included in the [[Census in Australia|census]].<ref name="Edwards2004">{{Cite book|first=William Howell|last=Edwards|title=An Introduction to Aboriginal Societies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kF-_Pe5WX6UC&pg=PA132|year=2004|publisher=Cengage Learning Australia|isbn=978-1-8766-3389-9|pages=25–26, 30, 132–133|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=12 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412154810/https://books.google.com/books?id=kF-_Pe5WX6UC&pg=PA132|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Aboriginal title|Pre-colonial land interests]] (referred to as [[Native title in Australia|native title]] in Australia) was recognised in law for the first time when the [[High Court of Australia]] held in ''[[Mabo v Queensland (No 2)]]'' that Australia was neither ''[[terra nullius]]'' ("land belonging to no one") or "desert and uncultivated land" at the time of European settlement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Galloway |first=Kate |date=2017-04-26 |title=Australian politics explainer: the Mabo decision and native title |url=http://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-the-mabo-decision-and-native-title-74147 |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125000636/http://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-the-mabo-decision-and-native-title-74147 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Davison pp. 5-7, 402">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|pages=5–7, 402}}</ref>

Following the abolition of the last vestiges of the [[White Australia policy]] in 1973,<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.border.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/08abolition |title= Fact Sheet – Abolition of the 'White Australia' Policy|location= Commonwealth of Australia|publisher= National Communications Branch, Department of Immigration and Citizenship|work= Australian Immigration |access-date= 27 March 2013 |archive-date= 19 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150919131355/http://www.border.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/08abolition |url-status= dead}}</ref> Australia's demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non-European immigration, mostly from Asia.<ref name="Davison pp338-6, 681-2">{{Harvnb|Davison|Hirst|Macintyre|1998|pages=338–39, 442–43, 681–82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sawer |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Australian Constitution and the Australian Aborigines |journal=Federal Law Review |date=1966 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=17–36 |publisher=Australian National University |location=Canberra |doi=10.1177/0067205X6600200102 |s2cid=159414135 |issn=1444-6928 |url=http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/FedLawRw/1967/2.pdf |access-date=3 August 2020 |archive-date=17 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917034746/http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/FedLawRw/1967/2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other [[Pacific Rim]] nations.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Pacific Basin since 1945: A history of the foreign relations of the Asian, Australasian, and American rim states and the Pacific islands|last=Thompson|first=Roger C. |isbn=978-0-5820-2127-3|publisher=Longman|year=1994|url=https://archive.org/details/pacificbasinsinc0000thom}}</ref> The [[Australia Acts]] severed the remaining constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom while maintaining the monarch in her independent capacity as [[Queen of Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-32.html|title=Australia Act 1986 (Cth)|access-date=25 July 2020|work=Documenting a Democracy|publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422204352/https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-32.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Twomey |first=Anne |date=January 2008 |title=The States, the Commonwealth and the Crown—the Battle for Sovereignty |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/pop48/battlesovereignty |access-date= |website=Parliament of Australia |series=Papers on Parliament No. 48 |language=en-AU |quote= |archive-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909014023/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/pop48/battlesovereignty |url-status=live }}</ref> In a [[1999 Australian republic referendum|1999 constitutional referendum]], 55% of voters rejected [[Republicanism in Australia|abolishing the monarchy]] and becoming a republic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1999: Republic referendum: Queen and/or Country |url=https://moadoph.gov.au/explore/democracy/1999-republic-referendum |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House |archive-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117083033/https://www.moadoph.gov.au/explore/democracy/1999-republic-referendum |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the [[September 11 attacks]] on the United States, Australia joined the United States in fighting the [[Military history of Australia during the War in Afghanistan|Afghanistan War]] from 2001 to 2021 and the [[Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraq War]] from 2003 to 2009.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neville |first=Leigh |year=2019 |title=The Australian Army at War 1976–2016|edition=First |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=978-1-4728-2631-2}}</ref> The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's [[List of the largest trading partners of Australia|largest trading partner]] by a large margin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/fifty-years-of-Australias-trade.pdf |title=Fifty years of Australia's trade |website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206235853/http://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/fifty-years-of-Australias-trade.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020, during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Australia|COVID-19 pandemic]], several of Australia's largest cities were [[COVID-19 lockdowns|locked down]] for extended periods and free movement across the national and state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow the spread of the [[Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2|SARS-CoV-2 virus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Emma |year=2020 |title=What Happens Next? Reconstructing Australia After COVID-19| publisher=Melbourne University Press |location=Melbourne |isbn=978-0-5228-7721-2}}</ref>