Darwin Rebellion
- A script has been used to generate a semi-automated review of the article for issues relating to grammar and house style; it can be found on the automated peer review page for August 2008.
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I've listed this article for peer review because I believe the article is ready for Good Article consideration.
Thanks, Spy007au (talk) 08:37, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
Hello there, this is my first peer review so forgive me if I muck up the process :) Please take the following criticisms as just that - there is nothing personal in anything, I am reviewing the article and nothing else. I'll be entirely dispassionate so please don't take offence.
Consider changing the opening line of the lead to begin "The Darwin Rebellion on 17 December 1918"
Done.On the same line, "Australian trade workers union unrest between 1911 and 1919" may read better as "unrest in the aus trade wrkrs union between..." Done- Use between numbers and preceding/following words - this keeps the number and word together no matter the size of the browser window. Excuse my ignorance, but I don't understand this.
"Marched to" - may read better as "Marched on", and the address of government house is too detailed - just put 'government house in darwin'. DoneToo many wikilinks - Australia is linked twice in the first paragraph alone. Done"concerning political representation" - change to "and concerned political representation...." Done"south australia and commonwealth" - change to "south australian". Done"The Commonwealth Constitution did not allow for Federal electorates to cross state borders, and national governments shied away from a hypothetical impasse where a thousand Territory voters might some day hold the balance of power in an evenly divided Commonwealth Parliament" - this sentence is too long for the reader to easily understand, break it up Donecheck use of numbers in the article as per WP:numbers - '5 million' is a minor violation of WP:MOS. Done"After 1911" - how long after 1911? Specify if possible. Done"In the years that followed Commonwealth Administration" - change to "years following". Done"Territorians became increasingly unhappy with unrepresentative government from afar" - be more specific, I understand the point the article is making but I think this sentence could use more detail. Done"The few economic pursuits" - whose pursuits? Specify. Done"Great hopes were held for Commonwealth-led development" - WP:peacock Done"inviestigate" - spelling. Done"yet half expected failure" - WP:peacock Done"set-back" - change to "setback". Done"Gilruth did his best to promote agriculture, mining and, after initial doubts, the development of meatworks in Darwin by the giant English firm, Vesteys." - too much information, and peacock terms again (giant). Done"All proved disappointing" - to whom? Done"an already wavering Commonwealth government lost interest in development of the Northern Territory.[8]" - WP:NPOV Done"Rightly or wrongly" - WP:NPOV and WP:peacock. In fact this entire paragraph needs to read more dispassionately, it is far too biased. Done I have amended part of the paragraph, but also left the part which was quoted from the referenced book."The construction of the railway line from Port Darwin to Pine Creek" - change to the railway name and wikilink if possible. Done- "immigration of Chinese labour" - Chinese labour, or just general labour? Chinese labour.
"putting a stop to the increase" - what increase? Done"Those Chinese workers already in Darwin had proved themselves reliable, hard-working and good citizens." - citation if possible Done"After the decline of the gold rush, it was logical that the Chinese population would compete for jobs with the White population" - WP:NPOV again - stick to facts only. Done"Not only did Asians compete successfully against Europeans for scarce jobs" - Jobs are scarce, they are not 'scarce jobs'{{Done}"but they also expanded into other profitable areas such as vegetable growing and tailoring" - "but they also expanded" could be "they diversified" - and is not "vegetable growing" simply "farming"? Done. However, vegetable growing is the term used in the books I have researched. For example, anyone can grow vegetables, but it doesn't automatically make them farmers."resented by the Europeans" - suggest removing "the" as it is slightly WP:NPOV Done"employ Chinese workers, not necessarily " replace , with ; Done"because they were cheaper, but " add "cheaper to employ" Done"but because they were more reliable." - citation Done"European unskilled labourers" - put unskilled before european Done"Northern Territory was that no-one cared about their situation" - citationIs referenced as part of the next sentence. Done- "Local employers did not want them, the South Australian Government was indifferent to them, and since they were not unionized, their comrades in southern Australia ignored them.[10]" - WP:NPOV
"With the threat of Chinese competition out of the way, the Europeans workers" - change "out of the way" to "removed" and correct Europeans spelling Done"Needing an organisation to represent their interests, the Darwin Amalgamated Workers' Association (AWA) came into existence in 1912" - who needed an organisation? The sentence doesn't say, I had to read the previous sentence to understand it. Done"union coffers" - change coffers to funds, reserves, or similar. Done- "parent AWA" - what is an AWA? Darwin Amalgamated Workers' Association, see 37 above.
"Federal government coldly indifferent" - peacock term Done"it was evident that action was lost" - makes no sense Done"surrender, which were modest;" - WP:NPOV again Done- "Not content with this devastating victory, Gilruth refused, wanting to eliminate all traces of unionism in the Northern Territory" - WP:NPOV - just stick to the facts, let the reader interpret the article, not the editor. Given that this statement is referenced, and not an interpretation, I would prefer to leave it in as it adds meaning to the article.
"An analysis of negotiations suggests" - consider changing to "of the negotiations" Done"Vestey's" - consider sticking to the correct name of the company. Done"was deeply involved.[13]" - peacock term. Done- "It was thought that Vesteys, with its accumulated experience in other similar ventures elsewhere, would be able to develop the Territory by the unfettered use of capital and enterprise in the large-scale exploitation of the one commodity northern Australia produced well, cattle" - too long, consider breaking this sentence up. I have tried to break this sentence up (into 2), without losing its meaning. Not sure it can be done - so perhaps someone with better editing skills should attempt.
"The inescapable conclusion is that this is what Gilruth and the Federal government fully expected" - its up to the reader to conclude, not the editor. Stick to the facts. Done"There was also some unwelcome side-effects " - change to "There were some side-effects" Done"as a result, the hotel was losing money" - consider changing to read as "lower profits" instead of "losing money". Done"However, the mistake that helped finish Gilruth's disastrous career in the Territory, was trivial" - peacock terms and WP:NPOV Done- "Saturday, 14 November" - check date formatting as per WP:MOS. Appears OK.
"The hotel boarders agreed to dine elsewhere and everybody thought the matter was closed." - consider "elsewhere and the matter was presumed closed". Done"However, Gilruth refused to concede leave for the girls, who took the time off anyway" - Did he refuse to concede and they subsequently took the time off, or was it the other way around?
Fixed"About 1,000 men walked to Government House behind a car carrying an effigy of Gilruth tied to a stake demanding 'no taxation without representation'." - this reads as "the effigy demanded" rather than "the crowd demanded...using the effigy" Fixed"Gilruth refused to address the crowd only making a statement that he was answerable to the Minister and would not and did not recognise the citizens of Darwin as having any authority over him." - making a statement to whom? Fixed"They demanded that Gilruth appear before them within five minutes to vindicate himself." - within five minutes of what? Fixed"and the union leader, Harold Nelson, called out," - consider changing to "and union leader Harold Nelson called out "over the fence boys"" Fixed"The crowd swarmed across the garden " - swarmed = peacock term. Fixed"Gilruth stated later in a letter to the Prime Minister that he was perfectly aware that had he promised to reduce the price of beer (at the expense of the Australian taxpayer) the mob would have departed peacefully, but though this would have been 'diplomatic,' to purchase peace at this price would have been condemned by the Minister and the Treasury." - too long, please break this sentence up, and consider starting with "In a letter to the prime minister, Gilruth wrote that he was aware...." Fixed"The lightly armed gunboat HMAS Una arrived within a week to protect the Administrator," - consider "Within a week of (the incident) the lightly armed gunboat...." Done"prevented the news of the storming" - remove "the" Done- "The national press reacted in a predictable way blaming" - WP:NPOV. In my opinion, this comment should remain as it was quoted and referenced from two reliable souces. However, if other peers/editors believe it should be changed, I have no issues.
Overall I think the article is quite good but needs significant copyediting. I would not pass it as a GA until such changes have been made, but once addressed I think its quite capable of passing GAC. I would also consider making the images identical in size. Parrot of Doom (talk) 21:38, 7 August 2008 (UTC)