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The last great landmass to be discovered by the Europeans, but which has been inhabited by locals for tens of thousands of years.
Recent archaeological findings indicate that Aboriginal (which literally means ‘indigenous’) cultural history may date back at least 5,000 years. It is believed that colonisation first occurred some 35,000 to 60,000 years ago, probably by people from South-East Asia.
It is thought that Portuguese navigators probably sighted the Australian coast in the first half of the 16th century, although there are no records confirming this. In 1642 the Dutch East India Company launched an expedition to explore this land, discovering a region they named Van Diemen’s Land (renamed to Tasmania – after Abel Tasman – some 200 years later). The first onshore expeditions were made by a pirate, William Dampier, about 40 years after Tasman, and nearly 100 years before Cook. This land was then forgotten until 1768, when the British Admiralty instructed Captain James Cook to lead a scientific expedition to search for the Great South Land. On 19th April 1770 the extreme southern tip was sighted and named Point Hicks. 9 days later a break in the cliffs was found and the ships anchored in a harbour they named Botany Bay. Cook continued his voyage north, temporarily settling in north Queensland after his ship was damaged on a reef. After setting sail again, navigating the Great Barrier Reef and rounding Cape York, Captain Cook again put ashore, this time raising the Union Jack and renaming the continent New South Wales (NSW), and claiming it for the British in the name of King George III.
By 1779, the jails in Britain were overcrowded, and after the American Revolution convicts could no longer be transported to North America. Joseph Banks suggested NSW as a site for a colony of thieves, and in 1786 Lord Sydney announced that the king had decided upon Botany Bay as a place for convicts under sentence of transportation. In January 1788 the First Fleet sailed into Botany Bay under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who was to be the colony’s first governor. The site was not considered ideal, and they moved to Sydney Cove to begin settlement. The Second Fleet arrived in 1790 with more convicts and supplies, with a Third Fleet following, pushing the population to 4,000.
NSW grew to become an important port on trade routes, and for whaling and sealing.
The officers did what they liked, and governor Bligh faced a second mutiny in 1808, when the officers rebelled and ordered his arrest. The Rum Rebellion (as it became known) was the final straw for the British government, and Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie was sent to NSW. He became governor and set about laying the groundwork for significant social reforms.
It was the discovery of gold in the 1850’s that saw huge numbers of settlers heading towards the continent. Convict transportation was abolished around 1852 (eastern colonies) and 1868 (western colonies), with more than 168,000 convicts having been shipped to Australia.
Exploration of Australia began, with the Blue Mountains near Sydney initially creating an impenetrable barrier. In 1813, a track was forced through, allowing explorers passage further inland. By this time, settlements had developed at Sydney Cove (1788), Norfolk Island, Van Diemen’s Land (1803 – renamed Tasmania in 1856), Hobart, Brisbane, Perth (1829), Adelaide (1837) and Melbourne (1798).
It was in the 1820’s that explorers started naming inland rivers, and mapping Australia.
When Sydney Cove was first settled by the British, it is believed there were about 300,000 Aboriginal people in Australia, with as many as 250 different languages. Tasmania alone had 8 languages, with tribes living on opposite sides of what is now the Sydney Harbour talking different languages. Many of the Aboriginal people where driven from their land by force, many succumbed to exotic diseases such as smallpox, measles, VD, influenza, whooping cough, pneumonia and TB, and the population quickly dwindled. By 1860, there were 20 million sheep in Australia, ruining the habitats, and water holes of the Aborigine. Aborigines speared cattle and sheep, then suffered reprisal raids, often leaving many of them dead.
Australia was declared a nation on 1st January 1901, but its loyalty, legal and cultural ties remained British. Australia expected military support from Britain when it needed it, and fought alongside Britain in battles such as the Boer War in South Africa. When the war broke out in Europe in 1914, Australian troops were again sent to fight thousands of kilometres away from home.
Australia was hard hit by the Depression. Prices for wool and wheat – two mainstays of the economy – plummeted. In 1931, almost one third of the breadwinners were unemployed and poverty was widespread. However, by 1933, the economy started coming right.