It is thought that ancestors of the Australian Aborigines, who reached the continent from Indonesia or Papua New Guinea, first populated Australia. That probably happened over 50,000 years ago. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Dutch, French and Portuguese traders and explorers discovered and mapped parts of the continent. Over thousands of years the local Aboriginal inhabitants had mapped the land in their own way, but to the European world the east coast was still unknown and uncharted.
On 22 August 1770 the British arrived in Botany Bay, under the command of Captain JAMES COOK (1728-1779), unravelling the mystery of Terra Australis Incognita for the European world. Between the 1780s and the 1860s British explorers started great expeditions along the coast and to the interior to discover and colonize unknown territories.
In 1779 Sir JOSEPH BANKS (1743-1820), a naturalist on
COOK's voyage suggested that Britain could solve overcrowding problems in its prisons by transporting convicts to New South Wales. In 1787 the First Fleet set sail for Botany Bay under the command of Captain ARTHUR PHILIP (1778-1814), who was to become the colony's first governor. The people of the First Fleet established Australia's first settlement on 26 January 1788.
The fleet comprised 11 ships, 750 male and female convicts, four marine companies and two years' worth of supplies. For the new arrivals New South Wales was a harsh and inhospitable place, and the threat of starvation hung over the colony for at least 16 years.
The British settled six colonies,
each one with its own laws and customs. These differences were a significant
problem to Australia's economic development. However the discovery of
gold in the 1850s was to change the face of the colony. The huge influx
of immigrants boosted the economy and changed the colonial social structures.
Aborigines were forced off
their tribal lands as new settlers took up land for farming or mining.
This can be categorized as genocide, since the Aboriginal
population was murdered en masse by poisoning of their food and
water supply and by the removal of their food resources. Even up to the
early seventies the Australian government was still systematically removing
Aboriginal children from their families, in an attempt to replace their
own cultural identity with so-called Christian values.
Today one speaks of the 'Stolen
Generation'.
Entire generations being separated
from their roots greatly impaired the survival of some tribes and
others came close to being wiped out completely. Nowadays, the Australian
government is trying hard to rectify the racist measures taken by
its predecessors. In 1993 the Native
Title Act was passed; the first step in creating a legal regime
that respects native title rights and traditions.
Australia as a Federation
After the great economic upturn in the middle of the century, Australia
experienced the 'Great Crash' period in the
1890s, which caused high levels of unemployment and the bankruptcy of
many businesses. As a result the creation
of a federation became more than necessary. It was also a means
of preventing other nations from gaining control of land (the Germans
and French were still expanding into the region). The six colonies accepted
rule by one common jurisdiction. In the late 1900s the British
Government created the Commonwealth
of Australia. Australia then became
a federal nation on 1 January 1901 (although many of the legal and cultural
ties with England remained). By being federalist, Australia's system of
government divided its power into national and local units. Melbourne,
the second largest city, was chosen to be the seat of government while
Canberra was still being developed. Nowadays Canberra
serves as the capital.
The Independence Process
In the following 40 years, Australia
remained under British control. Only
in 1942 did it become officially
autonomous with the passage of the Statute
Westminster Adoption Act on October 9. This act meant the demise
of the British Empire and the birth
of the British Commonwealth,
of which Australia was a part. The United Kingdom could still engage in
foreign affairs on behalf of Australia and make laws for it when requested,
but the nation was independent, having autonomy in foreign affairs and
the power to run its own army. But it was only in 1986,
with the Australian
Act, that the country truly
cut its ties to the United Kingdom. Although still sharing a common monarch,
the Queen would no longer have any
political powers over Australia.
Post-war Era
Australian troops did not hesitate to fight alongside the British in the
two World Wars. Fearing a Japanese
invasion during the Second World War II, Australia forged an alliance
with the USA. The United States promptly dispatched the Japanese from
New Guinea. Australia subsequently supported the USA in both the Korean
and Vietnam wars. In 1951 Australia signed a mutual defence agreement
with the US and New Zealand, called the ANZUS Pact of 1951.
The post-war era was a boom
time in Australia. There was an urgent demand for raw materials
and manpower. After the Second World War Australia introduced an immigration
programme, in order to populate the island. Many Jews found their new
home there and more than two million Europeans entered the country after
the war. In the 1980s Australia accepted a large number of Asian refugees,
especially from Vietnam. These immigrants rapidly found work and some
level of integration, helping to turn the monocultural and conservative
pre-war Australia into a multicultural and forward-looking nation.
Australia's Politics Since the Federation
The first federal elections took place in March 1901, when the Protectionist
Party was elected, supported by the Labor Party. This party created the
infamous White Australian
policy, a law that aimed to exclude
non-Europeans from the Australian continent. After the First World War
the Labor Party lost much support compared to the Nationalist Party. In
1923 a new political party developed; the Country Party, which formed
a coalition with the Nationalists. In 1929 the Labor Party won the elections
again, but soon lost power to a new conservative party, the United Australia
Party, in 1932. After that neither a conservative nor liberal party ruled
the country. During the 1980s, an economically difficult period, Labor
Party leader BOB HAWKE (* 1929) implemented a great number of future orientated
social and economic measures to strengthen the country's situation. Many
of these reforms helped to promote economic growth that still continues
today. JOHN HOWARD (* 1939) the leader of the Liberal Party is the current
Prime Minister.
Issues of the day include republicanism, universal acceptance of the Native
Title Act of 1993, policies regarding refugees and a push for an
official government apology for the injustices suffered by the 'Stolen
Generation' of Aborigines.
Demographics
Australia is an independent Western democracy
with a population of more than 17.6 million. It has one of the world's most
urbanised populations, with about 70%
of the population living in the ten largest cities. Most of the population
is concentrated along the eastern seaboard and the south-eastern corner
of the continent.
Although Australia's lifestyle reflects its mainly Western origins, it also
has a multicultural society, which has
been enriched by nearly five million settlers from as many as 200 nations.
Four out of ten Australians are migrants or first-generation children of
migrants, half of them from non-English speaking backgrounds. 41% of settler
arrivals come from East Asia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people totalled 265,378 at the last
census: nearly 1.5% of the population. Two thirds of the indigenous people
live in towns and cities. Others live in rural and remote areas, and some
still pursue a broadly traditional way of life.
The flag of Australia is the only one to fly over a whole continent. The
small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large
seven-pointed star represents the six States and the Territories, and the
small stars form the Southern Cross - a prominent feature of the southern
hemisphere night sky.
King GEORGE V granted the official emblem of the Australian Government,
Australia's coat of arms, in 1912. The arms consist of a shield containing
the badges of the six states.
Australia Day, 26 January, marks the day in 1788 when Captain ARTHUR PHILLIP
of the British Royal Navy sailed into Port Jackson (Sydney Cove). PHILLIP
formally took possession of the eastern part of the continent for England
and established a settlement.