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Dutch are the first to sail to Australia
The Dutch were the first Europeans to sail to Australia, but they never settled there. This is because when they landed, they were attacked by the Aborigines and that made them abandon further exploration. -
Captain James Cook landing in Australia
When James Cook landed in Australia, he named the land New South Wales. He completely ignored the fact that the Aborigines were living there and claimed the land for England. -
British want a penal colony
In 1787, the British started looking for a penal colony. They thought Australia was a good place because there was no chance of escape, there were no other colonies around the land, and the land had very few indigenous people that lived on the land. So in 1787, the British started sending ships to Australia full with convoys. -
Official Penal Colony
From 1788 to 1832, Australia was an official penal colony for the British. The colony mainly consisted of convicts, marines, and marines wives. -
Aborigines movement
Aborigines were invaded and went through stages where they were being conquered and lost there land. During the 1830's, remnants of tribes in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves so there conquerors could use the land. -
Port Author, Tasmania
From 1833 until the 1850's, Port Author, Tasmania was the destination for the most convicted British and Irish criminal. There are some tales that tell us that some criminals murdered other people just to get killed to get out of the prison life there. -
Boundaries Formed
As non prisoner colonization was growing, the major coastal areas of Australia became 7 independent colonies. In 1861, government officials created boundaries for all the colonies, and those boundaries are still in place today. -
Commonwealth of Australia
On January 1, 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was established. Melbourne served as the national capital until Canberra was completed in 1927. -
Aborigines Laws
In 1967, the federal government of Australia started to pass laws to help the Aborigines. It was seen as an affirmation of the Australian people's wish to see its government take direct action to improve the living conditions for Aborigines. -
Australia Act
During 1986, the Australia Act was implemented and severed all legal ties with the British Empire. Australia has a parliamentary democracy, but 55% of voters rejected the idea of becoming an independent republic.
