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Australia's First Peoples 70,000BC
The Australian native peoples came to Australia around 70000 BC. So Aboriginals were in Australia for 70000 years before the British invaded them. Many aboriginal clans and tribes already lived in permanent buildings and villages & they had very elaborate aquaponics and hydroponics systems. The aboriginal practice of sustainability by only taking what they need is very important & applies to what we do today, if we all only took what we needed there would be enough for everyone forever! -
First recorded European landing on Australian soil-Dirk Hartog
Dirk Hartog, a Dutch East India merchant captain, was sailing from Amsterdam to East India but stumbled upon the west coast of Australia & landed at Shark Bay in 1616. He spent three days examining the coast and nearby islands & commemorated his discovery by leaving a pewter plate behind describing his voyage & destination. Dirk Hartog, being the main person involved now has a significant place within Australian life today as the first recorded European landing on Australian soil. -
James Cook maps east coast of Australia.
James Cook was an 18th century explorer and navigator. From Dutch maps of the 17th century, Cook knew Australia as New Holland. Though Cook's ships visited the east coast of Australia on all 3 Pacific voyages, the most exhaustive encounter was the Endeavour's passage northwards between April and August 1770. On 22.8.1770 Cook lands with a small party on Australian soil & takes possession of the whole Eastern Coast of New Holland in the name of King George III, naming it New South Wales. -
First Fleet
On 13.5.1787 in Portsmouth England 11 ships with over 1480 people & led by Captain Arthur Philip departed to establish the first English colony in NSW. It took 3 months to get to Botany Bay. Arriving on 24.1.1788 in Port Jackson they made a penal colony at Sydney Cove.They chose to settle in Sydney Cove because of its anchorage space near the shore & fresh water.Sydney Harbour ferries are named after the First Fleet ships & the 'Bonds of Friendship' companion sculpture remembers the First Fleet. -
Pemulwuy leads indigenous resistance in Sydney area
Pemulwuy was born in 1750, Botany Bay Area, Sydney. The local indigenous were faced with a change when the First Fleet arrived. Fights began. Pemulwuy featured in the resistance of colonisation. In 1792 Pemulwuy led a series of raids. He was wounded and had a bounty put on his head. He got caught. On or before 2 June 1802, Pemulway had his head was cut off and sent to Sir Joseph for his collection. -
Founding of Brisbane
Brisbane was founded on the Brisbane River sometime in 1825.The main people involved with the establishment of Brisbane were Thomas Brisbane & John Oxley. When NSW Governor Thomas Brisbane was petitioned by free settlers in Sydney to send their worst convicts somewhere else, decided on the area that would become the settlement of Brisbane. Today, Brisbane is a capital city. -
Foundation of Perth (WA)
Perth was founded in Aug 1829, as the capital of Swan River Colony (WA). It was founded by Captain James Stirling & was the first free settler colony in AUS. Perth was founded in Whadjuk country & the money used to start the city was donated. By 1850 convicts were being brought into Perth to start construction of buildings & railways. When Governor Ralph Darling proposed that a city be built in WA, Britain initially rejected the idea. Eventually they built what we now call the city of Perth. -
Founding of Melbourne
Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman & John Pascoe Fawkner.On the 6/6/1835 Batman met with the Wurundjeri leaders to negotiate.This is one of the only times that there was negotiation by Europeans with the locals over land-Batman recognised that the land was Aboriginal.They traded blankets, knives, tomahawks, scissors, looking-glasses, flour, handkerchiefs and shirts with the Wurundjeri people for 2000 km2 of land near the Yarra River. A copy of the treaty is at the Melbourne Museum. -
Founding of South Australia
Governor Hindmarsh proclaimed South Australia on the 28.12.1836. Sth Australia was founded by George Fife Angas & the capital Adelaide was named after Queen Adelaide.The colony was for free migrants & was funded by the sale of land to the wealthy & to investors. It was named Sth Australia because it is in the south of Australia & is still called Sth Australia today. Gawler is a modern city which was the first inland town outside Adelaide.It has changed a lot over the years & still stands today. -
Myall Creek Massacre
In 1838, 28 aborigines (men, women & children) were savagely killed while living & working at a British farm called Myall Creek Station in NSW. Murders were widespread all over NSW at this time and were very violent attacks.The settlers thought that killing indigenous people was not a crime. Because settlers were taking over more of the land, it caused a lot of conflict. As Australia was governed by British law, this was the first time a judge sentenced 7 British murderers to be hanged. -
Gold Rush
The Gold Rush began on the 12th of February 1851. A prospector discovered flecks of gold in a waterhole near Bathurst, NSW Australia. Between 1851 and 1860, around 300,000 people came to Australian from England and Wales, with another 100,000 from Scotland and 84,000 from Ireland. The Gold Rush had an intense impact on the country’s national identity as there were people from all around the world who came to dig for gold in an attempt to change their lives. -
Separation of Victoria from N.S.W.
On the 28th of November 1844 a petition was taken to England to separate VIC from NSW. On the 5th of August 1850 the British Parliament finally passed An Act for the Better Government of Her Majesty’s Australian Colonies. This led to the Port Phillip District officially became the the colony of Victoria on July 1st 1851. The main people involved were Henry Condell (first mayor of Melbourne) Charles La Trobe (first governor of Vic) and William Kerr (Newspaper journalist). -
Eureka Rebellion
Ballarat miners were unhappy with how the colonial government was administering the goldfields, especially the mining licences.On 30.11.1854 miners swore allegiance to the Southern Cross flag at Bakery Hill & built a stockade.Early on 3.12.54 when the stockade was lightly guarded approx 300 troopers & police attacked the stockade.It lasted 15mins with at least 22 diggers & 6 soldiers losing their lives.Due to this event men won the right to vote & museums, films & songs commemorate the rebellion -
Melbourne Building Workers Win 8 Hr Day
On April 21 1856 stonemasons working in Melbourne put down their tools and began a protest march to parliament. The slogan was “8 hrs labour 8 hrs hobby 8 hrs rest” mostly called “888”. They demonstrated their united strengths and purpose. The government allowed the “888” to avoid a war & kept paying what was paid for 10 hrs of work. Creating the 8 hr work day gave us more time to spend with family and pursue other interests. -
Burke and Wills
Burke & Wills travelled with John King & Charles Gray from Melbourne across Australia.They left Melbourne from Royal Park on 20.8.1860 watched by 15000 people.They had 3 goals: scientific discovery, seeking new grazing land & finding an overland telegraph line.They travelled from Sth to Nth Australia.They brought with them 18 people, 25 camels, 22 horses, 80 pairs of shoes, beds, buckets, hats & firewood.The connection to Aus life now is that we have more food by having more grazing land. -
First Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s most famous annual horse race.It was first held in 1861at Flemington Racecourse with 4000 spectators.The race had 17 horses competing; 3 horses fell & 2 had to be put down, the race was won by Archer.Archer travelled to Melbourne the next year by steamboat & won again.The winner got a gold watch, the first actual cup given as a prize wasn’t until 1865 & the prize money was 710 pounds. -
Britain stops sending convicts to Australia
Britain stopped sending convicts to Australia when the government, remembering the rebellion of the American colonies, decided to end the system. After the 1853 Penal Servitude Act, only long term transportation was retained. Transportation was abolished finally after the Penal Servitude Act of 1857 however some convicts were still transported for a while after the act, with the last boat arriving in Freemantle with 280 convicts in 1868. -
Free education introduced
After over a decade of effort the Victorian govt gained control of the colonial school system from religious denominations & passed the 1872 Education Act. The legislation made VIC the first Australian colony & one of the first jurisdictions in the world to offer secular, free & compulsory education to its children aged between 6-15yrs. Schools were created when the local community could provide a minimum number of students & raise a portion of school building costs. -
BHP-Broken Hill Proprietary
BHP began mining in Australia in 1885.Charles Rasp found silver & lead on George McCulloch’s sheep farm in Broken Hill, NSW. Seven men including Rasp & McCulloch joined together to form the Broken Hill Mining Company (BHP). They began mining silver, lead & zinc. Over time BHP has become a global company discovering & mining natural resources including iron ore, copper, oil & gas. In 2001 BHP merged with Billiton, forming one of Australia’s largest mining companies with almost 20,000 employees. -
Tenterfield address
NSW Premier Sir Henry Parkes delivered a speech in Tenterfield NSW on 24th of October 1889 to call for the Australian colonies to unite into one nation. He was striving for a better defence force for Australia. Parkes suggested that we have a Prime Minister and a parliament of two houses for Australian matters, with colonies still in control of local matters. This led to Federation in 1901 and the governments that we still have today. A plaque in Tenterfield commemorates this important address. -
Federation
Until 31st of December 1900 there were 6 separate colonies in Australia. On the 1st January 1901 a new nation was formed & the Constitution Act began. The British Parliament accepted Australia as a nation. All states still had their own government. On the 9th of May 1901 the first federal parliament met in Victoria. Tom Robert's painting shows the first federal parliament meeting. Today in Australia we still have the same system as of the 1 January 1901. -
White Australian Policy
On the 23 of December 1901, the Immigration Restriction Act was passed by the federal government of Edmund Barton. This Act limited Immigration to Australia by excluding all non-Europeans. It was one of the first Commonwealth laws passed.With a rise in the number of migrants from China and the Pacific, the law aimed to limit non-white immigration to Australia, in order to keep Australia “British".As a policy, White Australia is gone, but there are still some who yearn for a “British” Australia.
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