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The first human habitation of Australia is estimated to have
occurred between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago.[2] The first
Australians were the ancestors of the current Indigenous Australians;
they arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from
present-day Southeast Asia. Most of these people were hunter-gatherers,
with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on
reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The
Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, inhabited
the Torres Strait Islands and parts of far-north Queensland;
they possess distinct cultural practices from the Aborigines.
Lieutenant James Cook charted the East coast of Australia
on HM Bark Endeavour, claiming the land for Britain in 1770.
This replica was built in Fremantle in 1988; photographed
in Cooktown harbour where Cook spent 7 weeks.
The first undisputed recorded European sighting of the Australian
continent was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Jansz, who
sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the
seventeenth century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western
and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but
made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed
along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named
New South Wales and claimed for Britain. The expedition's
discoveries provided impetus for the establishment of a penal
colony there following the loss of the American colonies that
had previously filled that role.
Port Arthur, Tasmania was Australia's largest penal colony.
The British Crown Colony of New South Wales started with
the establishment of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain
Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to
become Australia's national day, Australia Day. Van Diemen's
Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became
a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed
the western part of Australia in 1829. Separate colonies were
created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in
1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern
Territory (NT) was founded in 1863 as part of the Province
of South Australia. South Australia was founded as a "free
province" — that is, it was never a penal colony.
Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free",
but later accepted transported convicts. The transportation
of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1864.
The Indigenous Australian population, estimated at about
350,000 at the time of European settlement,[3] declined steeply
for 150 years following settlement, mainly because of infectious
disease combined with forced re-settlement and cultural disintegration.
The removal of children, that some historians and Indigenous
Australians have argued could be considered to constitute
genocide by today's understanding,[4] may have made a small
contribution to the decline in the indigenous population.
Such interpretations of Aboriginal history are disputed by
some as being exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological
reasons.[5] This debate is known within Australia as the History
Wars. Following the 1967 referendum, the Federal government
gained the power to implement policies and make laws with
respect to Aborigines. Traditional ownership of land —
native title — was not recognised until the High Court
case Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the notion of Australia
as terra nullius at the time of European occupation.
A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, and the
Eureka Stockade rebellion in 1854 was an early expression
of nationalist sentiment. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies
individually gained responsible government, managing most
of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire.
The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters,
notably foreign affairs, defence and international shipping.
On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved
after a decade of planning, consultation and voting, and the
Commonwealth of Australia was born, as a Dominion of the British
Empire. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was formed
from New South Wales in 1911 to provide a location for the
proposed new federal capital of Canberra (Melbourne was the
capital from 1901 to 1927). The Northern Territory was transferred
from the control of the South Australian government to the
Commonwealth in 1911. Australia willingly participated in
World War I;[6] many Australians regard the defeat of the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli
as the birth of the nation — its first major military
action. Much like Gallipoli, the Kokoda Track Campaign is
regarded by many as a nation-defining battle from World War
II.
The Last Post is played at an ANZAC Day ceremony in Port Melbourne,
Victoria, 25 April 2005. Ceremonies such as this are held
in virtually every suburb and town in Australia.
The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the
constitutional links between Australia and the United Kingdom,
but Australia did not adopt the Statute until 1942. The shock
of the United Kingdom's defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat
of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the United
States as a new ally and protector. Since 1951, Australia
has been a formal military ally of the US under the auspices
of the ANZUS treaty. After World War II, Australia encouraged
mass immigration from Europe; since the 1970s and the abolition
of the White Australia policy, immigration from Asia and other
parts of the world was also encouraged. As a result, Australia's
demography, culture and image of itself were radically transformed.
The final constitutional ties between Australia and the United
Kingdom ended in 1986 with the passing of the Australia Act
1986, ending any British role in the Australian States, and
ending judicial appeals to the UK Privy Council. Australian
voters rejected a move to become a republic in 1999 by a 55%
majority.[7] Since the election of the Whitlam Government
in 1972, there has been an increasing focus on the nation's
future as a part of the Asia-Pacific region.
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