A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF AUSTRALIA ------------------------------------ Australia, the great south land, had existed in the European mind for centuries before it was eventually discovered. Even when a great part of its coastline was revealed , explorers could not reconcile its uninviting appearance with their own preconceptions of a land of riches and plenty. By the close of the seventeenth century the coastline from Cape York around the Nuyts Archipelago in South Australia, the southern shores of Tasmania and most of New Guinea, were known to the Spanish, Dutch or English. But the fertile east coast, the most suitable area for colonisation, lay undiscovered until 1770, with the voyage of Captain James Cook, under instructions from the British Admiralty to search for the South Land. He mapped most of the eastern shores from Point Hicks (Victoria) to Possession Island Queensland) where he proclaimed the whole eastern coast British Territory. The British Government did not take advantage of this acquisition until 1788 when it established a convict colony at Port Jackson (N.S.W.). At times close to starvation , the colony gradually became self subsistent and, as confidence increased, a second penal settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1803. The Blue Mountains, the barrier to the inland, were crossed in 1813 and the discovery of the great grazing plains inaugurated the pastoral age. Macarthur's and Marsden's. early interest in sheep breeding was amply justified and the development of the woollen industry in Northern England provided the colonies with a large market. By 1850 they were exporting 40 million pounds weight of wool, from 17 million sheep. The boundaries of New South Wales were continually extended as pastoralists followed the paths of early explorers in their desire to find new grazing lands. The Port Phillip (Victoria) area to the south West opened up after 1834 by overlanders from New South Wales and pastoralists from Tasmania, where most of the suitable land had already been taken up. Squatters moved into the downs of Southern Queensland after 1840 and eventually both Port Phillip (1851) and Queensland (1859) were separated from New South Wales. Colonies established by local initiative were more successful than those planned in England. Inexperience, harsh conditions and unsuitable land caused the West Australian settlement (1829) to languish. Many immigrants drifted east and the colony was forced to accept convict labour, which was not finally abandoned until 1868, long after transportation had ceased in the eastern states. By the 1880's with the mineral discoveries and subsequent increase in population, prosperity in the west was eventually established. The colonisation of South Australia (1836) was planned in England by the South Australian Association and the Colonial Office. No convicts were to be sent to the colony, immigration of free labour was to be subsidised by the sale of land and closer settlement on the European scale was to be encouraged. Divided authority, land speculation and inexperience contributed to the bankruptcy which overtook the colony. Mineral discoveries and intensive wheat farming in the 1840's and 1850's stabilised the colony. The decade 1851-1861 witnessed the transformation of the colonies, and the beginnings of nationhood. The discovery of gold not only enriched the country by $248 million, it changed colonial society, trebling its numbers (to 1,145,000) and swamping the convict element public works programs, including 10,000 miles of railways. The value of land rose to inflated heights and credit was so liberal that private borrowing reached $400,000,000. The urban nature of Australian society was firmly established; the two cities of Melbourne and Sydney in particular became great commercial centres with the varieties of life and experience common to metropolitan cities. An individuality , specifically Australian, became apparent in the arts and letters. The boom itself could not last. The drought of 1888 halted it in South Australia and New South Wales, but the principal collapse took place in Victoria. All told , twenty-two colonial banks suspended payments. Land and Finance companies with liabilities of $50,000,000 went into liquidation. Every class was impoverished, and with the bitterness occasioned by the great strikes in Queensland and New South Wales, the optimism of the earlier decades was soured. The failure of public confidence in the colonial governments may well have furthered the cause of federation, which despite opposition from both conservatives and radicals gradually gained sufficient support and momentum during the last years of the century. After two referenda and many compromises the colonies agreed to federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia had legal existence from 1st January 1901. Optimism returned; a new era of development was to begin. Certainly the move was timely, for the nation was to be tried severely on three occasions, the first only fourteen years away, when the First World War broke out. The Prime Minister pledged the country's support to the last man and the last shilling, a promise honoured by the call of sixty thousand men and a war debt of $600,000,000. The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 came to be regarded by the Australian people as the test of nationhood, which the country had honourably passed. The war had given great impetus to industry, which increased by a third in size. The boom which followed was only a prelude to the world depression. Budgeting crises, cuts in government expenditure and wide unemployment,with nearly a third jobless, impoverished the country and destroyed the people's hopes. Australia had not fully recovered from the effects of the depression when the Second World War broke out. After the fall of Singapore, Britain was no longer able to protect Australia fully and the country turned to the United States for support, thus initiating a policy which successive governments have maintained. The alliance thus formed has to some extent influenced the development of Australian society. The post-war decades have seen a change in society as far reaching as the gold rush years. Over a million immigrants from Britain and Europe have entered the country,enriching and diversifying the way of life, helping to remove the provincialism of the pre-war years. And the growing awareness of Asia ensures that the mood of insularity can never again dominate Australian society. Increased industrialization and the considerable oil and mineral discoveries suggest a promising future for the nation. AUSTRALIAN TIME LINE 1606 - Spaniard Quiros sailed through Torres Strait which was named after his second in command. No record of mainland being sighted. 1606 - Dutchman, Willem Jansz in the Duyfken followed west coast of Cape York. Credited with discovering mainland. ~-- 1623 - Dutchman, Pieter Pieterzoon, sighted Coburg Peninsular (NT) 1642 - Dutchman Abel Janszoon Tasman,named "Vandiemens Land",now Tasmania and thought it was rart of the Mainland. 1644 - Dutch had mapped coast from Cape York to Ceduna (S.A) Continent was called New HoHand. 1688 - Englishman William Dampier explored west coast between Shark Bay and the Kimberly District. 1770 - April 20th-James Cook in H.M.A.S. Eneavour sighted Australia at Point Hicks (Vic.) and explored the eastern coast. June 11th Endeavour hit reef near Trinity Bay. Ship repaired near Cooktown. August 23rd-Cook took possession of east coast from latitude 38%S (Cape Howe) to 10%S (Possionsion Island.) for Britain. 1788 - January 26th-Capt. Phillip landed with First Fleet and took formal possession of eastern Australia. 1798 - Bass and Flinders sailed through Bass Strait proving Van Diemen's Land an island. 1802/3 -Matthew Flinders in Investigawr surveyed coast from Cape Leeuwin (W.A.) to Point Dale (N.T.).Van Diemen's Land first settled. 1821 - First complete survey of Australian Coast completed by British Admiralty. 1825 - Van Diemen's Land became separate colony. 1826 - December 26th-Major Lockyer established first settlement in Western Australia on King George Sound. 1829 - June -- Western Australia proclaimed a separate colony. 1836 - First settlement of South Australia. December 28--South Australia proclaimed separate colony. 1851 - July 1st-Victoria proclaimed separate colony. 1856 - Van Diemen's Land renamed Tasmania. Norfolk Island created a separate settlement of New South Wales. 1859 - December 10th - Queensland proclaimed separate colony. 1863 -July 6th-Northern Territory placed under South Australian jurisdiction. 1884 - British New Guinea (Papua) annexed by British Government and administered by Queensland. 1901 - January 1--All Australian colonies were federated as "Commonwealth of Australia" and became States. 1906 - September 1st--Papua transferred to Commonwealth Administration. 1909 - October 6th--Australian Capital Territory formed. 1911 - January 1th--Northern Territory transferred to Commonwealth. 1911 - Australian Antarctic Expedition landed at Macquarie Island (1,000miles. S.E. of Hobart). 1913 - Norfolk Island became a Territory of Commonwealth of Australia. 1919 - Australia, U.K. and N.Z. received mandate over Nauru. 1921 - May 9--Former German New Guinea administered under mandate from League of Nations. 1947 - November lst--Nauru came under trustee agreement with United Nations. 1947 - December 26th--Heard and McDonald Islands (2,500m. S.W. of Perth) transferred to Australian control. 1955 - November 23rd--Cocos (Keeling) Islands transferred to Australian control. 1958 - October lst--Christmas Island transferred to Australian control. END OF DOCUMENT