First Nations Australian Origins
Indigenous Australians have lived in the nation for at least 50,000 years. This means they have the oldest living cultural history in the world. When the British arrived in 1788, as many as 250 different languages were spoken across the nation. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies has produced this map detailing the languages used across Australia. Barani, an Aboriginal word of the Sydney language that means ‘yesterday’, is a project detailing the Aboriginal history of the Sydney area.
Prior to the colonisation of the British, there were between 300,000 and one million First Nations people living in Australia.
1788 – First Fleet and Convicts
The Dutch first sighted Australia in 1606 before Captain Cook colonised the land for Great Britain in 1770. The First Fleet of 11 boats arrived at Botany Bay in 1788 to establish New South Wales as a penal colony (receiving convicts until 1848). Convicts were later sent to the other states, with the exception of South Australia, which was established as a free colony in 1836.
Over 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia from Great Britain, the majority to New South Wales and Tasmania.
The 1850s – Gold Rushes
The discovery of gold in Australia (in Bathurst first, then Ballarat in 1851) kickstarted the economy and created the idea of Australia as a desirable location. The year 1854 saw the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, a rebellion against taxation that some see as a crucial event in the evolution of Australia’s democracy. This is also the first period of Chinese immigration, with 50,000 Chinese arriving and the establishment of many Chinatowns.
1901 – Federation
The Commonwealth of Australia was created in 1901 with the Federation of all the states. It was agreed that the capital could be in NSW but no closer than 100 kilometres from Sydney. This led to the creation of Canberra, with a temporary parliament set up in Melbourne for 27 years.
Both New Zealand and Fiji were invited to join the Federation of the states but declined the invitations.
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