Commonwealth of Australia - Brief History [Back]

There is some evidence that the Chinese seamen might have visited the shores of Australia early in the 15 century, the Spanish passed it on their way to the Philippines in the 16th century, but the first recorded sighting of the continent by Europeans was in 1606, by the Dutch. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman charted the coastline of Tasmania (1642-4) and the western and north-western coastline was explored by the English towards the end of the 17th century. However, it was only in 1770 that Captain James Cook charted the east coast of Australia and claimed the land for Britain.

The first European settlement was a British penal colony, established in 1788, when 11 ships of the First Fleet, carrying about 1,500 people arrived at Port Jackson (now Sydney). Migration of free settlers began in the 1790s. From the early days of settlement Britain progressively appointed governors to administer six separate colonies in Australia - Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. Land was granted by the Crown at first, but by the beginning of the 19th century a system was introduced by which the proceeds of land sales partially financed the passage of new immigrants. Over the next decade an estimated 50,000 settlers arrived. Wheat and merino sheep were introduced. As more of the country opened up ‘squatters’ began to occupy grazing land. In 1836 the government recognised the squatters and introduced a licence of 10 pounds a year. By mid 19th century the policy of transportation of convicts was gradually abandoned.

The idea of self-government attracted an increasing number of followers, and in 1850 Britain passed the Australian Colonies Government Act giving the colonies considerable autonomy, including the right to alter constitutions. About that time gold was discovered in New South Wales and Victoria and within a few years the population in those areas increased quite dramatically. The economy was now based on wool and gold. Shearers and miners’ unions began to form. Wharf labourers who also had a strong union started a strike against non-union labour in 1890. The strike spread to miners and farm workers, and special police were brought in to quash the strike. In the following years there was more industrial unrest over the same issue and Labor emerged as a political force. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is the oldest political party in Australia and one of the oldest labour parties in the world.

Independent administration of the colonies gradually created problems for easy communication. Railway gauges, postal systems, trade regulations etc. changed from one colony to another and it became clear that greater cooperation was needed. After a series of inter-colonial conferences, the first Australian Federal Convention met in 1891. Members of colonial parliaments designed a draft constitution which was a basis for federation.

In 1900 the Australian Constitution was passed as an Act of the British Government, and in January 1901 the colonies formed the federation of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Northern Territory was transferred to the Commonwealth from South Australia in 1911. The new head of state was the governor-general, appointed by the crown, and parliament was set up consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The federal government is responsible for maters of national concern such as defence, foreign affairs, environment etc.

In the first decades of the new government a great deal of social legislation was enacted. Women were granted voting rights, industrial arbitration, a pension system, free and compulsory education were established. In 1911 NSW granted the government territory for the federal capital. Parliament began meeting there in 1927.

In WW I Australia sent about 330,000 men to fight on the side of Britain and its allies. In 1920 it was one of the founders of the League of Nations. In 1931 Australia became a Dominion within the British Commonwealth. During the 1920 Australian economy boomed benefiting from the prices of wool and meat, which also proved to be the vehicle of fast recovery from the great economic depression of the 1930s.

In WW II Australia fought on the side of the Allied Forces and was the Allied base in the Pacific. The Labor Party was in power during the war, but after a failed attempt to nationalise banks and a bitter coal strike put down only by troops and emergency legislation, the Liberal and Country Parties formed a coalition government and stayed in power for the next 23 years. The Liberal Party of Australia was formed in 1944 although its origin can be traced back to the early 1900s, from anti-Labor movements. The anti-communism of the 1950s shaped Australian foreign policy, which concentrated on relations with the US and non-communist Asian nations. Australia, New Zealand and the US signed the ANZUS defence treaty in 1952. Amid considerable controversy at home, Australia sent troops to Vietnam in support of the US forces.

By 1970s the coalition government was plagued by inflation and industrial unrest, and in 1971 Labor won the elections. Australia’s military involvement in Vietnam was ended. The Liberal Party returned to power in 1975. In 1983 Labor came back and stayed in government until 1996, when the Liberal Party formed a coalition government again. The Australia Act of 1986 gave the nation full legal independence from Britain, but the Queen still retains the sovereign status. However, there is a strong movement for an independent republic of Australia.

In the last decade Australia has increasingly ‘internationalised’ its foreign policy focusing however, on the Asia Pacific region. It was one of the co-founders of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum

The Australian population draws its origins from virtually all parts of the world. The first immigration came predominantly from the British Isles, but later an influx of economic immigration from other parts of the world helped create the modern multicultural society of today.