History of Australia

History of Australia, A friend gave me a travel book, after he went on a holiday, to Australia, and this travel to Australia, made me write this, as well as me seeing a historical documentary on travel to Australia.

The First people in Australia arrived somewhere like 40,000 years ago. maybe earlier, as some markings indicate possibilities that people came earlier.

As Aborigines, the new populations, created a world culture in this desert island. Of many cultures. For instance, there were people who hunted kangaroos, there were people, who lived in small bands, and there were people who hunted and collected many foods, from small insects in the Australian jungle to many other tribes and types of groups. There were many groups, and they had 200 languages, many and bands. Also among them many religous ideas developed, some have been labelled, the dreamtime, which talk of religous creation stories, and such which have seen similarities to markings in the desert.

Anyhow, by 1770s, this group of many peoples, was living in hunter gatherer societies, there were somewhere between 250,000 and 1,250,000 people in the largest island, in the world at the time.

Before that date there had been arrivals of some European ships, and Indonesian fishermen on the coast. Indeed some claim that Chinese vessels, reached here earlier, including even at the time of Christ, as some claim, they could have come here, while trading down to Indonesian islands.

In the time before that it has to be said, the Australian Native population, created a vibrant unique culture, but also saw the typical thing of what happened when humans arrived in new lands. For instance in the era when humans arrived in Europe, and Siberia, the wooly mammoth, and wooly rhinos, and whole series of species died out. Also when Aborigines arrived some fascinating species died out too,.

I.E the 10 foot tall duck style ostrich style species, that were probably herbivores, and a large wombat type, animal, as large as a cow.

But here Australian Aborigines, invented boomerangs, many types of food, and a whole loads of other things, like domesticating the dingo.

But on the bright side, many species survived the 40,000 years of being with the Aborigines. These included kangaroos, 2 legged marsupials smaller than rabbits and more.

Anyhow in 1770 Captain Cook, on a voyage ordered by his nation's government, reached Australia. he then saw by the 1790s, the British decide to set up colonies. These consisted of people convicted of crimes in Britain, sent to Australia, It s said, something like 560 petty criminal,s died of forced labour and bad stuff, while on their way to the isle, and such, in 1788-1800 alone. Every so often the criminals, saw local populations, develop around them, and then ask them to be sent elsewhere, so for almost a century criminals were sent to Australia, alongside, the ortdinary settlers, such as soldiers, and treasure hunters.

But this amount of deaths was nothing compared to what the local people suffered. In colonisation of the island, by British and some otehr European settlers, 20,000 Natives died in guerilla wars, and massacres, by Whites, from 1788-1930s, against expansion of cattle grazing, and other new farming interests. Of this an extra 2500 Brits died, in fighting the Natives.

Britain was to send 165000 Cobnvicts to the island, by mid century, before that stoopped. These people were banned for a while by locals, from some rights, but after a while the exclusionists lost and the inclusionists thought it was fairerm, or more profitable to allow them to have land.

100s of Chinese people died in the 19thCentury of bad labour conditiosn, and rioting against them, such as in Gold mines, indeed their immigration was restricted as of their competition with White Settlers. The British and Irish and suich colonists also suffered soem hardships, coming to the isle, and also in settling, and typical 19th Century world poverty.

But still Natives suffered, more. For instance, Tasmania's Native Population, fell from 5000 people, in 1788, to 0 in 1877. not including people who had become very westernised.

Aborigines fell from there number to 60,000 or 100,000 in 1870, to 30,000 or 77,000 in 1930.

The last massacre by whites was in 1928, when some were massacred,

The last battle was when some Aborigines, was in the 1930s, when some Japanese, fishermen, and British settlers were involved.

Aborigines would not be given voting rites to 1967(unlike the rest of the Australian adult population, who got them, in the late 19thC, to early 20thC for men, and women). This lack of rifghsrt compared to Maoris, saw the Australian native population (possibly as there were fewer, so less of them to be able to have power), have a far lower life expectancy than the very rich in world terms, across the Century white population, while the Maoris in league with Labour In New Zealand, by the 1960s were rampantly gaining on the majority and almost equal on that scale in 2006.

Added to this in the 1860s 50,000 Pacific peoples were brought to Queensland, (when it was still undemocartic) as slaves, then largely shipped to other places)

The first political parties leading Australia in this increased era of democracy were the business loving parties, some of them, in the 19thC even planned to have themselves as a new aristocracy, some even wnated to call themselves lords, and have a house of lords, regulating a lower house.

But this did not occur, indeed the different states, for the benefot iof the population incaresed theri democartic rights,

The Labour parrty in the early days agreed with the White Australia policy, and the belief that Australia would grow to be a lland, as populous as America. just like the others parties.

The colonies of Australia united in 1901, fearing Germany, and foreign immigration in referndas.

The first election saw Labour with 16 seats, free traders 27, Protectionists 32 Lab at first opposed a federal unity, fearing it would be difficluit to change Australia for the better, but then accepted it. There had been Australian Labour giovernments in some colonies in the 1890s, In 1909, the opoposustion to Lab, united, as the Libs,.

Get a Australian Flag T Shirt

In eth meantinme Lab coliatiosn had created a welfare system.

Then in the 1910s, a Lab leader broke, off over the ussie of Consricption which he supported harming Lab, this occurrted again, in the depression.

Canberra was made capital in 1927.

The period to 1950s saw Lab and Lib, fight out, and Country party form, for their intrests fearing the main rightist changing every so often colation P as not pro right enough. And it saw Australia lose 10s of thousands of lives, in Wordl War One, and in World War Two. even seeing Japanese plans bomb Darwin. Relying on American help, as much as British in the second war.

In the 1950s on the Right had their longest period, of success, even trying ban the very small Communist Party, and sending soem help to America in the Vietnam War in the form, of some troops. They painted the Labour Party as domibnated by unions, which saw Labour change it's ways to make themselves seem less led by unions, and just allied to them. These saw in 1973, Lab win with 49% to 41%, they did minor lib and welafre gains, and helped end remaining anti Aboriginee rules.

In 1975 a Lab PM was ousted by the governor General, which helped up the republican movement, as it was felt this guy had no eright to do this in the real democratic sense, his only legitamacy to do this rested on feudal ideas of the 18thC style constituion, of wehich all the best bist were denmocratic, and all the bad parts were not.

Labour was back in power in 1983, with a privatising pro Union regime, which by the end of the 90s, proposed creatinmg a popular idea of a republic, of Australia.

But he lost the mid 90s election, and tehn saw the Libs just manage, to derail the refernda for an Australian head of state of Australia, by quite unfair tricks, but in 2006 opinion polls show, that the next king of Australia has a approval rating so that, over 60% of Australians, would vote for a republic, even if it was the type which many did not feel like voting for.)

Australia by the 2000s was still famous for it's sports victories, and still had a right wing Colaition, in favour of privatisation, and the restriction of immigration, but alowance of some, (white Australia was ended in the 1950s, and completly so in the 1970s, with increasing numbers of East Asians, and added to that, a change from teh British reliant policy, to many Greeks)

Here are some more sites, there are books and articles on the subjects in many internet places, or internet book shops, bookstores, at the bottom, are lists of which were the worst regimes of the past few centuries.

An Index with links to almost all our sites.

A site on the El Nino Famines that killed 10s of millions of Indians, and Chinese and others in the 19th Century

http://www.lonympics.co.uk/top10austraiacities.htm What are the 10 Largest cities in Australia
http://www.lonympics.co.uk/top10australiaresults.htm The 10 best Australian sporting results ever

The Highland Clearances and it's full terribleness

A History of New Guinea

A History of New Zealand

A site on the Belgian Congo, and how the king of that land killed 10s of millions of Congolese

Why the French Revolution was good

The most evil regimes of the 19th Century

A site on 1640s Britain

Worst 18th Century regimes

What were the nicest regimes ever