Ludo and Xavi, British Australia colonisation

The British colonized Australia in 1788 as a place to send convicts. They gradually expanded and discovered the potential for farming wool and finding gold. The indigenous Aboriginal people suffered from imported diseases and conflicts over land rights. The gold rush in 1851 led to a population increase. Despite the unfair treatment of the indigenous population, Australia has become a successful country today. Today, myself and Xavi will be talking about the British colonisation of Australia that started in 1788. Why did the British establish a colony in New South Wales in 1788, and what were the consequences for the country and the indigenous people? The story behind this research question starts with the first known landing by Europeans in 1606. The Dutch explored and mapped the north and south coasts, including Tasmania, by 1650, but did not set up permanent ports or colonies. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook chartered the east coast of Australia and claimed it for Great Britain. A while after, the first fleet of British ships arrived to establish a colony. The British gradually expanded into the rest of the country, and the indigenous Aboriginal people had been there for 60,000 years, and the arrival of the British was not good news as they suffered from imported disease and conflict over land rights. Thankfully, due to modern technology, we can go back in time and talk to a few people who had experienced the start of the British-Australia colonisation. 16 years after Captain Cook's arrival on the east coast of Australia, the British government decided to establish the Pennell Colony at Botany Bay. We had already lost most of our North American colonies, so it could no longer send our convicts there. We were searching for an alternative. We examined certain colonies in Africa, but concluded that they were unsuitable. There was a lot of debate on whether the British should use Australia as a place to go to and hold the convicts. However, we thought it could also make gains for the Empire because of their trade in new materials and having ports in the region to keep an eye on the Dutch, Spanish and French. Now we have a chance to talk with one of the convicts who arrived on the first fleet. Zabi Ali Hussain, why did you come and what was your life when you arrived? I was given a sentence of 10 years' prison for stealing and was deported to Australia. When we arrived, there was really nothing, just 700 of us and about 300 soldiers and guards. Life was tough as we had to work hard building houses and a port. There was a shortage of food and many prisoners died, including during sea voyages. My sentence was cut short after 3 years and then I became a free man. I was able to get some farmland and ended up owning sheep and selling those. My sons became quite rich eventually and the number of sheep in the decade of 1820 to 1830 grew from 170,000 to 1 million. One of the problems I had as governor was that the convicts made a boast of the population. So we started encouraging more people, especially women, to come over from Britain and start business in New South Wales. They were called Free Settlers and they got given land too. Before long, it was clear that our colony had a lot of potential and we started expanding into the rest of Australia with no opposition from other countries. So by 1850, the settler population of New South Wales had reached 180,000. As the British colony expanded, I came across more indigenous Aboriginal people. As I was working in my sentence in Sydney, there were about 3,000 of them. As I was working one day in 1789, I noticed that there were a lot fewer indigenous people. This was because of an outbreak of smallpox disease that had been going around brought by the ships I came from. Unfortunately, the indigenous Aboriginals were quite vulnerable to the disease as about half of the population got wiped out from the disease. The settlers and the convicts brought on the ship were quite resistant to this disease as there was only one death recorded of us and the British. This meant that the Aboriginal people were going to struggle. My instruction as the British governor was to make allies with the indigenous Aboriginal people. But once we started expanding our empire and creating more colonies throughout Australia, disputes over land rights dominated the relationship. All in all, it is estimated that there were 30,000 Aboriginal deaths over land conflicts up until 1850. Now we fast forward in time a bit to 1851 to talk about Edward Hargraves and the gold rush in Australia. What was your inspiration towards looking for gold? Well, you see, one day in 1823, my father, who was in New South Wales at the time, sent a letter to us saying that he had heard that someone had found gold. From that day onwards, I've always wanted to search for gold in places all over the world. The day I found gold had a major positive impact for the British economy. Unfortunately, this led to the immigrants from the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the United States, as well as China, pour into Victoria and New South Wales. The gold rush that happened increased the Australian population from 430,000 in 1851 to 1,170,000 in 1861. Well, I think that going back in time to speak to the people that experienced the British Australia colonisation was a very good success. We can now finally go back to the present. With having arrived back in the future, let's now recap over this podcast. You can see that the story of Australia is quite unusual. The Dutch were not that interested in colonising even though they explored the coast extensively. So why did the British colonise and what were the consequences for the country and their indigenous people? The British were mainly focused on a place to send convicts. Only once they got there did they start to see the full potential of farming for wool and then gold and other minerals. As in many colonies, the indigenous population was displaced and vulnerable to imported diseases which seems very unfair looking back. However, everyone can now see that Australia today is an important and successful country of 25 million people and even though it started life 235 years ago as a small outdoor prison. Thank you for listening.