Colonial Australia The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there around 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish ships sighted1 Australia in the 17th century. In 1644, the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman baptized the continent New Holland. The British arrived in 1688, but it was not until Captain James Cook s voyage in 1770 that Great Britain claimed possession of the eastern region, which Cook called New South Wales. A British penal colony was set up at Port Jackson (now Sydney) in 1788, and about 161,000 English convicts were settled there. In 1791, the British government offered land to those who had completed their sentences, but they were not allowed to return to Britain. The penal colony was suspended in 1839. At the time of early European settlement, the number of aboriginal people was between 500,000 and 1 million. Six colonies were established: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (1825, named after Tasman), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834), Victoria (1851) and Queensland (1859). Various gold rushes attracted settlers, as did the mining of other minerals. Sheep farming and grain soon grew into important economic enterprises. By the middle of 19th century raw wool exports rose to over 10 million pounds annually. The six colonies became states, and in 1901 federated into the Commonwealth of Australia with a constitution which incorporated British parliamentary and US federal traditions. The Colonial Conference of 1907 was the first time that the Commonwealth of Australia was referred to as a Dominion , that is, a fully self-governing colony, together with Canada and, later that year, New Zealand. The Northern Territory was separated from South Australia in 1911. Australia achieved independent sovereign nation status in 1931 under the Statute of Westminster, which also recognized it as a member of what was then called the British Commonwealth. The Australia Act of 1986 removed any remaining links between the British Parliament and Australia. When the Europeans arrived, finding no obvious political structure, they took the land as their own. Aboriginal people were driven out of 2 their homes, and many were killed by the new European diseases and in fighting. During the early part of the 20th century, legislation was passed to segregate the Aborigines. This involved restrictions on where they could live and work, and many families were broken up. After World War II, assimilation became the government s aim. All rights were taken away from the Aborigines and attempts were made to europeanize them. During the 1960s, the Federal Government passed legislation for all Aborigines to be given citizen status. However, it wasn t until 1972 that the indigenous people were given back limited rights to their own land. The situation has been steadily improving, although many feel that more needs to be done. Today there are about 350,000 Aborigines in Australia, 2% of the total population. 1. sighted: saw from a ship. 2. drive out of: expel, remove.