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first human habitation of Australia is estimated
to have occurred between 42,000 and 48,000 years
ago. The first Australians were the ancestors of
the current Indigenous Australians; they arrived
via land bridges and short sea-crossings from present-day
Southeast Asia. Most of these people were hunter-gatherers,
with a complex oral culture and spiritual values
based on reverence for the land and a belief in
the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically
Melanesian, inhabited the Torres Strait Islands
and parts of far-north Queensland; they possess
distinct cultural practices from the Aborigines.
The first undisputed recorded
European sighting of the Australian continent
was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Jansz,
who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in
1606. During the seventeenth century, the Dutch
charted the whole of the western and northern
coastlines of what they called New Holland, but
made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James
Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of
Australia, which he named New South Wales and
claimed for Britain. The expedition's discoveries
provided impetus for the establishment of a penal
colony there following the loss of the American
colonies that had previously filled that role.
The British Crown Colony
of New South Wales started with the establishment
of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur
Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later
to become Australia's national day, Australia
Day. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania,
was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony
in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the
western part of Australia in 1829. Separate colonies
were created from parts of New South Wales: South
Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland
in 1859. The Northern Territory (NT) was founded
in 1863 as part of the Province of South Australia.
South Australia was founded as a "free province"
- that is, it was never a penal colony. Victoria
and Western Australia were also founded "free",
but later accepted transported convicts. The transportation
of convicts to Australia was phased out between
1840 and 1864.
The Indigenous Australian
population, estimated at about 350,000 at the
time of European settlement, (Estimates for the
total Aboriginal population in 1788 vary. Current
estimates based on archaeological research range
between 500,000 and 1 million) declined steeply
for 150 years following settlement, mainly because
of infectious disease combined with forced re-settlement
and cultural disintegration. The removal of children,
that some historians and Indigenous Australians
have argued could be considered to constitute
genocide by today's understanding, may have made
a small contribution to the decline in the indigenous
population. Such interpretations of Aboriginal
history are disputed by some as being exaggerated
or fabricated for political or ideological reasons.This
debate is known within Australia as the History
Wars. Following the 1967 referendum, the Federal
government gained the power to implement policies
and make laws with respect to Aborigines. Traditional
ownership of land - native title - was not recognised
until the High Court case Mabo v Queensland (No
2) overturned the notion of Australia as terra
nullius at the time of European occupation.
A gold rush began in Australia
in the early 1850s, and the Eureka Stockade rebellion
in 1854 was an early expression of nationalist
sentiment. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies
individually gained responsible government, managing
most of their own affairs while remaining part
of the British Empire. The Colonial Office in
London retained control of some matters, notably
foreign affairs, defence and international shipping.
On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies
was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation
and voting, and the Commonwealth of Australia
was born, as a Dominion of the British Empire.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was formed
from New South Wales in 1911 to provide a location
for the proposed new federal capital of Canberra
(Melbourne was the capital from 1901 to 1927).
The Northern Territory was transferred from the
control of the South Australian government to
the Commonwealth in 1911. Australia willingly
participated in World War I; many Australians
regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth
of the nation - its first major military action.
Much like Gallipoli, the Kokoda Track Campaign
is regarded by many as a nation-defining battle
from World War II.
The Statute of Westminster
1931 formally ended most of the constitutional
links between Australia and the United Kingdom,
but Australia did not adopt the Statute until
1942. The shock of the United Kingdom's defeat
in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion
caused Australia to turn to the United States
as a new ally and protector. Since 1951, Australia
has been a formal military ally of the US under
the auspices of the ANZUS treaty. After World
War II, Australia encouraged mass immigration
from Europe; since the 1970s and the abolition
of the White Australia policy, immigration from
Asia and other parts of the world was also encouraged.
As a result, Australia's demography, culture and
image of itself were radically transformed. The
final constitutional ties between Australia and
the United Kingdom ended in 1986 with the passing
of the Australia Act 1986, ending any British
role in the Australian States, and ending judicial
appeals to the UK Privy Council. Australian voters
rejected a move to become a republic in 1999 by
a 55% majority. Since the election of the Whitlam
Government in 1972, there has been an increasing
focus on the nation's future as a part of the
Asia-Pacific region.
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