Australia Before Responsible Government (1606–1856)

Abstract

European incursions into the Indian and Pacific Oceans, following the Portuguese voyages of the early sixteenth century, established a competitive interest among Dutch, Spanish, French, and English entities for possible colonial settlements in Asia and Australasia. The British colonised the Australian eastern coast for a penal settlement from 1788. Continuing French investigations prompted the expansion of British settlement to Port Phillip, Van Diemen's Land and Swan River as late as 1828. While the eastern settlements were penal colonies, Western Australia and South Australia were established by British commercial interests as free settlements. The relationships between the governed and the governing classes were therefore dependent on whether the settlement was a penal establishment or a free one. The penal settlements were autocracies gradually constrained by British legislation and local agitation for ‘traditional’ freedoms – trial by jury, freedom of the press, and representative government. Following the end of transportation to New South Wales in 1840, the British government established partial self-government in 1842. Gold discoveries in 1851 hastened the process of self-government for all Australian colonies (except Western Australia), though Britain retained the right to veto legislation and control defence.