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The Dutch land on Australia, are attacked by Aborigines, and abandon it without settling.
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Capt. James Cook lands on Australia and claims it for England, ignoring the Aborigines already living there.
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After the American Revolution, the British can no longer keep prisoners in Georgia. They decide to start a prsion colony, or penal colony, on newly claimed Australia (New South Wales). They settle there on this date.
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The British lay down boundaries that are still in place today.
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The British government has begun to realize that Australia has worth as more than just a prison colony. Around this date, regular people, like farmers and business owners, settle here, while the government considers Australia as a trade center and Navy Outpost because of its strategic location.
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The British establish the the commonwealth of Australia and choose Melbourne as a temporary capital.
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Canberra is completed and is made the official capital.
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The Aborigines have been treated badly and have been abused for many years. New laws protecting Aboriginal Rights begin to pass on this date.
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The Australia Act ends all legal ties with the British government. The Australians adopt a British-style parlimentary democracy/constitutional monarchy with the bristish monarch as a symbolic leader.
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55% of Australian voters reject the idea of being an independant republic.
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