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First Europeans to sail to Australia were the Dutch (Netherlands) in 1606, but they didn’t settle there The Dutch made one landing, were attacked by Aborigines, and then abandoned further exploration
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1770: Captain James Cook sailed around Australia•Cook named the area New South Wales Ignored the Aborigines living there & claimed the land for England
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British ships called the “First Fleet” left England with convicts to establish a prison colony
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British prisoners settled in Australia
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1788 to 1832: New South Wales was officially a penal (prison) colony consisting mainly of convicts, marines (guards), and the marines’ families
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From 1833, until the 1850s, it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia. In addition, Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures of the British penal system.
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January 1, 1901: the Commonwealth of Australia was established. Melbourne served as the national capital until Canberra was completed in 1927
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1967: federal government began to pass legislation to help the Aborigines It was widely seen as affirmation of the Australian people’s wish to see its government take direct action to improve the living conditions of Aborigines In March, striking Aboriginal farmers changed political history by extending a demand for equal wages to a declaration of their rights of ownership of traditional lands. This became one of Australia’s first successful land claims by its indigenous people.
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Australia Act -- all legal ties with the British Empire were severed
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55% of voters rejected the idea of becoming an independent republic.