At the time, the British were, as they had been for much of their history, in somewhat of an arms/exploration race with the French. Each side sought more wealth and power to compete with the other. Many now have the opinion that European expansion was based solely on greed; however, at the time, wars in Europe were commonplace and national security was not as secure as it is today. The fear of invasion was never far away, and by securing more power and resources, this was seen as a way to fuel further military expansion, therefore increasing a country’s security while also depriving its rivals of these simultaneously. It was therefore in the interest of the British to lay claim to Australia and establish a colony before their rivals, namely the French. Having recently lost much of her North American Colonies to revolution and the formation of the USA in 1776, the colonisation of Australia was deemed prudent. 

For many Brits, however, the prospects of a dangerous 8-month ship voyage to hopefully create a colony halved a world away in an alien land of which very little was known, a far from enticing prospect. The first Brits to colonise North America at Roanoke Island had mysteriously disappeared and issues with food shipments to prevent starvation could be difficult for any colony, even more so for one so far away as Australia, where little was known of the climate. The huge amount of unknowns and risk involved meant that few were jumping at the opportunity to settle down under. For many years, settlers of the subcontinent were pressed into the venture. The first fleet was comprised of 11 vessels, around 550 crew and their family with an additional 750 convicts. These convicts, many of whom were given no choice and were sentenced to Australia, had often committed only relatively minor crimes. Many were given, subject to good behaviour, the ability to prove themselves and earn their freedom and have land in the new colony. 

The British, fearing the French may colonise the island of Tasmania (which was then called as Van Diemen’s Land), undertook a similar approach, creating a penal colony in there in 1803. Confrontations in Tasmania between the Aboriginals and colonists led to a programme of extermination and deportation, with Tasmania sadly having virtually no natives remaining there today. Tasmania is now an Australian state. 

Fortunately for the British, no other colonial rivals emerged to challenge them for Australia. Further colonisation took place, although not every colony was a penal colony; for example, Victoria (the state in which Melbourne is located) was not a penal colony. Australia, over time, has had a slow separation from Britain. Australia became a dominion on 1st January 1901, gaining more autonomy from Britain. To this day, there are still strong ties between the UK and Australia. Our cultures, including our humour, are extremely similar. Australia, like the UK, is a constitutional monarchy with the British monarch also the head of state for Australia and Australia is part of the Commonwealth of Nations: a network of countries which are almost all former British colonies. The Australian flag has the British Union flag in the corner with white stars representing the Southern Cross star constellation (which is also shown with red stars on the New Zealand flag), in addition to the ‘Commonwealth star’ representing the Commonwealth of Australia (i.e. the union of Australian states which joined together to form a nation).