Outpost of Empire

What are the competing arguments about the foundations of Australia?

 

It is commonly thought that Australia was colonised for sole purpose of solving England’s overflowing prison system. As America was no longer an option for transportation due to the revolution, and executions were fewer, a solution was needed. James Cook suggested Botany Bay as a suitable location for a settlement, as it could also soon be self-sufficient. Lord Sydney describes the establishment of a colony in New South Wales as “particularly adapted to answer the views of Government with respect to the providing a remedy for the evils likely to result from the late alarming and numerous increase of felons in this country.” However, that Australia was colonized purely as a British gaol is an idea that is commonly accepted within society. The big question is, why choose somewhere so incredibly far away? This is the question that has been debated throughout Australian History, and is discussed in Geoffrey Blainey’s book, ‘The Tyranny of Distance.’ Blainey discusses the sheer cost of the expedition as being great deal larger than sending convicts to alternate destinations in the northern hemisphere, for example Canada or to the West Indies. Furthermore, Captain Arthur Phillips thought that no other country “could be more disadvantageously placed with respect to support from the mother country.” Mr K. M. Dallas suggests that one reason that Australia was chosen was due to the fact that England needed a new sea base and port in order to strengthen their commercial empire and be a port of call for many different trades routes. Another suggestion was that Australia was chosen for nearby Norfolk Islands Flax Plant supplies (used for canvas and sails), which grew in excess compared to supplies in Europe. Blainey comments that “in that era Britain’s military strength and an increasing part of her commerce relied on seapower, and flax and ships’ timber were as vital to seapower as steel and oil are today.” I believe that it was a number of different reasons that Australia was chosen for a British settlement, and not purely due to an overcrowding of goals, however, this was definitely a large factor in the matter.

 The Cover of Geoffrey Blainey's Book, The Tyranny of Distance, 1966
Image found at www.google.com.au/images search: The Tyranny of Distance