Australia (History - Part 3)


settler population in early years mostly in coastal areas deploying tracts of land for sheep cattle. The annexation of land often accompanied by brutal treatment the Aboriginal population who were into the inhospitable interior or virtual slavery. The last convicts shipped in 1868, but the continued to rise rapidly. Gold first discovered in Victoria in 1850s and prompted Australia's gold with a consequent opening up the interior and more displacement the Aboriginals. Wheat farming developed, the country rapidly became a exporter. With the invention of , export trade in mutton and products began. An extensive railway began to be built, opening the interior. Between 1860 and , immigrants, and capital, most of from Britain, contributed to a economic boom in Australia. In , the country had a population three million, and was exporting , mutton, dairy products and wheat. colonies, al1 of which had representative institutions by 1890, became nation on 1 January 1901. Commonwealth of Australia, with a structure, was established. By the of the First World War, politics emphasised social policy, industrial , and protectionism to cushion local and maintain full employment. The of the steel industry after and advances in mining assisted , so that by 1939, industry responsible for 40% of GDR industries, such as car manufacture in the 1950s. By the 1980s, Australians enjoyed one of world's highest living standards.

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Source: Copyright © The Commonwealth Yearbook 1996
Many thanks to Mr Peter Emmett (peter.emmett@hcooke.co.uk) for allowing us to use excerpts from the Commonwealth Yearbook.
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