A new British colony

On 22 August 1770, Captain Cook hoisted the Union Jack on Possession Island and claimed the whole east coast of New Holland on behalf of King George III, calling the newly acquired portion New South Wales.

Under International Law at that time - presumably to stop European countries from throwing tantrums over who got more than somebody else – claiming new land required either negotiation of purchase or treaty with existing inhabitants, or that the land be empty. Cook didn't manage to organise a purchase or treaty, so the country was deemed terra nullius - literally a 'land belonging to nobody'.

This transparent lie notwithstanding, when Governor Phillip and the First Fleet arrived in 1788, Phillip was under orders from the British Colonial Office that the natives should be treated kindly, converted to Christianity, offered the blessings of civilisation in the form of food, clothing and education, and hopefully encouraged to trade with Britain.

In Australia’s case there were some factors which would make this 'Church and Trade' policy difficult to implement:

·         the enormous distance from Britain and the communication problems this entailed;

·         the Australian colony was designed as a penal settlement, not as an opportunity to develop a new trading partnership;

·         the first settlers came close to starvation and chose food over friendship with the natives; and, later

·         the enormous distances between Australian settlements, and the communication problems this caused.

The belief of the Colonial Office that they could manage a colony from the other side of the world was a tad optimistic. Governor Phillip took his orders seriously but, as the voyage from England to New South Wales had taken eight months, a quick word with the boss back home was going to be a problem.

In the very first year of settlement, 1788, Governor Phillip sent a message to the Colonial Office outlining his belief that the local Aboriginals had a very strong attachment to the land. (This might sound like an understatement, but I think it reflects Phillip’s relatively decent intentions).