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Philby
Statement: Die, meatbag!
Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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 Oct-22-2005 01:41 
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A.J.
Back from the dead
Registered: Nov 2003
Location: Sydney
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Hmmmmmm lets see.
Australia was first settled in 1788 in Sydney by the "First Fleet" from England. The First Fleet was mainly composed of convicts, although there were also many soldiers and government types, as well as some free settlers. Life was very hard for the settlers in the first few years as the conditions here were hot, dry and very different to the motherland England. They didn't have much food, and they struggled to plant crops more suited to a European climate. They had problems in finding a reliable water supply for a long time, until they discovered the "tank stream". Funnily enough, there is now a club in the city called "tank" which is right over the top of the now-dry river bed. 
Aborigines
They basically screwed over the Aborigines very badly, and it is a dark spot on Australia's history. A major problem was that the Aborigines had no immunity to European diseases, so even a common cold was enough to kill them. Another big problem, that still exists today, is Alcohol. The Aborigines had never eoncountered it before, and had no natural tolerance. They also grew very fond of it.
A quick google search uncovered this:
| quote: | England’s King George III had farewelled the First Fleet with firm instructions to learn about and acknowledge the Indigenous owners of the land. He wrote, “you are to endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives, and to conciliate their affections... [you are also to] maintain friendly relations with the natives if possible and transmit to England such information of scientific interest as [you] might be able to gather”.
This never eventuated and the arrival of the First Fleet and ailments such as smallpox, measles, colds and flu that came with it, were devastating to the local Aboriginal population. Within one year of settlement, half the Indigenous population had died in what is believed to have been an epidemic of smallpox. An English officer, William Bradley, wrote in his diary, "From the great number of dead Natives found in every part of the Harbour, it appears that the smallpox had made dreadful havock among them". Another wrote, "It was truly shocking to go around the coves of this harbour…where in the caves of rocks were to be seen men, women and children, lying dead".
Within months of white settlement, local Aborigines were pushed to the fringe areas. Decimated local clans saw much local history, stories and ceremonies lost. But it also drew other Aboriginal people to Sydney from far away areas. This migration was prompted to aid their fellow people, see what the new settlement had to offer and was also due to the existence of arranged marriages.
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I might add that while we were colonised by convicts at the time of the "first fleet", the vast majority of Australia's population today came from free migration, especially after WWII. Cities such as Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra (our Capital city) and Perth were pretty much started by free settlers and don't really have much of the convict history that Sydney or Brisbane have.
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Oct-22-2005 03:06
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