My Australia

AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

It is currently believed that native people from Papua New Guinea either used a land bridge that was exposed during the last Ice Age to travel to the continent about 60,000 years ago. These people established themselves in all parts of Australia and produced possibly the oldest continuous culture in human history. The number of Aboriginal people living in Australia before European migration was between 300,000 to one million. In the 1600s, Dutch explorers visited the northern and western coasts of Australia. The first British explorer to the area was William Dampier, who landed in 1688.The European settlement of Australia began in 26 January 1788 when a British colony was established. Therefore, Australia Day is celebrated on 26 January each year to commemorate the start of settlement at Port Jack. In 1850 the British Government gave the colonies the power to make their own laws self-governing. By the end of the 19th century Australia consisted of six self-governing colonies: New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. A national government was created on January 1, 1901 and this event is known as Federation. Although Australia is an independent nation, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is formally Queen of Australia and is the constitutional monarch. The Queen accepts the advice of the elected Australian Government to appoint a Governor-General, who represents her. The Governor-General has wide powers, but by convention acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister. In the States, the Queen is represented by State Governors.