Australia–United Kingdom relations: Difference between revisions

 

==History==

In 1770, [[Royal Navy]] Lieutenant [[James Cook]], during his [[First voyage of James Cook|first voyage to the Pacific]], sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/australianhistory/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216230554/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/australianhistory/|archive-date=16 February 2011|title=European discovery and the colonisation of Australia|work=Australian Government: Culture Portal|publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Commonwealth of Australia|date=11 January 2008}}</ref> Seventeen years later, following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the [[First Fleet]], under the command [[Arthur Phillip]], to establish a new [[penal colony]] in [[New South Wales]]. A camp was set up and the flag raised at [[Sydney Cove]] on 26 January 1788, and the British [[British Overseas Territories|Crown Colony]] of New South Wales was formally promulgated on 7 February 1788. Further Crown Colonies were established in [[Van Diemen's Land]] (now known as [[Tasmania]]) in 1803; [[Swan River Colony]] (now known as [[Western Australia]]) in 1828; [[South Australia]] in 1836; [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] in 1851; and [[Queensland]] in 1859. The six colonies [[Federation of Australia|federated]] in 1901 and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed as a [[British Dominions|Dominion]] of the [[British Empire]].