Many believe Australia became it’s own country at federation in 1901, but that’s not strictly true. Instead, it happened more than 80 years later. Why don’t we celebrate it?
January 26 has always been a contested day.
Darren England/AAP
New Year’s Eve is the anniversary of the British invaders’ first kidnapping of a First Nations person in Australia. This kidnapping led to a devastating smallpox outbreak.
The British First Fleet knew little of conditions in Port Jackson, later Sydney Cove, before their arrival.
George Edwards Peacock, State Library of New South Wales.
When the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove in 1788, they entered an ancient and unforgiving landscape. A new book charts Australians’ relationship with one of the world’s most volatile climates.