Australia's History in Brief

1. Australia was founded in the late 18^th century as a British penal colony. Eleven ships arrived from England in 1788 with 736 men, women and child prisoners. Some were convicted of minor crimes, others were political prisoners, some were debtor prisoners, and yet others were falsely accused. Over the next 80 years, more than 160,000 convicts from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were sent to Australia some in lieu of being given the death penalty. After completing their sentence, land was granted to many of the former convicts.
2. Australia's formal name is the Commonwealth of Australia. The form of government is a constitutional monarchy – 'constitutional' because the powers and procedures of the Australian Government are defined by a written constitution and 'monarchy' because Australia's head of state is Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
3. Australia became a Commonwealth in 1901. Using the US Constitution in part as a blueprint, the six independent British colonies agreed to join together and become states of a new nation using a federal system of government.
4. Canberra is Australia’s capital city. After Australia became a Commonwealth in 1901, the government wanted to find a new site for its capital city. After the Canberra site was selected, a competition was held to design a city for the seat of government. The competition was won by an American architect Walter Burley Griffin. This is similar to how Washington, DC, the United States capital city, was selected by George Washington and designed by Pierre Charles L’Enfant. Unfortunately, Canberra is not on my Australian tour itinerary.
5. The Commonwealth Blue Ensign, as the Australian flag is called, is the only national flag to fly over an entire continent. The British Union Jack in the upper left corner represents the country’s historical link with Great Britain, the larger seven point white star directly below the Union Jack represents the original six States and Territories (it’s called the “commonwealth star”) with the remaining five stars forming the Southern Cross, a prominent feature in the southern hemisphere night sky.