The humanhistory of Western Australia commenced "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago" with the arrival ofAboriginal Australians on the northwest coast.[1]: 5 The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the continent.
The first recorded European contact was in 1616, when Dutch explorerDirk Hartog landed on the west coast, having been blown off course while en route toBatavia, current dayJakarta.
Although many expeditions visited the coast during the next 200 years, there was no lasting attempt at establishing a permanent settlement until December 1826. An expedition on behalf of theNew South Wales colonial government, led by MajorEdmund Lockyer,[2] landed atKing George Sound, and founded what became the port city ofAlbany. On 21 January 1827 Lockyer formally took possession for the British Crown the portion ofNew Holland not yet claimed by the crown;[a] that is, the portion west of129th meridian east. This was followed by the establishment of theSwan River Colony in 1829, which ultimately became the present-day capital,Perth. The harsh conditions faced by the settlers resulted in population growth being minimal until the discovery of gold in the 1880s. Since thegold rush, the population of the state has risen steadily, with substantial growth in the period since World War II.
Western Australia gained the right of self-government in 1890, and joined with the five other states to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The desire of Western Australians to revert to complete self-governance, separate from the Commonwealth, culminated in 1933 witha successful referendum forsecession supported by 68% of electors. In 1935 the British parliament declined to act since secession would require the assent of the Australian parliament, and the movement lapsed with an improving economy and generous federal grants.[3][4]
When Australia's first inhabitants arrived on the northwest coast 50,000 to 70,000 years ago the sea levels were much lower. TheKimberley coast at one time was only about 90 kilometres (56 mi) fromTimor, which itself was the last in a line of closely spaced islands for humans to travel across.[5] Therefore, this was a possible (even probable) location for which Australia's first peoples could arrive via boat. Other possible immigration routes were via islands further north and then throughNew Guinea.[citation needed]
Over the next tens of thousands of years various groups ofIndigenous Australians slowly moved southward and eastward across the landmass.[citation needed] Aboriginal people were well established throughout Western Australia by the time European ships started accidentally arriving en route to Batavia (nowJakarta) in the early 17th century.[citation needed]
The first European to sight Western Australia was the Dutch explorer,Dirk Hartog, the first European to suggest to have found a continent there, who on 26 October 1616 landed at what is now known as Cape Inscription,Dirk Hartog Island. Before departing, Hartog left behind an inscribedpewter plate affixed to a post. In 1696 the plate was discovered and replaced byWillem de Vlamingh and repatriated to theRijksmuseum inAmsterdam. A multitude of Dutch visits followed during that century, charting virtually the whole of the west coast, the Western Australian south coast and Australia's northern coast.
The first English vessel to visit, when attempting to sail the Dutch-establishedBrouwer Route to the Indies, wasTryall, anEast India Company-ownedEast Indiaman under the command of John Brookes who in 1622 sightedPoint Cloates before later on 25 May wrecking onTryal Rocks, off the northwest coast of Australia. Some of the 143 crew remained on theMonte Bello Islands for 7 days, during that time sightingBarrow Island, before sailing toBatavia in a longboat. A second boat brought some more crew to Batavia, so just over 40 people survived, including Brookes. Almost one hundred crew apparently perished in the wreck.Tryall became Australia's oldest known shipwreck.[11]
A later English visitor wasWilliam Dampier, who in 1699 sailed down some of the western coast of Australia. He noted the lack of water and in his description ofShark Bay in his account "A Voyage toNew Holland", he expressed his frustration:[12][13]: 87
It was the 7th of August when we came into Shark's Bay; in which we anchored at three several places, and stayed at the first of them (on the west side of the bay) till the 11th. During which time we searched about, as I said, for fresh water, digging wells, but to no purpose.
— William Dampier
A number of sections of the Western Australian coastline were given names which did not last past the exploratory era in names of features – such asEendrachtsland. However some names, such as 't Landt van de Leeuwin (Leeuwin's Land), materialised at a later date asCape Leeuwin.
Below is a timeline of significant events from the 1616 landfall ofDirk Hartog until the eventual settlement of theSwan River Colony in 1829:
1616:Dirk Hartog aboardEendracht arrived at Cape Inscription and left a pewter plate. Coastal region in the vicinity is shown on Hartog's maps asEendrachtsland. Believed to be first landfall on Western Australian soil by Europeans. (An earlier 1606 encounter on the northern coast of Australia nearPapua New Guinea byWillem Janszoon onDuyfken is credited as being the first Australian visit by European explorers.)
1618:Zeewulf made landfall north ofEendrachtsland.
1619:Frederick de Houtman in two ships bound forBatavia encountered dangerous shoals which were subsequently namedHoutman Abrolhos. Following successful navigation of the Abrolhos, Houtman made landfall in the region Hartog had encountered.
1622:English shipTryall was wrecked onTryal Rocks off the northwest coast; survivors spent a week on Monte Bello Islands before sailing toBatavia in a longboat.
1629:Batavia struck a reef of the Abrolhos. Skipper Francisco Pelsaert sailed the ship's small boat toBatavia for rescue. After returning three months later, he found evidence of mutiny and many previous survivors murdered.
1658:Three Dutch ships visited south coast searching forVergulde Draeck:Waekende Boey under Captain S. Volckertszoon,Elburg under Captain J. Peereboom andEmeloort under Captain A. Joncke.
1712:Zuytdorp with 286 on board was shipwrecked nearKalbarri. The Dutch did not send a search party, probably because no survivors were able to report the disaster. The crew were never heard from again, though it is probable that many initially survived because a campsite was found near the wreck.
1714:Jean-Pierre Pury proposed a Dutch East India Company settlement of Nuyts, Leeuwin and Edels Lands.[14]
1826:On 26 December, a military garrison was established on behalf ofNew South Wales at King George Sound with the arrival of MajorEdmund Lockyer onAmity.
1827:On 21 January, Lockyer formally annexed the western portion of Australia, now Western Australia, in a ceremony atKing George Sound.[2]
The first formal claim of possession forGreat Britain was made on 29 September 1791 by Commander (later Captain)George VancouverRN, on a spot he namedPossession Point, at the tip of the peninsula between the waters he also namedPrincess Royal Harbour andKing George the Third's Sound atAlbany (the Third was dropped from the name in 1826).
In the early 19th century, the British became concerned about the possibility of a French colony being established on the west coast of Australia. In 1826, the Governor ofNew South Wales,Ralph Darling, ordered the establishment of a settlement at King George's Sound. An army detachment was sent from Sydney headed by Major Edmund Lockyer with eighteen soldiers, one captain, one doctor, one storekeeper and twenty-three convicts.[2]
On 21 January 1827, the whole of Australia was claimed as British territory for the first time when Major Lockyer formally annexed the western portion of the continent in a ceremony on King George Sound.[2]
The first documented European settlements were established at theSwan River byJames Stirling in 1829. The colonists first sighted land on1 June, arrived in Cockburn Sound on 2 June,[17]: 11 an official proclamation was made on 18 June[contradictory] and the foundation of the colony took place on 12 August. AsLieutenant Governor,[18] Stirling had sole authority to draft laws and decide day-to-day affairs.[citation needed] On 6 February 1832, the colony was renamed Western Australia.[19]
Major towns of the colony developed slowly into the port city ofFremantle, the main settlement ofPerth 20 kilometres (12 mi) upriver, andGuildford.
The settled counties of the Colony of Western Australia,c. 1838
Much of the land around the Swan River Colony was unsuitable for agriculture and it was inevitable that the colony would have to expand beyond the Swan River area after the most fertile locations were quickly settled.
Sheep farming was the most successful early agricultural activity, and the basis of all expansion until the 1850s.
An Act to provide until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia, on the Western Coast of New Holland.
An Act to continue to the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, and from thence to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of His late Majesty's Reign, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Pay of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eighty and from thence to the End of the then next Session of Parliament an Act of the Tenth Year of His late Majesty, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia, on the Western Coast of New Australia.
An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and from thence to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and until the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-four, and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
1829:The British Parliament passes theGovernment of Western Australia Act 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. 22) on 14 May. It allowed the Crown to appoint three or more people, byOrder in Council, to jointly make laws for the colony. All laws were to be laid before Parliament as soon as practically possible after their passing. It was only valid initially for five years.
1830:The first exploration over the Darling Range to search for suitable farming land occurred with the settlement of theAvon Valley and the foundation of the town ofYork in 1831.
1832:The main settlement is officially namedPerth, after Sir George Murray's seat inPerthshire, Scotland.
1833:On 5 January, the first newspaper, thePerth Gazette was launched.
1833:Relations between the Europeans andAboriginal people were not always amicable with many intercultural skirmishes.Yagan, a senior warrior of the local Aboriginal tribe near the Swan River was killed on 11 July of this year after a bounty was issued for his capture following the murder of a couple of settlers.
1834:Pinjarra Massacre (sometimes still calledBattle of Pinjarra): This was the worst intercultural conflict, happening on 28 October. Depending on the source, the death toll ranged from 10 to 150 adults and children.
While Western Australia was initially a "free settlement", economic problems for settler capitalists led them to seek the transportation of British convicts. Western Australia became apenal colony in 1850.
The Gregory brothers led major exploration expeditions to many parts of the colony, including:
1851:Augustus Gregory surveys the Greenough region near Geraldton and that area opens up to farming.
By 1859, all the other Australian colonies had their own parliaments and colonists in Western Australia began pushing for the right to govern themselves. The British Colonial Office opposed this because of the slow rate of growth and the presence of convicts. Petitions asking for some of the positions in the Legislative Council to be filled by elected members were presented to London twice during the 1860s.
By 1868, over 9,000 convicts had been transported to Western Australia on 43convict ship voyages, outnumbering the 7300 settlers in the colony at the time.[22]
Wool production, usually on largestations, was also the basis of expansion further east and northward.
The first permanent European settlements in theNorth West (later divided into thePilbara andKimberley regions) took place in the mid-1860s, initially at theHarding River,De Grey River andRoebourne (gazetted in 1867).Pearling also came to dominate the North West, initially in Nickol Bay, with a fleet atTien Tsin Harbor (later renamed Cossack). In the North West, unlike southern Western Australia, the labour force was dominated by Indigenous Australians, often under harsh forms ofunfree labour.
In 1870, some members of the Legislative Council were elected for the first time, although only male settlers withsignificant property could vote and the Governor could still veto the council's decisions.
Until the 1880s theeconomy of the state was based largely onwool andwheat. A major change in the colony's fortunes occurred in 1885 whengold was discovered and prospectors by the tens of thousands swarmed across the land in a desperate attempt to discover new goldfields.
In 1887 a newconstitution, including proposals forresponsible government, was drafted and sent to London byGovernor Broome for approval. It was argued that due to the increasing wealth being generated by gold rushes, Western Australia should become aself-governing colony. An Act granting self-government was passed by theBritish Parliament in 1890, giving the Colony independence from the UK in matters other than foreign policy, defence and "native affairs". Section 70 of the self-government act established an Aborigines Protection Board,[23][full citation needed] under the control of the British Parliament, not the Western Australian one. Governor Broome had earlier warned the British Colonial Office that Western Australians could not to be trusted in matters relating to Aboriginal persons.[citation needed] A further clause to the constitution stated that£5,000, equivalent toA$787,900 in 2022, or one percent of state revenues, whichever was the greater, was to be allocated to Aboriginal persons for their welfare and advancement. Many settlers resented these clauses, and Western Australia has never honoured this clause to its own constitution. A previous Governor,Sir William Robinson, was re-appointed to supervise the change. He travelled by train fromAlbany toPerth and towns en route lit bonfires and people gathered at railway sidings to celebrate his arrival and the new constitution. His arrival in Perth on 21 October 1890 saw the city decorated with elaborate floral arches spanning the city's main streets and buildings were decked with banners and flags.
In 1891 the rush to the Murchison goldfields began whenTom Cue discovered gold at thetown which now bears his name. In the years that followed dozens of gold towns –Day Dawn,Nannine,Peak Hill, Garden Gully, Dead Finish, Pinnicles, Austin Island and Austin Mainland – flourished only to be abandoned when the seams were exhausted and the gold fever moved on.
The influx of miners from the eastern colonies and from overseas increased the presence oftrade unions in Western Australia. TheTrades and Labor Council, Perth was established in 1891 andPerth Trades Hall opened (1912). The first edition of theWestralian Worker appeared on 7 September 1900 and was followed shortly afterwards by the opening of theKalgoorlie Trades Hall, the first such hall in Western Australia. ATrades Hall was opened in Fremantle in 1904.
An influx of people from Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania led toAustralian rules football becoming the dominant football code when several local rugby football clubs switched codes.
John Forrest – the firstPremier of Western Australia and its only premier as a colony – clashed with Robinson over section 70. While Forrest had argued that Western Australians should accept section 70 to obtain self-government, by 1892 he was attempting to have it changed.William Traylen argued that,[This quote needs a citation]
as our revenue is growing up now, and the natives can scarcely be said to be increasing in numbers, we shall be paying a very undue proportion of our income as a colony for the purpose of supporting the Aboriginal native race.
Discoveries atCoolgardie (1892) andPaddy Hannan's discovery atKalgoorlie (1893) sparked truegold fever. Coolgardie prospered particularly well, becoming the third largest town in the colony after Perth and Fremantle.[24]
Gold inspired a new wave of exploration, includingDavid Carnegie who, in 1896, led an epic expedition that travelled through the deserts north of Coolgardie, through theGibson andGreat Sandy Deserts toHalls Creek in the Kimberley, before returning to Coolgardie.
In the late 19th century there was talk of the gold-rich region around Kalgoorlie seceding from Western Australia, as a colony or state calledAuralia. This campaign coincided with the reluctance in Perth regarding Western Australia taking part inAustralian Federation. Talk of miners' separation and them taking their wealth elsewhere was seen as a threat to the stability of the colony.[24]
In 1899, Forrest succeeded unilaterally passing the Constitution Amendment Act, taking control of Aboriginal Affairs without approval of the British House of Commons. Many Aboriginal people argue that the 1899 amendment was an illegal usurpation of British government power and one percent of accumulated Government revenues should be set aside for Aboriginal welfare, as intended.
Other notable events
1887:On 22 April, a cyclone struck the pearling fleet atEighty Mile Beach nearBroome claiming 140 lives. The storm was unexpected, being so late in the season.[25]
1889:TheGreat Southern Railway was opened with subsequent economic growth to the regions along the line. The wheat industry did not really get going until the construction of railways. A railway line had reachedCoolgardie (from Perth) by 1896.
1895:Kings Park was officially opened on 10 August.
1897:As part of the Western Australian Government's attempt to gain control of Aboriginal affairs, theAborigines Act 1897 abolished the Aborigines Protection Board and established the Aborigines Department.[26]
On 1 January 1901, following aproclamation byQueen Victoria, Western Australia, along with the other five British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, formed thefederation of theCommonwealth of Australia, of which they each became component states. However, Western Australia was reluctant to join the union, doing so only after they were offered a five-year transitional period on inter-state tariffs and a transcontinentalrailway line.
Map of Western Australia in 1916GovernorWilliam Campion at the centenary celebrations in Perth
The wealth generated fromgold soon disappeared and by the early years of the 20th century, the economy was once again dependent on wool and wheat. This dependency meant that a dramatic fall inwool andwheat prices in the late 1920s – early 1930s saw the state's economic collapse. It was not to recover until after World War II when the Federal Government's postwar immigration policy saw a huge influx of migrants, nearly all of them from Europe, in the period 1947 to 1970.
Important events in Western Australia included the following:
1902:The Premier,George Leake, died suddenly on 24 June aged 45.Frederick Illingworth became the caretaker Premier for a week beforeWalter James formed a new ministry on 1 July. George Leake is the only Western Australian Premier to die in office.
1903:A pipeline fromMundaring Weir to Kalgoorlie is opened. This was a major achievement for its time by the state's first engineer-in-chiefC. Y. O'Connor, who committed suicide before the project was complete.
1911:TheUniversity of Western Australia becomes Western Australia's second tertiary institution and first university. No teaching happens until 1913 though.[27] It wasn't until 1975 that Western Australia's second university,Murdoch University opened.
1912:A cyclone crossed the coast just west ofBalla Balla nearPort Hedland and claimed well over 150 lives. This was almost certainly Australia's worst weather-related maritime disaster of the 20th century with the loss of the coastal steamerKoombana.[28]
1917:Second referendum on overseas conscription in World War I. 64.4% of Western Australian voters vote in favour, while only 46.2% of Australian voters overall do so.
1917:The transcontinental railway is complete, fulfilling a promise by the Federal Government when the Colony of Western Australia voted to become a state of Australia at Federation in 1901. Construction of this last leg between Kalgoorlie andPort Augusta had begun in 1912.
1920:Edward, the Prince of Wales (the futureKing Edward VIII) was involved in a train derailment, in which his carriage overturned in the state's south west. The train was moving at a low speed and he did not sustain any injuries.
1921:State premierJames Mitchell launches theGroup Settlement Scheme in the aim of establishing a viable dairy industry in the state's south-west. A 1923 Migration Agreement between the state, the Commonwealth and the British Government committed to settling 6,000 men on 6,000 farms within a five-year period.[29]
1920:Western Australia passed legislation allowing women to stand for parliament,Edith Cowan was elected to theLegislative Assembly becoming the first woman elected to any Australian parliament.
1928:The Aboriginal deputation to the state premier by brothersWilliam and Edward Harris to protest over injustices experienced by Aboriginal Western Australians.[29][page needed]
1930:Perth is connected to Adelaide (and subsequently the rest of the eastern states) by a telephone line.
Secessionists at a meeting
In a referendum in 1933, 68% of voters favouredsecession. The Premier,Philip Collier, argued in London for secession but the British decided they could not grant it.
1935:The Lacepede Islands near Broome were struck by a cyclone, which sank 21 pearling luggers with 141 lives lost. This was Australia's second deadliest cyclone in the 20th century.[28]
The period from 1945 to 1955 was a transformative decade in terms of economy, society, and politics. While the state had long been a laggard in growth rates, the war years allowed a postwar burst of speed. Western Australia entered a stage of rapid industrialization and population boom. The chief economic development was the establishment of a major industrial complex in theCity of Kwinana, south of Fremantle. It included oil refineries and port facilities.[30]
1947:Western Australia enters the country's domestic cricket competition, theSheffield Shield. Though Western Australia only entered on a probationary basis, it managed to win the shield in its first season.
1950:The worst civil aircraft accident in Australian history occurred when all 29 people on board theDouglas DC-4Amana died after it crashed near York on a flight from Perth to Adelaide.
1952:On 3 October the first nuclear bomb was exploded on Australian soil at theMontebello Islands. It was part ofOperation Hurricane, Britain's first-ever nuclear weapon test.[31]
February 1961 – March 1961:InWestern Australia's worst bushfires, many small communities were destroyed including 132 houses inDwellingup. There were no fatalities, but 800 people were left homeless.[32]
1961:Minerals boom begins with the removal of iron ore export ban. The economy is bolstered over the next two decades by nickel mines around Kalgoorlie and iron ore mines in the north-west.[33]
1962:Aboriginal people granted full rights to vote.
1962:John Glenn passes overRockingham as part of a NASA manned spaceflight missionMercury-Atlas 6. Residents of the Perth area had turned on lights in households and businesses to illuminate the city as much as possible. They succeeded, and Glenn referred to Perth as the "City of Light", a nickname he reiterated again when he passed over the city a second time as part ofSTS-95 in 1998.
1964:Serial killerEric Edgar Cooke was the last person hanged in Western Australia.
1964:On 31 December,Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record in theBluebird K7 onLake Dumbleyung. He reached 442 km/h (275 mph). Campbell died in the same vehicle in 1967 in a later record attempt in England.
1968:On 31 December, all 26 people on boardMacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 from Perth to Port Hedland died when the aircraft, a Vickers Viscount, crashed near Port Hedland.
1970:TheIndian Pacific train completed its first journey by rail across the continent from Sydney to Perth. Though the transcontinental railway had been complete since 1917, this is the first time one train could make the journey uninterrupted by gauge changes.
1974:Change of government.Charles Courts Liberal-Country Party coalition defeats the Labor government.
1979:The NASA space stationSkylab crashed in the remote south eastern part of the state. Places likeRawlinna andBalladonia received international attention.
1979:On 2 June 1979 there was a significant earthquake just east ofCadoux that was felt in Perth.
1980:Government closes theFremantle line and replaces the services with buses. The closure galvanises public opposition and becomes a major campaign issue in the 1983 election resulting in a change of government underBrian Burke.
1981:Discovery of the Gorgon gas deposit.
1983:Beginnings ofWA Inc. Government deals with private businessmen lead to the loss of $600 million in public money.
19 November 1990:Labor PremierCarmen Lawrence initiates a Royal Commission into state government dealings with private businesses. The findings of the commission led to the conviction and imprisonment of two previous Premiers—Brian Burke andRay O'Connor.
1993:TheJoondalup line is completed to extend rail transport to Perth's northern suburbs.
1993:Change of government. Labor loses to theRichard Court Liberal-National coalition Government.
1996:The Liberal-National coalition loses control of the Upper House with the balance of power shifting to minority parties.
1997:Western Australian parliament issues a formal apology to thestolen generation.
2001:Change of government withGeoff Gallop's Labor government defeating the coalition on the back of an anti-old growth logging platform.
^These claims by the British Crown were in competition to possession and occupancy byAboriginal andTorres Strait Islander peoples that predate the claims by the British Crown by tens of millennia.
^While the first in the colony, Gavin was not the first European legally hanged in Western Australia. The worst offenders of theBatavia mutiny werehanged on Seal Island, about 80 km (50 mi) off the coast of Western Australia, in 1629.
^Zimmerman, Augusto (2012)."The Still Reluctant State". In Appleby, Gabrielle; Aroney, Nicholas; John, Thomas (eds.).The Future of Australian Federalism: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. p. 79.ISBN978-1-107-00637-9. Retrieved17 October 2014.
^Hesp, Patrick A., Murray-Wallace, Colin V. and C. E. Dortch, (1999), "Aboriginal occupation on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, provisionally dated by Aspartic Acid Racemisation assay of land snails to greater than 50 ka" (Australian Archaeology, No. 49 (1999).
^Dampier, William (1729).A Voyage to New Holland (3rd ed.). London. Retrieved29 September 2022 – via Project Gutenberg.It was the 7th of August when we came into Shark's Bay; in which we anchored at three several places, and stayed at the first of them (on the west side of the bay) till the 11th. During which time we searched about, as I said, for fresh water, digging wells, but to no purpose.
^Uren, Malcolm John Leggoe (1948).Land Looking West: The Story of Governor James Stirling in Western Australia. London: Oxford University Press. p. 24.OCLC5591431.
^"Lieutenant-Governor Stirling's Instructions 30 December 1828 (UK)".Museum of Australian Democracy. 30 December 1828. Retrieved17 June 2024.You will assume the title of Lieutenant Governor, and in that character will correspond with this department, respecting your proceedings, and the wants and prospects of the settlement you are to form.
^"Founding of Perth".National Museum of Australia, Government of Australia. 4 May 2023. Retrieved16 June 2024.Between 1850 and 1868 around 10,000 British convicts arrived at the colony. By 1868 the total population was 17,000, with convicts outnumbering settlers, 9700 to 7300.
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Briscoe, Gordon.Counting, health and identity: A history of Aboriginal health and demography in Western Australia and Queensland, 1900-1940 (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2003).
Carment, David. "'For their own purposes of identity': Tom Stannage and Australian local history."Public History Review 20 (2013): 68-79.online
Davis, Russell Earls.A concise history of Western Australia (Woodslane Press, 2019).
Forrest, Kay.The challenge and the chance: The colonisation and settlement of North West Australia 1861-1914 (Hesperian Press, 1996).
Glynn, Sean.Government Policy and Agricultural Development: A Study of the Role of Government in the Development of the Western Australian wheat belt, 1900-1930 (U of Western Australia Press, 1975).
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24Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under theAntarctic Treaty.
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