Australia Day 2009

Of course not everybody thought the colonization of Terra Australis was a good idea

I've used this before, but it is
"The Ultimate Mud Map"

Its getting to that time of year when our farmers are hoping to come across a
few of these on their bush roads.

Australia while an ancient continent is a very young country in terms of white settlement which began with Captain James Cook’s voyage of discovery in 1700 and was sealed by the arrival of the “First Fleet” under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip on January 26 1788.

The eastern half of the continent was known as New South Wales until 1817 when the name Australia, which had been proposed by Captain Matthew Flinders after his circumnavigation of “Terra Australis” in 1801-1803, was proclaimed.

Settlement initially was;

New South Wales; 1788 originally the Eastern half of continent

Van Diemans Land; 1825 Renamed Tasmania in 1851

Western Australia; 1828

South Australia; 1829

Victoria; 1851 Separated from NSW

Queensland; 1859 Separated from NSW

Australian Capital Territory; 1908 Annexed from NSW

Northern Territory; 1911 Self Government 1978

From such diverse and widely separated beginnings it took some time for “Australia” to come together as a single nation celebrating the same thing on the same day, there was “Empire Day” on May 24 for some, “Foundation Day” on different dates in different states, “Australia Day” was finally adopted nationally in 1931.

One of the main differences in early times was the transportation of convicts, in NSW this was between 1778 and 1840, Van Diemans Land 1825 – 1840, Western Australia although settled without convicts accepted them from 1850 – 1868, South Australia on the other hand never had convicts transported to it (they are to this day a bit snooty about this and somehow seem to think this makes them better than other Australians).

For all of this, we have become a united and proud nation which we firmly believe to be the “best country in the world”.

This is epitomized by the 1992 Young Australian of the year Kieren Perkins
and Australian of the year Mandawuy Yunapingu.











Australia Post has issued a set of "Australian Stars" stamps honouring our Academy Award Winners Geoffry Rush, Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe, as usual this has a controversial element as Nicole was born in Hawaii to Australian parents and Russell was born a Kiwi... but is now an Australian citizen.
Regardless of all this, I endorse the idea and admire the talents of all of them.

Oh BTW, I believe Jan 26 is the start of the Chinese New Year too!!!!!!
Hope they all have a good Australia Day!!!