Britain’s population was stable till 1740; then it grew rapidly, giving rise to crimes & poverty.
By 1770, crime had become a huge problem; prisons were so overcrowded that non-operational ships were used as prisons at one time.
Earlier, convicts used to be transported to American colonies, but this practice had stopped after Britain’s defeat in American revolutionary war in 1783.
Alternates to American colonies were investigated and Captain Cook, who had been to South Pacific in 1770 recommended Botany Bay (13 kms south of Sydney).
11 ships carrying 1100 people (convicts, seamen, civil officers etc.) and groceries arrived at Botany Bay on 20 January 1788.
But it was found to be unsuitable, so ships moved to Sydney & reached there on 26th Jan (that is why 26th Jan is celebrated as Australia Day).
Before the settlement of the British, Australia was occupied by Indigenous Australians.
As soon as the British settled, some individuals took Indigenous Australian children away from their families and made these children live with Europeans.
This was done to ‘inculcate European values and work habits in children, who would then be employed by colonial settlers’.
As the population of settlers increased, the removal of children (as young as 4 years) became more of a government-led systematic process.
In Victoria, e.g., the Aborigines Protection Act 1869 gave Protection Board powers to remove children neglected by parents – some cases of removal were genuine and others not so much.
Governments said they were doing this as Indigenous people were dying because of evolution and that these steps were required to protect them from extinction.
Records, however, suggest that Indigenous people were dying because they were being murdered by settlers.
On 26th May 1997, ‘Bringing Them Home’ (a report of a two-year long national inquiry into the separation of children) was released to raise Australian people’s awareness of removal policies.
On 26th May 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held and since then it is held annually to commemorate the mistreatment of Indigenous people.
