Prior to British settlement, more than 500 Indigenous groups inhabited the Australian continent, approximately 750,000 people in total.[1] Their cultures developed over 60,000 years, making Indigenous Australians the custodians of the world’s most ancient living culture. Each group lived in close relationship with the land and had custody over their own Country.
Captain Cook claims possession for England
In 1770, during his first Pacific voyage, Lieutenant James Cook claimed possession of the east coast of Australia for the British Crown. Upon his return to Britain, Cook’s reports inspired the authorities to establish a penal colony in the newly claimed territory. The new colony was intended to alleviate overcrowding in British prisons, expand the British Empire, assert Britain’s claim to the territory against other colonial powers, and establish a British base in the global South.
