Political History of Australia

In 1813 New South Wales was a fast-growing, optimistic society. The colony’s teenage growth spurt could no longer be contained by the rugged sandstone wall of the Blue Mountains just 50 kilometres west of Sydney. There were multiple valiant efforts to cross the Blue Mountains but it took the determination of Gregory Blaxland, backed by William Lawson and William Wentworth, to finally crack the code by staying on the high ridges instead of following the valleys. Macquarie quickly capitalised on their breakthrough, commissioning a proper road and founding the inland settlement of Bathurst in 1815. The 1813 expedition changed New South Wales from a confined coastal settlement into the gateway to a continent. In just a few years the colony’s horizons expanded dramatically, setting Australia on the path to rapid 19th-century growth. Join us as we trace the drama and the personalities that finally punched through the Blue Mountains.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please leave a comment, share and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustraliaThe Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. johnruddick.com.auhttps://www.tiktok.com/@johnruddickmlchttps://x.com/JohnRuddick2https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnruddickmlc/https://www.facebook.com/johnruddickmlc https://www.instagram.com/john.ruddick/Produced by Sean Masters(All voices in this series are AI generated bar the narrator.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Macarthur is the biggest personality of early New South Wales.  He arrived with the army aboard the Second Fleet in 1790 … at what was known as the Starving Time. But Macarthur seems to have relished getting in on the ground floor of a struggling colony that was audaciously claiming two thirds of an undeveloped continent. Many officers built prosperous farms and enterprises under the three years of laissez-faire under Acting Governors Francis Grose and William Paterson … but none gained more power and wealth than Macarthur.  By mid-1795, after less than half a decade in the colony, Macarthur had lifted himself into the lifestyle of a colonial gentlemen … but he was still young and just getting going. September 1795 was a turning point.  A new governor arrived in town, another naval officer, Captain John Hunter.  This episode introduces Macarthur and Hunter and outlines why conflict was inevitable between the official boss and the actual boss of early colonial New South Wales.Please leave a comment, share and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustraliaThe Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. johnruddick.com.auhttps://www.tiktok.com/@johnruddickmlchttps://x.com/JohnRuddick2https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnruddickmlc/https://www.facebook.com/johnruddickmlc https://www.instagram.com/john.ruddick/Produced by Sean Masters(All voices in this series as AI generated bar the narrator.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s widely assumed Captain Arthur Phillip is not only the hero of the First Fleet but he was also the hero as governor for the first five years of New South Wales. The reality is more nuanced.As a lifelong servant of the Royal Navy, Phillip only knew obedience and hierarchy. Phillip believed New South Wales’s best hope was with him as an autocrat … but the embryonic colony required spontaneity to get off the ground.Phillip’s ‘second in command’ of the colony was the boss of the NSW Marine Corps … Major Robert Ross. Ross is barely remembered today but he did offer an alternate vision for early NSW.Ross quarrelled with Phillip and so in 1790 Ross was dispatched to be boss of Norfolk Island … where Ross put his vision into practice. He wasn’t there for too long but did achieve impressive results.Phillip won Australia’s first power struggle … but it was Ross’ more liberal vision that went on to dominate the early colonial period. Ross laid the foundations for the prosperity soon to come.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please leave a comment, share and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustraliaThe Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. johnruddick.com.auhttps://www.tiktok.com/@johnruddickmlchttps://x.com/JohnRuddick2https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnruddickmlc/https://www.facebook.com/johnruddickmlc https://www.instagram.com/john.ruddick/Produced by Sean Masters(All voices in this series as AI generated bar the narrator.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s forgotten today but Proclamation Day on 7 February 1788 was more significant than 26 January 1788. Proclamation was the day that all were assembled and Captain Arthur Phillip morphed into Governor Arthur Phillip and the law of New South Wales was declared to all. It was an ingenious blend of a military dictatorship and English law. We also see Captain Laperouse of the Royal French Navy pay a State Visit to Sydney Cove … before we say a sad farewell to the French hero who played a colourful cameo in the birth of modern Australia.Please leave a comment and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustralia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The First Fleet departs England and eight months later all 11 ships arrive safely in Botany Bay. Mid way through the First Fleet’s voyage, Captain Laperouse of France is ordered by Paris to sail directly for Botany Bay and to try and beat the British. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.