Impacts

Impact on Population:

For the British government

·         Positive; Australia’s population grew from 400,000 to over 1,000,000 from the gold rush from 1845 to 1896

·         Positive; British government found a land to place their criminals

For the Aborigines

·         Negative; between 1788 and 1900, the aborigine population of Australia decreased by 90% due to the introduction of new diseases, loss of land and violent conflicts with the British colonist.

Impacts on Political autonomy

For the British government

·         Negative; Britain lost all government control of Australia in 1968 with the, Australian Act in 1986

For the Aborigines

·         Positive; Australia gained an independent government on January 26^th, 1901, “Australia Day”

Impacts on Culture and Language

For the British government

·         Positive; spreading the European culture and language (Christianity and English)

For the Aborigines

·         Negative; assimilation by the British government. Governor Macquarie thought to ‘civilize’ the aborigines (replacing their traditional ways to European culture)

·          Positive; In some rural areas, some aborigines kept their culture and lifestyle as late as 1930

·         Negative; Before the British conflict, there were 500-750 languages spoken in Australia, many are now extinct

·         Negative; In 1868, Australia became an English speaking nation

Impacts on Land and Resources

For the British government

·         Positive; The British came across great amounts of wool and more importantly, gold.

·         Positive; Always looking to make money, the British began to export these goods, their profits soaring sky-high. This was mainly due to the numerous gold rushes that occurred between 1851 to the mid-1890s.

For the Aborigines

·         Negative; Because of such the rush, Australia was thrown into a depression in the 1890s, due to the collapse of “financial institutes.”

·         Negative; they were often displaced from their land in order for the miners to get to the gold.

Impacts of Economic well-being

For the British government

·         Positive; The gold rushes brought many people to the colony (Victoria) and made its capital, Melbourne the wealthiest city in the world

For the Aborigines

·         Positive; When the British first landed in Australia, there was trade going on between the British explorers and the aborigines (food and water for the British, for  axes and clothes)

·         Negative; during the gold rush, aborigines were forced to work in cattle stations, and other less popular businesses. Their pay was in food and water