The British never found or colonised Australia.
What Country would be the most likely? When?
What would Australia be like today?
What Country would be the most likely? When?
What would Australia be like today?
The British never found or colonised Australia.
What Country would be the most likely? When?
What would Australia be like today?
The Dutch were uninterested in the colonization of Australia, they could have easily done long before the British but the northern shore isn't as appealing as the eastern shore (Which Cook explored).
The french were not known for providing an adequate reason for their citizens to emigrate. It would take a sea change in policy changes to encourage this. High taxes, no substantive increases in freedoms, etc.
Say it's colonised by France. Louis XVI supports Maupeou's reforms, successfully reforms the tax system, and uses the money that was IOTL allocated for winning the war of the Anglo-American colonies' rebellion for the establishment of an Australian colony, which is used as a penal colony and as a forward base for gobbling up Indian Ocean ports and Pacific islands. The hope is to gain a strategic position to recover India while the British are bogged down in colonial troubles. To support this goal, France launches an expedition against the Cape that concludes in the conquest of South Africa.
Meanwhile, England defeats the rebels at last, with the war dragging into the late 1780's. France and Spain give minor support to the rebels but France does not heavily involve itself, unlike OTL. The English hold is tenuous and looks like it could result in another fight. France has strengthened her position in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific in the interim, and has invested significantly in a navy that could compete with the English.
By 1790, France has its eyes on an Indian assault, while the mood is sensitive in North America. England is low on funds and has to strengthen its colonial garrisons to keep its North American interests. France, by contrast, is riding on a wave of recovery, with a strong navy and a growing revenue stream.
The cliché, then, is some kind of Jacobin revolution in the colony or some such. Perhaps something else could be tried.
Whereas the French and Dutch tend to eat and drink better, in my experience.
Dutch food is just as uninspired as English food. Any Dutch food you may have found superior is likely a foreign import.![]()