Australia-An Collab Alternate History

Warning Very Random Musings Ahead Approach With Caution


Sounds good though I don’t think the Eureka Stockade in isolation would be enough for a republic to form. Pushing the stockade back a decade or two though (maybe by having gold discovered in Victoria later?) might help.

Having similar revolts over high taxation, the right to vote and corruption during the New South Wales gold rush, in the Queensland (maybe having gold discovered in charters towers earlier so that the rush is bigger there is a hell of a lot of gold there the charters towers gold rush only ended because it became too expensive to mine in World War 1) , Tasmania (by having gold at Beaconsfield found earlier ) and the three rushes in New Zealand (though I don’t know anything about them.) would help.

I was thinking of having a gold rush in North Queensland earlier (30’s or 40’s) by having a larger presence in the north by developing Townsville earlier to secure the north east coast.

Of course having all of these big gold rushes in quick succession would make Britain fight harder to keep Australia.

Maybe having convicts which appose British rule work sugar plantations in the north (instead of the blackbirding which happened OTL) maybe Irish Catholics or Indians who when freed form a sizeable population. I’m really guessing here don’t know enough about this type of stuff.

Having the squatters more influential/powerful could help with a revolution as well especially if government policy in the 1830’s doesn’t change from opposition to acceptance.

I think the main problem here is that Australia’s a dam big place and you would need some cohesion for a successful revolution to take place and that’s going to be hard to do in 1854.

most of this maybe ASB though and most likely does not make a lick of sense due to lack of sleep.
 
Ok that sounds good. I was thinking that the rebels would win at the Stockade which will form the beginning. The high taxation seems like a good reason. To make it new likely that revolution would happen I was thinking about making more Europeans come to Australia for the gold rush, large plots of land and the high amount of jobs. Probabley have them come earlier increasing the population drastically introducing new ideas to the original colonists. This will be a result of the British bourgeoisie that I'll introduce in my next update. I hope to increase the population a lot making it so that Melbourne and Brisbane are founded earlier

Your thoughts?
 
Brisbane was founded pretty early in 1824 as a penal colony. I’m not familiar with the reason for free settlement in Brisbane was though except to support the penal colony. Settling in Brisbane would unlock the Lockyer valley for settlement though.

Melbourne on the other hand was founded a fair bit latter in 37, attempts were made in 03 to found a settlement but a lack of fresh water forced it to be abandoned (though I don’t know how they didn’t find the Yara river). If you put more emphasis for settling Victoria in fear of the French giving it ago, you might be able to flood the state with colonists in an effort to deny French settlement. This could work with settling the northern territory and north Queensland too. Don’t no how ASB this is though might be totally ridiculous.

Also do you know anything about New Zealand's history i can't seem to find the reasons for why the Treaty of Waitangi was made instead of treating the Maori like the Brits did the Aborigines.

Edit: You might be able to get the Brits fearing French settlement if the French establish a colony in Western Australia. I don't no a plausible date for a French colony though, maybe a penal colony for those apposing the monarchy?
 
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On introduced species I think some of them are unavoidable like camels they were just too many of them in Australia when they became obsolete. Rabbits as well I can see being unavoidable as a pest species as they had been in the colony since the first fleet, it was only a matter of time until a breeding population of rabbits escaped. Cats brumbies and goats are also a given.

Cane toads on the other hand I can see butterflyed away if the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations gain a single iota of intelligence and sea that cane toads can’t jump or climb so introducing them to control flying insects isn’t really that bright an idea.

I have no ideas about other plants and animals in Australia though.

I was thinking about introducing Van Diemen dogs to New Zealand though with them becoming a pest species there. It might be just my twisted humour but having thylacines as a pest species with huge numbers in New Zealand instead of going extinct amuses me, though I'm not sure how likely it is.
 
Also do you know anything about New Zealand's history i can't seem to find the reasons for why the Treaty of Waitangi was made instead of treating the Maori like the Brits did the Aborigines.

Edit: You might be able to get the Brits fearing French settlement if the French establish a colony in Western Australia. I don't no a plausible date for a French colony though, maybe a penal colony for those apposing the monarchy?


There were quite a few different reasons for the Treaty, that may not have held true in Australia.

One being that at the time of the Treaty negotiations NZ was still clearly not a British possession - it was instead more of a protectorate. There was no widescale settlement by British or other Europeans at the time -instead there was a scattering of small trading or mission settlements.

There was also an increasing commercial interaction between the former, the various Maori tribes/groups and other foreign traders (Americans, French etc). The interaction also made the 50 years past first contact really rather violent too, with a huge amount of fighting (See the Musket Wars) between the Maori tribes.

Other foreign powers (mainly France) were perceived as threatening British/Australian interests in NZ as well, so it was thought that the relationship between the Crown and the Maori should be formalised. This built upon previous efforts (see the United Tribes), where northern Maori tribes formally declared their sovereignty

Then there was the fact that by the 1830s-40s, there were a few enlightened imperial officials, who sort to formalise arrangements with locals in a reasonably mutually benefical way. The principal agent of the Crown in NZ was apparently one of those types.
 
1817: After much delay due to the popularity in the move the First ships from England arrive at Botany Bay filled with members of the British Middle and Upper classes. By 1820 over 12000 members of the British bourgeoisie will have arrived in Australia.

1818: After hearing rumors of a French colony being sent to the other side of the continent, Britain sends more settlers to colonise the other side of Australia, they land at Cape Inscription at Shark Bay finding the plate left by Dirk Hartog. The Birtish keep quiet about the find but name the new settlement Hartog Bay. Britain now claim ownership of all of Australia.

Population of Australia (including Van Dieman's Land and New Zealand):
32896

OTL: I was thinking, that we set up Melbourne in normal in 1835 but create an increased population and gold rush. Maybe we should have people come from other European countries and America after something happens in Australia to invute them to this country.

Also make the South Island the penal coloney and maybe the North under Maori control but as a British protectorate?
 
Sounds good but the settlement at Botany Bay was abandoned and moved to New Albion (OTL Sydney) as it did in OTL albeit at a latter date. I have some ideas for a penal colony on the South Island i'll post either later tonight or Tomorrow.

Atomicwalrus
 
1819
First New Zealand Penal Fleet sets sail from Britain mid January.

To combat large unemployment in the north the Netherlands begins to promote increased immigration to their colonies with emphases placed on the profitable Dutch East Indies. With this increase emphases on her colonies the Netherlands will proceed to annex the rest of New Guinea by 1825.

With instability in Spain increasing large numbers of Spanish begin to emigrate, with many liberal Spanish immigrating to New South Wales.

New South Wales.

Australian born explorer Wilf Kristopher begins to chart the Darling River system.

Confrontations between Aboriginal peoples and new settlers west of the Blue Mountains erupt as the Aboriginal people are pushed off their land.
Van Demines Land

Van Demines Land

The booming town of Launceston is decided to be the capital for the new Three Island Colony.

1820

King George IV ascends to the throne.

New South Wales.
The beginnings of numerous new settlements are constructed up and down the coast surrounding New Albion.

New Albion starts to expand rapidly f becoming a bustling town, a far cry from the small fishing village it served years previously. Plans have started to be drawn up for opening Australia’s first bank in New Albion.

Three Islands.
First New Zealand Penal fleet stops in Van Demines land prior to heading for New Zealand for repair. Some of the free settlers purchase Van Diemen dogs these would escape upon arriving in New Zealand becoming a pest specie in New Zealand. The introduction of thylacines to New Zealand will result in the extinction of numerous species including a small flight less bird known as the Kiwi.

New governor Sir Kenneth Folk veteran of the Napoleonic wars remains in Launceston appointing Captain Osborn Simmons Lieutenant governor of the new penal colony.

The First New Zealand Penal fleet lands on New Zealand’s South Island at Golden Bay.

Contact is made with the local Maori Chief Hemi Moana, who accustomed to European whalers and traders gives permission for the settlement to be built in exchange for muskets and potatoes.

1821
New South Wales.
The bank of New South Wales is founded in New Albion becoming one of the largest stone buildings in the settlement.

First regiment created in Australia maned by Australian born soldiers with Australian officers recruited.

Expansion to the west of the Blue Mountains across the Darling River system proceeds at a breakneck pace chiefly led by Squatters, who are starting to become some of the richest men in the colony.

Three Islands.
This year also seen the first signs of progress in attempts to convert Van Diemen’s lands aboriginals, with relatively large populations near Launceston converting to Christianity.

The Golden Bay colony continues to develop, the use of convict labour allows the building of the necessary infrastructure for the colony to develop quickly.
The first year after settlement also seen the beginnings of the South Island Musket War were tribes led by Chief Hemi Moana attempt to exert dominance over the South Island Maori. Chief Hemi Moana’s use of muskets provide him with many victories though he still relies on the British for ammunition.

1822
New South Wales.
The farming of cotton in New South Wales starts to grow in popularity among squatters, with most using newly immigrant labourers from India to work on their Plantations. While cotton is rising in popularity it is still far from becoming the colonies chief export.

Influenced by the increased trade and traffic between New Albion and the west, Portuguese born New Albion local Quim Bernardo establishes Barnardo and Sons caravans. Bernardo and Sons will remain the main transporters of goods from and to the Murray darling basin until the establishment of paddle steamers.

Three Islands.
This year sees the largest group of Irish settlers yet to arrive in Van Diemen land, marking a change in the colonies immigrant population with less English arriving in the following years.

With the arrival of the second fleet at golden bay and its population growing the search has started for a site for a new colony to secure Cook Strait. It has been decided that any new colonies should be built on the South Island due to the much smaller native population.

The South Island Musket War continues with no sign of stoping. The war is going well for Moana with most of the tribes in the north swearing loyalty to him or being obliterated. No moves to attack the British though have been made as Moana has yet to learn to make muskets or ammunition.

Hearing of the Maori war on the South Island some entrepreneuring Van Diemen traders plan to sell muskets to Maori in the southern portion of the island.....
 
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