Australia Early Autonomy

British efforts on Australia were initially using it as a penal colony. It's got large stretches of unarable land, plenty of desert, some (in 2nd Millennium eyes) vicious animals. It's also far enough from Britain that convicts can't simply hitch a ride back. Cool.

Except... how did they turn it into a normal colony? Society in those days was more autonomous than today. They don't need electricity. If one gets water, some farms, and a bit of metal, one can establish a self sufficient society. Farm tools don't break down as easily back then, and a bit of smithing can repair most damaged equipment. The horse, not the motor, was the workhorse of society in these days

I'm going to assume the British aren't just dumping food into Australia. This means that the convicts are outright encouraged to figure out how to get food for themselves. Similarly, stationing guards to enforce rules requires feeding the guards, which turns "cheap giant prison" into "expensive giant prison." So the early colonists (convicts) should have been able to establish a self sufficient society.

How did they go from "cheap giant prison" to "normal colony with law and order"? Unless the convicts have a need for Pound Sterling or really want to go back to Britain, there is no way to incentive them to follow laws, since using force, instead of a carrot, to enforce law and order defeated the purpose of Australia.

Maybe some of the later convicts wanted to turn the natural resources to riches? But even if this was the case, they could make demands for the new reformed colony to have considerable autonomy from Britain. After all, they have the option of simply going back to their new homes they made and ignoring the British authorities.
 
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