Australia has a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy form of government. This system originated from British colonization of Australia beginning in 1770, when Captain Cook claimed the land for Britain under the legal doctrine of terra nullius, meaning "land belonging to no one," despite the presence of indigenous Australians. Over the following centuries, Britain established six colonies that were eventually federated in 1901 to form the self-governing Commonwealth of Australia, maintaining allegiance to the British monarch.

1. AUSTRALIA’S GOVERNMENT
FROM PAST TO PRESENT

2. OUR GOVERNMENT
• Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy
• Based on your understanding and learning from last week, write down what this
means in your own words
• Breaking it down into key words may help

3. HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT?
• 22 August, 1770
• Captain Cook claims Australia in the name of King George III
• ‘terra nullius’: Latin for ‘land belonging to no one’
• King George gave Capt. Cook specific instructions in accordance with British law
• These instructions concerned whether a land was discovered that was either:
• Occupied/had no sovereign (means ruler) and no system of land ownership
• Uninhabited
• If the land was occupied, Capt. Cook was required to negotiate with the indigenous
peoples encountered

4. ‘TERRA NULLIUS’: LAND BELONGING TO NO
ONE?
• British knew there were Aboriginal people living in Australia
• They considered Aboriginal social organisation and culture to be very primitive
• And therefore that they were incapable of owning land
• This meant they applied the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’ was applied to Australia
• The international law at the time said that this meant that the land could be
taken over and owned by a colonial power
• The land and resources became owned by the colonial power (in this case
Britain) and the Indigenous inhabitants becoming its subjects

5. • If the country was not ‘terra nullius’ (ie. It had inhabitants)
• They would have to negotiate and draw up a treaty
• May have involved purchasing land from the natives or taking it by conquest
• King George III’s instructions to Capt. Cook:
You are also with the consent of the natives to take possession of convenient situations in the country, in the name of
the King of Great Britain, or if you find the country uninhabited take possession for His Majesty by setting up proper
marks and inscriptions as first discoverers and possessors.

6. A TRIO OF LAND CLAIMS & THEIR EFFECTS
1. Capt. Cook decided not to seek and
obtain the consent of the
Indigenous Australians
2. In 1788, Capt. Arthur Phillip settled
in Sydney Cover, with the eastern
coast of the continent being
declared Crown land (land
belonging to the sovereign)
3. 90 years later, the colony of
Queensland (not yet considered a
state) claimed ownership of the
Torres Strait Islands
1. Dispossessed Indigenous
Australians of their land through
‘terra nullius’
2. Began the British ‘settlement’ of
Australia and imposed the laws of
the British Government upon all the
inhabitants
3. Dispossessed the Torres Strait
Islanders of their land

7. • How did we become federated?

8. • 1788: First fleet landed in Botany
Bay
• Free settlers had no say in the
government of New South Wales
• As the number of free settlers
grew, they demanded a greater say
in the governing of the colony
• The colonists expressed their
belief in a representative
democracy (voting in people to
represent you)
• Each of the six colonial
governments was made
responsible for a whole range of
government activities – such as
road repairs