Political History of Australia

E23: The Castle Hill Rebellion

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:30:00 GMT

The 1804 Castle Hill Rebellion was the most dramatic convict uprising in Australian history. The rebels were Irish political prisoners who had arrived en masse between 1800 and 1802. They were a powder keg. Almost immediately on arrival they plotted a grand mutiny. The purpose was not just freedom … but freedom to return to fight for Irish independence.

The Castle Hill Rebellion was over and out in less than a day after being brutally crushed by Major George Johnston and the NSW Corps. Post the rebellion, Major George Johnston and his troops were now seen as the indispensable saviours of the colony.

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E22: Manifest Destiny - Down Under

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 23:47:31 GMT

In 1788 Governor Arthur Phillip had proclaimed that the British Empire was now in charge of two-thirds of a continent. It was an audacious claim for a little speck of 1,500 souls. They did quickly build a second settlement on Norfolk Island because London had said it was a priority … but for the next 14 years there would be no more settlements. The process of continental expansion began with a burst in 1802 and it was driven by fear of France staking a claim on this continent.

By 1829, the British flag and only the British flag was flying coast to coast. Australians have achieved Manifest Destiny Down Under just as Americans were embracing that

The expansion began in the Bass Strait on King Island in late 1802. It was at face value a comical Possession Ceremony but it was a claim underwritten by the British Empire at its peak. Governor King was a poor domestic leader but he was the man that got the process underway that confirmed that Australia only had room for one newcomer.

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E21: Napoleon's Spies in Sydney

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:30:00 GMT

In 1802 the political focus of New South Wales was not domestic but geopolitical. The British and the French had been at war for nine years already and had well over a decade ahead of conflict ahead … but in 1802 Britian and France were officially at peace. It was during this interval that two French ships sailed into Sydney Harbour and stayed five months. It was the Baudin Expedition personally commissioned by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte.

The colonials rolled out the red carpet of welcome but among the French was a humble assistant zoologist who undercover was vacuuming up all the intel he could. On his return to Paris this zoologist wrote up a detailed plain on how and why France should invade and conqueror New South Wales.

That didn’t happen but the British were alarmed – they didn’t want a second Canada where a French minority was an endless irritant. Great Britain had claimed two-thirds of a continent in 1788 but hadn’t done a thing about it. The arrival of the French in 1802 kick-started the process of continental expansion.

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E20: The Court Martial of John Macarthur

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:30:00 GMT

In September 1801, Captain John Macarthur of the NSW Corps was challenged to a duel by his commanding officer. Macarthur declined the challenge but his opponent was insistent and so the duel proceeded. Macarthur shot and badly wounded his commanding officer. Governor King soon arrived on the scene and Macarthur was arrested. Governor King had already been in a vicious spat with Macarthur and so King relished this opportunity to banish Macarthur by sending him to England for court martial.

Macarthur may have been facing a gaol term … but on his way to England, John Macarthur had a succession of lucky breaks. In England, Macarthur didn’t need to rely on luck - his brilliance convinced important statesmen that rather than goal, this Macarthur fellow should be given the largest land grant to date in NSW.

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E19: John Macarthur in Sydney's First Duel

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 20:52:02 GMT

In the late 1790s, John Macarthur took a step back from politics as he was pre-occupied with establishing the Australian wool industry. In mid-1800, the new governor Philip Gidley King was sworn in and it was clear he was a man on a mission to restore the prestige of the state … so Macarthur offered to sell everything and return to England. That sale didn’t eventuate but before long Macarthur would be challenged to, not one duel, but two. He had the brains to get out of the first one but suffered the ignominy of being a coward … so soon after when he was challenged again to a duel, he had little choice but to proceed. In most duels neither man was injured but high noon at Parramatta and John Macarthur did not miss.

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E18: The Tyranny of Governor Philip Gidley King

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:30:00 GMT

In the first year of the 19th century Captain Philip Gidley King was sworn in as the third Governor of New South Wales. The second governor (John Hunter) had come to the job expecting to be a ‘gentlemen governor’ and New South Wales a comfy reward for his decades of distinguished service to the British Empire. But Hunter was driven half-mad by the colony and ended up sacked by London.

Governor King was younger and more energetic – he arrived in Sydney as a man on a mission. He was determined to restore the power and prestige of the state - he was looking for a fight (which he would get). Governor King’s ‘reforms’ were tyrannical and counter-productive … so much so, the colony began to fear famine again. It wouldn’t be too long until the great crusader was writing to London and hoping he could get away sooner than planned.

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E17: The Decline, Fall and Recall of Governor Hunter

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:03:57 GMT

Governor John Hunter served as the second governor of New South Wales during the second half of the 1790s. As Hunter’s governorship progressed, his misery and paranoia grew as he was increasingly ignored by London and his colonial peers. Hunter was given a warning in 1798, when London advised him a replacement governor had been selected for whenever Hunter may leave the role … but Hunter continued to frustrate London and 18 months later was officially recalled to England. Governor Hunter suffered the first Dismissal in Australian political history.

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E16: The Political Brilliance of John Macarthur

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:30:00 GMT

After the John Baughan Affair political tension returned to the small but now flourishing colony of New South Wales. It was 1796. In this increasingly tense atmosphere some regular troops at 3am stole a couple of turnips from the Governor’s garden. It was hardly a hanging offence but escalation begat escalation and soon it was a proxy war between Governor John Hunter and Captain John Macarthur as to who was the real boss.

In an extraordinary twist, the dispute ended up on the desk of the Home Secretary in London … and to Governor Hunter’s dismay, London politely sided with Macarthur.

Historians have been baffled ever since as to why a top cabinet member in London would side with a lowly captain over the King’s Governor. There was nothing sinister or manipulative about it – John Macarthur and the government of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger were ideological allies. London simply agreed with Macarthur’s brilliantly presented case as to what the colony’s problems were and how they could be corrected. The downfall of Governor Hunter had begun.

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E15: Australia's First Political Scandal - The Baughan Affair

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:30:00 GMT

Governor John Hunter arrived in Sydney in 1795 with instructions directly from King George III to clean up the perceived mess in New South Wales. Hunter had first come to Sydney with the First Fleet in 1788 but he hadn’t been in Sydney for four years and so was surprised and delighted to find that, rather than being a mess, New South Wales was thriving. Hunter wrote back to London in praise of the colony and the leadership of Francis Grose.

At first John Macarthur and Governor Hunter were friendly. It appeared Hunter would go along with the easy-going policies of Francis Grose … but then some soldiers smashed up the home of John Baughan in The Rocks. Governor Hunter was utterly appalled by the behaviour of British troops and so he put his foot down and demanded the NSW Corps get into line. Macarthur appeared to be withdrawing from public life … but it was merely a strategic retreat.

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E14: The Big Man of Early Australia: John Macarthur

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 14:27:00 GMT

John Macarthur is the biggest personality of early New South Wales. He arrived with the army aboard the Second Fleet in 1790 … at what was known as the Starving Time.

But Macarthur seems to have relished getting in on the ground floor of a struggling colony that was audaciously claiming two thirds of an undeveloped continent.

Many officers built prosperous farms and enterprises under the three years of laissez-faire under Acting Governors Francis Grose and William Paterson … but none gained more power and wealth than Macarthur. By mid-1795, after less than half a decade in the colony, Macarthur had lifted himself into the lifestyle of a colonial gentlemen … but he was still young and just getting going.

September 1795 was a turning point. A new governor arrived in town, another naval officer, Captain John Hunter. This episode introduces Macarthur and Hunter and outlines why conflict was inevitable between the official boss and the actual boss of early colonial New South Wales.

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E13: Was Francis Grose Australia’s Greatest Ever Leader?

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:30:00 GMT

Governor Arthur Phillip departed NSW after almost five years in late 1792. For the next three years NSW had no official governor and so the military boss Major Francis Grose stepped up to the role as Acting Governor during this Military Interregnum.

Phillip had been a micro-manager but Grose dismantled the old order in favour of a laissez-faire approach. Fear of hunger was soon replaced by ‘fear of missing out’ as a prosperous middle class quickly emerged.

This period is dismissed by most historians as one of greed and corruption but they overlook the reality on the ground – bumper harvests, a reduction in crime, a surge in general health and a building boom. Francis Grose’ reforms put to rest any suggestion NSW was not going to be a successful colony.

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E12: Australia’s First Power Struggle: Phillip v Ross

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:30:00 GMT

It’s widely assumed Captain Arthur Phillip is not only the hero of the First Fleet but he was also the hero as governor for the first five years of New South Wales. The reality is more nuanced.

As a lifelong servant of the Royal Navy, Phillip only knew obedience and hierarchy. Phillip believed New South Wales’s best hope was with him as an autocrat … but the embryonic colony required spontaneity to get off the ground.

Phillip’s ‘second in command’ of the colony was the boss of the NSW Marine Corps … Major Robert Ross. Ross is barely remembered today but he did offer an alternate vision for early NSW.

Ross quarrelled with Phillip and so in 1790 Ross was dispatched to be boss of Norfolk Island … where Ross put his vision into practice. He wasn’t there for too long but did achieve impressive results.

Phillip won Australia’s first power struggle … but it was Ross’ more liberal vision that went on to dominate the early colonial period. Ross laid the foundations for the prosperity soon to come.

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E11: The James Ruse Revolution

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The British flag had been raised, the law had been laid down, the French had sailed off and infant Sydney Cove was starting to resemble a settlement. Governor Arthur Phillip had done a sterling job so far but it was about to dawn on him that he didn’t think to bring out those with agricultural know-how. Two years later around 10% of the colony had died of hunger and things were looking awfully dire. Phillip assumed government run farms would deliver the food required but they failed. Sydney Cove was on the verge of collapse when a convict stepped forward and convinced Governor Phillip to give his some land to privately farm. That convict was James Ruse and his agricultural revolution saved New South Wales.

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E10: Proclamation Day

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 14:00:00 GMT

It’s forgotten today but Proclamation Day on 7 February 1788 was more significant than 26 January 1788. Proclamation was the day that all were assembled and Captain Arthur Phillip morphed into Governor Arthur Phillip and the law of New South Wales was declared to all. It was an ingenious blend of a military dictatorship and English law. We also see Captain Laperouse of the Royal French Navy pay a State Visit to Sydney Cove … before we say a sad farewell to the French hero who played a colourful cameo in the birth of modern Australia.

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E9: The First Australia Day

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The British have arrived in Botany Bay but Arthur Phillip quickly decides to relocate to Sydney Harbour. Just as he is leaving Botany Bay however two large mysterious ships turn up. Phillip is alarmed that these ships may try and claim the world’s greatest natural harbour … but it is the British who secure Sydney Cove on the first Australia Day – 26 January 1788.

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E8: First Fleet Arrives

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The First Fleet departs England and eight months later all 11 ships arrive safely in Botany Bay. Mid way through the First Fleet’s voyage, Captain Laperouse of France is ordered by Paris to sail directly for Botany Bay and to try and beat the British.

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E7: Captain Arthur Phillip

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The British have decided to colonise New South Wales and First Fleet fever grips England. The East India Company tries unsuccessfully to scuttle the project. Captain Arthur Phillip had had only a middling career in the Royal Navy but he was then appointed as the supremo of the big bet on Botany Bay.

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E6: The Decision

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 14:00:00 GMT

Following the relentless lobbying of Jospeh Banks and an unwitting contribution from American Thomas Jefferson, in 1786 the British Government makes an abrupt and dramatic decision to send the First Fleet to Botany Bay.

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E5: The Unofficial Minister for New South Wales

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 10:22:10 GMT

James Cook continues his exploration of the Pacific, while Joseph Banks stays back in England to campaign for the settlement of New South Wales as a British colony.

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E4: New South Wales

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:00:05 GMT

In 1770 Cook & Banks become the first Europeans to land on the fertile east coast of "New Holland", which they rename "New South Wales" and claim for Britain.

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E1: Terra Australis

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:00:00 GMT

For most of the world, the story of Australia started as a fable about a great south land that must exist to keep the world in balance. The myth came from a joint venture between an Egyptian pharaoh and some Phoenician sailors around 600BC, and motivated future European explorers during the age of imperialism.

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E2: Britain vs France

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:00:00 GMT

Tracing the centuries long enmity between Britain and France, and how that imperial rivalry played out in the South Pacific as the race for Terra Australis intensified.

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E3: Cook and Banks

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:00:00 GMT

The crucial partnership between softly-spoken James Cook and the effervescent Joseph Banks as they set out on The Endeavour in the search for Terra Australis.

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Teaser - A Day at the Cricket with Edmund Barton

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:22:33 GMT

This pre-release sample episode tells the largely unknown story of how Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton first entered the public's imagination. His career as a lawyer had been unremarkable, but his astute management of a cricket crisis in 1879 set him up as a leading figure in the Sydney establishment.

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