Political History of Australia

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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The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council.

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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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The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council.

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Produced by Sean Masters
(All voices in this series as AI generated bar the narrator.)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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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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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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