Australia
With the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day, Australia Day. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Western Australia (the Swan River Colony) in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia. South Australia was founded as a "free province"—it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free", but later accepted transported convicts. A campaign by the settlers of New South Wales led to the end of convict transportation to that colony; the last convict ship arrived in 1848.
MCC tour of Australia in 1962–63
The MCC team were the first not to travel to Australia entirely by ship. Instead they flew to Aden and boarded the luxury liner "Canberra" on its maiden voyage to Australia, which became an 11-day cocktail party, with Tom Graveney in charge of the bar and Graveney, Ted Dexter, Ken Barrington, Colin Cowdrey, Ray Illingworth and Fred Trueman forming the Marylebone Calypso Club, much to the amusement of the other passengers. Dexter found that the British Olympic long distance runner Gordon Pirie was on board (the Commonwealth Games were being held in Perth, Western Australia in November 1962) and got him to arrange keep fit classes for the team and runs around the deck in return for a first class berth. Trueman first avoided these by dodging down a corridor as short-cut and when was discovered threatening to throw Pirie overboard. He complained to the assistant-manager Alec Bedser that he had just bowled a thousand overs for Yorkshire, was the best fast-bowler in the world and did not need extra training, Bedser agreed and Trueman was excused. The team also needed to sign autographs for an hour each day, but Trueman's occasionally fell out of a porthole. The "Canberra" docked at Colombo for a one-day game, where David Sheppard made 73 and Ray Illingworth took 5/59. The Duke of Norfolk joined them here with three of his daughters "You may dance with my daughters. You may take them out and wine them and dine them, but that is all you may do", though Colin Cowdrey later married Lady Anne Elizabeth Fitzalan-Howard. The team arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 9 October, where they met Brian Statham, who had flown in the day before. Pirie wrote a press article to the effect that the England team were lazy, unfit and overweight; Dexter wrote an article in response, announcing that he hoped that his team would make 60 runs an hour and bowl 15 overs an hour on the tour, an ambitious target and one that he would fail to meet, though the England run rate of 39 runs per 100 balls was the highest since the war (Australia managed 41 per 100 balls). Dexter donated the fee from his article to a team kitty, to be shared amongst the players. Trueman's inflammatory remarks to "The Sydney Morning Herald" (he wondered if they would be playing under Jockey Club rules - referring to the Duke of Norfolk's interest in horse-racing - or going on a Church Mission - because the Reverend David Sheppard was on the tour) went down badly with the MCC. As the most colourful of the England players Trueman was offered eight times his tour fee of £250 to give after-dinner speeches and endorse products. On being told that if he did he would have to give the money to the kitty, he turned down the offer, annoyed by the fact that Susan Dexter was supposedly earning more from her modelling work than any of the cricketers. Though Trueman struck up a friendship with the Duke, Bedser was a stickler for team discipline and Trueman would be docked his £50 good conduct bonus at the end of the tour.