Was Australia settled or invaded by the white settlers?

Question

Please discuss. Consider the positive and negative points of white, English settlement in Australia.

Answer 1

Well, Australia started out as a place for England to ship its prisoners, so it seems more like a settlement. The eventual migration of more people later on was more of an invasion, and it was not so great for the Aborigines, but they are still around, and have plenty of room to roam. I am sure you would find a slurry of other opinions if you actually looked it up.

Answer 2

It depends on your point of view.  Europeans held to the doctrine of terra nullius which meant that unless the land belonged to a recognized European country, it was "empty."  Therefore, the British would have considered themselves settlers.

On the other hand, Australia was not empty.  It had a population with a deep and special relationship to the land.  From their point of view, the British were invaders. Nowadays, most thinking Australians recognize that the British were indeed invaders and there have been a number of court cases dealing with land rights and status which have helped redefine the Aborigines as the original owners of Australia.

Answer 3

It depends on your point of view.  Fromt he English point of view, settled as they were relieving their jails from the prisoners who were living on boats in the river.  It was a way to make more space by settling there.

From the Aboriginal point of view, they were invaded, bring with them weapons that they had never seen, alcohol which did some damage to them and diseases that wiped them out.