Latest news with #FirstFleet
National Geographic
26-06-2025
- Business
- National Geographic
The complex history of Australian rum—and the best places to find it
During the 18th century, England sought out remote locations to house prisoners as a solution to its overcrowded jails. In 1788, England's First Fleet arrived in the Eora nation—now known as Sydney, Australia—with 11 ships of convicts and officers. For this long voyage, they packed two years' worth of food and four years' worth of rum. The nation was founded without any formal currency except a limited supply of coins, because it was meant to be a convict colony. However, it soon became clear they would need more structure, so they put their bountiful supply of rum to practical use. Rum became intertwined with the history of Australia. It was the original currency, the spirit of rebellion, and a powerful political tool. (Take a mangrove foraging tour with Broome's Aboriginal custodians.) This postcard is part of a series titled 'The Growth of our Empire beyond the Seas,' of the British Empire extending its colonial ambitions across the globe. British soldiers are seen inspecting convict settlers in 1788. Photograph By Look and Learn / Elgar Collection / Bridgeman Images The role of rum in colonial Australia 'Rum was a currency because everyone was addicted to it,' says Matt Murphy, author of the book Rum: A Distilled History of Colonial Australia. This meant that whoever controlled the supply of rum also controlled the colony. After the British landed in Australia, the New South Wales Corps had a monopoly on rum production, which earned them the nickname, the 'Rum Corps.' When Governor Bligh arrived in Australia with a strong will, the order to control the alcohol supply, and other conflicting political views, he was eventually deposed by the Rum Corps in what later became known as the "Rum Rebellion." This was the first and only military coup in the country's history. According to Murphy, the Rum Rebellion was 'the defining moment between Australia being just a convict colony and becoming a place of commercial interest.' Rum became a part of daily life and was used to pay for major land purchases. In the early 1800s, the government had no funds to build a hospital, so it contracted the construction to three entrepreneurs in return for a short-term monopoly on the distribution of 60,000 gallons of rum. This site became known as the 'Rum Hospital,' and it eventually became the New South Wales Parliament House. In the 1840s, an economic depression hit Australia, and people could no longer afford rum, decreasing consumption substantially. By the late 1850s, Australia's gold rush and an influx of male migrants made alcohol more appealing. However, it was around this time that a technological development made beer cheaper and easier to produce than other spirits. Beer gradually became the drink of choice, and the country replaced its beloved rum. ( See Australia's wild beauty—and dark history—on its newest Great Walk .) The Sydney Mint was built between 1811 and 1816 as the southern wing of the Sydney Hospital, also known as the Rum Hospital for convicts. It is the oldest surviving public building in the city's central business district. Photograph By Maurizio De Mattei, Shutterstock A propaganda sketch portrays Governor William Bligh as a coward after his arrest in 1808. Bligh served as the Governor of New South Wales in Australia from 1806 to 1808. He's known for being the captain of the HMS Bounty during the Mutiny on the Bounty, and for his controversial time as governor, which ended with the Rum Rebellion, and armed takeover by the New South Wales Corps. Illustration By William Minchin, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales / Bridgeman Images The impact of rum on First Nations Australians Throughout Australian history, rum and other alcohol were also used to extort, control, and oppress First Nations groups. The First Nations people, also known as the Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people, are made up of hundreds of groups and have lived on this land for thousands of years. Before the First Fleet landed, the local Gadigal people had rarely, if ever, encountered alcohol. In 'Rum, Seduction and Death: 'Aboriginality' and Alcohol,' First Nations anthropologist Marcia Langton details the ways that colonial Australians introduced rum, enabled the Aboriginal people until they were addicted, and then provided them with no means to legally obtain it. Langton writes that, 'From the first settlement and throughout the frontier period, alcohol was used to engage Aboriginal people in discourse, attract Aboriginal people into settlements, in barter for sexual favors from Aboriginal women, as payment for Aboriginal labor and to incite Aboriginal people to fight as street entertainment.' Overuse of alcohol leaves people vulnerable to manipulation and abuse, and rum has been continuously and effectively used to maintain the political narrative of the 'drunk Aboriginal.' These racist stereotypes continue to impact modern-day Australia. Langton says, '[The 'drunk Aboriginal stereotype'] remains the background and popular explanation for the extraordinary arrest rates of Aboriginal people, for the continuing removal of Aboriginal children and the continuing exclusion of Aboriginal people from employment.' (In Australia, Aboriginal rangers race to save the last sawfish.) Just north of Byron Bay, Husk Farm Distillers is known as one of the best craft rum brands in Australia. Photograph Courtesy Husk Distillers Craft rum distilleries represent modern Australia Today's craft rum distillers are working diligently and thoughtfully to properly acknowledge and honor First Nations groups in their production processes and storytelling. According to Mindy Woods, a proud Bundjalung woman best known for championing First Nations cooking on MasterChef Australia, 'When we are sourcing food from Country, that's a direct connection to Country and culture–particularly when it comes to native foods. A lot of the time, First Nations people aren't included in that narrative.' Birds of Isle co-founders Chanel Melani and Sally Carter appointed Woods as their First Nations advisor for product development. This ensured that they were informed of the cultural significance of native Australian botanicals before using them in their rums. In early discussions, Woods encouraged them to source their products in a way that was aligned with First Nations groups, including opting for hyperlocal seasonal products, working with First Nations suppliers, and only taking what they needed. When they created their Bunya Nut Rum, Woods showed them how to use the shells in addition to the nuts, allowing them to use both parts of the plant without wasting valuable resources. To respect and care for the native land, they have also made their labels out of sugarcane waste pulp rather than paper. Native plants play an important role in many craft rum companies. 'We wanted to use local and native ingredients in our spiced rum to represent Australia,' shares Brix Distillers co-founder James Christopher. They get many of their native ingredients from an Indigenous-led company that forages herbs in South Australia. 'Embracing our ingredients comes with a responsibility for them to be educated, for them to respect those ingredients, and for them to give back to First Nations communities where they originate from,' says Woods. Craft distillers like Brix and Birds of Isle also use locally grown sugar cane and barrels from nearby wine regions. That allows these rums to be Australian through and through–made up of barrels aged by Australian winemakers, sugarcane grown along the East Coast, and native ingredients that have been cultivated by First Nations groups for thousands of years. Rum remains more than just a drink to today's distillers. It's a source of pride, a celebration of local flavors, and an homage to the country's history. The Australian rum industry is banding together to tell a story that is hundreds of years in the making, and that's something worth drinking to. The Harwood Sugar Mill sits amongst sugar cane fields on the banks of the Clarence River in Harwood, New South Wales, Australia. The mill has been crushing sugar cane since 1874. Photograph By Harley Kingston / Alamy Best places to try Australian rum To drink a bit of Australian history, travelers will have to plan a trip Down Under because very few distilleries export their products out of the country. Craft rum brands like Birds of Isle can be found in most pubs and liquor stores around Australia. You can also visit tasting rooms and distilleries like Brix in Surry Hills, Sydney, and Husk Farm just north of Byron Bay. (8 unique experiences in Australia, from sailing in the Whitsundays to aurora hunting.) Acacia Gabriel is a freelance journalist who covers responsible ecotourism, cultural experiences, and the intersection of outdoor adventure and luxury. Follow along on her website and Instagram.
ABC News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Vincent Namatjira's King Dingo exhibition reaches new heights in Vivid projection
Acclaimed artist Vincent Namatjira steps into the bright light, and for the first time he sees his paintings come to life on the façade of Sydney's six-storey art deco Museum of Contemporary Art. "It's massive … I'm speechless," the Western Aranda man says with a big grin. "I have the whole building to myself. It is pretty cool. It gives me chills." Namatjira is speaking to the ABC's Indigenous Affairs Team and News Breakfast exclusively ahead of Vivid Sydney's launch on Friday evening. The museum on Gadigal land in Circular Quay is a centrepiece for the annual festival that illuminates the city's major buildings. Namitjira's 2D painting exhibition from last year, King Dingo, has been transformed for the festival into animated caricatures of dingoes wearing royal regalia and riding horseback. A dingo dressed in Captain Cook's attire, holding the Aboriginal flag, stands tall on the ochre landscape synonymous with the artist's homeland in the remote South Australian APY lands. The dingo "symbolises the colonial captain James Cook and the first invasion of Australia," Namatjira explains. The museum is located where the First Fleet landed in 1788, and that fact is not lost on the artist. Over the speakers in the heart of Circular Quay, Vincent Namatjira's words reverberate: "King Dingo represents strength, pride, and resilience." As part of this year's Vivid theme 'Dream', the award-winning artist has imagined his totem dingo ruling over the land. "This is my dream. The dream of me having King Dingo for all Indigenous and Torres Strait people of this country," Namatjira says. "It is a totem for all of us Aboriginal people." He says he hopes respect and recognition for Aboriginal Country, culture and leadership will "not just be a dream". The artist explains the artwork is aimed to "level" the stage. "King Dingo to me represents protector of the land. And the King, it's a reversal … where I put my perspective of Indigenous to the colonial perspective." The museum's statement elaborates that "the work highlights how collective memory is a shared process, reshaping how we perceive history and reminding us that remembrance is dynamic and inclusive." Since the paintings were first exhibited in Sydney last year, former prince Charles has been crowned King. In this projection, the monarch can be seen waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. At times, dingoes appear playing electric guitars to adoring fans, as Vincent's voice — "King Dingo: long live the King" — booms from the speakers. The score has been composed by Namitjira's nephew Jeremy Whiskey, who also travelled from Indulkana in APY Lands to get his first look at the project. "I was just listening to their emotions," the Pitjantjatjara musician explains about the creative process. "It just comes with an idea and music just comes into my idea, like the drum, the base, keyboard, the sound, how it is going to go, which sound is going to change," he says. "That's what I do, just by listening and observing. "The genre that Vincent wanted to play was a bit heavy, so I came up with a combination and it just came from the music I learnt when I was young." Namitjira's style of landscapes painting that adorn the building also draws on the works of his great-grandfather, the revered artist Albert Namatjira. His legacy is something that remains front-of-mind for this modern artist. "I always wanted to be like my great grandfather Albert Namatjira, to receive the coronation medal." Now taking his artwork to the next level, the Iwantja artist hopes the younger generation will see that they can achieve their dreams. "My artwork is powerful, and it is an influence for the young generation to see my work shine up on this kind of scale — it's impressive. "Anything is possible when you pick up the brush."
Forbes
26-04-2025
- General
- Forbes
First Introduced To Australia In 1788, This Invasive Species Now Kills Over A Million Birds A Day
In the spring of 2019, a sanctuary in Mandurah, Western Australia became the scene of a quiet ecological collapse. After a successful nesting season drew over 200 endangered fairy terns, something began to go wrong. Dead chicks started appearing in the morning. Adults vanished. And then came the tell-tale signs — cat tracks in the sand, decapitated carcasses and the shattered remains of nests across the colony. A single white, desexed, uncollared cat had infiltrated the colony multiple times, triggering a full abandonment by season's end. In Australia, cats kill over a million birds every day, and the continent's wildlife — having evolved without mammalian predators — is particularly vulnerable. Though this cat was ultimately euthanized, its impact illustrates a broader problem with a surprisingly precise origin. Cats were initially stowed aboard ships of the First Fleet to keep rat populations in check. When the ships reached Australian shores in 1788, they soon found a second career, embraced by settlers as handy pest controllers. Within decades, they were rural tools of convenience — deliberately released into fields and homesteads to manage rodent infestations and, later, rabbit outbreaks. But this is a country with a long memory of ecological experiments gone awry. Consider the cane toad. Introduced in 1935 to control beetles in Queensland's sugarcane fields, it ignored its intended prey, multiplied at astonishing rates and devastated native wildlife with its toxic defenses. Today, Australia battles the legacy of that decision with nationwide culling events. With cats, the problem was about to become a whole lot worse. By the 1860s, these felines were being introduced en masse into agricultural regions like Victoria and New South Wales. In 1864, a mass release near the Lachlan River aimed to curb a rat plague. By the 1880s, such releases were actively encouraged under government policies targeting invasive rabbits. But the strategy backfired. By the late 19th century, reports were emerging of large, aggressive feral cats thriving in the bush, nesting in rabbit warrens and preying on native fauna. Today, Australia is home to an estimated 7 to 11.2 million cats. They now cover more than 99% of the continent, from deserts to alpine zones, and have adapted to almost every terrain. What began as a stowaway species has grown into an ecological juggernaut. The numbers are staggering, and yet, they barely capture the scale of damage. In Australia, domestic and feral cats kill over 1 million birds, 1.67 million reptiles and nearly 3 million mammals every single day, according to a March 2022 study published in Diversity and Distributions. Since colonization, cats have been directly linked to the extinction of at least 27 native species, including the paradise parrot and the pig-footed bandicoot, and today, they threaten more than 120 others. Ground-nesting birds, marsupials in the 'critical weight range' and even reptiles face relentless predation. And while foxes, habitat loss and fire all play their part, it's cats that conservation biologists consider the single most damaging invasive animal on the continent. This destruction also comes with a massive cost. Australia has spent over A$18.7 billion a year in cat-related management costs since 1960, more than for any other invasive species. That includes aerial shooting, baiting campaigns, exclusion fencing and detection dogs. And still, cats occupy 99.9% of the country. Australia's isolation once made it a sanctuary for unique life. But the same traits that shaped its biodiversity — naïve prey, low predator exposure, limited defense mechanisms — now make that life extraordinarily easy to destroy. And it's not just the Mandurah massacre where this was observed. Last year, along the Clarence River in New Zealand's South Island, a lone feral cat was recorded over three nights systematically destroying 95 nests of black-fronted terns. From 180 birds at the start of the season, only 20 remained after the attack. The entire season's breeding effort was wiped out in less than a week. But the most sobering cautionary tale comes from 1894, when a lighthouse keeper's pet cat named Tibbles was introduced to Stephens Island in New Zealand. Tibbles and her feral offspring swiftly exterminated the island's endemic Lyall's wren — a flightless, songbird that had evolved without mammalian predators. Within a year, the species was extinct. Australia's cat problem isn't just numerical — it's ecological. And while managing millions of cats is complex, the risk posed by even one, left unchecked, is enough to bring down a species. While cats might be predatory to a number of species in Australia, we still share a powerful bond with our pet cats. How tuned in are you to your cat's needs and behaviors? Find out now by taking this 2-minute Pet Personality Test.
The Guardian
27-01-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘There aren't people on Mars': Anthony Albanese criticises Sussan Ley's First Fleet analogy
Anthony Albanese and Katy Gallagher have rebuked the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, for drawing parallels between the arrival of the First Fleet to Elon Musk's SpaceX mission to reach Mars, describing the comparison as 'disrespectful' and 'nuts'. The prime minister said on Monday that the analogy Ley made in her Australia Day address was 'very strange'. 'I thought when someone said that to me yesterday they were making it up,' Albanese said of Ley's comments, which were part of an Australian Day speech to a church service in Albury. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'There aren't people that we know of in Mars,' Albanese said. 'Australia was not terra nullius when Captain [Arthur] Phillip and the First Fleet came through Sydney Cove.' Ley had said in her speech that citizens should be proud of 26 January and denied that the First Fleet had arrived 'as invaders'. 'In what could be compared to Elon Musk's SpaceX's efforts to build a new colony on Mars, men in boats arrived on the edge of the known world to embark on that new experiment,' she said. 'And just like astronauts arriving on Mars, those first settlers would be confronted with a different and strange world, full of danger, adventure and potential. From that moment our national story stood at a crossroads.' But Albanese said it was a 'very strange analogy to draw, and one that was disrespectful of the fact that there were people here'. 'First Nations people [were] here for tens of thousands [of years and] we have a great privilege of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth,' the prime minister said. Gallagher, the finance minister, said the comparison drawn by Ley was 'nuts'. '[It] took me a while to understand what she was trying to say there. But, you know, I'll leave that to Sussan Ley to explain,' she told reporters on Monday. Ley's speech came a day after the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, added a new government efficiency portfolio to his shadow ministry, a role that drew immediate comparisons with the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in Donald Trump's new US administration.
