Talk:Territorial evolution of Australia

Pre federation
Why aren't the colonial changes included?--Peta 02:04, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
 * The map begins at federation, just as the Canada map and US maps begin at federation. However, I am thinking about adding pre-federation maps to all of them. --Golbez 02:41, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I definitely agree with that - nothing really interesting happened to the borders post federation! The maps are available here ! -- Chuq 03:06, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Title
"Territorial evolution" sounds a bit contrived. How about "History of Australian state borders?" or even "History of Australian borders"? Stevage 11:06, 10 August 2006 (UTC)


 * It followed the same path as my Territorial evolution of Canada and Territorial evolution of the United States, with of course one main different - Australia's external borders did not evolve. :P Maybe it will be better if/when I add the colonial borders? --Golbez 11:21, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Western Queensland Border
I notice the introduction of Queensland in 1859 states that the western border was originally at 141° E - in a direct line with South Australia's eastern border - but the image shows it at it's current day 138°. I recall reading that land owners (squatters to be exact) were responsible for pushing the Queensland border westward. Unfortunately, I have no reference for this, so I'm loath to put it in the article...--Johnmc 09:36, 1 December 2006 (UTC)


 * This is correct. See the discussion at Talk:History of Australia --Astrokey 44 03:24, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Addition of NZ and PNG & Other Territories
Can we add New Zealand and PNG to this page? This would enable us to include former territories and colonies that are no longer part of Australia. Adding the external territories and split of territories would also greatly expand this list. If we have Central Australia and North Australia we should include the other territories. JRG 08:37, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
 * PNG was an external territory, not quite the same status as North Australia. the way I understand it, it's akin to the difference between Florida Territory and Guam in the United States; one is an internal, integral territory, and the other is merely a possession. I could be wrong. --Golbez 13:33, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Under Australian law there is no distinction - New Guinea was a League of Nations mandated trust territory for a while, but was eventually merged to form a "territory" of Australia as determined by s 122 of the Constitution. Papua was always an Australian territory after it was claimed by Australia. JRG 01:47, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Errors
This article, while well-intentioned, contains many historical errors. I will begin to fix them shortly as I find the time, though some-one more technical than I will need to fix the maps. Nudge67 21:34, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Here it is! As best I can figure out. source websites inclued Rulers, World Statesmen, CIA Fact Book, and Wikipedia

Territorial Evolution of Australia

22 Aug 1770 –Captain James Cook declares formal possession for Great Britain of the east coast of New South Wales from Point Hicks to Possession Island

26 Jan 1788 – Colony of New South Wales founded by Great Britain

6 Mar 1788 – Norfolk Island annexed to New South Wales

11 Sep 1803 – Van Diemen’s Land colonised (as part of New South Wales)

11 Jul 1810 – Macquarie Island annexed to New South Wales

15 Feb 1814 – Norfolk Island abandoned

6 Jun 1825 – Norfolk Island reoccupied

6 Jul 1825 – Northern Territory part of New South Wales

3 Dec 1825 – Colony of Van Diemen’s Land seperated from New South Wales

25 Dec 1825 - British military settlement at King George Sound (Albany, WA)

30 Dec 1828 - British settlement at Swan River (Perth, WA)

2 May 1829 – Swan River Colony declared for Great Britain

6 Feb 1832 – Swan River Colony expanded to include all of New Holland, renamed Western Australia

28 Dec 1836 – Colony of South Australia seperated from New South Wales

30 Jan 1840 – New Zealand annexed to New South Wales

3 May 1841 – Colony of New Zealand seperated from New South Wales

29 Sep 1844 – Norfolk Island transferred by New South Wales to Van Diemen’s Land

17 Feb 1846 - Colony of North Australia seperated from New South Wales

15 Apr 1847 - North Australia revoked and reincorporated into New South Wales

1 Jul 1851 – Colony of Victoria seperated from New South Wales

5 May 1855 – Norfolk Island abandoned

1 Jan 1856 – Van Diemen’s Land renamed Tasmania

1 Nov 1856 – Colony of Norfolk Island subordinated to New South Wales

10 Dec 1859 – Colony of Queensland seperated from New South Wales

6 Jul 1863 – Northern Territory transferred to South Australia

26 Jun 1879 – Torres Strait Islands and Coral Sea Islands are annexed to Queensland

3 Apr 1883 – Queensland annexes Papua

2 Jul 1883 – Great Britain repudiates Queensland annexation of Papua

1890 – Macquarie Island transferred to Tasmania

1 Jan 1901 – Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia

1 Sep 1906 – British New Guinea transferred by the United Kingdom to the Commonwealth of Australia and renamed as the Territory of Papua

1 Jan 1911 – Federal Capital Territory seperated from the State of New South Wales, and along with Northern Territory transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia

1 Jul 1914 – Territory of Norfolk Island transferred by the State of New South Wales to the Commonwealth of Australia

7 Sep 1914 – Australian military occupation of Nauru

26 Sep 1914 – Australian military occupation of Bismarck Archipelago

11 Nov 1914 – Australian military occupation of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland

12 Jul 1915 – Jervis Bay transferred by the State of New South Wales to the Commonwealth of Australia

17 Dec 1920 – German New Guinea and Nauru mandated to the Commonwealth of Australia by the League of Nations as the Territory of New Guinea and the Territory of Nauru

1 Mar 1927 – Northern Territory divided into Central Australia and North Australia

12 Jun 1931 – Central Australia and North Australia re-united as the Northern Territory

23 Jul 1931 – Ashmore & Cartier Islands Territory transferred by the United Kingdom to the Commonwealth of Australia

13 Jun 1933 – Australian Antarctic Territory transferrd by the United Kingdom to the Commonwealth of Australia

1 Apr 1938 – Boundaries between the Australian Antarctic Territory and French Terra Adelie are defined

29 Jul 1938 – Federal Capital Territory renamed as the Australian Capital Territory

17 Dec 1941 – Australian military occupation of East Timor

21 Jan 1942 – Japanese military occupation of New Guinea

20 Feb 1942 – Australia loses control of East Timor to Japan

31 Mar 1942 – Japanese military occupation of Bougainville

10 Apr 1942 – Territory of Papua and Territory of New Guinea jointly administered as Territory of Papua and New Guinea

26 Aug 1942 – Japanese military occupation of Nauru

1 Nov 1943 – Japan loses contol of Bougainville to the United States

21 Nov 1944 – United States relinquishes control of Bougainville to Australia

10 Jun 1945 – Australian military occupation of Labuan

6 Sep 1945 – Japan relinquishes control of Bismarck Archipelago to Australia

9 Sep 1945 – Australian military occupation of Ambon, Borneo, Dutch New Guinea and the western Dutch East Indies

10 Sep 1945 – Australian military occupation of Sabah

11 Sep 1945 – Australian military occupation of Sarawak

13 Sep 1945 – Japan relinquishes control of Nauru and New Guinea to Australia

15 Apr 1946 – Australia relinquishes control of Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak to the United Kingdom

1 Dec 1946 – Australia relinquishes control of the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands

26 Dec 1947 – Territory of Heard Island & McDonald Islands transferred by the United Kingdom to the Commonwealth of Australia

23 Nov 1955 – Territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands transferred by Singapore to the Commonwealth of Australia

1 Oct 1958 – Territory of Christmas Island transferred by the United Kingdom to the Commonwealth of Australia

31 Jan 1968 – Independence granted to the Republic of Nauru

30 Sep 1969 – Coral Sea Islands Territory transferred by the State of Queensland to the Commonwealth of Australia

1 Jul 1971 – Territory of Papua and New Guinea renamed as the Territory of Papua New Guinea

1 Sep 1975 – Secession of the Republic of the North Solomons (unrecognized)

16 Sep 1975 – Independence granted to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea

1979 – Ball’s Pyramid declared New South Welsh (and therefore Australian) territory —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nudge67 (talk • contribs) 12:22, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

11 May 1989 – Jervis Bay Territory transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia

1 Jul 1994 – Autonomy granted to the Torres Strait Islands Regional Authority

1997 – Elizabeth & Middleton Reefs incorporated into Coral Sea Islands Territory

images
Fantastic images! but can we add PNG to them for the periods where it was a territory? Cheers, WikiTownsvillian 01:02, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

Victoria "founded"
I don't think it is right to say that Victoria was "founded" in 1851. Victoria was established as a separate colony in that year but the colony was founded in 1836.Eregli bob (talk) 10:54, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Jervis Bay
The new changes are an improvement. With respect to Jervis Bay -, my understanding is that when formed in 1915 it was part of the National Capital Territory; but in 1989 it became it own territory. Alan Davidson (talk) 01:52, 13 November 2017 (UTC)
 * I was going to write something countering what you said, but then something stood out to me. On I was going to say, "See? Nothing about it being part of ACT!" But then I noticed - it skips from section 1 to 4. Crap. That means it was amended, and the Aussies are very annoying in that when they pass a later law they physically amend the older law rather than keeping it around and annotating it.


 * Sure enough, at least in 1973 the text was either added or removed that JBT "shall be annexed to and be deemed to form part of the Australian Capital Territory". So I need to review all of the JBT Acceptance Act 1915 amendments and get back to you, thanks for prodding on this! :) --Golbez (talk) 02:46, 13 November 2017 (UTC)
 * I found on the Wikipedia page for the ACT this statement: "In 1988, when the ACT gained self-government, Jervis Bay became a separate territory administered by the Australian Government Minister responsible for Territories, presently the Minister for Home Affairs." However, the statement has no source, so we should look further.  But it does appear to be  the "third" mainland territory - although administered by the ACT. Alan Davidson (talk) 06:55, 13 November 2017 (UTC)
 * The original section 4(2) Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915 (NO. 19, 1915) said it part - the Jervis Bay territory "shall be annexed to and be deemed to form part of the Territory acquired by the Commonwealth for the Seat of Government". This was omitted in 1988 by A.C.T. SELF-GOVERNMENT (CONSEQUENTIAL PROVISIONS) ACT 1988 No. 109 of 1988. The new provision makes it a separate territory, although administered by the ACT - "4A. (1) Subject to this Act, the laws (including the principles and rules of common law and equity) in force from time to time in the Australian Capital Territory are, so far as they are applicable to the Territory and are not inconsistent with an Ordinance, in force in the Territory as if the Territory formed part of the Australian Capital Territory." All the best. Alan Davidson (talk) 07:12, 13 November 2017 (UTC)

Looks like the passage making it part of the ACT was removed in 1973, so that's where I'll peg it. --Golbez (talk) 23:35, 15 November 2017 (UTC)
 * oho wait. It gets more complicated. Here's what I think happened:
 * 1915: Peninsula added to FCT
 * 1973: Peninsula named "JBT"
 * 1988: JBT fully independent from ACT
 * Because, section 4(4) was added in 1973, and that names it the JBT; but, sections 4(2) and 4(3), which say it's part of the ACT, were not removed until 1988. --Golbez (talk) 01:32, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

Map colourings confusing
This may be a featured list, but I find the images confusing. The images are mostly 4 colour: grey for not part of Australia, light yellow for Australian states, light orange for territories & colonies and mud coloured for area changed.

The problem is that you can't work out what is happening by looking at the image - you HAVE to read the text. If "A & B merge to form C" then the area of the old A & B is mud coloured. Then if "C splits to become A & B" you have the same map but meaning something different.

IMO, it would be much better if more vivid colours were assigned to each colony/territory/state and hatching used to indicate an area of change. So if A was green, B was blue and C was red, the result of A & B merging to form C would be a red hatched area. Then C splitting to form A & B would be green A and blue B both hatched.

I see no particular benefit distinguishing between state/colony & territory. New South Wales could easily expand and contract regardless of what status it has. You would probably need colours for the six states, for New Zealand when independent and for Papua when independent - though maybe they just become grey (hatched when the change happens).

I am not impressed by this article. (The equivalent US states one seems much clearer to me - I'll need to review it after not seeing it for a few years.) -- SGBailey (talk) 14:24, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
 * The "mud color" is the region changed. The text in the map explains the change; yes, you need to look at the text to use the map. Most maps are useless without text. Using colors for each one is excessive, and each additional color in the map makes it less accessible.


 * I hope you like the US list, which is done in exactly the same method as this one. I also invite you to check out the Canada list. --Golbez (talk) 14:52, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

First Nations map
My initial thought was, "this is outside the scope of this article." But ... I mean, Australia is a unique situation. This map is covering the colonization of an entire continent by one colonizer, and it's not like they have a monopoly on the concept. Put another way - As long as this is "Territorial evolution of Australia", then yeah, I think ... crap, I think we have to cover all the borders thereof, right? But, these articles always rely on concrete, described borders - and I'm guessing that isn't available for all of these. That makes the pre-colonial maps kind of half-in, half-out of scope, right?

So here is my proposal: Someone (maybe me, maybe someone else) write a paragraph for the introduction explaining how precolonial territories worked, how solid the borders were, how they were described and resolved, etc., and I think that would be awesome.

As for the warning about uninhabited, ... yeah, I wanted to push back on that too but, as I said above, thinking about it made me realize that, by focusing solely on one entity it leaves the others out. I'm now genuinely wondering if we should move this article to "Territorial evolution of the Commonwealth of Australia", because, to be honest, "Australia" is ambiguous for something like this.

I however am presently much too high to handle anything like that so that's why I'm putting it here to look at later --Golbez (talk) 19:52, 27 November 2022 (UTC)