Hi Det,
How's the number one Forum pot stirrer?
Yes, sadly Australia once having been discovered by Captain Cook and the boys (actually, the Dutch/Portuguese discovered Australia first i believe), decided to be used as penal colony for incarcerating the low life of English society.
I believe the English prisons at the time/and of the day, were greatly overcrowded/overflowing by incarcerating everyday citizens for petty crimes and handing out harsh punishments. (not much has changed.)
Solution, lets use Oz as a new prison dumping ground to solve the problem. Hmmmmmmmmmmm - smart thinking there chaps! Thankyou. Many criminals who were exported to Australia, died, and never finished the voyage, as the sailing ships took months to get from England to Australia, and they died from various sicknesses like scurvy, infections, malnutrition etc.
The good news however, is that a better class of citizens from the British isles followed up and ended up settling here for a new and better life of their own accord. Australia is now one of the top places to live in the World.
Greg.