What was the British colonization of Australia actually like?

Colonization started with the First Fleet’s arrival at Botany Bay in 1788, leading to the founding of Sydney and subsequent penal settlements in places like Tasmania and Brisbane
Britain used Australia primarily as a penal colony, sending over 160,000 convicts between 1788 and 1868. Convicts performed hard labor, often under brutal conditions, including sunrise-to-sunset work, harsh punishments like whipping, chaining, or even execution for disobedience or escape attempts
Convicts were assigned to free settlers or penal stations. Men typically did heavy labor (e.g., construction, logging), while women were often assigned domestic tasks
Despite the harsh discipline, convicts were sometimes better fed than English laborers, and some employers offered incentives to encourage productivity

>>17756627 (OP)
there is no such thing as "Australia".

take your meds right now.

awful initially

comfy

There’s not much to talk about because it was a bunch of spread out stone age tribes. Maori at least managed to band together and elect a Maori king to negotiate with brits.