Ahsaam Saeed
The decision to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay was based on more
factors than just the need to dispose of convicts. Besides the suitable conditions
of the area that promised to make the convicts self-sufficient within a year favour-able climate, fertile soil, ample food sources and friendly indigenous
people-and its safe distance from Britain, several other aspects of New South
Wales made it appealing to the country. It offered an abundance of flax, hemp,
and timber, which were much needed by the Navy at the time, as well as a
strategic stronghold in the Pacific, which would be useful in trade and defense.
In addition, news of French interest in the area motivated quick action on the
part of the British to claim the area using the most convenient reasons – the
need for a dumping ground for convicts.
