What problems faced early settlers in Western Australia?

Answer 1

The early settlers in Australia faced a variety of challenges. The Australian bush was a complete mystery and challenge to them. The hardwood trees needed to be cut down for farmland, and this was not easy, as the tools easily broke. To even cut a path through the bush would require machetes.

Isolation was a huge factor. Large tracts of land were required to make a living, so settlers had to move away from established areas, and often would not see their neighbours for weeks at a time. There was the constant fear of the indigenous people, the Aborigines, as they were not understood, and were feared as violent, although they rarely attacked unprovoked.

The weather was a big factor. The heat and humidity was like nothing any of the early settlers had ever experienced. It was difficult to work in such conditions, but sudden squalls, or thunderstorms, made farming unpredictable.

Answer 2

Initially, the biggest problem for settlers of Western Australia was their isolation from the major settlements in the east. The nearest settlement was thousands of kilometres away, so they could not rely on other nearby colonies for communication and trade.

Later, the issue of convict labour was raised. For the first fifteen years of the colony of Swan River, Western Australia, the people were all free settlers, and did not want to accept convicts. The idea was raised occasionally, mainly by people who wanted convict labour for building projects.

The argument for convicts in Western Australia gained impetus in 1845 when the York Agricultural Society petitioned the Legislative Council to bring convicts out from England. Their reasons were that western Australia's economy was at great risk due to an extreme shortage of labour. Whilst later examination of the circumstances proves that there was no such shortage of labour in the colony, the petition found its way to the British Colonial Office, which in turn agreed to send out a small number of convicts to Swan River. Following the transportation of the first convicts to WA, between 1850 and 1868, 9721 convicts were transported to Western Australia.

Answer 3

lack of water