Australia in 2005

The first westerners arrived in Australia with Britain's Captain James Cook in 1770. Shortly thereafter, the British established a penal colony at Port Jackson (now Sydney). Most of the early settlers were convicts and their keepers. Even in modern days, Australia's first families liked to claim their descent from criminals- the worse the offence, the better the pedigree!

For about seven decades after becoming a nation in 1901, Australia's economic policies had been quite successful.

With its heavy reliance on agriculture and mining, Australia had all the appearance of a resource based old economy. In 2000-01, manufacturing accounted for only about 11.5% of GDP . Australia was wealthy in mineral and natural resources including oil & gas, iron ore, gold and other minerals...

Japan and South-east Asia were Australia's most important trading partners, although substantial links with Europe and the US remained. Agriculture, mining and tourism were the most significant export-earning sectors...