View source for History of Western Australia

{{Short description |none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use Australian English |date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=September 2022}}
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{{History of Australia}}
The human '''history of Western Australia''' commenced "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago" with the arrival of [[Aboriginal Australians]] on the northwest coast.<ref name="men22">{{cite Q |Q127496561 |url-status=live |access-date=2024-05-19}}</ref>{{rp|p=5}} The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the continent.

The first recorded European contact was in 1616, when Dutch explorer [[Dirk Hartog]] landed on the west coast, having been blown off course while en route to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]], current day [[Jakarta]].

Although many expeditions visited the coast during the next 200 years, there was no lasting attempt at establishing a permanent settlement until December 1826. An expedition on behalf of the [[New South Wales]] colonial government, led by Major [[Edmund Lockyer]],<ref name=srnsw/> landed at [[King George Sound]], and founded what became the port city of [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]]. On 21 January 1827 Lockyer formally took possession for the British Crown the portion of [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]] not yet claimed by the crown;{{efn |name="terra-habitatur" |These claims by the British Crown were in competition to possession and occupancy by [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] and [[Torres Strait Islanders|Torres Strait Islander]] peoples that predate the claims by the British Crown by tens of millennia.}} that is, the portion west of [[129th meridian east]]. This was followed by the establishment of the [[Swan River Colony]] in 1829, which ultimately became the present-day capital, [[Perth]]. The harsh conditions faced by the settlers resulted in population growth being minimal until the discovery of gold in the 1880s.  Since the [[Western Australian gold rushes|gold rush]], the population of the state has risen steadily, with substantial growth in the period since World War II.

Western Australia gained the right of self-government in 1890, and joined with the five other states to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The desire of Western Australians to revert to complete self-governance, separate from the Commonwealth, culminated in 1933 with [[1933 Western Australian secession referendum|a successful referendum]] for [[Secessionism in Western Australia|secession]] supported by 68% of electors. In 1935 the British parliament declined to act since secession would require the assent of the Australian parliament, and the movement lapsed with an improving economy and generous federal grants.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zimmerman|first1=Augusto|editor1-last=Appleby|editor1-first=Gabrielle|editor2-last=Aroney|editor2-first=Nicholas|editor3-last=John|editor3-first=Thomas|title=The Future of Australian Federalism: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-00637-9|page=79|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJQI3YLODDMC&pg=PA77|access-date=17 October 2014|chapter=The Still Reluctant State}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Heilbronn|first1=Gary N.|title=Introducing the Law|date=2008|publisher=CCH Australia Limited|location=Sydney|isbn=978-1-921873-47-8|page=48|edition=7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3GSVRLdkc4C&pg=PA48|access-date=17 October 2014|chapter=Commonwealth Parliament|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==Aboriginal settlement==
{{for|early human settlement in Australia|Prehistory of Australia|Aboriginal history of Western Australia}}

When Australia's first inhabitants arrived on the northwest coast 50,000 to 70,000 years ago the sea levels were much lower. The [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] coast at one time was only about {{convert|90|km}} from [[Timor]], which itself was the last in a line of closely spaced islands for humans to travel across.<ref>{{cite Q |Q125995168 |last=Hallam |first=Sylvia J. |author-link=Sylvia Hallam |chapter=The First Western Australians }}</ref> Therefore, this was a possible (even probable) location for which Australia's first peoples could arrive via boat. Other possible immigration routes were via islands further north and then through [[New Guinea]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

In 1999 [[Charles Dortch]] identified [[chert]] and calcrete flake stone tools, found at [[Rottnest Island]], as possibly dating to at least 50,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/000236.html|series= Archaeo News|title= Australia colonized earlier than previously thought?| date=24 July 2003|website=Stone Pages| quote=''[[The West Australian]]'' (19 July 2003)}}</ref><ref>Hesp, Patrick A., Murray-Wallace, Colin V. and C. E. Dortch, (1999), "Aboriginal occupation on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, provisionally dated by Aspartic Acid Racemisation assay of land snails to greater than 50 ka" (Australian Archaeology, No. 49 (1999).</ref> A 2018 study using [[archaeobotany]] dated evidence of continuous human habitation at [[Karnatukul]] (Serpent's Glen) in the [[Carnarvon Range (Western Australia)|Carnarvon Range]] in the [[Little Sandy Desert]] from around 50,000 years ago.<ref name=mcdonald2018>{{cite journal|author1=McDonald, Josephine|author2= Reynen, Wendy |author3= Petchey, Fiona |author4= Ditchfield, Kane |author5= Byrne, Chae |author6= Vannieuwenhuyse, Dorcas |author7= Leopold, Matthias|author8= Veth, Peter|date=September 2018| title=Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen): A new chronology for the oldest site in Australia's Western Desert|journal= [[PLOS One]]|volume= 13 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Location-of-Karnatukul-in-the-Western-Desert-showing-the-location-of-sites-named-in_fig1_327758227|issue= 9|article-number= e0202511 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0202511|pmid= 30231025 |pmc= 6145509 |bibcode= 2018PLoSO..1302511M | via=[[ResearchGate]] |quote=The re-excavation of Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen) has provided evidence for the human occupation of the Australian Western Desert to before 47,830 cal. BP (modelled median age). This new sequence is 20,000 years older than the previous known age for occupation at this site|doi-access= free }}</ref><ref name=veth2008>{{cite journal| author1= McDonald, Jo| author2=Veth, Peter|date =2008| journal= [[Australian Aboriginal Studies]]| issue= 2008/1|title= Rock- art: Pigment dates provide new perspectives on the role of art in the Australian arid zone. |pages= 4–21| via=[[ResearchGate]]|url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272158814 }}</ref><ref name=mcdonald2020>{{cite journal | last=McDonald | first=Jo | title=Serpents Glen (Karnatukul): New Histories for Deep time Attachment to Country in Australia's Western Desert| journal=[[Bulletin of the History of Archaeology]] | volume=30 | issue=1 | date=2 July 2020 | issn=2047-6930 | doi=10.5334/bha-624 | s2cid=225577563 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
 
Over the next tens of thousands of years various groups of [[Indigenous Australians]] slowly moved southward and eastward across the landmass.{{cn |date=May 2024}} Aboriginal people were well established throughout Western Australia by the time European ships started accidentally arriving en route to Batavia (now [[Jakarta]]) in the early 17th century.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

==Early visits by Europeans==
{{main|European exploration of Australia}}
The first European to sight Western Australia was the Dutch explorer, [[Dirk Hartog]], the first European to suggest to have found a continent there, who on 26 October 1616 landed at what is now known as Cape Inscription, [[Dirk Hartog Island]]. Before departing, Hartog left behind an inscribed [[Hartog plate|pewter plate]] affixed to a post.  In 1696 the plate was discovered and replaced by [[Willem de Vlamingh]] and repatriated to the [[Rijksmuseum]] in [[Amsterdam]]. A multitude of Dutch visits followed during that century, charting virtually the whole of the west coast, the Western Australian south coast and Australia's northern coast.

The first English vessel to visit, when attempting to sail the Dutch-established [[Brouwer Route]] to the Indies, was ''[[Tryall]]'', an [[East India Company]]-owned [[East Indiaman]] under the command of John Brookes who in 1622 sighted [[Point Cloates]] before later on 25 May wrecking on [[Tryal Rocks]], off the northwest coast of Australia. Some of the 143 crew remained on the [[Monte Bello Islands]] for 7 days, during that time sighting [[Barrow Island (Western Australia)|Barrow Island]], before sailing to [[Jakarta|Batavia]] in a longboat. A second boat brought some more crew to Batavia, so just over 40 people survived, including Brookes. Almost one hundred crew apparently perished in the wreck. ''Tryall'' became Australia's oldest known shipwreck.<ref>{{cite journal | title = The First Sighting of Australia by the English | journal = The Geographical Journal | first = Ida | last = Lee | date = 1934 | volume = 83 | issue = April 1934| pages = 317–321 | doi = 10.2307/1786489 | jstor = 1786489 | bibcode = 1934GeogJ..83..317L | url = http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0609031h.html | access-date = 16 December 2013| url-access = subscription }}</ref>

A later English visitor was [[William Dampier]], who in 1699 sailed down some of the western coast of Australia.  He noted the lack of water and in his description of [[Shark Bay]] in his account "A Voyage to [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]]", he expressed his frustration:<ref name="dam29">{{cite book |title=A Voyage to New Holland |last=Dampier |first=William |author-link=William Dampier |edition=3rd |year=1729 |location=London |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15675 |via=Project Gutenberg |access-date=2022-09-29 |quote=It was the 7th of August when we came into Shark's Bay; in which we anchored at three several places, and stayed at the first of them (on the west side of the bay) till the 11th. During which time we searched about, as I said, for fresh water, digging wells, but to no purpose. }}</ref><ref>{{cite Q |Q126680917 |last=Dampier |first=William |author-link=William Dampier }}</ref>{{rp |p=87 }}
{{blockquote |text=It was the 7th of August when we came into Shark's Bay; in which we anchored at three several places, and stayed at the first of them (on the west side of the bay) till the 11th. During which time we searched about, as I said, for fresh water, digging wells, but to no purpose. |author=William Dampier }}

A number of sections of the Western Australian coastline were given names which did not last past the exploratory era in names of features – such as ''Eendrachtsland''. However some names, such as '''t Landt van de Leeuwin'' (Leeuwin's Land), materialised at a later date as [[Cape Leeuwin]].

===Timeline of European discovery and exploration===
[[Image:Thevmap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|1672 reprint of the [[Melchisédech Thévenot]] map, which added an eastern boundary to [[Abel Tasman]]'s 1644 chart of [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] claims to [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]] along the ''Zaragoza antimeridian'' from the [[Treaty of Zaragoza]] of 1529 between [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Portugal]], and which complemented the ''Tordesillas meridian'' from the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] of 1494]]
[[Image:Vlamingh ships at the Swan River, Keulen 1796.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Willem de Vlamingh]]'s ships at the entrance to the Swan River, 1697]]
[[Image:King George Sound 1833.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Crew of the French ship ''[[French ship Astrolabe (1811)|L'Astrolabe]]'' make contact with Aboriginal people at [[King George Sound]], 1826]]
Below is a timeline of significant events from the 1616 landfall of [[Dirk Hartog]] until the eventual settlement of the [[Swan River Colony]] in 1829:
*{{timeline-event |date=1616 |event=[[Dirk Hartog]] aboard {{ship||Eendracht|1615|2}} arrived at Cape Inscription and left a pewter plate. Coastal region in the vicinity is shown on Hartog's maps as ''{{langr |nl |[[Eendrachtsland]]}}''. Believed to be first landfall on Western Australian soil by Europeans. (An earlier 1606 encounter on the northern coast of Australia near [[Papua New Guinea]] by [[Willem Janszoon]] on {{ship||Duyfken||2}} is credited as being the first Australian visit by European explorers.) }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1618 |event=[[Dutch East India Company]] [[supercargo]] [[Willem Janszoon]] on {{ship||Mauritius|1618 ship|2}} landed on [[North West Cape]]{{snd}}although sighting footprints, they did not meet the Indigenous Australians. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1618 |event={{ship||Zeewulf||2}} made landfall north of {{langr |nl |Eendrachtsland}}. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1619 |event=[[Frederick de Houtman]] in two ships bound for [[Jakarta|Batavia]] encountered dangerous shoals which were subsequently named [[Houtman Abrolhos]].  Following successful navigation of the Abrolhos, Houtman made landfall in the region Hartog had encountered. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1622 |event={{ship||Leeuwin|1621|2}} landed south of Abrolhos. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1622 |event=English ship {{ship||Tryall||2}} was wrecked on [[Tryal Rocks]] off the northwest coast; survivors spent a week on Monte Bello Islands before sailing to [[Jakarta|Batavia]] in a longboat. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1626 |end_date=1627 |event={{ship||Gulden Zeepaert||2}} skippered by [[François Thijssen]] sailed along south coast towards [[Great Australian Bight]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1629 |event={{ship||Batavia|1628 ship|2}} struck a reef of the Abrolhos.  Skipper Francisco Pelsaert sailed the ship's small boat to [[Jakarta|Batavia]] for rescue.  After returning three months later, he found evidence of mutiny and many previous survivors murdered. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1656 |event={{ship||Vergulde Draeck||2}} en route to Batavia was shipwrecked {{cvt|107|km}} north of the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] near [[Ledge Point, Western Australia|Ledge Point]] }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1658 |event=Three Dutch ships visited south coast searching for {{ship||Vergulde Draeck||2}}: {{ship||Waekende Boey|ship|2}} under Captain S. Volckertszoon, {{ship||Elburg|ship|2}} under Captain J. Peereboom and {{ship||Emeloort|ship|2}} under Captain A. Joncke. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1681 |event=English navigator [[John Daniel (ship's captain)|John Daniel]] on {{ship||New London|ship|2}} charted part of the west coast of Australia, including [[Rottnest Island]] and the [[Wallabi Group]] of [[Houtman Abrolhos]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1688 and 1699 |event=[[William Dampier]] in ''Cygnet'' explored the northwest coastline and sailed down the coast. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1697 |event=[[Willem de Vlamingh]] found Hartog's plate and replaced it with his own. He also explored the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] area. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1712 |event={{ship||Zuytdorp||2}} with 286 on board was shipwrecked near [[Kalbarri, Western Australia|Kalbarri]]. The Dutch did not send a search party, probably because no survivors were able to report the disaster. The crew were never heard from again, though it is probable that many initially survived because a campsite was found near the wreck. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1714 |event=[[Jean-Pierre Pury]] proposed a Dutch East India Company settlement of Nuyts, Leeuwin and Edels Lands.<ref>{{cite web|last1=King|first1=Robert J.|title=Jean Pierre Purry's proposal to colonize the Land of Nuyts|url=http://www.australiaonthemap.org.au/jean-pierre/|website=Australia on the Map|publisher=Australasian Hydrographic Society|access-date=23 November 2015|date=2008|archive-date=18 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218011334/http://www.australiaonthemap.org.au/jean-pierre/}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1772 |event=On 30 March, Frenchman [[Louis Aleno de St Aloüarn]] landed at Turtle Bay at the northern end of [[Dirk Hartog Island]] and claimed the island for France.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dirkhartogisland.com/history.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050624042432/http://dirkhartogisland.com/history.htm | archive-date=24 June 2005 | title=DIRK HARTOG ISLAND - History }}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1786 |event=King [[Gustav III]] of Sweden makes a contract with William Bolts to establish a colony at the Swan River. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1791 |event=[[George Vancouver]] made formal claim at Possession Point, King George Sound, [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1792 |event=Frenchman [[Bruni d'Entrecasteaux]] in charge of {{ship|French ship|Recherche|1787|2}} and {{ship|French flûte|Espérance|1781|2}} reached [[Cape Leeuwin]] on 5 December and explored eastward along the southern coast. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1801 |event=The French ships {{ship|French corvette|Géographe||2}} and {{ship|French corvette|Naturaliste||2}} under [[Nicolas Baudin]] and [[Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin|Emmanuel Hamelin]], explored much of the coast north from [[Cape Leeuwin]], including the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]]. They discovered de Vlamingh's plate. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1801 |event=[[Matthew Flinders]] on {{HMS|Investigator|1801|6}} sighted [[Cape Leeuwin]] en route to charting of southern Australian coastline. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1803 |event=[[Matthew Flinders]] completed the first [[circumnavigation]] of Australia }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1803 |event=''Géographe'' and another French ship {{ship||Casuarina|schooner|2}} followed much of the same coastline again on the way back to France. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1818 |event=[[Louis de Freycinet]] found de Vlamingh's plate and removed it to France. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1826 |event=On 26 October, Frenchman [[Jules Dumont d'Urville|Dumont d'Urville]] in another ship named {{ship|French ship|Astrolabe|1811|2}} visited [[King George Sound]] before sailing along the south coast to Port Jackson. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1826 |event=On 26 December, a military garrison was established on behalf of [[New South Wales]] at King George Sound with the arrival of Major [[Edmund Lockyer]] on {{ship||Amity|brig|2}}.  }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1827 |event=On 21 January, Lockyer formally annexed the western portion of Australia, now Western Australia, in a ceremony at [[King George Sound]].<ref name=srnsw/>  }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1829 |event=[[James Stirling (Australian governor)|James Stirling]] explored the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] area. [[Charles Fremantle|Captain Charles Fremantle]] again took possession of the western side of New Holland for the [[British crown]] on 2 May. }}

{{Infobox former subdivision
| conventional_long_name = <div style="font-size=90%;">Swan River Colony <small>(1829–1832)</small><br/> {{nowrap|Colony of Western Australia}} <small>(1832–1901)</small></div>
| common_name            = Western Australia
| subdivision            = Colony
| nation                 = United Kingdom
| status_text            = [[British Crown Colony]]
| government_type        = [[Self-governing colony]]
| title_leader           = Monarch
| title_deputy           = [[Governor of Western Australia|Governor]]
| leader1                = [[George IV]] ''first''
| leader2                = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]] ''last''
| year_leader1           = 1829–1830
| year_leader2           = 1837–1901
| deputy1                = [[James Stirling (Royal Navy officer)|James Stirling]] ''first''
| deputy2                = [[Gerard Smith (governor)|Gerard Smith]] ''last''
| year_deputy1           = 1829–1832
| year_deputy2           = 1895–1900
| year_start             = 1829
| year_end               = 1901
| event_start            = [[Swan River Colony|Established]]
| event_end              = [[Federation of Australia]]
| image_flag             = Flag_of_Western_Australia_1870-1953.svg
| flag_type              = Flag (1870–1901)
| flag                   = Flag of Western Australia
| s1                     = Western Australia
| flag_s1                = Flag of Western Australia 1870-1953.svg
}}

== Colonial era ==
===King George Sound===
{{main|King George Sound}}
The first formal claim of possession for [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] was made on 29 September 1791 by Commander (later Captain) [[George Vancouver]] [[Royal Navy|RN]], on a spot he named ''Possession Point'', at the tip of the peninsula between the waters he also named ''Princess Royal Harbour'' and ''[[King George Sound|King George the Third's Sound]]'' at [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]] (''the Third'' was dropped from the name in 1826).

In the early 19th century, the British became concerned about the possibility of a French colony being established on the west coast of Australia. In 1826, the Governor of [[New South Wales]], [[Ralph Darling]], ordered the establishment of a settlement at King George's Sound. An army detachment was sent from Sydney headed by Major Edmund Lockyer with eighteen soldiers, one captain, one doctor, one storekeeper and twenty-three convicts.<ref name=srnsw/>

On 21 January 1827, the whole of Australia was claimed as British territory for the first time when Major Lockyer formally annexed the western portion of the continent in a ceremony on King George Sound.<ref name=srnsw>{{cite web|url=http://search.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/2517 |title=King George's Sound Settlement |work=State Records |publisher=[[State Records Authority of New South Wales]] |access-date=14 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624194804/http://search.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/2517 |archive-date=24 June 2014 }}</ref>

In March 1831, the penal settlement was withdrawn, and the control of King George's Sound was transferred from [[New South Wales]] to the [[Swan River Colony]].<ref name=srnsw/> [[James Stirling (Australian governor)|Captain James Stirling]] decreed that the settlement would be named ''[[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]]'' from 1 January 1832.<ref>{{cite book |last=Uren |first=Malcolm John Leggoe |author-link=Malcolm Uren |title=Land Looking West: The Story of Governor James Stirling in Western Australia |date=1948 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |page=24 |oclc=5591431}}</ref>

===The Swan River Colony===
{{main|Swan River Colony}}
[[Image:Early map of swan river colony.jpg|thumb|250px|The Swan River colony]]
The first documented European settlements were established at the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] by [[James Stirling (Australian governor)|James Stirling]] in 1829. The colonists first sighted land on [[Western Australia Day|1 June]], arrived in Cockburn Sound on 2 June,<ref name="wayb79" />{{rp|p=11}} an official proclamation was made on 18 June{{Contradictory inline |article=Western Australia Day |section=Background |reason=Was it 11 June or 18 June? |date=June 2024}} and the foundation of the colony took place on 12 August. As [[Governor of Western Australia|Lieutenant Governor]],<ref name="mur28" /> Stirling had sole authority to draft laws and decide day-to-day affairs.{{cn|date=September 2024}} On 6 February 1832, the colony was renamed Western Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://poi-australia.com.au/swan-river-colony-proclaimed/|title=Swan River Colony Proclaimed|date=2 May 1829 |publisher=POI Australia|language=English|access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref>

Major towns of the colony developed slowly into the port city of [[Fremantle]], the main settlement of [[Perth]] {{convert|20|km}} upriver, and [[Guildford, Western Australia|Guildford]].

===Expansion 1829–1850===
{{Cleanup section |date=October 2024 |reason=The legislation infoboxes don't belong here. Rather, the acts described by the infoboxes could be cited to support statements in this section.}}
[[File:Western Australia 1838.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The settled counties of the Colony of Western Australia, {{circa|1838}}]]
Much of the land around the Swan River Colony was unsuitable for agriculture and it was inevitable that the colony would have to expand beyond the Swan River area after the most fertile locations were quickly settled.

[[Sheep farming]] was the most successful early agricultural activity, and the basis of all expansion until the 1850s.
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to provide until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia, on the Western Coast of New Holland.
| year                  = 1829
| citation              = [[10 Geo. 4]]. c. 22
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 May 1829
| commencement          = 14 May 1829
| expiry_date           = 31 December 1834
| repeal_date           = 5 August 19873
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1873]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk12britgoog/page/n124/
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Western Australia Government Act 1835}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to continue to the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, and from thence to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of His late Majesty's Reign, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
| year                  = 1835
| citation              = [[5 & 6 Will. 4]]. c. 14
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 3 July 1835
| commencement          = 3 July 1835
| expiry_date           = 31 December 1836
| repeal_date           = 18 July 1874
| amends                = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1874]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Western Australia Government Act 1836}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Pay of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eighty and from thence to the End of the then next Session of Parliament an Act of the Tenth Year of His late Majesty, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia, on the Western Coast of New Australia.
| year                  = 1836
| citation              = [[6 & 7 Will. 4]]. c. 68 
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 13 August 1836
| commencement          = 13 August 1836 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 18 July 1874
| amends                = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1874]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Western Australia Government Act 1838}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and from thence to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
| year                  = 1838
| citation              = [[1 & 2 Vict.]] c. 46
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 27 July 1838
| commencement          = 27 July 1838 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 7 August 1874
| amends                = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1874 (No. 2)]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Western Australia Government Act 1841}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and until the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
| year                  = 1841
| citation              = [[4 & 5 Vict.]] c. 43
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 21 June 1841
| commencement          = 21 June 1841 
| expiry_date           = 31 December 1842
| repeal_date           = 7 August 1874
| amends                = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1874 (No. 2)]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Western Australia Government Act 1842}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-four, and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
| year                  = 1842
| citation              = [[5 & 6 Vict.]] c. 88
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 5 August 1842
| commencement          = 5 August 1842 
| expiry_date           = 31 December 1844
| repeal_date           = 7 August 1874
| amends                = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1874 (No. 2)]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/5-6/88/pdfs/ukpga_18420088_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Western Australia Government Act 1846}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to continue until the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, an Act of the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth, for providing for the Government of His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia on the Western Coast of New Holland.
| year                  = 1846
| citation              = [[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. 35
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 27 July 1846
| commencement          = 27 July 1846
| expiry_date           = 31 December 1848
| repeal_date           = 11 August 1875
| amends                = Government of Western Australia Act 1829
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1875]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}

*{{timeline-event |date=1829 |event=A military outpost was founded at [[Bunbury, Western Australia|Bunbury]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1829 |event=The British Parliament passes the '''{{visible anchor|Government of Western Australia Act 1829}}''' ([[10 Geo. 4]]. c. 22) on 14 May. It allowed the Crown to appoint three or more people, by [[Order in Council]], to jointly make laws for the colony. All laws were to be laid before Parliament as soon as practically possible after their passing. It was only valid initially for five years. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1830 |event=Area around [[Augusta, Western Australia|Augusta]] settled. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1830 |event=The first exploration over the Darling Range to search for suitable farming land occurred with the settlement of the [[Avon River (Western Australia)|Avon Valley]] and the foundation of the town of [[York, Western Australia|York]] in 1831.  }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1832 |event=The main settlement is officially named ''[[Perth]]'', after Sir George Murray's seat in [[Perthshire, Scotland]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1832 |event=First sitting of the [[Western Australian Legislative Council]], consisting of four officials appointed by Stirling to assist him in decision-making. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1833 |event=On 5 January, the first newspaper, the ''[[Perth Gazette]]'' was launched. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1833 |event=Relations between the Europeans and [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal people]] were not always amicable with many intercultural skirmishes. [[Yagan]], a senior warrior of the local Aboriginal tribe near the Swan River was killed on 11 July of this year after a bounty was issued for his capture following the murder of a couple of settlers. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1834 |event=[[Pinjarra Massacre]] (sometimes still called ''Battle of Pinjarra''): This was the worst intercultural conflict, happening on 28 October. Depending on the source, the death toll ranged from 10 to 150 adults and children. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1836 |event=settlement in the [[Toodyay]] region.<ref name=chron1>{{cite book|last=Frayne|first=Beth|title=The Long Toodyay Chronology, Part 1 1829–1900|date=2011|publisher=Toodyay Historical Society|location=Toodyay|edition=second}}</ref>  }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1837 |end_date=1839 |event=[[George Grey]] explored the coasts of the North West in 1837 and Gascoyne and Murchison in 1839.}}
*{{timeline-event |date=1839 |event=another four members, drawn from the ranks of private settlers, were added to the official members of the Legislative Council. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1841 |event=Explorer [[Edward John Eyre]] arrives in Albany walking across the [[Nullarbor Plain]] from the eastern states. In [[Wonnerup, Western Australia|Wonnerup]] near [[Busselton]], settler George Layman Sr of [[Wonnerup House]] was speared to death by a [[Aboriginal groupings of Western Australia|Wardandi]] elder.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wonnerup: A chronicle of the south-west|url=http://www.heritageaustralia.com.au/magazine.php?article=384|last=Stirling|first=Ros|work=Australian Heritage Magazine|year=2011|access-date=27 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525170814/http://www.heritageaustralia.com.au/magazine.php?article=384|archive-date=25 May 2011}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1843 |event=Census recorded the population of Western Australia as 3,842.<ref name=chron1 /> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1844 |event=15-year-old [[John Gavin (convict)|John Gavin]]{{snd}}a child{{snd}}was the first European legally hanged in the colony,{{efn|While the first in the colony, Gavin was not the first European legally hanged in Western Australia. The worst offenders of the [[Batavia (1628 ship)#Mutiny plot|''Batavia'' mutiny]] were [[Batavia (1628 ship)#Aftermath|hanged on Seal Island]], about {{cvt|80|km}} off the coast of Western Australia, in 1629.}} for the murder of 18-year-old George Pollard. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1849 |event=First discovery of gold occurred in the Jimperding-Toodyay area.<ref name=chron1 /> }}

=== Convict era ===
{{main|Convict era of Western Australia}}
While Western Australia was initially a "free settlement", economic problems for settler capitalists led them to seek the transportation of British convicts. Western Australia became a [[penal colony]] in 1850.

The Gregory brothers led major exploration expeditions to many parts of the colony, including:
*{{timeline-event |date=1851 |event=[[Augustus Gregory]] surveys the Greenough region near Geraldton and that area opens up to farming. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1861 |event=[[Francis Thomas Gregory|Francis Gregory]] explores the interior of the [[Nickol Bay]] region (known later as the [[Pilbara]]). }}

By 1859, all the other Australian colonies had their own parliaments and colonists in Western Australia began pushing for the right to govern themselves. The British Colonial Office opposed this because of the slow rate of growth and the presence of convicts. Petitions asking for some of the positions in the Legislative Council to be filled by elected members were presented to London twice during the 1860s.

By 1868, over 9,000 convicts had been transported to Western Australia on 43 [[List of convict ship voyages to Western Australia|convict ship voyages]], outnumbering the 7300 settlers in the colony at the time.<ref name="nma23">{{cite web |title=Founding of Perth |date=2023-05-04 |website=National Museum of Australia, Government of Australia |url=https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/founding-of-perth |access-date=2024-06-16 |quote=Between 1850 and 1868 around 10,000 British convicts arrived at the colony. By 1868 the total population was 17,000, with convicts outnumbering settlers, 9700 to 7300. }}</ref>

===Expansion 1861–1885===
[[Wool]] production, usually on large [[sheep station|stations]], was also the basis of expansion further east and northward.

The first permanent European settlements in the [[North-West Australia|North West]] (later divided into the [[Pilbara]] and [[Kimberley region of Western Australia|Kimberley]] regions) took place in the mid-1860s, initially at the [[Harding River]], [[De Grey River]] and [[Roebourne]] (gazetted in 1867). [[Mother-of-pearl|Pearling]] also came to dominate the North West, initially in Nickol Bay, with a fleet at [[Cossack, Western Australia|Tien Tsin Harbor]] (later renamed Cossack). In the North West, unlike southern Western Australia, the labour force was dominated by Indigenous Australians, often under harsh forms of [[unfree labour]].

In 1870, some members of the Legislative Council were elected for the first time, although only male settlers with [[property qualification|significant property]] could vote and the Governor could still veto the council's decisions.

[[John Forrest]] led two major expeditions:
*{{timeline-event |date=1870 |event=retracing [[Edward John Eyre]]'s land route from Perth to [[Adelaide]], as the route of a [[telegraph]] line; }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1874 |event=leading a party to the watershed of the [[Murchison River (Western Australia)|Murchison River]] and then eastward into the [[Central Desert]]. }}

In 1872, controversial explorer [[Peter Egerton Warburton]] made a journey from [[Alice Springs]] to the Western Australian coast.

[[Ernest Giles]] twice traversed the [[Gibson Desert]] between 1872 and 1876.

During the 1870s, the Murchison and [[Gascoyne River|Gascoyne]] regions were also settled by Europeans.

;Other notable events
*{{timeline-event |date=1877 |event=The telegraph from [[Adelaide]] to Perth was completed, considerably improving intracontinental communication }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1883 |event=[[Patrick Durack|Durack family]] settle around the [[Ord River]] in the East Kimberley. }}

=== Gold discoveries, 1885–1900 ===
{{main|Gold mining in Western Australia}}
[[File:Western Australia population T.svg|right|thumb|250px|WA population growth 1829–2010]]
Until the 1880s the [[Economy of Western Australia|economy of the state]] was based largely on [[wool]] and [[wheat]]. A major change in the colony's fortunes occurred in 1885 when [[gold]] was discovered and prospectors by the tens of thousands swarmed across the land in a desperate attempt to discover new goldfields.

In 1887 a new [[Government of Western Australia|constitution]], including proposals for [[responsible government]], was drafted and sent to London by [[Frederick Broome|Governor Broome]] for approval. It was argued that due to the increasing wealth being generated by gold rushes, Western Australia should become a [[self-governing colony]].  An Act granting self-government was passed by the [[British Parliament]] in 1890, giving the Colony independence from the UK in matters other than foreign policy, defence and "native affairs". Section 70 of the self-government act established an Aborigines Protection Board,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summary |url=https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2019-08/Launching%20the%20Ship_0.pdf}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=April 2025}} under the control of the British Parliament, not the Western Australian one.  Governor Broome had earlier warned the British Colonial Office that Western Australians  could not to be trusted in matters relating to Aboriginal persons.{{cn |date=May 2024}} A further clause to the constitution stated that [[Pound sterling|£]]5,000, equivalent to {{AUD|{{Inflation|AU|5000|1890|r=-2}}|link=yes}} in {{Inflation/year|AU}}, or one percent of state revenues, whichever was the greater, was to be allocated to Aboriginal persons for their welfare and advancement.  Many settlers resented these clauses, and Western Australia has never honoured this clause to its own constitution. A previous Governor, [[William Robinson (Australian governor)|Sir William Robinson]], was re-appointed to supervise the change. He travelled by train from [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]] to [[Perth]] and towns en route lit bonfires and people gathered at railway sidings to celebrate his arrival and the new constitution.  His arrival in Perth on 21 October 1890 saw the city decorated with elaborate floral arches spanning the city's main streets and buildings were decked with banners and flags.

In 1891 the rush to the Murchison goldfields began when [[Tom Cue]] discovered gold at the [[Cue, Western Australia|town]] which now bears his name. In the years that followed dozens of gold towns – [[Day Dawn, Western Australia|Day Dawn]], [[Nannine, Western Australia|Nannine]], [[Peak Hill, Western Australia|Peak Hill]], Garden Gully, Dead Finish, Pinnicles, Austin Island and Austin Mainland – flourished only to be abandoned when the seams were exhausted and the gold fever moved on.

The influx of miners from the eastern colonies and from overseas increased the presence of [[trade union]]s in Western Australia. The [[UnionsWA|Trades and Labor Council, Perth]] was established in 1891 and [[Perth Trades Hall]] opened (1912). The first edition of the ''[[Westralian Worker]]'' appeared on 7 September 1900 and was followed shortly afterwards by the opening of the [[Kalgoorlie]] Trades Hall, the first such hall in Western Australia. A [[Trades Hall]] was opened in Fremantle in 1904.

An influx of people from Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania led to [[West Australian Football League|Australian rules football]] becoming the dominant football code when several local rugby football clubs switched codes.

[[John Forrest]]{{snd}}the first [[Premier of Western Australia]] and its only premier as a colony{{snd}}clashed with Robinson over section 70. While Forrest had argued that Western Australians should accept section 70 to obtain self-government, by 1892 he was attempting to have it changed. [[William Traylen]] argued that,{{quote without source |date=September 2025}}
{{blockquote |text=as our revenue is growing up now, and the natives can scarcely be said to be increasing in numbers, we shall be paying a very undue proportion of our income as a colony for the purpose of supporting the Aboriginal native race.}}

Discoveries at [[Coolgardie]] (1892) and [[Paddy Hannan]]'s discovery at [[Kalgoorlie]] (1893) sparked true [[Gold rush|gold fever]]. Coolgardie prospered particularly well, becoming the third largest town in the colony after Perth and Fremantle.<ref name="gtpm">{{cite book |last=Muir |first=Kenneth |date=2012 |title=Gold: The precious metal that brought instant wealth and long-term prosperity |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5970804/Details |location=Sydney, NSW |publisher=Trocadero Publishing |pages=45, 46 |isbn=978-086427-119-8 |access-date=30 October 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029170925/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5970804/Details }}</ref>

Gold inspired a new wave of exploration, including [[David Carnegie (explorer)|David Carnegie]] who, in 1896, led an epic expedition that travelled through the deserts north of Coolgardie, through the [[Gibson Desert|Gibson]] and [[Great Sandy Desert|Great Sandy]] Deserts to [[Halls Creek, Western Australia|Halls Creek]] in the Kimberley, before returning to Coolgardie.

In the late 19th century there was talk of the gold-rich region around Kalgoorlie seceding from Western Australia, as a colony or state called ''[[Auralia]]''. This campaign coincided with the reluctance in Perth regarding Western Australia taking part in [[Australian Federation]].  Talk of miners' separation and them taking their wealth elsewhere was seen as a threat to the stability of the colony.<ref name="gtpm"/>

In 1899, Forrest succeeded unilaterally passing the Constitution Amendment Act, taking control of Aboriginal Affairs without approval of the British House of Commons. Many Aboriginal people argue that the 1899 amendment was an illegal usurpation of British government power and one percent of accumulated Government revenues should be set aside for Aboriginal welfare, as intended.

; Other notable events
*{{timeline-event |date=1887 |event=On 22 April, a cyclone struck the pearling fleet at [[Eighty Mile Beach]] near [[Broome, Western Australia|Broome]] claiming 140 lives. The storm was unexpected, being so late in the season.<ref name="BOM1998">Bureau of Meteorology (1998). ''Tropical Cyclones (A Guide for Mariners in Northwest Australia)'', Pamphlet, Commonwealth of Australia</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1889 |event=The [[Great Southern Railway (Western Australia)|Great Southern Railway]] was opened with subsequent economic growth to the regions along the line. The wheat industry did not really get going until the construction of railways. A railway line had reached [[Coolgardie]] (from Perth) by 1896. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1895 |event=[[Kings Park, Western Australia|Kings Park]] was officially opened on 10 August. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1897 |event=As part of the Western Australian Government's attempt to gain control of Aboriginal affairs, the ''[[Aborigines Act 1897]]'' abolished the Aborigines Protection Board and established the Aborigines Department.<ref name="Project University 2011">{{cite web | title=Aborigines Act 1897 – Legislation – Western Australia | website=Find & Connect | date=28 June 2011 | url=https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00405b.htm | access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1897 |event=[[Fremantle Harbour|Fremantle Inner Harbour]] was officially opened after dredging and construction under the supervision of [[C. Y. O'Connor|  }}
{{thinspace|C.|Y.}} O'Connor]].

==Federation of Australia==
{{main|Federation of Australia}}
On 1 January 1901, following a [[Proclamation Declaring the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia|proclamation]] by [[Queen Victoria]], Western Australia, along with the other five British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, formed the [[federation]] of the [[Commonwealth of Australia]], of which they each became component states. However, Western Australia was reluctant to join the union, doing so only after they were offered a five-year transitional period on inter-state tariffs and a transcontinental [[Trans-Australian Railway#History|railway line]].

==Development during the early twentieth century==
[[Image:Map of Western Australia, 1916.jpg|thumb|Map of Western Australia in 1916]]
[[Image:WA centenary celebrations (12 August 1929).jpg|thumb|Governor [[William Campion (governor)|William Campion]] at the centenary celebrations in Perth]]
The wealth generated from [[gold]] soon disappeared and by the early years of the 20th century, the economy was once again dependent on wool and wheat. This dependency meant that a dramatic fall in [[wool]] and [[wheat]] prices in the late 1920s – early 1930s saw the state's economic collapse. It was not to recover until after World War II when the Federal Government's postwar immigration policy saw a huge influx of migrants, nearly all of them from Europe, in the period 1947 to 1970.

Important events in Western Australia included the following:
*{{timeline-event |date=1902 |event=The Premier, [[George Leake]], died suddenly on 24 June aged 45. [[Frederick Illingworth]] became the caretaker Premier for a week before [[Walter James (Australian politician)|Walter James]] formed a new ministry on 1 July. George Leake is the only Western Australian Premier to die in office. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1903 |event=A pipeline from [[Mundaring Weir]] to Kalgoorlie is opened. This was a major achievement for its time by the state's first engineer-in-chief [[C. Y. O'Connor]], who committed suicide before the project was complete. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1904 |event=[[Imprisonment of John Drayton|John Drayton is imprisoned]] under parliamentary privilege provisions in Western Australia for refusing to pay a fine. This is the first and, until [[Browne–Fitzpatrick privilege case, 1955|1955]], only, time that an [[Parliaments of the Australian states and territories|Australian parliament]] punished somebody under [[parliamentary privilege]] provisions. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1911 |event=The [[University of Western Australia]] becomes Western Australia's second tertiary institution and first university. No teaching happens until 1913 though.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.uwa.edu.au/visitors/about/history | title=History of the University | access-date=14 June 2006 | archive-date=8 February 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208202255/http://www.uwa.edu.au/visitors/about/history }}</ref> It wasn't until 1975 that Western Australia's second university, [[Murdoch University]] opened. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1912 |event=A cyclone crossed the coast just west of [[Balla Balla, Western Australia|Balla Balla]] near [[Port Hedland]] and claimed well over 150 lives. This was almost certainly Australia's worst weather-related maritime disaster of the 20th century with the loss of the coastal steamer ''Koombana''.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/levelthree/c20thc/cyclone1.html|title=The wreck of the "Koombana", March 1912|website=Climate Education|publisher=Government of Australia Bureau of Meteorology|via=Trove|access-date=15 June 2024|archive-date=17 March 2009|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20090317054300/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/96122/20090317-1643/www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/levelthree/c20thc/cyclone1.html}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1916 |event=First of two [[World War I conscription in Australia|referendums on overseas conscription in World War I]]. Western Australia is an outlier in the vote, with 69.7% of voters voting in favour, in contrast to only 48.4% nationwide. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1917 |event=Second referendum on overseas conscription in World War I. 64.4% of Western Australian voters vote in favour, while only 46.2% of Australian voters overall do so. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1917 |event=The transcontinental railway is complete, fulfilling a promise by the Federal Government when the Colony of Western Australia voted to become a state of Australia at Federation in 1901. Construction of this last leg between Kalgoorlie and [[Port Augusta]] had begun in 1912. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1920 |event=Edward, the Prince of Wales (the future [[King Edward VIII]]) was involved in a train derailment, in which his carriage overturned in the state's south west. The train was moving at a low speed and he did not sustain any injuries. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1921 |event=State premier [[James Mitchell (Australian politician)|James Mitchell]] launches the [[Group Settlement Scheme]] in the aim of establishing a viable dairy industry in the state's south-west. A 1923 Migration Agreement between the state, the Commonwealth and the British Government committed to settling 6,000 men on 6,000 farms within a five-year period.<ref name=":0" /> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1920 |event=Western Australia passed legislation allowing women to stand for parliament, [[Edith Cowan]] was elected to the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]] becoming the first woman elected to any Australian parliament. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1928 |event=The Aboriginal deputation to the state premier by brothers [[William Harris (civil rights leader)|William and Edward Harris]] to protest over injustices experienced by Aboriginal Western Australians.<ref name=":0">{{cite Q |Q5773872 |editor1-last=Gregory |editor1-first=Jenny |editor1-link=Jenny Gregory |editor2-last=Gothard |editor2-first=Janice }}</ref>{{page needed |date=April 2025}} }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1929 |event=[[Western Australia Centenary]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1930 |event=Perth is connected to Adelaide (and subsequently the rest of the eastern states) by a telephone line. }}
[[Image:Westralia shall be free.jpg|thumb|Secessionists at a meeting]]
*In a referendum in 1933, 68% of voters favoured [[Secessionism in Western Australia|secession]]. The Premier, [[Philip Collier]], argued in London for secession but the British decided they could not grant it.
*{{timeline-event |date=1935 |event=The Lacepede Islands near Broome were struck by a cyclone, which sank 21 pearling luggers with 141 lives lost. This was Australia's second deadliest cyclone in the 20th century.<ref name="auto"/> }}

==World War II==
{{main|Military history of Australia during World War II}}

*{{timeline-event |date=1941 |event=[[Sinking of HMAS Sydney|Battle between HMAS ''Sydney'' and the German raiding ship ''Kormoran'']] off the coast near [[Carnarvon, Western Australia|Carnarvon]]. Both ships sank, and the entire crew of 645 onboard ''Sydney'' was lost. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1942 |event=[[Attack on Broome|Japanese planes attack Broome]]. The official death toll was 88. The settlements of [[Wyndham, Western Australia|Wyndham]], [[Derby, Western Australia|Derby]], [[Port Hedland]] and the [[Kalumburu Community, Western Australia|Drysdale River Mission]] (Kalumburu) also experienced casualties. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1942 |end_date=1945 |event=Japanese occupation of [[Christmas Island]], now one of two [[Australian Indian Ocean Territories]]. }}

==Postwar era (1946–1970s)==
The period from 1945 to 1955 was a transformative decade in terms of economy, society, and politics. While the state had long been a laggard in growth rates, the war years allowed a postwar burst of speed. Western Australia entered a stage of rapid industrialization and population boom. The chief economic development was the establishment of a major industrial complex in the [[City of Kwinana]], south of Fremantle. It included oil refineries and port facilities.<ref>{{cite encyclopaedia |last1=Fox |first1=Charles |last2=Conacher |first2=Arthur J. |date=2025-08-02 |title=Western Australia since c. 1950 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |edition=online |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Western-Australia/Western-Australia-since-c-1950 |access-date=2025-08-03 }}</ref>

*{{timeline-event |date=1946 |event=Over 800 Aboriginal workers took part in the [[1946 Pilbara strike]], the first such kind of action taken by [[Indigenous Australians]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1947 |event=Western Australia enters the country's domestic cricket competition, the ''[[Sheffield Shield]]''. Though Western Australia only entered on a probationary basis, it managed to win the shield in its first season. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1950 |event=The worst civil aircraft accident in Australian history occurred when all 29 people on board the [[1950 Australian National Airways Douglas DC-4 crash|Douglas DC-4 ''Amana'' died]] after it crashed near York on a flight from Perth to Adelaide. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1952 |event=On 3 October the first nuclear bomb was exploded on Australian soil at the [[Montebello Islands]]. It was part of [[Operation Hurricane]], Britain's first-ever nuclear weapon test.<ref name="aic00">{{cite web |title=Wayward Governance: Illegality and its Control in the Public Sector |date=2000-07-04 |website=Australian Institute of Criminology, Government of Western Australia |url=http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/lcj/wayward/ch16.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001001093858/http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/lcj/wayward/ch16.html |archive-date=2000-10-01 |access-date=2024-05-28}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=February 1961 |end_date=March 1961 |event=In [[1961 Western Australian bushfires|Western Australia's worst bushfires]], many small communities were destroyed including 132 houses in [[Dwellingup, Western Australia|Dwellingup]]. There were no fatalities, but 800 people were left homeless.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/servlet/BigObjFileManager?bigobjid=GA6525|title=Meteorological hazards|publisher=[[Geoscience Australia]]|work=Natural hazard risk in Perth, Western Australia – Cities Project Perth Report|first1=Joe|last1=Courtney|first2=Miriam|last2=Middelmann|year=2005|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1961 |event=Minerals boom begins with the removal of iron ore export ban. The economy is bolstered over the next two decades by nickel mines around Kalgoorlie and iron ore mines in the north-west.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lee|first1=David|title=Reluctant relaxation: The end of the iron ore export embargo and the origins of Australia's mining boom, 1960–1966|url=http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/1024|website=History Australia|publisher=Monash University Publishing|access-date=23 November 2015|location=Clayton, Vic|pages=149–170|date=2013|archive-date=24 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124101637/http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/1024}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1962 |event=Aboriginal people granted full rights to vote. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1962 |event=[[John Glenn]] passes over [[Rockingham, Western Australia|Rockingham]] as part of a NASA manned spaceflight mission [[Mercury-Atlas 6]]. Residents of the Perth area had turned on lights in households and businesses to illuminate the city as much as possible. They succeeded, and Glenn referred to Perth as the "City of Light", a nickname he reiterated again when he passed over the city a second time as part of [[STS-95]] in 1998. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1964 |event=Serial killer [[Eric Edgar Cooke]] was the last person hanged in Western Australia. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1964 |event=On 31 December, [[Donald Campbell]] broke the world water speed record in the ''Bluebird K7'' on [[Dumbleyung Lake, Western Australia|Lake Dumbleyung]]. He reached {{cvt|442|km/h}}. Campbell died in the same vehicle in 1967 in a later record attempt in England. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1968 |event=On 14 October, the [[1968 Meckering earthquake|Meckering earthquake]] occurred with a moment magnitude of 6.5 and a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of IX (Violent). }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1968 |event=On 31 December, all 26 people on board [[MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750]] from Perth to Port Hedland died when the aircraft, a Vickers Viscount, crashed near Port Hedland. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1970 |event=The [[Indian Pacific]] train completed its first journey by rail across the continent from Sydney to Perth. Though the transcontinental railway had been complete since 1917, this is the first time one train could make the journey uninterrupted by gauge changes. }}

== Events since 1971 ==
*{{timeline-event |date=1972 |event=Minimum voting age lowered to 18. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1974 |event=Change of government. [[Charles Court]]s Liberal-Country Party coalition defeats the Labor government. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1979 |event=The NASA space station [[Skylab]] crashed in the remote south eastern part of the state. Places like [[Rawlinna, Western Australia|Rawlinna]] and [[Balladonia, Western Australia|Balladonia]] received international attention. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1979 |event=On 2 June 1979 there was a significant earthquake just east of [[Cadoux, Western Australia|Cadoux]] that was felt in Perth. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1979 |event=[[WAY 1979]] and the publishing of the [[Sesquicentenary Celebrations Series (Western Australia)]] by the celebrations committee and Government. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1980 |event=Government closes the [[Fremantle line]] and replaces the services with buses. The closure galvanises public opposition and becomes a major campaign issue in the 1983 election resulting in a change of government under [[Brian Burke (Australian politician)|Brian Burke]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1981 |event=Discovery of the Gorgon gas deposit. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1983 |event=Beginnings of [[WA Inc]]. Government deals with private businessmen lead to the loss of $600 million in public money. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1984 |event=The [[Parliament of Western Australia]] abolished the death penalty, the last state in Australia to eradicate capital punishment.{{cn|date=April 2024}} }}
*{{timeline-event |date=19 November 1990 |event=Labor Premier [[Carmen Lawrence]] initiates a Royal Commission into state government dealings with private businesses. The findings of the commission led to the conviction and imprisonment of two previous Premiers—[[Brian Burke (Australian politician)|Brian Burke]] and [[Ray O'Connor]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1993 |event=The [[Yanchep line|Joondalup line]] is completed to extend rail transport to Perth's northern suburbs. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1993 |event=Change of government. Labor loses to the [[Richard Court]] Liberal-National coalition Government. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1996 |event=The Liberal-National coalition loses control of the Upper House with the balance of power shifting to minority parties. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1997 |event=Western Australian parliament issues a formal apology to the [[Stolen Generations|stolen generation]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2001 |event=Change of government with [[Geoff Gallop|Geoff Gallop's]] Labor government defeating the coalition on the back of an anti-old growth logging platform. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=December 2007 |event=The [[Mandurah line]] opens. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2008 |event=Change of government with the election of the [[Barnett Ministry|Barnett Government]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2008 |event=The historic ban on [[uranium]] mining reversed. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2016 |event=[[Elizabeth Quay]], a mixed-use development project in the [[Perth]] central business district opens. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2017 |event=Change of government with [[Mark McGowan]] leading Labor to a [[2017 Western Australian state election|landslide victory]] over the coalition. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2020 |event=Western Australia closes its borders to all states of Australia to stop the spread of [[COVID-19 pandemic in Australia|COVID-19]]. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2020 |event=Clive Palmer sues Western Australia repeatedly for the closed borders. }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2021 |event=Mark McGowan wins state election with another landslide, said to be caused by his strong border policy.{{fact|date=May 2024}} }}

==See also==
*''[[Historical Records of Australia]]''
*[[History of Australia]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist |30em |refs=
<ref name="mur28">{{cite web |title=Lieutenant-Governor Stirling's Instructions 30 December 1828 (UK) |date=1828-12-30 |website=Museum of Australian Democracy |url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-5.html |access-date=2024-06-17 |quote=You will assume the title of Lieutenant Governor, and in that character will correspond with this department, respecting your proceedings, and the wants and prospects of the settlement you are to form. }}</ref>

<ref name="wayb79">{{cite Q |Q126683302 |title=Western Australian Year Book |year=1979 |number=17 |url=https://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/D269F393BB0AE162CA257B020012F2FC/$File/13005%20-WA%20YrBook%201979.pdf |access-date=2024-06-15}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin |30em}}
*{{cite Q |Q126159134}}
* Beattie, James. "Imperial landscapes of health: Place, plants and people between India and Australia, 1800s–1900s." ''Health and History'' 14.1 (2012): 100-120 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5401/healthhist.14.1.0100 online].
* Bolton, Geoffrey. ''Land of Vision and Mirage: Western Australian since 1826.'' (U of Western Australia Press, 2008).
* Briscoe, Gordon. ''Counting, health and identity: A history of Aboriginal health and demography in Western Australia and Queensland, 1900-1940'' (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2003).
* Carment, David. "'For their own purposes of identity': Tom Stannage and Australian local history." ''Public History Review'' 20 (2013): 68-79. [https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.924100653310364  online]
*{{cite journal |last=Charnley |first=W. |title=The Swan River Venture |journal=[[History Today]] |year=1960 |volume=10 |issue=3, ''March'' |page=158-16 |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/swan-river-venture |access-date=2025-04-15 |issn=0018-2753 }}
*{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=F. K. |year=1960 |title=Australia's Western Third: A History of Western Australia from the First Settlements to Modern Times |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/australiaswester0000crow/page/n6 |access-date=2025-04-15 |lccn=60050715 |ol=OL5811700M |oclc=1147751323 }}
* Davis, Russell Earls. ''A concise history of Western Australia'' (Woodslane Press, 2019).
* Forrest, Kay. ''The challenge and the chance: The colonisation and settlement of North West Australia 1861-1914'' (Hesperian Press, 1996).
* Glynn, Sean. ''Government Policy and Agricultural Development: A Study of the Role of Government in the Development of the Western Australian wheat belt, 1900-1930'' (U of Western Australia Press, 1975).
* Gooding, Janda. ''Western Australian art and artists, 1900-1950'' (Western Australia State Government, 1987).
*{{cite Q |Q7897821}}<!-- Unwilling Emigrants -->
*{{cite Q |Q19082708}}<!-- The Coming Colony -->
* Nayton, Gaye. ''The archaeology of market capitalism: A western Australian perspective'' (Springer Science & Business Media, 2011).
*{{cite book |last=Rankin |first=D. H. |title=The History of the Development of Education in Western Australia |year=1926 |publisher=Carrolls |location=Perth |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.225152 |access-date=2025-04-15 }}
*{{cite Q |Q125995168}}<!-- A New History of Western Australia -->
* Taylor, Affrica. "'The sun always shines in Perth': a post‐colonial geography of identity, memory and place." ''Australian Geographical Studies'' 38.1 (2000): 27–35.
* Tonts, Matthew. "State policy and the Yeoman ideal: Agricultural development in Western Australia, 1890-1914." ''Landscape Research'' 27.1 (2002): 103-115 [https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/files/1034113/3594_PID3594.pdf online].
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/html/exh01.htm Constitutional Centre of W.A.]
*[http://www.cwah.uwa.edu.au/ Centre for WA History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315090531/http://www.cwah.uwa.edu.au/ |date=15 March 2017 }}

{{Western Australia}}
{{Australia topic|title=[[History of Australia]]|prefix=History of|VI=Victoria}}
{{British overseas territories}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:History of Western Australia| ]]