Concept artwork for this story. Wentworth and Clark belonged to different generations and never met. What did self-government mean in colonial Australia, and what kind of federation should follow? From William Charles Wentworth’s campaigns in New South Wales to Andrew Inglis Clark’s constitutional work in Tasmania, the answers were argued over for generations. Imagine opening […]

Colonel Lachlan Macquarie was no stranger to a lively celebration, but when he stepped into the chaos of Sydney in January 1810 as Governor of New South Wales, he quickly discovered that the Colony was steeped in corruption beyond comparison. In fact, it made Dodge City seem like a child's playground. This stark reality set […]

Australia's First Christmas by Christopher Reynolds What a Capital Idea - Australia 1788-1901 Captain David Collins, Judge Advocate for the Colony, reports that  on Thursday, December 25, 1788 “the Christmas Day was observed with proper ceremony. Mr. Johnson preached a sermon adapted to the occasion, and the major part of the officers of the settlement […]

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand, and led the first recorded visit by […]

[Information is derived from What a Capital Idea – Australia 1770-1901 by Christopher Reynolds] When considering establishing a military base and civil society in New South Wales, the British, as the most developed and advance nation on earth, had previously purchased land, paid stipends to rulers – as it did in India, or signed treaties […]

(Published by the Spectator magazine as 'The War of Words' February21, 2024 - see   Christopher Reynolds )   I am very privileged to have been friends with Peter Drucker and Alvin Toffler.  This morning I imagined sitting in Peter’s lounge room in Claremont, California, discussing the current socio-political climate of our Western Civilisation. We would […]

There are two fake news stories that have slipped into Australian mythology, yet, remain but myths. The first is that Australia Day is celebrated each year on January 26 because it was the day Arthur Phillip arrived and claimed New South Wales for Britain. The second myth is that the British ‘invaded’ Australia, taking Aboriginal […]

MEDIA RELEASE  WHAT A CAPITAL IDEA -Australia 1770-1901 Was there an Invasion?     Why didn’t Aborigines get a Treaty?       Did Aborigines have Sovereignty over the Land/?     Was there a secret plan behind the Settlement in Australia?   Why was Arthur Phillip made an Aborigine?     Did the Eureka Stockade advance Australian Democracy?    […]

Two coachmen drove their four horse carriage around the corner to enter St. James Street, Westminster. It was 10.00 pm. An autumn evening in late October, 1786. A warm mist filled the London streets. The coach, with its gold crest of the House of Townshend on the carriage door, pulled to an abrupt halt outside […]

Captain Arthur Phillip worked as a spy for the Secret Service of the Office of War and the Colonies, under Secretary of State, Lord Sydney. Arthur Phillip was paid the equivalent to a navy admiral’s salary for his employment as the Governor of New South Wales and went home with some US$3 million (at today’s […]