Australia–United Kingdom relations
 |
|
 Australia |
 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic Mission | |
| Australian High Commission, London | British High Commission, Canberra |
| Envoy | |
| High Commissioner Alexander Downer | High Commissioner Menna Rawlings |
Australia–United Kingdom relations, also referred to as Anglo–Australian relations, are the relations between the commonwealth realms of the Commonwealth of Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, marked by cultural, institutional and language ties, extensive people-to-people links, aligned security interests, sporting tournaments (notably The Ashes), and significant trade and investment cooperation.
In 1773 during his first voyage to the Pacific, Royal Navy captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. Seventeen years later, following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, and the British Crown Colony of New South Wales was formally promulgated on 7 February 1788. Further Crown Colonies were established in Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania) in 1803; Swan River Colony (now known as Western Australia) in 1828; South Australia in 1836; Victoria in 1851; and Queensland in 1859. The six colonies federated in 1901 and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed as a Dominion of the British Empire.
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