E12: Australia’s First Power Struggle: Phillip v Ross

It’s widely assumed Captain Arthur Phillip is not only the hero of the First Fleet but he was also the hero as governor for the first five years of New South Wales. The reality is more nuanced.

As a lifelong servant of the Royal Navy, Phillip only knew obedience and hierarchy. Phillip believed New South Wales’s best hope was with him as an autocrat … but the embryonic colony required spontaneity to get off the ground.

Phillip’s ‘second in command’ of the colony was the boss of the NSW Marine Corps … Major Robert Ross. Ross is barely remembered today but he did offer an alternate vision for early NSW.

Ross quarrelled with Phillip and so in 1790 Ross was dispatched to be boss of Norfolk Island … where Ross put his vision into practice. He wasn’t there for too long but did achieve impressive results.

Phillip won Australia’s first power struggle … but it was Ross’ more liberal vision that went on to dominate the early colonial period. Ross laid the foundations for the prosperity soon to come.

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The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. 

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Produced by Sean Masters

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