Great Britain decided to send prisoners to Australia in 1788 to serve out their sentences because?

Great Britain decided to send prisoners to Australia because, quite simply, it was the best way to colonise the continent. Great Britain wished to colonise Australia for several reasons:

1. To expand the British empire, and prevent the French from gaining a foothold in the Australian continent or in that part of the Pacific.

2. To solve the problem of Britain's overcrowded prisons (a consequence of the Industrial Revolution) by establishing a new penal colony in a land which showed promise for eventually becoming self-supporting. Britain had been sending their excess prisoners to North America, but the American War of Independence put a stop to the practice. After James Cook's successful voyage which involved charting the eastern coast of Australia, New South Wales was seen as a viable proposition for a convict colony. In particular, it was endorsed by Sir Joseph Banks, the influential botanist who travelled with Cook.

3. Australia could provide commercial and political gains to Britain.

4. Due to war, Britain needed to find an alternative supply of Flax and timber as her Baltic supply was under threat. It was believed that nearby Norfolk Island would provide this.

5. Britain needed a port in the East to promote trade with China and to extend its naval and commercial power.

The first permanent settlers arrived in Australia with the First Fleet on 26 January 1788 to set up the new penal colony.