‘We must be quickly sailing’: Convict contributions to the economic development of Australia

Abstract

For many, convict transportation was a nightmare; for some, it became an opportunity; for Australia, it is an enduring element in our national economic story. Convicts have been both reviled and revered in the Australian public consciousness—portrayed as criminal blights or as incarcerated innocents. This essay puts aside this discourse to argue that convicts played a crucial role in the development of the colonial Australian economy. Convicts both during their incarceration and after their emancipation were significant in supporting public development, private enterprise, and trade. Moreover, this essay argues that notions of economic ‘contributions’ ought to be reconsidered. It highlights the silences of historical and economic data, and how historiographical trends have marginalised both the contributions of female convicts and the impact that convicts had on Indigenous people in this economic story. This essay concludes by emphasising that convicts have made significant direct and indirect contributions to the economic development of Australia.