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When analysing the comment “Captain Cook did not discover Australia” the obvious question immediately arises, “Who did discover Australia?” In attempting to answer this question we must first ask other questions; What exactly do we mean by ‘discover’? Do we the first set foot upon the territory in question or do we mean those who first ‘settled’ it or those who first ‘civilised’ it? Does discovering require a higher level of interaction with the environment? What also do we mean by the concept of Australia, do we refer to the real Terra Nullius that the first aboriginal discoverer would have encounted, do we mean the Terra Australis Incognita of 15th century European Romance, the Dutch’s New Holland, Cook and Phillip’s settled Australia or perhaps the Australian nation created at Federation. It will be shown that depending on how one answers the above and other questions will determine whether they consider the above comment valid, partially valid or invalid.
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