This volume brings together two presentations and the introductions from an event hosted by the Centre for Independent Studies and exploring the frames of reference from which to view the colonisation of Australia by the First Fleet.

Andrew Tink AM, author of Lord Sydney: the Life and Times of Tommy Townsend, shared fascinating insights about the British Home Secretary who chose Arthur Phillip to lead the First Fleet, and after whom the fledgling convict settlement was named.

Justice Michael Pembroke, author of Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy, described the remarkable qualities and experience of the man who established the colony with the utopian idea of a simple rural society where convict men and women would become reborn.

David Hunt, winner of the 2014 Indie Award for non-fiction for his humorous and fascinating book Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia, MC’d the evening, adding his signature wit and broad knowledge to the subject.