ABSTRACT
Between 1830 and 1850, Hell was turned into Paradise. A gradual shift in the needs of both the British and local economies resulted in a new, more complimentary image of Australia competing with, and eventually overwhelming, the old convict image. The image of Australia as a ‘workingman’s paradise’ had long been fostered, particularly in the colonies. However, although this picture of a ‘workingman’s paradise’ was a widely accepted one, there was always a thread of resistance to it, particularly among some working-class spokesmen. Believers in the ‘workingman’s paradise’ often confused changes over a period of time with differences between England and Australia. The conviction that Australia was a ‘workingman’s paradise’ helped preserve the social order. It helped reconcile the working class to an unequal distribution of wealth. When poverty could not be ignored, it helped at least to explain it away. The benefits of the ‘workingman’s paradise’ only went to a minority.
