Why was new south wales established?

The colony of New South Wales was established by the British in 1788 as a penal colony. It was chosen because it was remote and had a lack of natural resources which would make it difficult for the convicts to escape. The British government transported around 160,000 convicts to the colony between 1788 and 1840, many of whom were Irish political prisoners and common criminals. The colony became increasingly prosperous as free settlers arrived and began to develop agriculture and other industries. In 1851, the discovery of gold in New South Wales led to a mass influx of immigrants from around the world, and the population grew rapidly. New South Wales became a self-governing colony in 1856 and a state of the Australian Commonwealth in 1901.