Governor Brisbane realised there was little point in continuing to censor The Sydney Gazette when The Australian was uncensored and so government censorship of newspapers was abandoned in 1824 and the freedom of the press began in Australia.

Shortly after the promulgation of the new Charter of Justice for the Colony, a Newspaper was published here, called "The Australian," Edited by Doctor Wardle [sic], a gentleman educated to the Law and who filled a similar situation in London in the Office of one of the Daily Papers, I believe the "Statesman," together with Mr Wentworth, son of the Principal Superintendent of Police.

These gentleman never solicited my permission to publish their Paper, and, as the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown coincided with my own that there existed no power to interpose to prevent it without going to Council, I considered it most expedient to try the experiment of the full latitude of the freedom of the Press, and, to enable Your Lordship to judge how far this Newspaper is conducted With moderation, I have ordered a Copy to be regularly transmitted to you.

The Government Printer, Mr Howe, finding a Paper published without a censorship, soon applied for the removal of that restraint from His Paper, "The Sydney Gazette"; and, as I considered the same opinion applied to both, the censorship was removed; and several months enjoyment of this privilege to the Editor has impressed me with the opinion that the measure has been productive of more benefit than disadvantage to the Public ...

[8]The Australian took an interest in the economy and provided support for any enterprise that promised to create economic growth and employment.

Wool is very well, and so are horses and horned cattle, and skins, and hides, and timber, but for lucrative investment of capital, and Colonial advancement, chose we the SPERM WHALE FISHERY!

[11] In 1826, following violence in the frontier Hunter Valley and particularly following the spearing of a family on a farm property there, Wentworth and Wardell editorialised: We shall never depart from our opinion, that the system of terror is the only one to be adopted towards them.

Still there appears to be a dangerous spirit of molestation gaining ground among the native blacks; and we apprehend that vigorous and rigorous movements will prove most humane and most effective.

[12]Beyond the editorial page, in 1827 Wentworth and Wardell defended Lieutenant Nathaniel Lowe when he was tried for executing an Aboriginal man known as Jackey at Wallis Plains.

[24] The same thing happened to the next editor, Atwell Hayes, who in 1829 was found guilty of criminal libel, fined £100 and sentenced to six months in prison.

In 1838, the owners placed an advertisement cautioning publicans against supplying liquor to, "any Assigned Servant of this Establishment," and advised that, "Any credit given [would be] at their own risk.

[32] Like other Sydney newspapers, The Australian made regular appeals to subscribers to pay their accounts and threatened to take legal action against customers who were in arrears.

Publication ceased due to, "the large amount of unpaid subscriptions, which we are unable to collect without proceeding to compulsory measures".

[36] The Australian was the first independent newspaper in the colonies and as such it was pivotal in helping to establish the freedom of the press in Australia.

One contemporary who commented on flogging and other harsh punishments administered to convicts under sentence in New South Wales went on to say, But the system is not now so bad as it used to be.

Since Dr Wardell and young Mr Wentworth came out, and began to look after the government and the magistrates, there are not such dreadful doings as there used to be in former times.

Local writers who were first published in its pages include Henry Halloran, Charles Harpur and Richard Howitt.

The newspaper continues, today, to serve the public, in that it provides a detailed source of information on social, political, economic and cultural activities in Australia in the second quarter of the 19th century.