[denkmoon]

Common sense would dictate that GP is talking about the country not the continent, as continents typically do not have heads of state :)

[Cogito]

While that is true, it's not typically how the phrase "Australia's history" is interpreted.

It's common for "Australia's history" to refer to pre-colonisation in addition to the last couple of hundred years.

This is almost certainly because Australians see the country and the continent as 'the same' for all intents and purposes.

[wizofaus]

The poster wasn't even referring to the last couple of 100 years, only the last 121!