Simplify the following text for a Grade 8 native English-speaking person.
Original: He is considered by some historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century .
Simplified: Historians say he led the change of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement . This was very important in making the future of Australian society .