In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was considered the end of the world.
(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes

[spoiler] In B, it has no logical referent, because the previous clause describes a time when here was no Australia. Nor does it have a referent in C: substituting Australia for it produces a nonsensical statement. D is wordy, with the unnecessary what was, and imprecise in suggesting that Australia was considered the antipodes after it became Australia. E similarly distorts the original meaning, and the past perfect had been is inconsistent with the past tense used to establish a time frame for the rest of the sentence.[/quote][/spoiler]

Could someone explain this SC better

Q)

In B, it has no logical referent, because the previous clause describes a time when here was no Australia. Nor does it have a referent in C:

If B is wrong because the pronoun it in B has no antecedent then how is A correct ?