Britain 'invaded' Australia

rewriting (or correcting) the nation's colonial history.

1 - 3 of 3 posts

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

1 30 Mar 2016

A top Australian university has rejected claims it is trying to rewrite the nation's colonial history.

Students are being encouraged to use the term "invaded" rather than "settled" or "discovered", and avoid the word "Aborigines".

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Indigenous Terminology guide states that Australia was "invaded, occupied and colonised".

But UNSW says it does not mandate what language can and cannot be used.

"It uses a more appropriate, less appropriate format," a UNSW spokesperson said in a statement to the BBC.

"The guide suggests referring to Captain [James] Cook as the first Englishman to map the continent's East Coast is 'more appropriate' than referring to his 'discovery' of Australia."

Captain James Cook claimed possession of the east coast of what is now Australia on behalf of the British crown in 1770, following more than 160 years of mapping and exploration mainly by the Dutch.

There were already more than 250 tribes of Aboriginal people living on the land, each with their own language, customs and territories.

Then began a process of colonisation and land confiscation which denied Aboriginal rights to land, citizenship and equal status - rights which in many cases were only finally bestowed in recent decades.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35922858

Outrage? How about asking the Tasmanian Aboriganals? Oh no, we can n't because they're all dead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Tasmanians

more at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2016/mar/30/its-not-politically-correct-to-say-australia-was-invaded-its-history

"Instructively, that moment of first east coast British-Indigenous contact was signified with violence when Cook’s men shot at and wounded at least one Gweagel tribesmen. Cook took their spears and a shield. The shield, part of the British Museum’s Indigenous collection (the spoils always go to the victors), was recently the centrepiece of a display at the national museum exhibition, Encounters. The shield has a notable hole in it."

+ 1

reddapanda ACT • Posts: 381

2 20 May 2016

Thanks Robert, it's important stuff.

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

3 14 Jun 2016

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-yes-australia-was-invaded-by-british-says-malcolm-turnbull-20160614-gpilsu.html
Yes, Australia was invaded by British, says Malcolm Turnbull

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has agreed that the colonisation of Australia by British settlers could be described as an "invasion", but has distanced himself from the idea of a treaty with Indigenous Australians in the near term.

Mr Turnbull was asked if he accepted Australia had been invaded, a divisive term in the history wars over how to characterise the arrival of the First Fleet from 1788 onwards.

"Well, I think it can be fairly described as that and I've got no doubt obviously our first Aboriginal Australians describe it as an invasion," the Prime Minister said.

"But, you know, you are talking about an historical argument about a word. The facts are very well known. This country was Aboriginal land. It was occupied by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years – 40,000 years."

But Mr Turnbull distanced himself from pursuing a treaty – a formal agreement between the government and Indigenous people that would involve legal outcomes – at least in the near future.

He said such a proposal could inhibit progress towards constitutional recognition of Indigenous people. The government has signalled it will hold a referendum on that question in 2017.