NSW national parks and Wildlife Service have an interesting slant on the 'history' of Australia. Their website informs us that Australia wasn't 'settled' as is popularly believed, but it was actually an 'invasion' which took place starting in 1788, which lasted over a hundred years or so.
The opening paragraph reminds us that the idea of 'invasion may seem provocative'. Too right! The fact is that Australia was wide open for explorers and colonists, and it was only a matter of time before a European or Asian nation claimed it for its own, as was the custom in those days. The Dutch and the French had a good look, but it was the British who, in the end, saw the value of colonisation, even if it was to unburden itself of a criminal element at the time.
NSW opposition leader Peter Debnam is very upset by this, since it appears on a NSW Government site. "Everybody agrees Australia was settled," Mr Debnam said. According to a Sydney Morning Herald report on 14 May, Mr Debnam added, "To use the word 'invasion' is a military term, pushed by the left wing for politically correct purposes in the extreme and I think it's bizarre to see a government website pushing it."
1 comment:
So there must be a word between invasion and settlement which gives the true picture, particularly since not all States were colonised in exactly the same way.
I think the use of 'invasion' here is meant to imply something more than an attempt at colonisation in the mode of the times. There was a European race for power and wealth as tall ships navigated the newly charted world, and to an certain extent indigenous peoples were always going to be the victims of such a charge, and were certainly treated in unfortunate ways.
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