The Shameful History of Australia’s Colonial Past

Picture this, a complete stranger invades your home and took everything you owned. They then slaughtered your family in front of you, tore apart all you had and had no remorse for their actions. All of what you knew and grew up with was gone in a matter of seconds. Now, imagine getting looked down on for the mere colour of your skin. How would you feel being regularly reminded of someone who caused these atrocities to your people, your family? You had an attempt to visualize this in your head, but can you really? Do you truly understand? No you do not; and this is the issue.

The settlement of the British in Australia occurred on the 26th January 1788. The shameful history of Australia’s colonial past has always been a difficult situation for most Australians to express, we are hesitant to resurrect the barbaric events which have lead to where we stand today. However, to this day we have continued to commemorate it through public statues across the country. Hmm, well Isn’t that quite ironic? We have the Captain Cook statue in Hyde Park, Captain cook in St Kilda, Captain cook in Belmore road, just to list a few.

The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is that the celebration of these figures in the form of public statues are clearly offensive toward Indigenous Australians. Many may say, “just move on,” but I bet you didn’t know that from that moment, 90% of the Indigenous population had been wiped out. That’s 9/10 people, if you had 10 children, only one of them would survive. You’d lose 9 out of 10, how can anyone cope with such a loss? But for you, you probably didn’t lose 9/10 children but for the indigenous, they’ve lost 9/10 of their culture.

Have you heard of the term terra nullius? It refers to a Latin expression for nobody’s land and is used to describe territory that may be acquired by a state's occupation of it. This is the law that, ‘allowed’ the British to invade the land. However, lets remember that, this is the law of WHITE men which was enforced into a completely different society. A society where they had absolutely no knowledge of White customs before January 26th 1788. The indigenous cherish their land. Their connection to their land is intricate. To them, nobody owns the land, it cannot be bought and sold. Their land is spiritually and socially intertwined with their lives. It is their identity. The commemorations of these public statues are a brutal reminder of the violent rupture of aboriginal society and a legacy of pain and suffering which still endures today.

The stolen generation, the Myall Creek massacre, etc etc are ideas that should not celebrated. 200 years ago 60,000 years worth of culture and lifestyle were ripped. Colonial statues honour the the lives of Cook and others, reinforcing the idea of Australia being an untamed empty land. Is it ethical for a nation that thrives and is known for its acceptance and multiculturalism to acknowledge events of invasion and mass murder? It does not look good on our reputation and anyone who thinks otherwise must question their humanity.

In 2008, Kevin Rudd, on behalf of Australia made a national apology speech toward the Indigenous. There, he detailed that we must “write the wrongs of the past”. He claimed that we must have “decency, human decency, universal decency”. Yet, we live in a society which glorifies men who have commit wrongdoings and refuse to right these wrongs. Our country is one that was supposed to be of hope, diversity, respect and equal worth. But these morals, our “human decency” that our nation holds so strongly is undermined as we continue to commemorate the “wrongs of the past” through a public display. What are we trying to teach our future generations? That this, what we are doing, is okay?

What we need to be aware of is that, the retaining of public statues restricts Australia’s ability to reconcile with the past and further depthens the great silence. As Kevin rudd said, we must have “future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility”. In order to bring our words into action, we must remove these statues.

Australia has many similarities with our friend, America. Their history of slavery is similar in that of Australia’s colonisation. They saw those of colour as lower than them, removed them from their country, took their identity, similar to Australia’s forceful removal of children into church missions, stripping them of their name and family. However, America has accepted their past and are in the process of reconciliation with their past, however Australia is in denial. While we remain oblivious and silent, America has began to evolve and understand with the removal of their confederate statues. Let me ask you this: Would any of you in the audience agreeing with the commemoration of colonial statues be against the demolition of the Berlin wall?

There are so many other ways to acknowledge Australia’s colonization without causing offence. Before we finish today, we need to remind ourselves of just how privilege we are to be sitting in this room today, in this country full of opportunities and freedom. It is what you make of the experience. So, let’s dig deep, and show our compassion towards those who are only looking for a better future and lifestyle. For a moment, after you leave today, place yourself in their situation. Think about what statues signify to you. Think about how we can reconcile with our colonial past. These are the challenges that we must face. Together, we can make a change. Together, we know we are doing the right thing. Let’s begin by discontinuing the celebration of our colonial past through public statues!