The untold legal history of one of Australia’s largest scale massacres

In 1928, a massacre of Indigenous Australians occurred in Central Australia and the Board of Inquiry that was appointed to investigate the case exonerated the three police officers responsible for the killings.

Tasha Levy • 13 December 2019 • Podcast

Managing partner at Marque Lawyers, Michael Bradley, was shocked to discover this underreported miscarriage of justice, penning the story of this mass killing in his new book, Coniston.

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Mr Bradley talks with host Jerome Doraisamy on this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show about the legal history of this particular case, why it’s imperative for legal professionals to examine such incidents of discriminatory practice, and how delving into this topic has impacted his work professionally.

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If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you’d like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!

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Darren Waters Wednesday, 11 May 2022

Under 18th century British common law ownership of land required a number of principle requirements, the main being farming, i.e.: people (indigenes) who did not practise agriculture and build permanent structures were otherwise unable to lawfully claim ownership of the land, hence the term ‘empty land’ and the corner stone of Terra Nullius, or in layman’s terms ‘use it or lose’.
Also, Governor Arthur Phillip, the first colonial governor of NSW, was under orders from King George III, 'to endeavour by every means in his power to open an intercourse with the natives and to conciliate their goodwill, requiring all persons under his Government to live in amity and kindness with them’. Evidently, based on the number of massacres recorded and anecdotal, the evidence would suggest otherwise. The Coniston massacre is known as the last officially sanctioned massacre of First Nations people, which even Keith Windschuttle concedes occurred, 140 years after settlement.
I agree with Michael Bradley’s comment, ‘interesting stuff’. Additionally, like Bradley, historian Professor Henry Reynolds also believes these events need to be incorporated into the telling of Australia’s history; including an acknowledgment of those who paid the ultimate price should also be commemorated, just as we commemorate Australia’s fallen heroes in overseas battles. Indeed, the untold stories of colonial occupation and massacres should be collectively included in the national narrative as part of the events that forged the country, and remembered accordingly. Maybe then the country might truly begin the process of reconciliation.

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MICHAEL C. Tuesday, 31 December 2019

Have you seen all the plaques in St.James in Philip St. commemorating battles against Indigenous over ownership of NSW? King George III apparently told Capt Cook to only claim uninhabited land, thus Terra Nullius.

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Anonymous Saturday, 28 December 2019

The 1770 colonization of NSW appears illegal as King George III's instruction to Capt. Cook was to colonize uninhabited lands. This probably led to the fake Terra Nullius doctrine. Cook wanted to beat La Perouse in claiming NSW. There used to be some idea that Indigenous didn't own the land, but merely wandered over it searching for roots and berries.

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