The Australian Aboriginal massacres and the Australian Frontier Wars were violent battles and killings between the British settlers of Australia and the Aboriginal Australians. The violent interactions lasted almost 150 years,  and they were caused by struggles for land and territory. Most of these conflicts occurred in Queensland, in which both Colonist and Aboriginal people died, with estimates being over 100,000 Aboriginal deaths and only 2,250 settler deaths. These conflicts decimated the Aboriginal population. Genocides were committed against the Aboriginal Australians, and unjust rules and laws were forced upon them. Throughout these massacres, different stages of genocide can be found. These stages include but are not limited to persecution, discrimination, organization, extermination, and denial. Through the appearance of these factors, it is clear that genocide has occurred throughout Australia’s colonization. 

The Australian Frontier wars and genocides occurred from 1788-1930. Even though these  major events lasted a long period of time, little is known. Events were covered up with little to no record, most records being biased as they came from colonists. As more attention is brought to the genocide, more information is rapidly being revealed. To date in 2023, however, there has still been no treaty between the commonwealth, indigenous people, and islander tribes. Additionally, the Frontier Wars are still not recognized as actual wars, and the Aboriginal warriors are not recognized as war heroes. One major cause of conflict was the taking of land from the natives. When the British first landed and started a colony, they started it on Aboriginal land. In fact, Aboriginal tribes occupied all of Australia when the British landed (Horton, 1996). While the exact numbers are unknown, it is estimated that in Queensland alone, where most genocides took place, up to 60,000 Aboriginals were killed. The total death toll is unknown, and the estimation is often raised due to more records of killings being found, but is around 100,000-120,000 deaths. This accounted for roughly 90% of the population (Daley, 2019). Often Aboriginal Australians were killed by militias, native police, and colonists. The Native Police were Aboriginal people that the Colonial government enlisted to hunt other Aboriginal Australians, they used their hunting and tracking skills to more easily find them. Colonists also viewed these Aboriginal Australians as less than people, or a lesser person, and believed they were uncivilized. "'No wild beast of the forest was ever hunted down with such unsparing perseverance as they [Aboriginal people] are. Men, women and children are shot whenever they can be met,'" wrote Henry Meyrick, a squatter, in a letter to his family in England in 1846"(2021). Even to this day, the lack of information and conversation about the genocide in Australia and around the world shows the lack of care and denial of the massive issue. 

The first stages of genocide that developed were persecution and discrimination. Even during the first interactions with the natives, it was clear that the colonists did not see them as equals. They began to take more and more land, leading to conflicts. Aboriginal Australians retaliated, ransacking and attacking the colonists camps. This angered the colonists greatly, leading to the wars and genocides. They had no regard for the lives of the natives, and discriminated against them by disregarding their law system. They did not formally acknowledge or recognize the law system the natives had in place and enforced new laws. The captain in charge of the original conquest of Australia, James Cook, determined that he did not see any signs of agriculture or other development when sailing off the east coast. He then claimed that the land belonged to nobody. Interactions at first were relatively peaceful. However, when the Europeans began to take more land and build larger settlements that disrupted Native hunting grounds, it led to violent conflicts. Natives would kill a colonist hunting on their land and in retaliation, parties would be sent out to massacre natives. The colonists did not stop expanding nor care about the land the natives claimed, viewing their possession of it as invalid. They were also persecuted and classified as non-human. “Australia, until the 1960s, Aborigines came under the Flora And Fauna Act, classified them as animals, not human beings”(2016). Up until the 1960’s officially, they were still not seen as humans, even though the conflicts had ended decades ago. Near the end of the conflicts, the Aboriginals were driven into a small area. They were pushed into one small section of Australia to keep them away from the commonwealth population. They were taken away from their homeland and stripped from everything they knew. Throughout the genocide persecution and discrimination can be seen. Even to this day remnants of the persecution and discrimination can still be seen.

Two more factors of genocide that were displayed are organization and extermination. Organization was seen when militias and native police were formed to hunt the Aboriginal people (Daley, 2019). These native police units usually consisted of a group of Aboriginals with at least one white officer in charge and were used throughout the 19th and 20th century. They were very often on horseback and had jurisdiction over a very large amount of land. They were used for anything from the protection of surveyors in dangerous areas to hunting natives. On top of the native police, militias were organized to retaliate against the natives actions. These militias killed a multitude of innocent Aboriginals, sometimes called punitive expeditions. Extermination is in every aspect of the genocides. The colonizers began to take land, angering the natives, leading to attacks. Colonists, as retaliation, would go out and kill innocent Aboriginals. One example of a battle that caused retaliation and extermination was the Battle of Broken River. In this battle, natives attacked and killed 8 colonists for a cause that is unknown but speculated to be retaliation for a previous event. This would be considered a battle between the 2 sides as 1 native also died, causing both sides to have casualties. However, in retaliation for this battle/skirmish, colonists killed an estimated 300-500 Aboriginal men, women, and children(Reid, 1982 pg. 129-134). After an escalation of conflicts, martial law was declared against the Aboriginal people in settled districts. This gave any soldier the right to apprehend or shoot on sight any Aboriginal person regardless of situation. The colonists also enlisted the help of multiple natives in an attempt to kill the Aboriginal population. Some accounts even lead to the possibility that decoy huts that had flour laced with poison were set up to kill Aboriginals. Also, as they expanded the colonies, they had permission to kill any Aboriginals on the land. Even in battles or skirmishes that occurred between these 2 groups, countless innocent Aboriginals were killed in retaliation. For example, in one battle, “The most recent one happened in 1928 in Coniston in the Northern Territory, where at least 60 Aboriginals, including children, were killed in a state-sanctioned massacre in response to the murder of one settler”(2021). Throughout these genocides, stages of organization and extermination can be seen all over. These weren’t isolated events or events that happened hundreds of years ago. From militias to killings, genocide occurred, as recently as 1928.

The final stage of genocide shown in these wars and massacres is denial. This stage in particular is the most modern part of the issue. Denial in this genocide has been shown from the first killings to today. While the massacres were being committed, records were not taken accurately, unbiasedly, and in some cases, at all. This makes learning about and studying this topic today difficult to do, as many records don’t exist or are false. Today, forms of denial can also be seen. In Australian war hero and memorial museums, there is little to no mention of any Aboriginal Australians (Knaus, 2022). In Australia, they celebrate Australia Day which celebrates the landing of the white colonizers in Australia. Many natives see this as a celebration of the genocide to follow and despite protests and calls of action to not celebrate the holiday, it continues to be an official holiday in Australia. As one teacher said about the miseducation, “‘The majority of students…complained they have not been taught about the Indigenous massacre”(Martin, 2019).  Back in 1997-1998, former Australian prime minister John Howard claimed “‘On top of that I didn’t accept the conclusion of the Bringing Them Home report that genocide had been practiced against the Indigenous people. I didn’t believe genocide had taken place, and I still don’t”(Davidson, 2014). Another argument about denial that is often had in Australia is the inclusion of the frontier wars in Australia's national war memorial. However, the Aboriginal massacres and frontier wars have repeatedly been denied a spot in the war memorial. Whether it is by avoiding the topic or ignoring it, the requests for recognition of these wars and massacres have been denied. A former memorial director stated that it isn't the war memorial's job to recognize war heroes from the frontier wars. As these statements provide, the denial of this genocide has not stopped. In recent years, the effort has increased. However, there is still a long way to go before denial stops. It will take recognition of the genocides by the entire nation and respect for the horrible events that occurred.

The Aboriginal Genocide and Frontier Wars were violent events between the Aboriginal population of Australia and the British colonizers. These events occurred from 1788-1930. With estimates of about 90% and over 100,000 Aboriginal people killed, and only about 2,250 colonists killed, these were bloody conflicts. Throughout this history, many signs of genocide can be seen, including but not limited to persecution, discrimination, organization, extermination, and denial. One of these factors, denial, even continues to be highly visible to this day. While no conflict can be amended immediately, Australia has a long way to go.

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