British committed genocide against Aboriginal Australians inquiry
British colonisers committed "genocide" against the Aboriginal people in the Australian state of Victoria after arriving in the area in the early 1830s, a commission investigating injustices against the indigenous population has said.
The colonization of Victoria, Australia's second smallest state, located in the southeast of the country, took place between 1834 and 1851.
During that period, its indigenous population suffered "near-complete physical destruction," falling from around 60,000 to 15,000, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
The crimes by the British in Victoria included "mass killings, disease, sexual violence, exclusion, linguicide [the death of languages], cultural erasure, environmental degradation, child removal, absorption and assimilation," it said.
"This was genocide," the commission ruled after holding more than two months of public hearings and listening to accounts by over 1,300 Aboriginals.
The report suggested some 100 recommendations in order to "redress" harm caused to the Aboriginals by "invasion and occupation," including paying reparations and granting Victoria's First Peoples' Assembly decision-making powers.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement that she welcomed the report and that her government would consider its findings.
"Victoria's truth-telling process is a historic opportunity to hear the stories of our past that have been buried - these are stories that all Victorians need to hear," Allan stated.
The head of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (VACCHO), Jill Gallagher, told ABC that "we do not blame anyone alive today for these atrocities," but stressed "it is the responsibility of those of us alive today to accept that truth."
The Yoorrook Justice Commission was established in 2021, becoming the first of its kind in Australia. Similar formal "truth-telling" inquiries are currently taking place in other states.
The Australian Museum said previously there were at least 270 massacres carried out by colonists against Aboriginal Australians between the late 18th and early 20th century "as part of a state-sanctioned and organized attempts to eradicate First Nations people."
READ MORE: Brits fail to fix stranded F-35 stealth fighter in India media
Due to those actions, the indigenous population in Australia declined from an estimated 1-1.5 million to less than 100,000 by the early 1900s, according to the museum.
(RT.com)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
25 minutes ago
- NDTV
Watch - "I Did It My Way": Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi Sing At Lavish UK Party
New Delhi: "And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain," sang Frank Sinatra. But the curtains can't seem to fall on fugitive billionaires Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya who were seen singing together at a lavish private party in London over the weekend. A video clip shared by Mr Modi himself showed the two performing Frank Sinatra's "My Way," as guests looked on in an evening that he described as his "annual summer party." The video, now viral, appears to show the former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner and the former liquor baron and airline tycoon sharing laughs and songs in a karaoke session hosted at Mr Modi's residence in the British capital. The gathering, which Modi said hosted over 310 friends and family, included guests who had flown in from several countries. Among the attendees was former Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricketer Chris Gayle, who uploaded an Instagram story featuring a photo of himself with both Mr Modi and Mr Mallya. His caption read: "We living it up. Thanks for a lovely evening," tagging both men. "Had an amazing night with 310 friends and family. A lot who travelled specially for this event. Thank you to one and all who attended this evening and made it one of the most special nights for me... Hope this video doesn't break the internet. Controversial for sure. But that's what I do best," Mr Modi wrote on social media. The Instagram post also thanked musician Carlton Braganza for the karaoke setup and paid tribute to Mr Gayle, referring to the cricketer by his popular nickname, "Universe Boss." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lalit Modi (@lalitkmodi) Charges Against Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya Mr Modi, the founding chairman of the Indian Premier League, left India in 2010 amid multiple allegations of financial wrongdoing. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has pursued several cases against him, including charges related to money laundering, bid manipulation, and violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). India has repeatedly sought his extradition from the UK, but he remains a British resident. Mr Modi, now 60, has long maintained that the cases against him are politically motivated. Mr Mallya, 68, the former chairman of United Breweries and promoter of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, left India in 2016 amid mounting debts and allegations of fraud. The Indian government declared him a "fugitive economic offender" under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Last week, the UK's High Court rejected an appeal filed by Mr Mallya against a 2021 bankruptcy order. In a social media post last year, Mr Mallya said that authorities in India had seized and restored assets worth Rs 14,131 crore, an amount he claims exceeds the debts attributed to Kingfisher Airlines. "I am still an economic offender. Unless the ED and banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, I am entitled to relief which I will pursue," he wrote on X. He also questioned the CBI's continuing fraud case against him over a Rs 900 crore IDBI Bank loan. In response, Mr Modi had replied, "This too shall pass."
Deccan Herald
30 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
With PM Modi in Trinidad & Tobago, Congress recalls Indira Gandhi's 1968 visit
The Super Premium Frequent Flier PM will be in Trinidad & Tobago today. Trinidad and Tobago is a small twin-island republic that has produced a number of world figures. We in India know it as one of the places to which the British took thousands of indentured labour in the 19th… — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 4, 2025
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
With PM Modi in Trinidad & Tobago, Congress recalls Indira Gandhi's 1968 visit
In the video, Gandhi is seen being welcomed at the airport by then Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Eric Williams, being given a guard of honour and people lining up on the streets to greet her. Ramesh also shared on X the link to a video film on Gandhi's visit that the hosts had produced. New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) With Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Trinidad and Tobago, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday recalled Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's 1968 visit to the twin-island republic which was the first by an Indian PM. Ramesh also shared facts about cricketing links and Indian legacy in Trinidad and Tobago. 'The Super Premium Frequent Flier PM will be in Trinidad & Tobago today. Trinidad and Tobago is a small twin-island republic that has produced a number of world figures. We in India know it as one of the places to which the British took thousands of indentured labour in the 19th century,' Ramesh said in his post. 'Some of their descendants have distinguished themselves in politics, like Basdeo Pandey who was the PM during 1995-2001, and the present PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar; in literature like V.S. Naipaul, who won the Nobel Prize in 2001, and his brother Shiva Naipaul; and in cricket like the spinner Sonny Ramadhin, immortalised in the fabulous Victory Calypso composed after the West Indies had defeated England at Lords for the first time in June 1950,' he said. But there is much more to the gloriously multi-racial Trinidad and Tobago than just the connection to India, he said. Williams, the first prime minister and the pre-eminent leader of the freedom movement there, was a brilliant historian whose book 'Capitalism and Slavery', first published in 1944, has remained a classic, he said. Indira Gandhi had a longish conversation with him on this subject when they had met in Port of Spain in October 1968, Ramesh said and added that the hosts produced a lovely film on her visit. Ramesh further said CLR James was an extraordinary Marxist scholar and activist whose path-breaking works on history, politics, sociology, as well as on cricket, are still read and analysed. 'More than anybody else, he was responsible for the West Indies to have its first black captain in 1960 in the hugely inspirational and still revered Frank Worrell,' Ramesh said. George Padmore was an indefatigable campaigner and organiser against British colonialism and he and VK Krishna Menon were comrades in London in the late 1930s especially, the Congress leader pointed out. 'Trinidad and Tobago has produced some of the greatest cricketers of all times like Learie Constantine and Brian Lara. One of India's finest leg-spinners Subhash Gupte settled down there in the early sixties and raised a family,' he noted. Two and a half decades later, the Trinidadian linguist Peggy Ramesar Mohan was to settle down in India and subsequently come out with educative and engaging books like 'Wanderers. Kings. Merchants: The Story of India through its Languages (2021)' and 'Father Tongue, Mother Land: The Birth of Language in South Asia (2025)', he said. Along with the link of the film on Gandhi's visit, Ramesh also shared Sonny Ramadhin's victory Calypso composed after the West Indies had defeated England in 1950. Prime Minister Modi arrived in Port of Spain on the second leg of his five-nation tour, during which he will hold talks with the top leadership of Trinidad and Tobago to further strengthen the bilateral relationship. Modi was received by his counterpart Kamla Persad-Bissessar at Piarco International Airport, where he was accorded a ceremonial welcome and a guard of honour. Several Cabinet ministers and senators were also present to greet the prime minister. In the third leg of his visit, Modi will visit Argentina from July 4 to 5. After that, Modi will travel to Brazil to attend the 17th BRICS Summit followed by a state visit. In the final leg of his visit, Modi will travel to Namibia. PTI ASK DV DV This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
