A new history of ‘blackbirding’ favours moral condemnation at the expense of complexity

By Tim Rowse, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University

In the second half of the 19th century, colonial agriculture and pastoralism in Queensland were hungry for labour, and people of the South Pacific supplied much of it. Ryan Butta is not the first author to write the history of their maltreatment, but Blackbirding is a readable reminder of a shameful source of Queensland’s prosperity – he calls it “slavery” – that will make it known to new audiences.

Review: Blackbirding: A Reckoning with the Australian Slave Trade –…

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~	What medical students learn from talking to care home residents

~	Shipwrecks can become thriving reefs, but may contain hidden toxic time bombs

~	Earthly Paradise at the William Morris Museum asks how we can ‘live radically’ inside our homes

~	How Iran carries out violence abroad – from diplomats and assassins to criminal networks

~	Human Rights Education Resources for Write for Rights 2026

~	Independent MP Helen Haines critically injured in attack, PM says counter-terrorism team activated, 43-year-old man arrested

~	India: End the crackdown on peaceful protests and release arbitrarily detained protesters

~	View from The Hill: Shoebridge and his defiant senator at loggerheads over leave

~	Former Labor attorney-general to be new head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission

~	How gas prices became a lightning rod for voter anger ahead of the US midterms