Australia's Dark Secret: The Inhumane Treatment of Indigenous Peoples

Living abroad and being a teacher, I often talk to people about the history of Australia. Many people find it hard to believe that in many ways Australia resembles South Africa in it's history and ideology regarding the Indigenous people of the continent. At the same time many people in Australia want to see change, and to see the crimes of history addressed. But many people in Australia also see the colonisation of the landmass as a 'civilising project'. The distance between these points is the reason why collective Australia is so often concerned with what it is to be 'Australian' and so much time, effort and money is spent in projecting out into the world a sort of composite image of 'Australia'. As recently as the 2023 FIFA women's world cup there were advertisements run to attract tourists to Australia which featured the same image that were being promoted in the 1980s (outback landscapes, marsupials, the beach and the Great Barrier Reef, the Opera House) in the tedious 'Come and Say G'day campaign'. If Australia as a culture could only articulate some of the complexities of the national story and history, I believe there could be massive change in how the society as a whole develops and many of the issues that are dividing the nation today would be incorporated into a larger understanding of national identity. One of the most difficult and important issues that needs to be incorporated into the nation is the ongoing history of genocide that is the story of Aboriginal survival. This film takes a bleak look at this horror