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Executive Producer: David Leonard
Written, Produced and Directed by: Bruce Belsham Narrated by: John Gaden Produced: 1997 (3 x 50 mins documentary miniseries) Television’s first comprehensive account of Australia’s 150 year land war between the Aboriginal inhabitants and the White settlers. Between 1788 and 1938 some 2,000 settlers and 20,000 Aborigines died in armed struggle for the land. Letters, diaries and records give gripping first hand accounts of battles, massacres and betrayals. Hundreds of Australian artworks and historical photographs enrich the retelling of these events. The FRONTIER story is one of passionate debate, of decency and missed opportunity as much as of violence and hatred. “…They Must Always Consider Us As Enemies”
Starring:
With the voices of: Part One: 1770-1835 Soldier/Administrator David Collins, sailed to Sydney with the First Fleet. He became the first official to acknowledge that blacks and whites were locked in a grim struggle for the land. When a second settlement in Tasmania was established it too became embroiled in a "Black War". Fighting ended only after a verbal treaty acknowledged some Aboriginal rights in the land, however the Government broke its promises and Aborigines were rewarded with exile. “…Worse Than Slavery Itself”
Starring:
With the voices of: Part Two: 1830-1860 By 1830 Humanitarians and missionaries began to take up the anti slavery campaign with the official message to Australia that Aboriginals had legal rights as subjects of the crown. However the new mood did not go down well on the Frontier and horrific massacres took place. “…The Government Should Shut Its Eyes”
With the voices of: Part Three: 1860-1938 When the land wars moved North to Queensland the Aborigines resisted. An estimated ten thousand Aborigines were shot dead with the Colonial Government turning a blind eye. Blacks would be imprisoned on reserves, have their children taken from them and be encouraged to breed themselves out. But even as massacres continued Aborigines started to organise politically and would inform white Australia that they had no intention of dying away. Other Sites: |
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