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Blackbirding: A reckoning with the Australian slave trade
An important reckoning with Australia’s unspoken history of slavery, from the author of the bestselling books The Ballad of Abdul Wade and The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli.
As Australia becomes more willing to confront the violence and trauma of its colonial past, one chapter has remained largely hidden: the Australian slave trade known as blackbirding.
Between 1860 and 1906, more than 60,000 Pacific Islanders were brought to Australia to work the Queensland sugarcane fields. Men, women and children were taken from their homelands through coercion, deception or outright abduction. Forced into contracts they could not read, unpaid until the end of their service and denied basic rights, they endured brutal working conditions that led to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people.
In this immersive and meticulously researched work of narrative nonfiction, Ryan Butta confronts one of the least acknowledged episodes in Australian history. Exposing a deliberate ‘engineered forgetting’ that has kept these stories out of the national memory, this book brings the hidden history of blackbirding into the light and reckons with the enduring legacy of Australia’s forgotten slave trade.
As Australia becomes more willing to confront the violence and trauma of its colonial past, one chapter has remained largely hidden: the Australian slave trade known as blackbirding.
Between 1860 and 1906, more than 60,000 Pacific Islanders were brought to Australia to work the Queensland sugarcane fields. Men, women and children were taken from their homelands through coercion, deception or outright abduction. Forced into contracts they could not read, unpaid until the end of their service and denied basic rights, they endured brutal working conditions that led to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people.
In this immersive and meticulously researched work of narrative nonfiction, Ryan Butta confronts one of the least acknowledged episodes in Australian history. Exposing a deliberate ‘engineered forgetting’ that has kept these stories out of the national memory, this book brings the hidden history of blackbirding into the light and reckons with the enduring legacy of Australia’s forgotten slave trade.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 28, 2026
About the author
Ryan Butta
6 books23 followersAfter starting out life on the opal fields of western NSW, Ryan was raised among the vineyards and horse studs of the Hunter Valley. His first work of historical non-fiction, The Ballad of Abdul Wade, recounted the previously untold story of the Afghan men that came to Australia in the1800s to work in the mining and wool industries. The Ballad of Abdul Wade was longlisted for the Indie Book Awards non-fiction book of the year for 2023. Ryan's latest work, The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli, retells the remarkable life story of Harry Freame, a Japanese-Australian adventurer, soldier of fortune, Anzac, orchardist and spy.
Ryan's feature writing has appeared in the Good Weekend Magazine and he is a regular contributor to Galah Press, writing about the people and places of regional Australia. Ryan’s works of historical non-fiction look to reveal and understand the hidden and forgotten stories of Australia and the Australians who, like his own family, came across the seas to make their home here. Ryan believes that only by dismantling the myths of the past can we build the country of the future. Ryan now lives on Dharawal country on the NSW South Coast.
Ryan's feature writing has appeared in the Good Weekend Magazine and he is a regular contributor to Galah Press, writing about the people and places of regional Australia. Ryan’s works of historical non-fiction look to reveal and understand the hidden and forgotten stories of Australia and the Australians who, like his own family, came across the seas to make their home here. Ryan believes that only by dismantling the myths of the past can we build the country of the future. Ryan now lives on Dharawal country on the NSW South Coast.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 3, 2026
An essential read of Australian history. High sea piracy, colonial hypocrisy, plantation brutality and the absolutely corrupt machinations of Australian capitalists and politicians who were and are interchangeable in their roles and interests. Fun fact: John Howard’s father and grandfather defrauded the soldier settlement scheme by buying plantations in New Guinea on behalf of prominent slave trading company Burns Philps’ rival WR Carpenter. I was hoping Ryan would explore further the impacts of the Australian slave trade today beyond the PALM scheme.
September 22, 2026
Coming from New Caledonia, this was enlightening. I truly hope it gets translated into French because the stories that are told in this book should be etched in stone around here, and the men and women who lost their lives should be acknowledged and remembered.
Dwelling on the past is treacherous, and I don't think seeking reparations is ever a solution, nor brings true peace. However, all efforts should be directed toward making sure history doesn't repeat itself—though based on the last chapter, it seems we aren't there yet.
This is an eye-opening, heart-wrenching, must-read for all Pacific Islanders, and anyone looking to better understand Australia's history.
Dwelling on the past is treacherous, and I don't think seeking reparations is ever a solution, nor brings true peace. However, all efforts should be directed toward making sure history doesn't repeat itself—though based on the last chapter, it seems we aren't there yet.
This is an eye-opening, heart-wrenching, must-read for all Pacific Islanders, and anyone looking to better understand Australia's history.
September 1, 2026
Thorough but very readable account of slavery in Australia. Slavery is something most people associate with the American South … but this is clearly what was going on when Australian planters ‘sourced’ labour from the Pacific Islands for the cane fields. Enlightening. An important history to remember.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews