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Truth-Telling: History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement
If we are to take seriously the need for telling the truth about our history, we must start at first principles.
What if the sovereignty of the First Nations was recognised by European international law in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? What if the audacious British annexation of a whole continent was not seen as acceptable at the time and the colonial office in Britain understood that 'peaceful settlement' was a fiction? If the 1901 parliament did not have control of the whole continent, particularly the North, by what right could the new nation claim it?
The historical record shows that the argument of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is stronger than many people imagine and the centuries-long legal position about British claims to the land far less imposing than it appears.
In Truth-Telling, influential historian Henry Reynolds pulls the rug from legal and historical assumptions, with his usual sharp eye and rigour, in a book that's about the present as much as the past. His work shows exactly why our national war memorial must acknowledge the frontier wars, why we must change the date of our national day, and why treaties are important. Most of all, it makes urgently clear that the Uluru Statement is no rhetorical flourish but carries the weight of history and law and gives us a map for the future.
What if the sovereignty of the First Nations was recognised by European international law in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? What if the audacious British annexation of a whole continent was not seen as acceptable at the time and the colonial office in Britain understood that 'peaceful settlement' was a fiction? If the 1901 parliament did not have control of the whole continent, particularly the North, by what right could the new nation claim it?
The historical record shows that the argument of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is stronger than many people imagine and the centuries-long legal position about British claims to the land far less imposing than it appears.
In Truth-Telling, influential historian Henry Reynolds pulls the rug from legal and historical assumptions, with his usual sharp eye and rigour, in a book that's about the present as much as the past. His work shows exactly why our national war memorial must acknowledge the frontier wars, why we must change the date of our national day, and why treaties are important. Most of all, it makes urgently clear that the Uluru Statement is no rhetorical flourish but carries the weight of history and law and gives us a map for the future.
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2021
73 people are currently reading
675 people want to read
About the author
Henry Reynolds
58 books52 followersHenry Reynolds is currently an ARC Senior Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania at Launceston. He was for many years at James Cook University in Townsville. He is the author of many well-known books including The Other Side of the Frontier, Law of the Land, Fate of a Free People and Why Weren’t We Told?
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
July 16, 2021
‘In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard.’
The book starts with the full ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’. I have read it before, am moved by it, and wish the Australian government would pay it the respect I deserves. Yes, as Mr Reynolds acknowledges in his foreword, there was not universal Indigenous support for the statement. But surely it is a starting point? But, as Mr Reynolds also points out, most of the discussion has been about the Voice to Parliament, which the Australian government has dismissed.
For me, these are the key questions:
What if the sovereignty of the First Nations was recognised by European international law in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? What if the audacious British annexation of a whole continent was not seen as acceptable at the time and the colonial office in Britain understood that 'peaceful settlement' was a fiction?
As I understand it, sovereignty is a spiritual notion for Indigenous people: an ancestral connection between the land and the people. This is not ‘ownership’ in the way most non-Indigenous Australians perceive it but a guardianship. This guardianship has existed for thousands of years and surely did not cease simply because a statement was made, and a flag raised a couple of hundred years ago?
And surely, until we acknowledge the past, we cannot move beyond it. I may not share all of Mr Reynolds’s views, but I absolutely agree that a Treaty is needed, together with the nomination of different national day.
I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand our history, and the importance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
‘Truth telling has consequences. So too does reinterpretation of history.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The book starts with the full ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’. I have read it before, am moved by it, and wish the Australian government would pay it the respect I deserves. Yes, as Mr Reynolds acknowledges in his foreword, there was not universal Indigenous support for the statement. But surely it is a starting point? But, as Mr Reynolds also points out, most of the discussion has been about the Voice to Parliament, which the Australian government has dismissed.
For me, these are the key questions:
What if the sovereignty of the First Nations was recognised by European international law in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? What if the audacious British annexation of a whole continent was not seen as acceptable at the time and the colonial office in Britain understood that 'peaceful settlement' was a fiction?
As I understand it, sovereignty is a spiritual notion for Indigenous people: an ancestral connection between the land and the people. This is not ‘ownership’ in the way most non-Indigenous Australians perceive it but a guardianship. This guardianship has existed for thousands of years and surely did not cease simply because a statement was made, and a flag raised a couple of hundred years ago?
And surely, until we acknowledge the past, we cannot move beyond it. I may not share all of Mr Reynolds’s views, but I absolutely agree that a Treaty is needed, together with the nomination of different national day.
I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand our history, and the importance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
‘Truth telling has consequences. So too does reinterpretation of history.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
June 27, 2021
Such an important read for anyone wanting to unlearn/relearn our Australian narrative.
So thoroughly well-researched, and the author states their case without emotive arguments.
So thoroughly well-researched, and the author states their case without emotive arguments.
July 6, 2021
I admit that sovereignty is not exactly the most gripping topic.... But in essence, Reynolds argues here that Britain stuffed up colonization in Australia from the very start, acting in ways that were inconsistent with received international law at the time. Despite some hand-wringing from the Colonial Office as a result of humanitarian pressure-politics, the error was perpetuated and entrenched when the Australian colonies achieved self-government. It is was inconsistent then, and it is inconsistent now with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007 and ratified by Australia in 2009. If blame has to be apportioned, it can be directed at the British government up until 1856 but from then on, it lies at Australia's feet.
...This is a timely book, given the insistence of the Referendum Council in pushing the Uluru Statement forward, despite the wish by many politicians to sweep it away. In many ways, the book encapsulates many of the ideas that Reynolds has been putting forward over many years in his other publications... It is quietly but passionately argued, from a deep conviction. It raises important questions that, if we are to tell the truth, we will need to face eventually. The questions can be forced upon us by international bodies and treaties, or we can stand up ourselves with First Nations people who, through the Uluru Statement, have invited Australians "to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future". I know which I'd prefer.
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2021/07/06/...
...This is a timely book, given the insistence of the Referendum Council in pushing the Uluru Statement forward, despite the wish by many politicians to sweep it away. In many ways, the book encapsulates many of the ideas that Reynolds has been putting forward over many years in his other publications... It is quietly but passionately argued, from a deep conviction. It raises important questions that, if we are to tell the truth, we will need to face eventually. The questions can be forced upon us by international bodies and treaties, or we can stand up ourselves with First Nations people who, through the Uluru Statement, have invited Australians "to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future". I know which I'd prefer.
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2021/07/06/...
October 12, 2023
The best Australian history book I have read. It should be mandatory reading for all Australians and taught in schools. Henry Reynolds is a gift to this country.
April 4, 2021
This book should be essential reading for all Australians. Writing to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Reynolds makes a comprehensive and cogent case for constitutional reforms for First Nations people to take their rightful place in this, their own country. The history of European "settlement" in Australian is drenched in the blood of the original occupants of of this land through ignorance, prejudice, greed and sheer wickedness, all contrary to the Law of Nations established and repeatedly concurred over many centuries preceding the arrival of the first fleet. Whilst a lot of blame rests with the British colonial powers much more is attributable to State and Federal governments and the courts who failed to prosecute the murders, rapes, theft of land and virtual enslavement of Aboriginal Australians. Its a horrifying story but it shows a way forward. It is very painful to read but Reynolds is so articulate and concise. Not a word is wasted.
Congratulations to Henry Reynolds for such a superb book
Congratulations to Henry Reynolds for such a superb book
August 19, 2021
An excellent description of the way in which Australia was originally occupied by white invaders after Cook had informed the British Government that only a few people were living there and that they wandered about with no connection to country. By the time this was shown to be entirely untrue it was too late for the aboriginal people to receive anything like the recognition they deserved. Australia as a country is still in denial about the way the original inhabitants have been treated, as shown by Malcolm Turnbull’s immediate rejection of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, presented after much discussion between First Nations people from all parts of Australia. This book is an essential insight into the true history of the country, written with great sympathy and leading the reader easily to understand the true history.
July 24, 2022
What a fabulous read. One of very few non-fiction books I couldn’t put down. Why has every Australian and every person interested in colonial history for that matter not read this book? A fast-paced preci on Australian colonisation, and a wonderful personal story on how the research slowly unearthed so much history after centuries of the great Australian “Silence”.
January 24, 2024
A very thorough, frank history of colonisation and the frontier wars. 4 stars because I found some of it repetitive. But overall a compelling read and important for those of us that had only the sanitised white side of history taught in school.
April 7, 2023
Riveting, compelling read. Should be required knowledge for every Australian before the referendum.
October 17, 2021
Truth-Telling 5/5
Truth-Telling addresses the central yet unresolved issue of justice and the legal underpinning of sovereignty in modern Australia.
The book begins with historical accounts. Firstly, the claim and proclamation of James Cook on behalf of the British Crown. Secondly the legal settlement of the British colony of New South Wales and subsequently self government of the Australian mainland. Each progression provides details of historical and contemporary practices towards the First Nations, land tenure and the legal basis of sovereignty. The author provides the evidence to show that there are significant unresolved issues with the practices and claims by Australia’s governments especially with respect to the original inhabitants.
Henry Reynolds frames his analysis with reference to “Uluru Statement from the Heart” released on 26 May 2017 by delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Convention.
https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement
The book is a significant work for Australians in bringing about a response to this historical statement.
There is much here that many would be surprised to learn.
Reynolds references sources from throughout the world at the time of settlement as well as contemporary arguments throughout Australia’s history. The roles, actions and beliefs of key individuals are examined, illustrating the complexity of thinking as well as deplorable practices.
Many local sources are used including a discussion of long held beliefs, mis-understandings and assumptions about Indigenous Peoples.
This is outstanding historical writing, easy to read, lively and relatable.
Henry Reynolds leaves us in no doubt as to his position and challenges us all to confront Truth-Telling with intelligence, a sense of justice and resolution.
Truth-Telling addresses the central yet unresolved issue of justice and the legal underpinning of sovereignty in modern Australia.
The book begins with historical accounts. Firstly, the claim and proclamation of James Cook on behalf of the British Crown. Secondly the legal settlement of the British colony of New South Wales and subsequently self government of the Australian mainland. Each progression provides details of historical and contemporary practices towards the First Nations, land tenure and the legal basis of sovereignty. The author provides the evidence to show that there are significant unresolved issues with the practices and claims by Australia’s governments especially with respect to the original inhabitants.
Henry Reynolds frames his analysis with reference to “Uluru Statement from the Heart” released on 26 May 2017 by delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Convention.
https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement
The book is a significant work for Australians in bringing about a response to this historical statement.
There is much here that many would be surprised to learn.
Reynolds references sources from throughout the world at the time of settlement as well as contemporary arguments throughout Australia’s history. The roles, actions and beliefs of key individuals are examined, illustrating the complexity of thinking as well as deplorable practices.
Many local sources are used including a discussion of long held beliefs, mis-understandings and assumptions about Indigenous Peoples.
This is outstanding historical writing, easy to read, lively and relatable.
Henry Reynolds leaves us in no doubt as to his position and challenges us all to confront Truth-Telling with intelligence, a sense of justice and resolution.
May 20, 2021
Overall, the author is asking very valid questions which we in Australia must address if we wish to truly move forward.
Having read a number of Henry Reynold's books, I found this one disappointing. Unlike a number of his other books, Truth Telling is more polemic than history. Yes there are a number of historical points, most of which can be found in his other works. However, Truth Telling is written to provoke, create debate and sell more books.
The author does ask uncomfortable questions about our (Australia's) past and to do this the author has been selective about presenting information. He also used supposition disguised as fact to further his arguments. There were times where he attacked the person in order to undermine or invalidate their legacy. For example, I felt Henry Reynold's questioning of the role of Sir Samuel Griffith in the frontier conflict is designed more to undermine the Australian Constitution than just to ask about what he actually did or did not do as Attorney General or Premier of Queensland. At other times he has failed to provide the entire picture. What about James Cook University (where Henry himself was an academic)? What about the funding of Rhodes scholarship?
The questions that Henry have asked are incredibly important but the method of delivery is a major let down.
Having read a number of Henry Reynold's books, I found this one disappointing. Unlike a number of his other books, Truth Telling is more polemic than history. Yes there are a number of historical points, most of which can be found in his other works. However, Truth Telling is written to provoke, create debate and sell more books.
The author does ask uncomfortable questions about our (Australia's) past and to do this the author has been selective about presenting information. He also used supposition disguised as fact to further his arguments. There were times where he attacked the person in order to undermine or invalidate their legacy. For example, I felt Henry Reynold's questioning of the role of Sir Samuel Griffith in the frontier conflict is designed more to undermine the Australian Constitution than just to ask about what he actually did or did not do as Attorney General or Premier of Queensland. At other times he has failed to provide the entire picture. What about James Cook University (where Henry himself was an academic)? What about the funding of Rhodes scholarship?
The questions that Henry have asked are incredibly important but the method of delivery is a major let down.
December 14, 2022
A powerful, informative, and unsettling read. The author skillfully presents the historical record and recent events such as the Uluru statement into a clearly disturbing history of colonial land theft on a grand scale and the maintenance of that theft through the murder of First Nations people over extended periods of time. The whole read is detailed and riveting. Some of the material I was aware of, and other material was new to me hence the reading was a learning experience. It is interesting to see the level of awareness of land rights and legal status recognition for the original and occupying inhabitants expressed by commentators as far back as the 1600s. I have often assumed this awareness was recently new, but the rights and legal status of First Nations people were firmly in the understanding of colonial invaders and simply ignored resulting in decades and generations of crimes committed against the First Nations people. An essential read for all Australians.
February 4, 2022
Such an important book and one I would love to see included in High School curricula across the country.
Henry Reynolds has clearly laid out how Britain illegally took this land from our First Nations Peoples. Even international law at the time (1770) was clear. Captain Cook's reports that the land was basically uninhabited were false and that was evident from the reports back to Britain made by Arthur Phillip once the First Fleet landed.
The First Fleeters discovered that there were in fact many inhabitants, across the country with established communities, languages and practices. The British were the invaders.
This book and the Uluru Statement from the Heart need to be incorporated more fully into the broader Australian community so understanding and healing can occur and an inclusive way forward to an equitable future can be mapped out - led by First Nations Peoples.
Henry Reynolds has clearly laid out how Britain illegally took this land from our First Nations Peoples. Even international law at the time (1770) was clear. Captain Cook's reports that the land was basically uninhabited were false and that was evident from the reports back to Britain made by Arthur Phillip once the First Fleet landed.
The First Fleeters discovered that there were in fact many inhabitants, across the country with established communities, languages and practices. The British were the invaders.
This book and the Uluru Statement from the Heart need to be incorporated more fully into the broader Australian community so understanding and healing can occur and an inclusive way forward to an equitable future can be mapped out - led by First Nations Peoples.
April 13, 2023
Reynolds has illuminated a critical part of Australia's history. His work is clear and concise - based on thorough research, easy to read, balanced, structured, logical.
Arguments are presented with respect, sympathy, sensitivity, and honesty.
The history that I was taught in school was pathetic.
Every Australian should read this book.
We need to confront, understand, and own the true history of this land.
The last paragraph in the book is thought provoking.
This book should be on the high school curriculum.
Arguments are presented with respect, sympathy, sensitivity, and honesty.
The history that I was taught in school was pathetic.
Every Australian should read this book.
We need to confront, understand, and own the true history of this land.
The last paragraph in the book is thought provoking.
This book should be on the high school curriculum.
April 29, 2022
If nothing else, get a copy of this and read the Uluru 'statement from the heart'. What is remarkable in this book and the statement is the conciliation offered that we probably do not deserve, a view that the recent history of Australia is a small part of something much longer and larger. For a fuller discussion on this, and to follow books before and after this one, have a read of my essay, here: https://author-martin.medium.com/land...
June 12, 2021
How little of my country's history I know.
A well written and persuasive antidote to those of us taught a history of peaceful colonisation. Wanders a little bit; he follows his interests, but not in a way that loses the point. I'm pretty readily able to summarise the key points of chapters on brief review.
I'm eager to get additional perspective on this.
A well written and persuasive antidote to those of us taught a history of peaceful colonisation. Wanders a little bit; he follows his interests, but not in a way that loses the point. I'm pretty readily able to summarise the key points of chapters on brief review.
I'm eager to get additional perspective on this.
February 8, 2024
Recently, Australia had a referendum. The point of a referendum is to change the constitution. Unlike the US, the Australian constitution is not holy writ by walking gods, that under no circumstances should ever be changed, but rather a very flawed document that no one has ever read or understood. The point of the referendum was to include a clause that would provide an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament. That is, on issues that directly impact upon First Nations peoples, the voice to parliament would have required future governments to seek their input before making laws.
A large part of the reason for wanting this change is that we have a disgusting gap between a whole range of life outcomes in this country that are directly related to whether you are born Aboriginal or not. From life expectancy, to educational outcomes, to diabetes, Christ, you name it. Too often, in seeking to address these issues and the gap that exists, Blak Australia is simply not consulted at all. We have had various bodies over the years that allowed a kind of voice for Aboriginal people – but invariably these have been closed down by governments, often on a whim. Unsurprisingly, Aboriginal peoples wanted the consultation methods in the future to be written into the constitution so that future governments couldn’t just dissolve them when they decided they didn’t serve their own needs. A year before the voice referendum was to be put to the nation for a vote, about 70% of people were in favour of it – but the opposition party saw a short term political advantage in crushing the hopes of our First Nations peoples and so that is literally what they did. They framed the referendum as giving Aboriginal people more rights than ‘ordinary’ Australians, they framed it as if it was somehow racist to recognise the needs of one of the world’s oldest civilisations. As an act of near infinite disrespect, it is hard to think of a worse instance. I believe it has set back the cause of reconciliation in Australia by, god, 50 years? It is beyond tragic.
This book begins by quoting the Uluru Statement of the Heart, where the proposal for the voice to parliament came from. This statement also calls for a process known as Makarrata – a coming together after a struggle (a truth telling process) and also a treaty.
The history discussed here – particularly of the dispossession of First Nations peoples – is an essential introduction to the process of Makarrata. There has been a concerted campaign for years by historians and propagandists on the right to present Australian history – particularly that of the connection between white settler pioneers and the local Aboriginal peoples they confronted as being one of peace and harmony. So much of this history was simply ignored and rewritten in the early years of the 20th century. However, the source documents from this initial contact still exist and they paint a completely different picture. One of murder, genocide, but also of active and long standing resistance by local Aboriginal peoples seeking to protect and retain their connection with their land.
He also discusses the legal problems with ideas such as Terra Nullius – the idea that Australia was effectively empty when white settlers arrived. One problem was that even by the legal norms of the time, this fiction was considered morally unsupportable. But what also made it interesting was the idea that in claiming the whole of Australia for Britain, this immediately meant the native inhabitants of the land had the rights of British subjects. That is, their land couldn’t just be taken off them without compensation and that attacking them ought to have been as illegal as attacking any other citizens. As such, their resistance and fight for their land wasn’t merely morally justified, but also in accordance with law as it was enforced elsewhere – particularly in Canada and the US. The making of treaties with the local native peoples to compensate them for their land and to provide them with access to it as well, had been done elsewhere – it could easily have been done here too.
An underlying problem with so much of what occurred in Australia was that it was based on a prejudiced understanding of Aboriginal people that simply did not match the facts of their relationship with the land. That is, White Australia essentially always assumed that Aboriginal peoples were nomadic. And so, moving them off the land hardly mattered, since their actual connection to any piece of land was so ephemeral. But this was the complete opposite of the case. Aboriginal nations had strict borders. It wasn’t merely that white people stole the best land – which, obviously, they also did – but that they often forced Aboriginal peoples onto other Aboriginal peoples’ lands. White Australia’s wilful ignorance of Aboriginal law presented them within a convenient fiction that suited the colonisers.
Much of this book is difficult to read, but if one thing the failure of the referendum made all too clear, if we are to have any hope of moving towards reconciliation in Australia, truth-telling is an urgent necessity.
A large part of the reason for wanting this change is that we have a disgusting gap between a whole range of life outcomes in this country that are directly related to whether you are born Aboriginal or not. From life expectancy, to educational outcomes, to diabetes, Christ, you name it. Too often, in seeking to address these issues and the gap that exists, Blak Australia is simply not consulted at all. We have had various bodies over the years that allowed a kind of voice for Aboriginal people – but invariably these have been closed down by governments, often on a whim. Unsurprisingly, Aboriginal peoples wanted the consultation methods in the future to be written into the constitution so that future governments couldn’t just dissolve them when they decided they didn’t serve their own needs. A year before the voice referendum was to be put to the nation for a vote, about 70% of people were in favour of it – but the opposition party saw a short term political advantage in crushing the hopes of our First Nations peoples and so that is literally what they did. They framed the referendum as giving Aboriginal people more rights than ‘ordinary’ Australians, they framed it as if it was somehow racist to recognise the needs of one of the world’s oldest civilisations. As an act of near infinite disrespect, it is hard to think of a worse instance. I believe it has set back the cause of reconciliation in Australia by, god, 50 years? It is beyond tragic.
This book begins by quoting the Uluru Statement of the Heart, where the proposal for the voice to parliament came from. This statement also calls for a process known as Makarrata – a coming together after a struggle (a truth telling process) and also a treaty.
The history discussed here – particularly of the dispossession of First Nations peoples – is an essential introduction to the process of Makarrata. There has been a concerted campaign for years by historians and propagandists on the right to present Australian history – particularly that of the connection between white settler pioneers and the local Aboriginal peoples they confronted as being one of peace and harmony. So much of this history was simply ignored and rewritten in the early years of the 20th century. However, the source documents from this initial contact still exist and they paint a completely different picture. One of murder, genocide, but also of active and long standing resistance by local Aboriginal peoples seeking to protect and retain their connection with their land.
He also discusses the legal problems with ideas such as Terra Nullius – the idea that Australia was effectively empty when white settlers arrived. One problem was that even by the legal norms of the time, this fiction was considered morally unsupportable. But what also made it interesting was the idea that in claiming the whole of Australia for Britain, this immediately meant the native inhabitants of the land had the rights of British subjects. That is, their land couldn’t just be taken off them without compensation and that attacking them ought to have been as illegal as attacking any other citizens. As such, their resistance and fight for their land wasn’t merely morally justified, but also in accordance with law as it was enforced elsewhere – particularly in Canada and the US. The making of treaties with the local native peoples to compensate them for their land and to provide them with access to it as well, had been done elsewhere – it could easily have been done here too.
An underlying problem with so much of what occurred in Australia was that it was based on a prejudiced understanding of Aboriginal people that simply did not match the facts of their relationship with the land. That is, White Australia essentially always assumed that Aboriginal peoples were nomadic. And so, moving them off the land hardly mattered, since their actual connection to any piece of land was so ephemeral. But this was the complete opposite of the case. Aboriginal nations had strict borders. It wasn’t merely that white people stole the best land – which, obviously, they also did – but that they often forced Aboriginal peoples onto other Aboriginal peoples’ lands. White Australia’s wilful ignorance of Aboriginal law presented them within a convenient fiction that suited the colonisers.
Much of this book is difficult to read, but if one thing the failure of the referendum made all too clear, if we are to have any hope of moving towards reconciliation in Australia, truth-telling is an urgent necessity.
March 11, 2023
Uluru Statement from the Heart
Professor Henry Reynolds with historical facts inside his book proves why the Uluru Statement from the Heart is important to be legalised and what it means for the First Nation as well as for whole Australia. It is sad that it has pass so many years and this important statement it is still not included in Australian parliament.
Truth Telling is important book of Australian history covering law legislations from the year 1700 onward which were exchanged between appointed Australian governors and her majesty Queen and British government. Legislations are covering law adjustment according increase of populations. Law is role modelled by law operating in other British colonies and by world law.
With his book Professor Reynolds is opening eyes and hearts of people, and on indirect way ask of us Australians for voice in parliament to be given people who have it right the most, Aboriginal people, first Australians. We reach the time when acceptance and active involvement of first nation in parliament is not only needed then necessary to prove that we are democratic country as well as that we value and respect country, we live in.
Thank you, Professor Reynolds, for writing this book, sharing your knowledge and educating us Australian public about our history on a way that is truthful and respectful to all Australians.
Professor Henry Reynolds with historical facts inside his book proves why the Uluru Statement from the Heart is important to be legalised and what it means for the First Nation as well as for whole Australia. It is sad that it has pass so many years and this important statement it is still not included in Australian parliament.
Truth Telling is important book of Australian history covering law legislations from the year 1700 onward which were exchanged between appointed Australian governors and her majesty Queen and British government. Legislations are covering law adjustment according increase of populations. Law is role modelled by law operating in other British colonies and by world law.
With his book Professor Reynolds is opening eyes and hearts of people, and on indirect way ask of us Australians for voice in parliament to be given people who have it right the most, Aboriginal people, first Australians. We reach the time when acceptance and active involvement of first nation in parliament is not only needed then necessary to prove that we are democratic country as well as that we value and respect country, we live in.
Thank you, Professor Reynolds, for writing this book, sharing your knowledge and educating us Australian public about our history on a way that is truthful and respectful to all Australians.
March 21, 2022
An excellent, well-written book which explores in detail the issue of aboriginal sovereignty and how it was not recognised by the white invaders and actively suppressed for the next 200 years.
Captain Cook exceeded his authority in 17 70 when he claimed the whole East Coast of Australia for Britain. His instructions from the Crown were to claim any territory that was unoccupied or occupied terrority with the consent of the natives.
The British government had a long-standing policy of negotiating treaties with natives of regions they wanted to occupy which involved paying compensation. Australia was to become an exception for some reason. No treaty has ever been signed with any aboriginal groups.
Australian courts and judges and governors actively denied aboriginal sovereignty for nearly 200 years despite knowing full well that thousands of aborigines were being slaughtered.
Captain Cook exceeded his authority in 17 70 when he claimed the whole East Coast of Australia for Britain. His instructions from the Crown were to claim any territory that was unoccupied or occupied terrority with the consent of the natives.
The British government had a long-standing policy of negotiating treaties with natives of regions they wanted to occupy which involved paying compensation. Australia was to become an exception for some reason. No treaty has ever been signed with any aboriginal groups.
Australian courts and judges and governors actively denied aboriginal sovereignty for nearly 200 years despite knowing full well that thousands of aborigines were being slaughtered.
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July 11, 2022Henry Reynolds provides a comprehensive account on the First Sovereign Nations and the search for Truth-Telling within Australia. The book is inspired by the Uluṟu Statement that acknowledges First Nations people’s sovereignty to have never been ceded or extinguished and co-exists with the Crown’s sovereignty. I particularly enjoyed Reynolds’ detailed research into international law during Australia’s foundation as British expansion and wilful disregard of First Nations people’s property was against international jurisprudence at the time. The 17th-century jurist Sir Christopher Yelverton explained “that no man’s property can be legally taken from him or invaded by the direct act or command of the sovereign, without the consent of the subject….is jus indigenae, an old home-born right, declared to be the law by divers statutes of the realm” (p.137).
December 26, 2022
As an Australian, I strongly believe that we should learn about our past and accept it rather than sweep it under the carpet that whatever happened to the actual owners of the land is none of my business because I wasn’t alive back then or my family didn’t partake in any injustice carried out to the Aboriginals.
The book starts off with the beautiful and concise Uluru Statement from the Heart and then the author, Henry Reynolds clarifies the myths on how the sovereignty of the Aboriginals, the true landowners of Australia was disregarded by the Colonial Office in Britain and by Australia too as if the land was empty and the Europeans just showed up and ‘developed’ it. The author also highlights the Frontier Wars and why these must be acknowledged by the war memorial and homage paid to the actual owners of the land who died defending their country.
The book starts off with the beautiful and concise Uluru Statement from the Heart and then the author, Henry Reynolds clarifies the myths on how the sovereignty of the Aboriginals, the true landowners of Australia was disregarded by the Colonial Office in Britain and by Australia too as if the land was empty and the Europeans just showed up and ‘developed’ it. The author also highlights the Frontier Wars and why these must be acknowledged by the war memorial and homage paid to the actual owners of the land who died defending their country.
January 21, 2023
This got me to think about so much I’d never considered. Much of what Reynolds writes in terms of the ‘white blindfold’ view of Australian history. I indeed was one of those generations who went through the Australian education system taught about Australian history as if it started in 1901 and that 60,000 years of First Nations history was inconsequential.
If you fall into that category, read this. It will get you thinking about names such as Joseph Banks, Samuel Griffith and John Batman (names of men who were long dead and thought as benign enough that electorates, universities and suburbs could be named after them).
If you fall into that category, read this. It will get you thinking about names such as Joseph Banks, Samuel Griffith and John Batman (names of men who were long dead and thought as benign enough that electorates, universities and suburbs could be named after them).
March 15, 2023
Put simply, this is a book that every Australian should read, especially with a referendum on The Voice coming up later this year. Essential reading which sets out the facts about a number issues relating to Australia's history and the treatment of the First Nations peoples of this land. Deals with sovereignty and truth telling about frontier wars and leads to the inescapable conclusion that a Voice is essentail as well as a Treaty or treaties with First Nations. Why can't Australia do what many other countries have done and recognise the facts about our history.
February 13, 2024
An interesting balance of logos and pathos. Just when you think he's giving too much credence to the intricacies of international law (because genocide doesn't live in legal literature), he fills the gaps. As an American, I reckon he gives too much credit to us for our own reconciliations (or lack thereof), but the tale is overall comprehensive with an inkling of hope to counteract the anger-inducing facts.
June 27, 2021
Another excellent contribution to the changing of our history perspectives. The audacity (even for the era) of the British claim over the continent later named Australia is extreme. The evidence and the information offered here is not up for debate as the research presented is clear and undeniable. Take it in, take it all in and may there be a better future for all people now living in Australia.
March 31, 2022
This is an exceptionally important book, although not easy reading. The overview of Reynolds research into Australian is both impressive and accessible. In places it is just simply astonishing, how far the conventional view of the country's history departs from the facts.
Only by grappling with this truth, can we commence the hard work of building a reconciled nation.
Only by grappling with this truth, can we commence the hard work of building a reconciled nation.
October 1, 2023
Once again, Henry Reynolds challenges us to think again about the dominant narratives about Australia’s history. He shines a light on matters which are uncomfortable - and our stories of mateship and the belief in a fair go overlook and attempt to silence these experiences.
December 19, 2023
This book is essential reading for every Australian. Too long has this subject been hushed. The uncertainty and fables that surround the British colonisation of Australia need to be exposed to the light.
Then we can walk forward together, informed, to a more honourable and equitable future.
Then we can walk forward together, informed, to a more honourable and equitable future.
September 25, 2021
Essential reading for all Australians
May 12, 2022
This should be required reading.
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