[Greg D]

Just a reality check on this stylized view of Australia before white settlement. Ancient Aboriginal society was just as prone to endemic child abuse via the tribal elders, along with witchcraft which led to many innocent deaths for the same reasons as it does in Western society. Many of the popular versions of the 'nobel savage idea' come from a city educated, part Aboriginal privileged class. Some of whom are from the stolen generation. Unfortunately the stigma of the stolen generations prevents many children today being taken away from abusive drunken parents. I know this first hand as a Pastor of many Aboriginal people.
I asked one of the ladies if her people, believed that they were going to keep this vast continent to themselves? I said the rest of the world were going to come here to takeover eventually and that they were fortunate it wasn't the imperial Japanese army who came here first, as they would have been almosr completely wiped out.
If you read the accounts of Governor Philip of the first fleet, he had a good relationship with the first inhabitants. This is an unpopular view in this current climate of devision. The British settlement of Australia was preferable and much more prosperous for the inhabitants both white and Aboriginal. The Spanish who also came here but weren't interested because the gold was still in the ground and they couldn't take it from the indigenous population. As most of the previous Spanish colonies are in poverty thanks to the Catholic church. This is a non PC post but it is my personal observations, there are good and bad eggs in every racial group.