treaty had been miraculously signed—between Governor Phillip and, say,
the tribes on or nearest Sydney harbour—it would not have lasted long.
Aborigines could not envisage the effects of the intrusion in their homelands
of large numbers of alien livestock. The British could not envisage the effects
of the multiplyingflocks of sheep on the Aborigines’traditional food supplies
and ceremonies. It is hard to envisage four Aboriginal tribes or nations agree-
ing amongst themselves, let alone with a British governor. Intermittent war-
fare soon broke out between the new settlers and local Aborigines. The
nomads had no hope of an ultimate victory. Unlike the native North Ameri-
cans and the New Zealand Maˉori, they did not often adoptfirearms nor use
them effectively. The Aborigines also fought intermittently amongst them-
selves. Traditional enmities persisted even in the face of an alien invader.
In warfare with the British invaders, deaths were numerous. But they were
small compared to deaths caused by the spread of unfamiliar diseases.
Aborigines had no immunity to smallpox, influenza, measles, and other
imported diseases (Blainey 2015, pp. 323–4). The population so declined
that, by 1910, it was widely predicted that full-blood Aborigines would
completely disappear.
New Zealand too suffered a less drastic decline in native population, and
also displayed a more decisive and effective leadership structure when faced
with warfare. The Maˉori spoke a common Polynesian language whereas the
Aborigines were divided by several hundred languages. The Maˉori had larger
tribes and held morefighting men in each, they had forts to which they could
retreat, and they acquiredfirearms (Belich 2001, pp. 75–81). Against the same
British invader they fought more effectively, if no more bravely, than the
Aborigines. Indeed the British had to land a large army in New Zealand to
ensure victory. More significantly, the Maˉori knew how to negotiate. They
understood to an impressive degree the society that was trying to take them
over or occupy large areas of their traditional lands. They also won begrudging
respect. By 1867 Maˉori men had received the right to vote, a specific quota of
seats in parliament, and the retention of large areas of their homeland (Moon
2013, p. 228). In these gains the Maˉori generally were far ahead of Australia’s
Aborigines.
2.3 Australia: an Early Showplace of Mass Prosperity
Measured by some criteria, Australia was the world’s surprise packet for much
of the nineteenth century. Between 1830 and 1850 its standard of living
increased, thanks to the output of wool, and then for another twenty years
when gold provided more wealth than wool.
Geoffrey Blainey