Paved with Good Intentions: Terra Nullius, Aboriginal land rights and settler-colonial law by Hannah Robert

Over a century before Mabo and generations before ‘Terra Nullius’, Aboriginal land rights were briefly acknowledged, sparked by the anti-slavery and humanitarian movements. In the push to colonise South Australia and Port Phillip, well intentioned people voiced humanitarian concerns about Indigenous dispossession. But good intentions were not enough, as settlers seized nearly 20 million acres of Aboriginal country. Voracious demand for land and lust for growth pushed the original owners of the land to the margins – offered “protection” and assimilation instead of recognition of their legal rights. In this book, Hannah Robert prises apart a key moment in Australia’s history and reveals the machinations of colony and empire amid the turbulent confluence of ideas about “civilization”, “property” and “the noble savage”. Specifications: Publisher: Halstead Press Year: 2016 Format: Paperback Pages: 164pp ISBN-13: 9781925043266

$34.95

3 in stock

Categories: Indigenous History, Pastoral history, Political & Law History, Victoria - Colonial 19th Century

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Over a century before Mabo and generations before ‘Terra Nullius’, Aboriginal land rights were briefly acknowledged, sparked by the anti-slavery and humanitarian movements. In the push to colonise South Australia and Port Phillip, well intentioned people voiced humanitarian concerns about Indigenous dispossession. But good intentions were not enough, as settlers seized nearly 20 million acres of Aboriginal country. Voracious demand for land and lust for growth pushed the original owners of the land to the margins – offered “protection” and assimilation instead of recognition of their legal rights. In this book, Hannah Robert prises apart a key moment in Australia’s history and reveals the machinations of colony and empire amid the turbulent confluence of ideas about “civilization”, “property” and “the noble savage”. Specifications: Publisher: Halstead Press Year: 2016 Format: Paperback Pages: 164pp ISBN-13: 9781925043266