The hatred and greed of the frontier wars still drive race politics today. How little things change | David Marr

Rejig the no voice case rhetoric a little and you’ll find echoes of arguments from the 19th century. Behind it all I hear familiar old voices growling

For 20 years squatters campaigned for an armed force to go with them into the bush and clear the land of its Aboriginal owners. The big wool men cajoled and threatened three governors until they got their way.

The Native Police began killing in the hinterland of the Darling Downs in 1848. My great-great-grandfather, Reg Uhr, and his brother, D’arcy , were officers in the force a few years later as it fought the bloodiest campaigns on the Queensland frontier.

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