ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the proceeding chapters of this book. The discovery of the existence of the dazzling variety of human societies, occupying different rungs on a ladder of civilisation, combined with the desire to penetrate into their own unchronicled past, prompted European philosophers to develop a "Science of Man". George Arthur Phillip's civilising plan, which consisted of the introduction of barter, clothing, European foodstuffs and other commodities, as well as several attempts to settle the Aborigines, conformed well with the main tenets of the four-stages theory. Overall Macquarie's policies towards Aboriginal people stemmed from his conviction of the superiority of European civilisation, which was bound to eventually supersede the traditional Aboriginal culture. To Macquarie it was a symbolic admission charge that granted them access to modernity, a small fee the Aborigines had to pay for their physical survival.
