ABSTRACT
The memorial pays tribute to the white Australians who lost their lives in the early 1880s after the British-backed Egyptian regime in the Sudan was threatened by an 'Indigenous' rebellion. Between 1860 and 1970, Australia effectively had state-sanctioned slavery of Aboriginal people. Aboriginal workers were either unpaid or had costs paid for food and accommodation despite lack of nutrition and poor living conditions. State governments assured workers that their wages were placed in a government trust, but most never saw a cent. Pregnant Aboriginal women were particularly prized because their lungs were believed to have greater air capacity in diving for pearls during pregnancy. In Australia, black people are under constant attack in the remote communities to which they have been relegated within a social and economic apartheid. The British refused to acknowledge the prior rights of Aboriginal Australians despite written evidence and observation that Australia was inhabited.
