Recap by Ian Pendleton
When a left-leaning writer looked through his family heritage and found a perpetrator of the massacre of indigenous Australian’s, it was a sobering ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ moment. David Marr’s family history is the background of his comprehensive account of the Native Police and the modus operandi behind the clearance of indigenous people across Australia. The Book club (on the day following Australia Day) had a compelling discussion on Marr’s ‘Killing for Country’ which described (in well documented detail) the social conditions in the young NSW settlement that made possible the systematic disempowerment, removal and destruction of Australia’s first people.
It was agreed that this was not an easy or comfortable read – indeed many of the accounts of mass killing and endemic violence were deeply shocking. Some members found the book excessively long with Marr’s detailed retelling of the historical context and long list of documented mass killings. Others found the exposure of the workings of the Native Police overdue and important and very thought provoking. Most found that the events detailed were a stain on our national history that need to be acknowledged.
Three-word summaries included: ‘Native Police Exposed’, ‘‘Tells the Truth’ and ‘Bloodstained Black Armband’. Average rating out of 10 was 6.
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