Well, well, well. Here we are again, deadly mob. Another week, another colonial yarn that needs unpacking. This time, we're addressing a particularly fascinating piece of logic that's been doing the rounds: the claim that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aren't "actually Australian" because we didn't sign a treaty or agree to colonisation.
Let me get this straight, because we didn't consent to having our lands invaded, our people massacred, and our children stolen, we're somehow not Australian? And the people who showed up uninvited 237 years ago with a few boats full of convicts and a made-up doctrine are the "real" Australians?
Oh, the irony is rich enough to spread on damper.
But you know what? Let's take this at face value. Let's have a proper yarn about who really belongs to this land, who built what, and what "being Australian" means. Grab a cuppa, because we're about to get educated.
Let's Start with the Basics: Who Was Here First?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been on this continent for at least 65,000 years. That's not a typo. Sixty-five thousand years. DNA studies confirm that we are the world's oldest continuous living culture. We were here before the Pyramids were built. Before Stonehenge. Before the Acropolis. Before the Roman Empire. Before the British even thought about becoming British.
British colonisation began on 26 January 1788. That's 237 years ago. Let's put this in perspective: 65,000 years of us caring for Country versus 237 years of... well, we'll get to that.
If we're doing the maths on who has the deeper, longer, more legitimate connection to this land, I think the scoreboard is pretty clear.
The "Terra Nullius" Fiction: A Lie That's Been Legally Debunked
Let's talk about how the British justified rocking up to someone else's home and claiming it as their own. They used a doctrine called terra nullius, Latin for "land belonging to no one".
The problem? The land very obviously belonged to someone. In fact, it belonged to over 250 distinct Aboriginal nations with their own languages, laws, governance systems, and territories. We had complex land management practices, sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, and sophisticated trade networks spanning the entire continent.
But according to British law at the time, because we didn't have property rights that Europeans recognised (you know, like deeds and fences and the very specific European concept of ownership), they decided we didn't count. How convenient.
Here's the thing that's going to blow some minds: the terra nullius doctrine was officially overturned in 1992. The landmark Mabo v Queensland case recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples held native title to this land—title that existed before British colonisation and continues to exist today.
The High Court of Australia, you know, actual legal experts, looked at the evidence and said, "Yeah, that terra nullius thing? Complete fiction. Aboriginal people absolutely had rights to this land."
So even by the colonisers' own legal system, the foundation of British settlement was built on a lie. And that lie has been legally rejected.
"Australia Was Built by White People"
This is where things get particularly cheeky. The argument goes that "Australia", meaning the infrastructure, the cities, the nation-state, was built by white settlers, and therefore Aboriginal people have no claim to it.
First, let's be crystal clear about what was “built”: a colonial nation-state on stolen land. The British didn't create this continent. They didn't create the rivers, the mountains, the ecosystems. They arrived on land that had been carefully managed and cared for by Aboriginal peoples for 65,000 years.
Second, let's talk about who did the building. Yes, European settlers built cities and infrastructure. But they built them:
- On land they stole
- With resources they took without permission
- Using labour that included Aboriginal people (often unpaid or enslaved)
- By destroying existing Aboriginal infrastructure and land management systems
Aboriginal peoples had already "built" a society here, one that was sustainable, sophisticated, and had survived longer than any European civilisation. We had:
- Complex kinship systems and laws
- Sustainable land and fire management practices (which European settlers ignored, leading to the catastrophic bushfires we see today)
- Trade routes spanning thousands of kilometres
- Sophisticated knowledge systems about astronomy, navigation, medicine, and ecology
- Permanent and semi-permanent settlements, including the Budj Bim aquaculture system, one of the world's oldest aquaculture systems, older than the Pyramids
The colonisers didn't "build Australia." They built a colonial infrastructure on top of an existing Aboriginal Australia. There's a difference.
The "You're Immigrants Too" Fallacy
Now, some might be reading this and thinking, "But aren't Aboriginal people technically immigrants too? You came from Africa originally!"
Cute try, but no.
Yes, all humans originated in Africa. But there's a rather significant difference between:
- People who arrived 65,000 years ago, developed distinct cultures, languages, and connections to Country over millennia, and never left
- People who showed up 237 years ago with the explicit intention of colonising land that was already inhabited
One is called being Indigenous to a place. The other is called immigration or, more accurately in this case, invasion.
"You Didn't Consent, So You're Not Australian"
Let's circle back to the original claim: because Aboriginal people didn't sign a treaty or consent to being colonised, we're somehow not "actually Australian."
This is like someone breaking into your house, refusing to leave, redecorating without your permission, and then claiming you're not a legitimate resident because you didn't sign a contract agreeing to the break-in.
The absence of a treaty doesn't negate our connection to this land. If anything, it proves the illegitimacy of the colonial claim. The fact that there was no treaty, no agreement, no consent means that the British occupation was, and let's use the proper word here, an invasion.
We are Australian because we have been here longer than the concept of "Australia" has existed.
We are Australian because this is our Country.
We are Australian because our ancestors have cared for every inch of this continent for millennia.
The nation-state called "Australia" was created without our consent, built on our land, and continues to benefit from the dispossession of our peoples. That doesn't make us less Australian, it makes the colonial project fundamentally illegitimate without proper recognition and treaty.
The Real Question: Who Are the Immigrants Here?
If we're going to be honest about who the "immigrants" are in this conversation, let's lay it out:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: 65,000+ years of continuous connection to Country
- British settlers (and subsequent waves of European immigration): 237 years
By any reasonable definition, white Australians are the immigrants here. They came from another land. They settled. They've been here for a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme of this continent's human history.
And you know what? That's okay. Being an immigrant isn't an insult. What is problematic is when immigrants refuse to acknowledge the sovereignty and rights of the people whose land they're living on.
What "Australia" Really Means
Here's the part where we get a bit deep. When someone says "Australia," what do they mean?
If they mean the land, the continent, the ecosystems, the Country, that belongs to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It always has. We are the traditional owners, and that's not up for debate.
If they mean the nation-state called the Commonwealth of Australia, the political entity established in 1901, well, that was created by British colonisers without Aboriginal consent. We were specifically excluded from that project. We weren't even counted in the census until 1967. We couldn't vote in all states until 1965. We weren't considered citizens in our own land.
So, if someone wants to argue that Aboriginal people aren't part of "Australia" (meaning the colonial nation-state), they're accidentally stumbling onto something we've been saying for decades: that Australia was built as a colonial project that excluded and dispossessed First Nations peoples.
But here's the thing, we're not going anywhere. We've been here for 65,000 years, and we'll be here for 65,000 more. Whether the colonial state recognises us or not, we are the Indigenous peoples of this land. We are the traditional owners. We are the oldest continuing culture on Earth.
And yes, we are Australian, in the truest, deepest, and most legitimate sense of the word.
The Path Forward: Recognition, Truth, and Treaty
The claim that Aboriginal people "aren't Australian" reveals a deep discomfort with the truth of this country's history. It's an attempt to erase us from the narrative, to justify ongoing dispossession, and to avoid the uncomfortable reality that everything built in this country has been built on stolen land.
But here's what we need to move forward:
- Recognition: Constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of this land.
- Truth-telling: Honest acknowledgment of the violence, dispossession, and genocide that characterised colonisation, and its ongoing impacts today.
- Treaty: Formal agreements that recognise Aboriginal sovereignty and establish a genuine relationship between First Nations and the Australian state, something that should have happened 237 years ago.
Until these things happen, the Australian nation-state remains what it has always been: a colonial project built on unceded Aboriginal land.
We've Always Been Here, We'll Always Be Here
So to those who claim we're not "really Australian": you're right in one sense. We're not "Australian" in the way that colonial project defined it, as white, as British, as European.
We're something far older, far deeper, and far more legitimate.
We are the traditional owners of this land. We are the custodians of the oldest continuing culture on Earth. We are the peoples who have cared for Country for 65,000 years.
You can call us whatever you want, but you can't erase 65,000 years of connection to Country. You can't undo the fact that you are the immigrants here, not us.
We were here first. We're still here. And we're not going anywhere.
The next time someone wants to argue about who's "really Australian," remind them: we were Australian before Australia was even a concept. We'll be Australian long after the colonial state has transformed into something that honours the sovereignty and rights of First Nations peoples.
Until then, we'll keep educating, keep speaking truth, and keep fighting for justice on our own land.
Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
