Dr Robyn Smith’s book, Licence to Kill: massacre men of Australia’s north, details massacres of First Peoples that took place in Australia’s north from 1824 up to the 1980s.
Read more about this publication in Madison Howarth’s story on NITV, 18 June 2024: https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/new-book-reveals-names-of-those-who-led-massacres-in-countrys-north/jvairh6lp?dlb=[2024/06/18]%20del_nitv_bau&did=DM38272&cid=nitv:edm:acnitv:relation:nitvbrand:na:na
Dr Robyn Smith is a Lecturer at Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory. Her book, published in 2024, is available from the Historical Society of the Northern Territory: https://www.historicalsocietynt.org.au/product/Licence-to-Kill-Massacre-Men-of-Australias-North
A depiction of a conflict between explorer Ernest Giles’s party and Aboriginal people at Ullaring (in today’s Northern Territory) from Ernest Giles, Australia Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration, 1880?, published as an ebook by The University of Adelaide, 17 December 2014
The Australian Frontier Conflicts website includes a growing Bibliography and Journal Articles about conflicts that took place between colonists, police, immigrants, and First Nations. Links follow to lists of some known conflicts that happened in Australia’s north in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. Conflicts took place all over Australia. Check the drop-down menu under Resources for more information on frontier conflicts such as Maps, Books, Databases, Films and Television, Podcasts, and Videos.
Dr Ray Kerkhove’s book, How They Fought: Indigenous Tactics and Weaponry of Australia’s Frontier Wars, 2023, available from Boolarong Press: https://boolarongpress.com.au is recommended for readers of the Australian Frontier Conflicts website, who are interested in how Australia’s First Nations strongly resisted the advances of colonists and immigrants into Country.
The first systematic coverage of frontier violence in Queensland is Dr Timothy Bottoms’ book, Conspiracy of Silence: Queensland’s frontier killing times, Allen & Unwin, 2013. Read more about the book and how to order a copy here: https://cairnshistory.com.au/conspiracy-of-silence/ A link to his video, A Conspiracy of Silence: Queensland’s frontier killing times, can be found under Videos on the Australian Frontier Conflicts website.
Dr Bottoms also has a series of short information sheets on his website, The Frontier Series: https://cairnshistory.com.au/the-frontier-series/, about particular conflicts that occurred in Queensland between colonists and First Peoples.