Andrew Bolt says Lidia Thorpe should apologize for claiming her ancestors lived in peace before the settlers arrived: ‘Is Aboriginal massacres only bad if they were committed by whites?’
According to Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt, Lidia Thorpe’s indigenous clan is said to be responsible for a massacre that left dozens of Aboriginal people dead.
The Sky News pundit labeled Senator Thorpe’s speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday as “dangerous and deceptive” and claimed she was “pushing her incendiary history of Australia”.
The former Greens senator, who identified herself as a member of the Gunnai Gunditjmara Djab Wurrung clan, said her ancestors lived in peace until European settlers landed on the coast of Australia.
The former Greens senator (pictured), who identified herself as a member of the Gunnai Gunditjmara Djab Wurrung clan, said her ancestors lived in peace until European settlers landed on Australia’s coast during her National Press Club address on Wednesday.
“My grandmother’s country had 70 clans that lived in peace and harmony before colonization,” Senator Thorpe told reporters.
But Bolt poured cold water on the allegations, claiming that ‘the ancient tribe of Thorpe were themselves guilty of massacres’.
“The Gunnai were guilty of one of the worst massacres of Aborigines known to the early colonialists,” the Sky News host claimed.
Bolt claimed that the Gunnai were responsible for what has come to be known as the Warrowen massacre, which allegedly took place in the 1830s and killed about 70 members of the Bunurong clan.
Warrowen translates as “place of sorrow” or “crying incessantly.”
William Thomas, an early settler who represented Aboriginal people in various roles in Port Phillip, later recorded the massacre based on testimonies from native sources.
In an 1840 letter, Mr Thomas wrote that ‘about four years ago 77 people were killed in Little Brighton, not nine miles from Melbourne’.
The events are also said to have been chronicled by George Henry Haydon, a writer and artist who emigrated to Melbourne in 1840, in his book ‘Five Years’ Experience in Australia Felix’, claiming that the alleged massacre ‘almost exterminated an entire tribe’ .
“One of the ancient warriors of this tribe, who had escaped the carnage, said his people lay like dead kangaroos across the land,” Haydon wrote.
Historian Marie Hansen Fels, who wrote ‘I Succeeded Once’ – The Aboriginal Protectorate on the Mornington Peninsula, 1839-1840, argues that the atrocity was ‘everyday information in Melbourne’s early history’.
The alleged Warrowen massacre was recorded by William Thomas, an early settler who represented Aboriginal people in various roles in Port Phillip (pictured)
Ms Fels identifies the sites of the massacre as Landcox Park and Hurlingham Park in present-day Brighton East in south-east Melbourne.
In her National Press Club address, Senator Thorpe called for reparations for indigenous peoples.
“Much money is owed to the first peoples. I mean look at the resources that have been mined over 200 years,” said Ms Thorpe.
“You know, we don’t want to bankrupt the country. I’m adding that now. Otherwise we can with what is due.’
‘You’re looking at the Victorian Parliament… That’s stolen sandstone used to build the Victorian Parliament.
“I could bill Daniel Andrews as a traditional owner. But I’ll protect him from that.’
But Bolt emphatically asked that Senator Thorpe apologize for the Warrowen massacre, allegedly perpetrated by her clan.
“Will Lidia Thorpe apologize for the slaughter of Aborigines by her ancient tribe?” he said.
Will she pay compensation? Or are Aboriginal massacres only bad if they are committed by whites?’
Daily Mail Australia approached Senator Thorpe for comment.