Buzzcuck OZ is trying to guilt trip everyone into thinking today was "invasion day," when all that happened was the original settlers arriving. The rest is quite a read and only scratches the tip of the iceberg.
Upon arrival and for a couple months after settling, Governor Phillip instructed his soldiers not to fire at the indigenous and instead wanted to assimilate them into British culture, and give them working opportunities within the British Empire.
It was only a few months after that the Indigenous of the 18th Century started hostilities with the British. Soon after this, the Indigenous started "resisting" i.e. attempting to murder everything by furthering hostilities against the British in Botany Bay. Forced by the circumstances, Phillip instructed his soldiers to fire at any Indigenous whom threatened the settlers.
From here on for the next 146 years (1788-1934), there were further clashes between the Indigenous and the British, only for it to end with the British being victorious. However, the British didn't cause the most deaths by direct influence. Much like the Indigenous Americans, it was disease that caused most of the lives lost amongst the "natives." Indigenous Australians aren't native to Australia, they're also settlers from overseas who came over during the Ice Age approx. 40,000 years ago, when the tides were extremely low.
Furthermore, disease didn't quite kill the percentage of Indigenous that it had in the U.S. Reportedly, disease killed upwards of 90% of the Indigenous American populace, whereas in Australian it's at least 50% of those that died during the Frontier Wars.
Whilst yes, some of the acts committed over 82 years ago were atrocious, and the acts committed by some peoples ancestors committed pre-1962 (when the Indigenous Australian's were given the vote) were deplorable as well, what's more immoral is to guilt trip those of whom aren't 53+ years old and did not partake in such atrocities. To guilt trip younger generations for events that are far out of their control is just as deplorable, and should be considered as such. Yes, by all means, teach the history of what happened, but don't go around calling it "Invasion Day" or "Genocide Day" as a tool to alienate younger generations of your cause, because it'll do just that.
Sources:
1. Australianmuseum.net.au,. "Indigenous Australia Timeline - 1500 To 1900 - Australian Museum". N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.
2. Korff, Jens. "Aboriginal History Timeline (1770 - 1899)". Creative Spirits. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.
3. wiliam, Sydney Australia. "British-Aboriginal Relations, 1788-1820, Settlement, 1788-1850, First Australians And The European Arrivals, SOSE: History Year 9, QLD | Online Education Home Schooling Skwirk Australia". Skwirk.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.
Additional resources for more info:
-Bostock, Lester, 1990, The Greater Perspective, Special Broadcasting Service
-Fraser, Bryce, (ed), 1983, The Macquarie Book of Events, Weldon,
-Directorate of Special Programs, NSW Department of Education, 1982, Aboriginal Australia, a Preliminary Chronology
-Jonas, Bill and Langton, Marcia, 1994, The Little Red, Yellow and Black (and Green and Blue and White) Book, AIATSIS
-Horton, D (ed) 1994, Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Studies Press
-Butler, Kevin, Cameron, K & Percival, B., 1995, The Myth of Terra Nullius, Invasion and Resistance -the early years, Board of Studies
