Big Ideas

The Australian Wars with Rachel Perkins and Henry Reynolds — a watershed event at the Australia War Memorial

Feb 4, 2026
Henry Reynolds, eminent historian who revealed frontier violence in landmark works, and Rachel Perkins, filmmaker and Blackfella Films founder, discuss their new book and film project. They explore calling colonial conflict the Australian Wars. They reflect on memorial recognition, contested place names and statues, audience stories of massacre sites, and the push to make the national memorial a pilgrimage for truth-telling.
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ANECDOTE

Research Began In A Bowen Newspaper

  • Henry Reynolds describes discovering frontier violence via regional newspapers and archives while teaching in North Queensland.
  • He traced local reports that 'the foundations of our town were cemented in blood' and expanded the research nationwide.
INSIGHT

Frontier Fighting Was Asymmetrical War

  • The frontier conflicts are best understood as asymmetrical warfare shaped by geography and technology.
  • Reynolds links these Australian wars to global imperial 'small wars' that mattered to colonised peoples.
ANECDOTE

Family History Brought The Story Home

  • Rachel Perkins shares family history: a great-grandmother said to have survived a massacre and Kalkadoon ancestors nicknamed 'the Fighting Kalkadoon'.
  • She explains why these personal legacies made the War Memorial a resonant site for recognition.
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