Australia newspaper apologises for coverage of 1838 Indigenous massacre

Nine Entertainment Holdings

09/06/2023 06:29

SYDNEY, June 9 (Reuters) - Australia's most-read
newspaper apologised for its coverage of a massacre two
centuries ago in which it campaigned against prosecuting
colonists who slaughtered dozens of Indigenous people, saying
"truth is an essential force for reconciliation".
    Though Australia's history since European arrival in 1788 is
replete with colonial violence against the original inhabitants,
the Myall Creek massacre of June 10, 1838, is seen as a turning
point because of its brutality and the fact it sparked the first
criminal charges for settler violence against First Nations
people.
    About 28 sheltering Indigenous women, children and elderly
men were decapitated with swords or stomped to death by horses,
their bodies later burned, while one woman was kept to be raped
over the following days, according to historians.
    But the Sydney Morning Herald, in an editorial posted at the
top of its website on Friday, said it had "failed dismally" at
the time by publishing articles calling for the attackers to be
spared prosecution and, once found guilty, spared the death
penalty.
    "Today's generation is not responsible for the sins of
earlier ones, yet we can help heal old harms nonetheless," the
Nine Entertainment-owned  NEC.AX  paper said. "The capacity to
recognise a past wrong is a sign of a strong future."
    The unusual editorial reflects a mood of atonement that is
building in Australia as the government plans a referendum,
expected between October and December, on whether to change the
constitution to include an Indigenous advisory body to
parliament.
    Most polls suggest the country will vote in favour of the
change, although the lead is narrowing as opponents, including
the federal opposition, warn it would divide Australians.
    The Herald, which gets the most website visits of any
Australian news outlet, according to industry data, invoked the
referendum in its editorial to mark the 185th anniversary of the
massacre for which seven people were ultimately found guilty of
murder and hanged.
    "As Australia prepares for a referendum on constitutional
recognition for Indigenous Australians later this year, the
nation is thinking deeply about what reconciliation looks like
in 2023," it said. "So too is the Herald."

 (Reporting by Byron Kaye. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
 ((byron.kaye@thomsonreuters.com; +612 9171 7541; @byronkaye;))