Australian historian Henry Reynolds will discuss his new book, Truth Telling, at an event in Launceston on Thursday evening.
The book, Truth-Telling, First Nations sovereignty and the Uluru Statement, questions the legal position of British land claims by providing evidence that the sovereignty of Australia’s First Nations peoples was recognised by European international law in the 18th and 19th centuries and that the British annexation of the continent was not seen as acceptable at the time.
In doing so, it strengthens the arguments and recommendations made in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The Australian Book Review’s Sarah Maddison described the book as a “forensic historical accounting of the legal and moral failings of the colonial project” and “most definitely a book that Australians should read.”
Moderated by University of Tasmania Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black, Professor Reynolds will be joined at this event by Professor Kate Darian-Smith, (Executive Dean & Pro Vice-Chancellor, College of Arts, Law & Education) and Professor Greg Lehman (Pro Vice-Chancellor, Aboriginal Leadership) to discuss his book, First Nations sovereignty and the Uluru Statement.
Where: Lecture Theatre 5, Sir Raymond Ferrall Centre, Newnham Campus.
When: 1 July 5:30-7pm
This is a free event, being held in-person and streamed online.
Bookings are essential and can be made online: https://www.utas.edu.
About the author: Professor Henry Reynolds grew up in Hobart and was educated at Hobart High School and the University of Tasmania. In 1965 he accepted a lectureship at James Cook University in Townsville, which sparked an interest in the history of relations between settlers and Aborigines. A pioneering historian, Professor Reynolds is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities on the history of Australia’s Indigenous people. His seminal book, The Other Side of the Frontier, published in 1981, was the first to see history from an Aboriginal perspective. An outspoken public intellectual, Professor Reynolds was the first academic historian to champion Aboriginal land rights. Fighting for reconciliation at a time when it was not popular, he was not deterred by the backlash and his courage, tenacity and commitment inspired a generation of Aboriginal and white Australian activists to persevere in their campaign for Aboriginal land and other rights. Professor Reynolds’ oral history project in the 1970s connected him with Eddie Mabo and greatly contributed to the High Court’s recognition of land rights.
Professor Reynolds is the author of over twenty books, which have won awards including a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Arts Award, an Australian Book Council Award, a Queensland Premier’s Literary Award and a Prime Minister’s Literary Award. In 2000 he took up a professorial fellowship at the University of Tasmania. His most recent book is Truth Telling: History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement. On August 1 his biography of the great Tasmanian warrior chief Tongerlongeter, written with Nicholas Clements, will be published by New South.
