AUSTRALIA’S SLAVE TRADE

DURING FOUR DECADES from 1863 more than 62,000 South Sea Islander men, women and children were brought as labourers to Australia. Many were kidnapped in a practice known as blackbirding.

After Queensland became a distinct colony in 1859, its government was eager for income and encouraged trade. Australia’s first viable sugar cane harvest was taken in 1862 near Brisbane. The first commercial sugar mill