Aboriginal Studies stoush

Historians vent anger at vice-chancellor’s apology remarks

UNIVERSITY of Tasmania vice-chancellor Rufus Black has been accused of tarnishing the uni’s reputation and defaming its own Aboriginal history scholars.

Prominent historians Ian McFarlane and Henry Reynolds have called for a public retraction after Professor Black stated that the institution had failed to teach the truth regarding Aboriginal history in Tasmania.

In a recent speech to the

SALLY GLAETZER

Burnie Historical Society, Dr McFarlane launched a searing attack on the vice-chancellor over statements made during the university’s apology to Aboriginal people in December.

At the event on Hobart’s Domain, Professor Black said: “For too long, the histories we taught hid the true story of war and genocide. Universities, above all else, are committed to the truth — however uncomfortable — and we didn’t teach it.”

A number of academics have written privately to Professor

Black asking for a retraction, but Dr McFarlane is the first to speak publicly on the issue.

In his talk in Burnie last Thursday, Dr McFarlane described Professor Black’s decision to delete Aboriginal Studies as a discipline from next year and his apparent dismissal of the university’s scholarly achievements in the field as “Orwellian”.

He referred to his own published research into Tasmania’s North-West tribes and the work of many fellow historians, including Henry Reynolds, who had shone a light on the atrocities committed against Tasmanian Aborigines by Europeans.

In a private letter to Dr McFarlane, Professor Black said he had not been referring to contemporary teaching, but rather “a longer history of practices and conduct” up until the 1970s.

His failure to publicly clarify his statement tarnished the reputation of all UTAS academics in the field, Dr McFarlane said.

“To name no one is, of course, to name everybody.”

Professor Reynolds questioned whether the vicechancellor’s statements were a result of “quite extraordinary ignorance” or “a deliberate attempt to diminish the achievements of the university itself”.

“It is my considered view that UTAS has produced more high-quality scholarship in the field than any other university in Australia,” Professor Reynolds said.

He called on the University Council to “find an appropriate way to publicly correct the dismissive statements” that accompanied the apology to Aboriginal people.

Professor Black declined to respond, but a university spokesman said the December apology event was about reflection, not the celebration of achievement.

He said the university and Professor Black were “deeply proud of the role its scholars and Aboriginal leaders have played in bringing the rich history of the island to life”.