Balance ‘missing’ in story of Cook

A NSW indigenous politician says the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s arrival on the east coast of Australia is a “difficult” time and there shouldn’t be a one-sided celebration of the explorer.

Planned commemorative events to reflect on April 29, 1770, when Cook sailed into Botany Bay, have been suspended or delayed by the COVID-19 crisis, including a “meeting of two cultures” event.

Federal Labor MP and Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney said it was an anniversary of mixed feelings.

“It’s obviously a very difficult anniversary,” Ms Burney told Sky News yesterday. “I’m not saying that Cook was not a great navigator. I’m not saying that Cook’s contribution to the world is not significant.

“But what today means for First Nations people was the beginning of terra nullius – the beginning of a very difficult period in our history.”

Ms Burney said it was important the truth be told and there not be a one-sided celebration of Cook.

“There is the story from the ships out in Botany Bay but there is also the story from the shore and both stories need to be told,” she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the anniversary provided an opportunity to celebrate the world’s oldest continuous living culture while learning about the origins of modern Australia.

“The day Cook and the local indigenous community at Kamay first made contact 250 years ago changed the course of our land forever,” the Prime Minister said yesterday. “It’s a point in time from which we embarked on a shared journey which is realised in the way we live today.”

While Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese explorers had seen and even landed on the continent a century earlier, Britain

THERE IS THE STORY FROM THE SHIPS OUT IN BOTANY BAY BUT THERE IS ALSO THE STORY FROM THE SHORE AND BOTH STORIES NEED TO BE TOLD

LINDA BURNEY

seized the opportunity to expand its empire and chose Cook to lead the ambitious project south, leaving Plymouth in August 1768.

He was sceptical about the existence of the great southern continent but went on to step ashore at Botany Bay.

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on the changes felt by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

“The arrival marked the first true understanding from the Western world on the world’s longest-living indigenous culture,” he said.