PM Scott Morrison claims ‘no slavery in Australia,’ sparking backlash

CANBERRA, Jun 11, 2020, News.com.au. Scott Morrison’s declaration that there was “no slavery in Australia” has sparked claims he doesn’t know the history of the country he leads, News.com.au reported.

As the history wars over Black Lives Matter protests intensify around the globe, the Prime Minister has called for future protesters in Australia to be charged for breaching COVID-19 health orders.

Defending British explorer Captain Cook’s record in Australia amid activists’ call for historical statues to be defaced and removed he said Australia’s record was better than many countries at the time.

“Well, when you’re talking about Captain James Cook, in his time he was one of the most enlightened persons on these issues you could imagine,’’ he told 2GB radio.

“I mean, Australia when it was founded as a settlement, as New South Wales, was on the basis that there’d be no slavery.

“And while slave ships continued to travel around the world, when Australia was established yes, sure, it was a pretty brutal settlement. My forefathers and foremothers were on the First and Second Fleets. It was a pretty brutal place, but there was no slavery in Australia.”

Captain James Cook was murdered in Hawaii in 1779 when relations between his crew and islanders soured. After the theft of a longboat, Cook attempted to kidnap Kalani’ōpu’u, the ruling chief. During the ensuing fight he was fatally stabbed. The islanders treated his body as a chief, carefully cleaning his bones for preservation as religious icons.