14 - A Question of Honour in the Colony That Was Meant to Be Different

Summary

South Australia was in many ways more liberal and democratic than the other colonies. Elections were held more frequently (every three years), and the franchise for the upper house was relatively inclusive. Yet, despite the early image of the colony as a paradise for farmers and small landholders, pastoralism was vital to the colonial economy and was expanding to the west and north. The tensions between South Australia’s liberalism and conservatism, and between its burgeoning middle class and a powerful squattocracy, was evident in its mixed policies and processes for governing Aboriginal people. Some aspects of South Australia’s tradition of missionary and protectorate work for Aboriginal people survived, though to a lesser extent than in Victoria; the Poonindie and Point Macleay missions demonstrated the continuing link between governments and missionary endeavour, and despite conflicts and problems, both supported strong Aboriginal communities. At the same time, pastoral expansion, continuing frontier violence, and a desire for Aboriginal labour produced a harsh policing and punishment regime. In the far north, the first, ultimately unsuccessful attempt to establish a settlement in the Northern Territory, saw a repetition of earlier patterns of frontier violence.