Professor Henry Reynolds wrote on the Pearls & Irritations website: “David Marr’s major work, Killing for Country: a family story, in 450 pages investigates the roles played by his ancestors in the conquest of north Australia in the second half of the 19th Century. Marr explains the provenance of the book in a brief introductory note.

“In 2019 an ‘ancient uncle ’asked him to find out what he could about his great grand- mother Maud. It wasn’t long before he was looking at a photograph of her father in the uniform of the Queensland Native Police. He was both appalled and curious. That afternoon he discovered Sub-Inspector Reginald Uhr, ‘a professional killer of Aborigines’ and his brother D’arcy who was also ‘in the massacre business.’

“The family truth telling which followed reminds us once again of the terrible cost of the colonisation of Australia at a moment when so many of our country men and women continue to believe that our First Nations were treated fairly as they were being dispossessed of their traditional homelands.”

MOST LOGGING IN FORESTS IS ILLEGAL

Civic action group, Act Now, has launched a timber legality risk assessment for Papua New Guinea. The report finds that almost all logging occurring in PNG’s natural forest areas is illegal. Access Acton Now's report here The assessment is based on a comprehensive review of all the available literature, including official government inquiries, court cases, international organisations such as the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the International Tropical Timber Association and civil society groups.

MUSEUM BRINGS PACIFIC CULTURE ALIVE

Art lovers will be thrilled to learn that the new Wansolmoana - One Salt Ocean Pasifika Gallery at the Australian Museum in Sydney is hosting a weekend of special activities from tomorrow, Friday 3 October. The display features objects from the museum's Pacific cultural collection accompanied by contemporary artwork and newly acquired pieces

Curated by the museum’s Pasifika staff, this new permanent exhibition celebrates the complex, varied and dynamic cultures and languages of today's Pasifika peoples. Over the weekend of 14-15 October there will be a series of storytelling performances including Master Steven John sharing knowledge of the Suru, a cultural practice almost lost to time that has been revived by the Rotuman community.

Other events include Sisi’uno Helu bringing to life the ancient Tongan goddess Hikule’o through music, poetry and movement, Simione Sevudredre sharing the story of the Iri hand fan which features as a part of the Turaga display in Wansolmoana. Visitors can join two Tongan cultural workshops including crafting a sei (headpiece) and learning the traditional Tongan art form of mosikaka weaving.