Recent evidence from Washington shows how profoundly President Trump’s domestic decisions can affect the rest of the world. Australia’s woke brigade is reeling from the new possibility that millions of US research dollars in Australia will be cut back if the recipients do not conform with anti-woke criteria being applied by Trump’s America.

Unfortunately, the US does not fund the ABC. A recent Four Corners featured a report on the Yoorrook Royal Commission in Melbourne which was, by omission, an utter disgrace. It began by stating that ‘this truth-telling inquiry has spent years collecting testimony from hundreds of First Nations and non-indigenous people, revealing the scale of atrocities and the failure of governments to reckon with the past’. While there is little excuse for dreadful acts of violence perpetrated by new settlers of European descent, there is equally no excuse for the atrocities committed by Aboriginal people against settlers and fellow indigenous people.

With the arrival of British colonists came a new dawn. The number of women and children murdered within their own tribe and by neighbouring tribes dropped dramatically over the next century. London was watching closely to ensure that British law was applied equally to all.

The inference the ABC and Yoorrook make that testimonies from hundreds of First Nation and non-indigenous peoples were profound is bunkum. For a start, the problem for the Yoorrook commissioners has always been the fact that indigenous peoples were hunter-gatherers who roamed across Victoria and neighbouring states without keeping records. One should also note the number of anonymous submissions to the inquiry – their authenticity and authorship could be considered ripe for questioning.

Chinese whispers are never a reliable source. The several non-indigenous interviewees in Four Corners referred to minimal evidence. They appeared equally ignorant of the ways of Aboriginal culture. Also, why should these descendants be responsible for the so-called sins of their fathers and mothers? In Europe it would be laughable that today’s peoples would expect financial rewards for changes made in the past.

Any way you look at it, this is a migrant nation comprising people from around the world who have sought change, refuge, hope, opportunity and, to this day, safety from war. That Australia’s indigenous activists think change and ‘trauma’ are theirs alone is either the height of ignorance or arrogance.

In the Four Corners report, an indigenous elder, Uncle Russell, said a fight between Aborigines and Europeans at Warrigal Creek, would have been a ‘shocking, frightening experience’ for his people. He admitted his people were used to land combat, face to face. Indeed, the life of a male warrior was brutal and frightening almost every day. Yet there is no comment from the ABC that these were not equally ‘shocking’ and ‘frightening’ experiences for the settlers and pastoralists. These people were farmers not trained soldiers. They too faced fear on the frontiers – lonely, harsh places without the physical protection of the law.

Four Corners reported that ‘horrific events like the Warrigal massacres spread across Australia when the nation was colonised, interrupting one of the oldest continuous cultures in the world. Tens of thousands of people – men, women, and children – were killed. Indigenous people were raped and poisoned.’ No evidence of this statecraft was given. Aboriginal life was not as simple, innocent, or angelic as that.

A submission to the Yoorrook Commission from Close the Gap Research painted a different picture to the narrative of the commission and the ABC. Under the title The Whole Truth the submission (available at thewholetruth.au) is divided into three books which include chapters on the treatment of women, infanticide, cannibalism, revenge, maiming, frontier deaths, ownership and closing the gap.

The sources of information in the submission were books published since the arrival of the First Fleet. They present clear evidence about the lives of the Aborigines and how they reacted to the European settlers. Neither the authors of the books, Australian Research House, nor Close the Gap Research have been invited to appear before the commission whose agenda and beliefs appear to be set against other evidence which exists. It is safe to say an invitation was not extended to contribute to the ABC’s report.

Yet Four Corners announced, ‘Yoorrook has been one of the most comprehensive reviews of the country’s colonial history.’ This is hard to believe given the success of this country since its modern beginning.

The Whole Truth, for example, would have provided the ABC with evidence of retribution and murder wrought by Aboriginal tribes on other tribes. Volume 2 includes an extract from W. Mann’s 1839 book Six Years’ Residence In The Australian Provinces.

‘In their wars with each other they are very vindictive and implacable: they will revenge an injury of many years’ standing, which is transmitted to them from father to son. The Whawourong tribe, which inhabit the country about thirty miles north-east of Melbourne, took a friend of mine, Mr. H., who has a stock-station in that part of the country, into their tribe, which they esteem a great favour. They all disappeared very suddenly, for which no one could account, and were absent for some days. On their return they sent for Mr H., and requested him to attend their feast a corrobarey. He inquired where they had been, and they told him that their enemies at Western Port, called the Wydourang tribe, had defeated and killed a great number of their friends about forty years ago, and they had now become acquainted with the use of firearms, they were quite a match for them; that they had gone to war, and had taken ample revenge for their former losses; and shewed him about thirty baskets filled with the muscular parts of the bodies of their enemies, whom they had slain in battle. The fires were already lighted, and the frying-pans were put in requisition to put what was to them the most delicious food.’

The extract shows many things: that ‘intergenerational trauma’ existed well before the arrival of the First Fleet; that they were quite happy to use guns despite the ABC only referencing stories about gun violence against Aborigines; that major change was a constant part of their culture; that cannibalism was common and celebrated; and that some settlers were accepted as friends and allies – that is, not all experiences of colonisation were negative.

The Yoorrook chair, Eleanor Bourke, is a fine example of the opposite to the commission’s findings which would have us believe that it is all doom and gloom in the Aboriginal world. As a university professor she should be proud of her achievements, just like the large number of Aboriginal success stories who were not interviewed by the commission. Intergenerational trauma is part and parcel of the lives of many non-indigenous Australians. They should have assistance in the same way it should be given to all Australians in need.

Each of us has a story of change.

But few get a royal commission and a treaty to fill the financial gaps we think should be filled.

As for the ABC, it has again shown the nation that it has little or no regard for its charter, the guiding rules upon which it is paid to operate on the taxpayers’ behalf.