The Australian Wars

2022 Australian TV documentary series

The Australian Wars

Genre| Documentary
Created by| Rachel Perkins
Country of origin| Australia
Original language| English
No. of episodes| 3
Original release
Network| SBS, NITV
Release| September 2022 (2022-09)

The Australian Wars (known internationally as First Wars) is a three-part 2022 documentary series about the Australian frontier wars, directed and narrated by Indigenous Australian filmmaker Rachel Perkins and made for SBS Television. Using interviews, re-enactments, archaeological research, and original documents, it explores massacres in Sydney, Tasmania, and Queensland.

The series received positive reviews, with a number of people calling it "essential viewing" for Australians. However, others have criticised it as exaggerating the number of Aboriginal deaths and promoting a political agenda. In response to the series, the Australian War Memorial announced it would work towards great inclusion of the violence against Indigenous people in its exhibitions. The series won the 2023 Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program.

## Production

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The series was directed and narrated by Rachel Perkins, a filmmaker of Arrernte and Kalkadoon lineage.[1] It was produced by Blackfella Films for SBS, with investment from Screen Australia and financial support from Shark Island Foundation and Screen NSW.[2][3] Perkins changed the title from First Wars after filming.[4] Blackfella Films and SBS collaborated with an Aboriginal-led organisation called Culture is Life to publish educational resources using short clips from the series.[5]

## Release

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The series aired simultaneously on SBS and National Indigenous Television in September 2022.[2] It was made available to stream on demand in Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean, as well as English.[5]

The Australian Wars was released internationally as First Wars.[6] In November 2023, the series premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC Four.[6]

## Summary

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The series traces the Australian frontier wars from the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 until the 1920s.[7] It explores the phases, locations and features of the wars, seeking to understand the tactics and strategies employed by both British and Aboriginal people, and asking why war was never declared.[1] It focuses particularly on Aboriginal resistance to settlement,[7] and explores the lives of those involved in the wars, as well as its impact and legacy on Australia today[2] and what has been called "the great Australian silence" about many of the massacres.[8] The first episode focuses on events in and around Sydney, the second episode solely on Tasmania, and the final episode looks at the formation of the native police corps in Queensland.[9]

The series weaves together interviews with indigenous and non-indigenous historians including Marcia Langton and Henry Reynolds, re-enactments of events, study of colonial records, oral testimony from survivors' descendants and archaeological research.[1][9][10] It includes investigation of the wars' impact on Aboriginal women, and their sexual exploitation.[4] Perkins also revisited her own family's story, returning to the location of the massacre her grandmother survived on Arrernte Country in the Northern Territory, and including testimony from her grandmother recorded in the 1970s.[11][9]

## Reception

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Writing for The Conversation, Anne Maree Payne and Heidi Norman called the series "an important contribution to truth-telling" and a "public reckoning",[1] while Ethan Floyd in Honi Soit called it "a crucial milestone in the process of truth-telling".[7] The Guardian's Beejay Silcox called it "a hymn to memory – a work of candour, dignity and humane grace."[12] Reece Goodwin, film and TV curator at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, named it in his five favourite TV shows of 2022, saying it "should be essential viewing for all Australians".[13]

However it was criticised in some quarters for its content. Chris Battle, writing for Quadrant, called the series "propaganda on the taxpayer dollar".[14] Author Peter O'Brien called "a new myth" the claim "that the Aborigines [sic] fought a series of sustained wars of resistance".[15]

The series calls on the Australian War Memorial, who had previously rejected including the frontier wars in its exhibitions,[1] to acknowledge and recognise those who died during the conflicts.[11] In an episode of the series, the War Memorial's director Matt Anderson says it was conceived to represent military activity overseas, not within Australia.[16][9] A week after the series premiered, however, the War Memorial's outgoing chair, former government minister Brendan Nelson, announced the Memorial's governing council would work towards a "much broader, a much deeper depiction and presentation of the violence committed against Indigenous people, initially by British, then by pastoralists, then by police, and then by Aboriginal militia".[11][17] In response to the announcement, Perkins said, "In the making of our series, we worked closely with the War Memorial ... [but] I never saw this coming. I thought, 'Maybe in a generation'... but not right now ... It is a watershed moment in Australian history. It can't be underestimated, the change that this heralds."[18] Liberal senator Matt Canavan argued that the proposal is beyond the charter of the War Memorial under the Australian War Memorial Act; however, Anderson said the War Memorial has discretion to do so, and has previously included galleries covering "colonial" battles.[19]

## Ratings

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The premiere episode on 21 September 2022 was SBS' highest-rated program with 154,000 viewers overnight.[20] The final episode on 5 October had a viewing audience of 147,000 on overnight ratings, rising to 335,000 on daily consolidated ratings.[21]

## Awards and nominations

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The series won Best Documentary/Factual Series at the 3rd Australian International Documentary Conference Awards in March 2023,[22] with the jury statement saying "From the opening minutes, we all agreed that The Australian Wars stood out as a superbly crafted piece of television. But as those opening minutes went by, it quickly became apparent how such masterful craftsmanship was serving a story of far-reaching significance."[23]

The Australian Wars won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program, an award chosen by a television industry jury, at the Logie Awards of 2023.[24]

Casting director Anousha Zarkesh won the 2022 Casting Guild of Australia Award for 'Achievement in Casting' for the series.[25] The script, by Jacob Hickey, Rachel Perkins and Don Watson, was shortlisted for the Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2023 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.[26]

Perkins and Reynolds were jointly awarded the 2022 Annual History Citation Award by the History Council of New South Wales "for their outstanding contributions to the research, writing and filmmaking of Australian (Frontier) Wars history and for communicating history to broad audiences."[27] The film was a finalist for the 2023 Screen Diversity and Inclusion (SDIN) Award at the 21st Annual Screen Producers Australia Awards.[28]

Episode 1 won the 2023 Digital History Prize, New South Wales Premier's History Awards, recognising the work of Perkins, Darren Dale, Hickey and Watson and Blackfella Films.[29]

Winner of the AACTA Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program in 2024.[30]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e Payne, Anne Maree; Norman, Heidi (21 September 2022). "In The Australian Wars, Rachel Perkins dispenses with the myth Aboriginal people didn't fight back". The Conversation. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
2. ^ a b c "Filmmaker Rachel Perkins reveals the truth of The Australian Wars — the battles fought on home soil". NITV. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
3. ^ "'It's time for a reckoning. Are we ready to face the past that made our country what it is today?'". SBS. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
4. ^ a b Salem, Merryana (28 October 2022). "In 'The Australia Wars', Filmmaker Rachel Perkins Wants Us To Own 'Australian' Violence". Junkee. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
5. ^ a b Perry, Kevin (21 September 2022). "Confront the history that shaped our nation in new series THE AUSTRALIAN WARS tonight on SBS". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
6. ^ a b "Award-winning documentary series The Australian Wars acquired for UK audiences". ABC Content Sales. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
7. ^ a b c Floyd, Ethan (17 October 2022). "'The Australian Wars' on SBS: A reckoning with forgotten history". Honi Soit. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
8. ^ Dumas, Daisy (26 September 2022). ""I was angry that my ancestors were part of the white-washing of history"". SBS. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
9. ^ a b c d Dow, Steve (19 September 2022). "'They are burning with a desire for justice': Rachel Perkins on Australia's genocidal past". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
10. ^ "Reconciliation in Action:The Frontier Wars". Shepparton News. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
11. ^ a b c Ross, Isabella (5 October 2022). "Rachel Perkins knew her family's history was confronting. But recently, she uncovered the full truth". MamaMia. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
12. ^ Silcox, Beejay (29 December 2022). "The Tourist, Byron Baes, Muster Dogs and more: the 14 best Australian TV shows of 2022". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
13. ^ Landy, Samantha (2 January 2023). "ACMI expert reveals 2022 film and TV show recommendations". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
14. ^ Battle, Chris (26 September 2022). "Propaganda on the Taxpayer Dollar". Quadrant Online. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
15. ^ O'Brien, Peter (11 October 2022). "Hands off our Australian War Memorial!". Spectator Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
16. ^ Knowles, Rachael (23 September 2022). "Senator open to including frontier wars in Australian War Memorial". NITV. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
17. ^ Karvelas, Patricia (2 October 2022). "The Australian War Memorial's promise of a 'deeper depiction' of the frontier wars signals an important new chapter". ABC. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
18. ^ Butler, Dan (30 September 2022). "Rachel Perkins welcomes War Memorial's expansion of frontier conflicts exhibits". NITV. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
19. ^ Tomevska, Sara (9 November 2022). "Budget for Frontier Wars gallery at Australian War Memorial revealed". SBS News. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
20. ^ Thomas, Trent (23 September 2022). "TV Ratings September 21 & 22: The Block continues to build a solid audience for Nine". Media Week. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
21. ^ Molk, Steve (6 October 2022). "Wednesday Ratings:THE REAL LOVE BOAT AUSTRALIA sinks as it casts off". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
22. ^ Keast, Jackie (8 March 2023). "'Wash My Soul in the River's Flow', 'The Australian Wars' win AIDC Awards". IF.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
23. ^ "AIDC 2023 Award Winners Announced". AIDC. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
24. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (30 July 2023). "2023 Logie Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
25. ^ "Casting Guild of Australia crowns winners of 8th annual CGA Awards". Media Week. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
26. ^ "The Australian Wars". State Library of NSW. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
27. ^ "Annual History Awards 2022 Winners Announced". History Council NSW. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
28. ^ "Annual SDIN Award Finalists Announced". Screen Diversity Inclusion Network. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
29. ^ "NSW Premier's History Awards". State Library of NSW. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
30. ^ "Winners & Nominees". www.aacta.org. Retrieved 26 November 2024.

## External links

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* The Australian Wars at IMDb
* Rachel Perkins interview about the series on Conversations

*[No.]: Number