Certainly the Australians have never treated their Aboriginal population deplorably.
I beg to differ from this view. Colonisation history of Australian natives is just as bad, if not worse, than other countries.
The first colonies, considered the Australian aboriginal peoples as "too primitive" to be "human" and hence the first colonies declared the entire continent as "Terra Nullius" (ie empty land). The aborigines were considered as "native fauna" and were massacred with rat poison to clear land. Smallpox and measles were released deliberately, and recorded in writing by governments-of-the-day. Early settlers committed widespread massacres and lynchings, along with mass transportation over borders to remove them from goldfields for example.
This concept of "terra nullius" and aboriginal peoples being a species of native fauna, was embedded in the Australian Federal Constitution of 1901, with the deliberate exclusion of them - and to this day, Australian aboriginal peoples are still not officially recognised in the Constitution as citizens, but as wards of the State.
And as such, different States had different laws governing aborigines rights of location (imprisoned on State Reserves) to travel across state borders, access to public spaces (eg swimming pools, beaches, pubs), health care, education, public transport or employment etc.
As non-citizens, non-people, Australian aboriginal people were not counted in censuses, and not allowed to vote until 1967, following a national referendum. In the years following the referendum, into the early 1970s, all such laws were eventually repealed.
For generations, part-white Aboriginal children had been taken from their parents (see "Rabbit-Proof Fence"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252444/?ref_=nv_sr_1) In the late 60s, 1970s, Aboriginal civil rights activism began in earnest, including Freedom buses travelling around, Land Rights claims in the courts, and the development of their own Aboriginal Flag, and re-naming Australia Day as "Invasion Day".
More recently successive Australian governments have embarked on a process of Reconciliation - including amongst other things, a National Sorry Day, holding a referendum to change the Constitution, introduction of 'welcome to country' recognition statements at all official events etc etc.
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