. With the core records now gone we cannot be sure how many died at the hands of the Native Police. Marr writes that cautious interpretation of the remaining documentary fragments has seen estimates rise from 10,000 to 20,000 to more than 40,000, a figure which is “neither precise nor final”.

And what of guilt or shame that this was partly the work of Marr’s distant relatives? “I feel no guilt for what Reg did,” Marr writes, adding, however, “I can’t argue away the shame that overcame me when I first saw that photograph of Sub-Inspector Uhr in his pompous uniform. I was also intrigued by the shadowy forms of today’s politics emerging from the frontier wars—particularly the still potent belief in many quarters that the Aboriginal people deserve nothing for the continent they lost. Despising those we have wronged is another way we humans have of dealing with our shame … when the fighting was over, we forget about how Australia was won.”

Source: Killing for Country: Another plank in truth-telling – Pearls and Irritations