Photo: Wikipedia
Australian Terrorism, by Stanley Lenoy, of Stan Lenoy Films, published in September 2018 was a short video about massacres that occurred in the Tully/Innifail region of colonial Queensland. The video included excerpts from four hours of interviews recorded with Dr Ernie Grant, Jirrbal/Girramay Elder, in December 2017. Dr Grant talked about the killings of Aboriginal people in the Tully/Innisfail region of Queensland in the mid-1800s to the early 20th century. The title of Stan Lenoy’s video, Australian Terrorism, is taken from Danish man Thorvald Weitmeyer’s book, Missing Friends, after a visit to the Herbert River Police Camp, in 1892. After the visit he wrote: “It is the duty of this official with the assistance of his troopers, to fill the Aborigines with terror and to use such means to that end as his own judgement may dictate.” (Quote from Jonathan Richards, The Secret War: A True History of Queensland’s Native Police, UQP, 2008, p. 40). In the Lenoy video, Dr Grant mentioned Kirrama Station, Mission Beach, (where today’s Jumbun Aboriginal Community is located) and Tully Falls, as sites of conflict between colonists and Aboriginal people who were often killed ruthlessly.
NOTES (2 October 2022, 20 September 2023): On 2 October 2022, Stan Lenoy advised that this video was no longer available, as it was being updated. He also advised that a new version might be released in 2024. In the meantime an updated version was published on 3 January 2023. You can watch this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JR1CYmEaPwQ
An updated description of the video is described below:
‘The film’s title, Australian Terrorism, is from Danish man Thorvald Weitmeyer’s (1892) book, Missing Friends: Being the Adventures of a Danish Emigrant in Queensland (1871-1880), after a visit to the Herbert River Police Camp, in 1892. Weitmeyer (1892) wrote, “It is the duty of this official, with the assistance of his troopers, to fill the Aborigines with terror, and to use such means to that end as his own judgment may dictate” (p. 140). In this video, Kirrama Station, Mission Beach, and the Jumbun Aboriginal Community in North Queensland, Australia, are sites of conflict between colonists and Aboriginal people. Reference Weitemeyer, T. P. L. (1892). Missing Friends: Being the Adventures of a Danish Emigrant in Queensland (1871-1880) (Vol. 14). London: TF Unwin; Melbourne: EA Petherick.’ Stanley Lenoy
Visitors to the Australian Frontier Conflicts website can also find more information about conflicts that have occurred on the Australian mainland, Tasmania, and the Torres Strait by searching the whole website including the pages listed under the Resources button on the main menu.
Page updated 20 September 2023.