Morrison's 'no slavery' comment prompts descendants to invite him to sugar cane regions | ABC News

Australia's history as a nation that enslaved people is widely known in parts of Queensland, and the Prime Minister is being urged to see it for himself.

While on Sydney radio discussing the removal of statues like those of Captain James Cook, Scott Morrison said there was "no slavery in Australia".

"While slave ships continued to travel around the world, when Australia was established, sure it was a pretty brutal settlement ... but there was no slavery in Australia," he said.

The comments shocked the Australian South Sea Islander community, whose ancestors were part of a practice known as blackbirding, that saw about 62,000 people brought to Australia to work on sugar cane farms between 1863 and 1904.

Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-1...

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