Abstract
In October 1876, James MacBain rose in Victorias legislative Assembly to explain why he had resigned from the Board for the Protection of Aborigines (BPA) after more than a decades service, including several years chairing its meetings. After an absence overseas, he had returned to the board in January to discover a radically altered policy towards Aboriginal administration, making his membership untenable: During [my] absence in England, he said, four new members of the board were appointed; they formed a little family as it were; and they appointed a gentleman as inspector for doing what [I do] not know. This essay will examine the little family to which MacBain objected, and explore the internal politics of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines at a crucial time in its history. By characterising the board as a contested space, the essay will attempt to understand the political dynamics that shaped debate on Aboriginal policy, thus integrating Aboriginal history and political history in fruitful ways.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Settler Colonial Governance in Nineteenth-Century Victoria |
| Editors | Leigh Boucher and Lynette Russell |
| Place of Publication | Canberrra |
| Publisher | ANU Press |
| Pages | 95-116pp. |
| Volume | 1 |
| Edition | 1st |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781925022353 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |