Australia's Hidden Slave Trade | Sydney News

A chilling new book exposes Australia’s hidden slave trade, revealing how tens of thousands of Pacific Islanders were forcibly recruited between 1860 and 1906 to labor under brutal conditions across Queensland and even Sydney’s docks. Ryan Butta’s “Blackbirding: A Reckoning with the Australian Slave Trade” uncovers how powerful merchants and politicians—including Robert Towns—built fortunes on this exploitation, while many victims’ remains still sit in Australian museums. Personal stories like that of Emelda Davis, whose grandfather was kidnapped from Vanuatu at age 12, bring the human cost to life. The book also traces how British abolitionist wealth funded this trade, embedding a dark legacy into Australia’s colonial identity—and its very streets. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/1762a82ca7d67fc2