“For ages the Aborigines had relied heavily on isolation. It was their asset and their liability, and gave them long-term control of the continent. But if their isolation were to end, as it ultimately had to end with a shrinking world, their whole way of life could be fractured. Even the arrival of a few thousand permanent settlers, whether from Europe or Asia, would be like the first tremors of an earthquake.”

—  Geoffrey Blainey

The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia (2015)

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Geoffrey Blainey 72
Australian historian 1930

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