How did the aboriginals affect the British?

The British colonisation of the Australian continent had only negative effects upon the Aborigines. These included:

• Taking control of the land. Australia was seen as terra nullius, or "no man's land" and therefore free for the taking. The British did not recognise indigenous ownership of the land, seeing the Aborigines as mere savages, and therefore the British sought to exploit the land (and its people) for their own use.
• Introduction of diseases against which the Aborigines had no immunity, as they had never been exposed to them before, e.g. smallpox, measles and influenza. These simple diseases wiped out huge numbers of Aborigines.
• Introduction of alcohol, the effects of which the Aborigines were particularly vulnerable to, because their genetic makeup was different to that of Europeans. This destroyed aboriginal culture, tradition and heritage.
• Loss of land, and being forced further inland to less desirable countryside. Food was harder to find in the inland, arid areas.
• Massacre and/or wiping out of entire tribes due to misunderstandings, conflict and hostility with the Europeans over the land they wanted.
• Loss of traditional Aboriginal values, culture and traditions.
• Breaking apart of families as the Europeans sought to take native children and educate them in white schools. At one stage, the Europeans actively sought to destroy the aboriginal culturue by removing influences of the tribal elders upon the younger children. This led to the stolen generations, a very dark time in Australia's history.