A New South Wales south coast national park will no longer bear the name of a colonialist considered Australia’s first ‘blackbirder’, in a move long called for by the local Aboriginal Land Council.
Ben Boyd national park will be renamed in the language of its traditional custodians, following a community consultation process.
Boyd’s legacy was to initiate ‘blackbirding’ in Australia during the nineteenth century, by shipping South Sea Islanders to the colony on minute wages to avoid anti-slavery laws.