A collection of huts surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and in the huts lived 500 of the original inhabitants of our area. And so it went with many country towns around Australia.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I remembered the 500 people that lived on a reserve outside my little town, behind a big fence.
The number of those identifying as Aborigine in Tasmania rapidly rose in the late 20th century.
I had always been fascinated by the whole idea that Australia was this different ecology and that when rabbits and prickly pears and other things from Europe were introduced into Australia, they ran amok.
'The Secret River' began because, at the age of 50, I suddenly realised I knew nothing about how my own family had got its foothold in Australia.
There are people all over Australia who use their homes as hubs that they travel from, and they encourage their indigenous people to continue to stay there.
Australia is an island surrounded by water. My fondest memories growing up were trips to the beach, walking around the harbor and playing in the beautiful parks.
My family actually lived in the same village for about 400 years. They had great stability until the last century. People lived and intermarried in small villages.
Australia and Canada were settled by adventurers, they had to break new ground. I think that is indelibly etched on our cultural spirit.
Even the Australians don't know how beautiful their own country is. Particularly where we were shooting 'The Straits.' Most of my stuff was done on an aboriginal settlement on the south shore, opposite Cairns, which I believe was the site where the last person was eaten in Australia.
I grew up in a world that was clannish - old Tasmanian-Irish families with big extended families.
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