Was The British Settlement of New Zealand More Successful Than The British Settlement of Australia?

In my opinion, I think that the British settlement of New Zealand was not more successful than the British settlement of Australia. This is because the British used the same way to approach the Māori people as they did with the Indigenous Australians. Yes, there was a Treaty of Waitangi signed, but this treaty did not have the impact as it was expected to have. The Māori people were supposed to recieve the same treatment as the British, but it turned out to be exactly the opposite: they were treated in an inhumane way and looked at as the objects of the British.  

 

To improve, I think that the British could have used a more civilised way to colonise New Zealand, and they could have realised the 'mistakes' that they did when settling Australia. The British knew nothing about the Indigenous Australians, and it would have helped them quite a lot if they knew about the culture and customs of the people they were settling with before-hand.  

 

How Important Is Reconciliation?

The population of the natives, both the Indigenous Australians and the Māori were treated badly and violently by the British colonisers. In today's society, the natives of New Zealand and Australia often suffer from health issues because of their primitive knowledge of medicine and cure. This will then lead to conflict between the Indigenous population and the Australians/New Zealanders. This is why reconciliation is very important. The word reconciliation means to 'say sorry'. On the 13th of February 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, read an apology directed to the Indigenous Australians about the Stolen Generation. This was very important and meant a lot to the Indigenous Australians living in Australia, because it showed them that somebody cared and the Australian population admitting their fault.    

 

In my opinion, I think that reconciliation is very important because saying sorry can bond nations together, as shown in the example with the Australians and Indigenous Australians. Reconciliation has been very important, because without that, the conflict between Australians and the Indigenous Australians would still be going on, and who knows how severe things would have gotten.