历史学家Ryan Butta新著《Blackbirding：与澳大利亚奴隶贸易的清算》记述了19世纪中后期昆士兰殖民地从南太平洋招募劳工的历史1。该书通过使用"奴隶"和"奴隶贸易"等道德谴责性措辞来呈现这段历史，但这种做法引发了关于历史表述方式的学术反思。
书评指出，虽然Butta的措辞引发读者共鸣，但在道德谴责的同时忽略了太平洋岛民作为行动者的复杂经历和抗争历史，将其简化为被害者形象，从而削弱了对这段历史的全面理解1。根据历史记载，这一时期经历了一系列关键事件：1847年企业家Benjamin Boyd试图将太平洋岛民引入新南威尔士州1；1862年《力役法》试图规范"野蛮人"的劳动流入1；1868年《波利尼西亚劳工法》未能有效保护岛民免遭绑架和奴役1。
随后的几十年中，殖民地当局采取了多项立法措施1。1880年和1884年对《太平洋劳工法》的修订建立了太平洋岛民基金1。1884年Samuel Griffith任州长期间启动了皇家委员会调查1。1885年Griffith立法规定到1890年12月31日前停止招募太平洋岛民1，但1892年这一禁令被取消1。1901年Edmund Barton引入法案，规定1904年3月31日前停止进口太平洋岛民，1906年12月31日前遣返所有岛民1。1902年"卡纳卡呼吁"中许多岛民请求留在澳大利亚1，这反映出岛民们的主体性立场。获得遣返豁免的官方数字为1654人1。评论者对Butta书中关于"现代奴隶制"涉及41000人的估计提出了质疑1。
Historian Ryan Butta's book Blackbirding examines the nineteenth-century recruitment of Pacific Islander laborers into Queensland's colonial economy, a period spanning from 1847 when entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd first attempted to introduce Pacific Islanders to New South Wales, through the successive legislative efforts to regulate and eventually halt the practice.1 However, a critical assessment of Butta's work suggests that while his use of morally condemnatory language such as "slavery" and "slave trade" resonates emotionally with readers, it comes at the cost of obscuring the complex agency and resistance histories of Pacific Islanders themselves, reducing them to one-dimensional victim narratives.1
The legislative timeline Butta documents reveals an evolving official response to the labor scheme.1 Queensland separated from New South Wales as an independent colony in 1859.1 The 1862 Coolie Labor Act attempted to regulate the influx of what authorities termed "savages," while the 1868 Polynesian Laborers Act failed to protect islanders from kidnapping and enslavement.1 Subsequent amendments to the Pacific Laborers Act in 1880 and 1884 established a Pacific Islander Fund.1 Governor Samuel Griffith, upon taking office in 1884, launched a royal commission investigation and subsequently legislated a halt to recruitment by December 31, 1890, though he reversed this prohibition in 1892.1 The Commonwealth government under Edmund Barton introduced legislation in 1901 setting a March 31, 1904 deadline to cease importing Pacific Islanders and December 31, 1906 for their complete repatriation.1
The repatriation process proved contentious. During the 1902 "Kanak Appeal," many islanders petitioned to remain in Australia.1 Official records indicate that 1,654 individuals obtained exemptions from repatriation.1 Meanwhile, reviewers of Butta's work have questioned his estimate of 41,000 people affected by what he characterizes as "modern slavery," suggesting the book's numerical claims warrant scrutiny.1
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