Jay,

How did you miss out on mentioning the slave labour that was the reason for "Blackbirding"?

Just a slip of the memory?

Is mise,
Could give me verifiable examples of "Blackbirding" with links to either newspaper reports or court proceedings if you please?
"Blackbirding" is a myth, there was no slaving by Whites in this region, Papulanji Dreamtime songs tell of the European slave ships of the tropical coast but they're just confused because the dreamers can't tell the difference between the Asian and White ship's masters.
The Japanese and Chinese pearl fishermen were taking aborigines on board as labourers then paying them in opium and grog, the Whites put a stop to the practice, that's the factual basis of the "Blackbird" dreaming songs.

Jay,

Now here was me thinkin' that it was a slip of the cerebal retentive process but it must be that you'd never heard of it, nor met any of the many descendants of blackbirded people in NSW and Queensland.

"3. BLACKBIRDING PROSECUTIONS

The slave trade laws

The responsibility for policing the labour trade in the Pacific rested with the Royal Navy, which, in the 1860s, permanently stationed up to six ships in Sydney Harbour. Its powers were limited: men-of-war were only able to seize ships engaged in piracy in iure gentium, for crimes on British vessels, and for offences under the slave trade legislation.
Through the 1860s the Colonial Office considered that the slave trade legislation would be adequate to address recruiting abuses in Melanesia although, treaties with other countries being limited to the Atlantic, it could only be enforced against British ships.26 Accordingly, when naval patrols first intercepted suspected Australian blackbirders in Melanesia, the slave trade legislation was immediately raised as the justification for seizing the vessels and detaining the masters."
http://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol04/7.shtml

See also,
"....[Faith] Bandler's father, Peter Mussing, had been blackbirded from Ambrym Island, part of Vanuatu, in 1883, at the age of about 13. He was then sent to Mackay, Queensland before being sent to work on a sugar cane plantation....".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Bandler

I've met a number of Australians whose ancestors were blackbirded from the Pacific Islands.
An inscribed copy of the book that she wrote about her brother " Welou, My Brother." [Bandler, Faith (1984). Glebe: Wild & Woolley. ISBN 0-909331-73-1] stands in my book case and is a cherished memento of the days when I was a bit of an activist myself.

Jay,

You have probably heard of Mal Meninga

"Born in Bundaberg, Queensland, Meninga is an Australian South Sea Islander, a descendant of plantation workers recruited or blackbirded to work in the Queensland sugar industry in the late 19th century. He is an official spokesperson for the South Sea Islander community.[1] He graduated from Maroochydore State High School. Before becoming a full-time professional footballer...."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal_Meninga

Is Mise,
Sorry mate, I have a closed mind on this subject.
I have dealt with the misery of 8th Div POW survivors for too long to have one ounce of sympathy for the japs.
Back home their families all knew what their fathers and brothers were doing.
Fighting for the Emperor to enslave the white races for the glory of the Rising Sun.

Is Mise
If Mal Meninga is an official spokesperson for the South Sea Islander community perhaps he could tell his people to stop their violent attacks on white people or perhaps even better tell them to get the hell out of Australia.
Now that I know his racial background I can understand the viscous nature of his brothers attack and murder of his girlfriend.
Its in their blood after all they were head hunters and cannibals.
anyway Is Mise do you actually believe half the crap you read.
Try a little of Ion Idriess (The Drums of Mer)
I lived with them on Murray Island and they are still eating their dead unless you get them off the island real quick.