Henry Reynolds turns Australian history upside down

In this compelling episode of Late Night Live, veteran historian Henry Reynolds, now 87, revisits his lifelong exploration of Australia's contested past through his new book, Looking from the North, Australian History from the Top Down. Reynolds challenges the dominant southern-centric narrative by spotlighting the vast, tropical north—45% of the continent's landmass but home to only 5% of its population. He argues that British colonization failed in the north due to a lack of settler commitment, leading to a unique historical trajectory where Indigenous Australians, Chinese migrants, and Pacific Islander laborers coexisted in a complex, often successful multicultural society long before Federation. Reynolds reveals how the North was once a thriving hub of trade, labor, and cultural exchange, particularly with the Macassans, before being dismantled by the white Australia policy. He traces the collapse of racial hierarchies after WWII, driven by the Holocaust and UNESCO’s declaration that race is a myth, and reflects on Australia’s slow, reluctant shift toward multiculturalism. The episode culminates in a powerful call for constitutional reform, including treaty-making with the hundreds of First Nations, which Reynolds describes as 'a mosaic of small independent nations,' and a reevaluation of sovereignty that could reshape Australia’s future.