The former school teacher, now a lecturer at Deakin University, led the conversation on the history of genocide and its relevance to modern society.
A leading figure in Australian First Nations academia, he has a PhD in Indigenous Education and has spent years studying Australia’s Stolen Generation and Frontier Wars.
Dr Fricker explained the history of the first conflict, only months after the landing of the First Fleet in January 1788, and the last of the conflicts that occurred well into the 20th century (even as late as 1934).
An estimated minimum of 100,000 Indigenous Australians and almost 2500 settlers died in the conflicts.
Dr Fricker was speaking only days after Aboriginal residents in Rockhampton were confronted by “vigilante clans’’ which reminded him of the mob violence which was a key part of the Holocaust.
“Jewish people were beaten by people in street at that time,” he said.
Dr Fricker explained his decision to visit Kyabram and speak about genocide was to continue to encourage the broader shift in understanding for the youth of today.
He said it was important that young people understood their history to ensure there was not a repeat of such bigotry toward any race or modern-day group.
He explained it was important for students to understand, not compare, genocide from an Australian point of view.
“There is so much social media that it can often super-charge discrimination, whether that be against the LGBTIQ community or any other section of society,” he said.
He said Australia was now seeing a shift in the views of people, with 18 to 24-year-olds now more likely to vote Green and have an understanding of the multiculturalism of Australia.
His goal was to ensure those modern attitudes were attached to an understanding of Australian history.
"What happened with the Aboriginal people of Australia is particularly challenging because it so close to home,“ he said.
Dr Fricker’s research involves studying the interaction between First Nations teaching and learning practices and the colonised version of teaching in classrooms.
He said while he had only ever been to Shepparton, he was well aware of the region’s Aboriginal history.
Originally from the Dandenong Ranges, Dr Fricker presented to more than 100 students, sharing the story of his Central Goldfields ancestors’ relocation to outer Melbourne in 1942.
“They relocated to Melbourne and the family identified as Black Irish to avoid their children being removed,“ he said.
Dr Fricker completed a research project in the remote Northern Territory Aboriginal community of Papunya, which was home to a number of displaced Aboriginal people.
“One of my jobs is to teach teachers how to deliver Indigenous education.
“We know people are born into culture, so all kids in Australia should be able to access all of that history and knowledge,” he said.
Dr Fricker explained Australia’s own genocidal history was best described under one of the five definitions of genocide.
“One of those definitions is ‘forcibly removing children from a group and placing them in another environment’, which is what happened in Australia,” he said.
