Indigenous peoples, the British Empire, and self-government for the Australian colonies.

这项研究增强了我们对澳大利亚民主制度的基础和代表性功能的理解，特别是当它们涉及土著定居者传教士帝国关系时。在绘制出澳大利亚历史和现代社会的两个主要问题之间的联系-民主和土著剥夺-该项目将有助于更深入的历史知识，以目前的公众辩论土著政策的过去和现在。它还将阐明在广泛的跨殖民和跨国背景下理解澳大利亚历史的重要性，并提高澳大利亚历史学家对帝国，传教士和比较定居者社会历史的贡献。

This study enhances our understanding of the foundations and representative functions of Australian democratic institutions, especially as they concern Indigenous-settler-missionary-imperial relationships. In drawing out the connections between two major questions for Australian history and modern society - democracy and Indigenous dispossession - the project will contribute deeper historical knowledge to current public debate about Indigenous policy past and present. It will also illuminate the importance of understanding Australian history in broad transcolonial and transnational contexts and enhance the contribution of Australian historians to imperial, missionary, and comparative settler-society histories.