Editing Northern Territory (section)

====Division into North Australia and Central Australia====
{{See also|List of massacres of Indigenous Australians}}
For a brief time between 1927 and 1931 the Northern Territory was divided into [[North Australia (territory)|North Australia]] and [[Central Australia (territory)|Central Australia]] at the [[20th parallel south]]. Soon after this time, parts of the Northern Territory were considered in the [[Kimberley Plan]] as a possible site for the establishment of a [[Homeland for the Jewish people|Jewish Homeland]], understandably considered the "[[promised Land|Unpromised Land]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18097828 |title=Wasted Years |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=34,577 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 October 1948 |access-date=20 July 2019 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43802260 |title=Immigration Scheme That Failed |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)]] |volume=91 |issue=28178 |location=South Australia |date=29 January 1949 |access-date=20 July 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

During the early 20th century, the southern part of the Territory was considered the "last frontier" of Australian settlement, where 'sympathetic whites' hoped that Aboriginal traditions would continue to be practised.<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite journal |date=2015 |title=Hunger and the humanitarian frontier |last=O'Brien |first=Anne |url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p332783/html/article05.xhtml?referer=1790&page=11 |journal=Aboriginal History |publisher=Aboriginal History Inc. ANU Press |volume=39 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604131320/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p332783/html/article05.xhtml?referer=1790&page=11 |url-status=live }}</ref> Conflicts arose due to the resource scarcity and the fragility of the cattle industry and the area was rife with Indigenous 'bush bandits' who speared cattle for food for want of employment by ranchers. This was exacerbated by a drought between 1925 and 1929 that led to the deaths of 85 per cent of the children at the [[Hermannsburg, Northern Territory|Hermannsburg Mission]] in Central Australia. In the meantime, white attitudes towards Aboriginal people were paternalistic, torn between the desire to help them in times of hunger and the fear of "pauperizing" them and reducing their incentives to work.<ref name="O'Brien"/> 

In the 1928 [[Coniston massacre]], punitive expeditions were carried out by white colonists led by [[Northern Territory Police]] constable [[William George Murray]] in response to the murder of a [[dingo]] hunter, resulting in the deaths of dozens to hundreds of people of the [[Warlpiri people|Warlpiri]], [[Anmatyerre]], and [[Kaytetye people|Kaytetye]] groups.<ref name="Bradley">{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Michael |title=Coniston |date=2019 |publisher=UWA Press |location=Perth|isbn=9781760801045}}</ref> This was one of many massacres of Aboriginal people in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Some Known Frontier Conflicts in the Northern Territory |url=https://australianfrontierconflicts.com.au/timelines/some-known-frontier-conflicts-in-the-northern-territory/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=Australian Frontier Conflicts |language=en-AU |archive-date=17 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917230217/https://australianfrontierconflicts.com.au/timelines/some-known-frontier-conflicts-in-the-northern-territory/ |url-status=live }}</ref>