Emeritus professor Lyndall Ryan, who led the project, said that stockmen in the NT commonly operated under the orders of big pastoral companies.

“Particularly after 1860, it is becoming clear that most of the massacres are being conducted by employees of major companies who are bankrolling these big pastoral leases, or mining leases,” Ryan said.

“These companies have more money to arm their employees with good firearms to go out and do their work. It’s not the small selector who’s killing Aboriginal people, it’s these big companies who have experienced overseers, experienced stockmen, to patrol and contain the Aboriginal people.”