Sneering is one of the methods that many contemporary writers and historians use to express their opinion about the settlement of Australia. It’s now almost a cult-habit—a form of self-loathing. They dig and scratch at the historical records, mull over what someone meant while writing a late-night entry in their journal; scour our nations’ early documents for “incriminating” evidence and seek out the opinions of contemporary fellow travellers in a sort of mutual flagellation society, quite oblivious to what our actual national story might be. They endlessly quote each other in an ever-expanding circle of structured, ideological confusion. It must…