A Convenient Scapegoat: Angus McMillan and the Gippsland massacres By Rob Christie

Was Angus McMillan really the ‘Butcher of Gippsland’ or was he just the fall guy, a convenient scapegoat whose name has become unjustly associated with a dark time in Gippsland’s history?

In his book A Convenient Scapegoat – Angus McMillan and the Gippsland massacres, well-known local author and historian Rob Christie has meticulously researched and verified evidence that doesn’t exonerate McMillan entirely, but proves that while involved, he was not the leader and instigator of the atrocities suffered by the Indigenous populations of Gippsland.

McMillan was revered as an early explorer and pioneer in the establishment of Gippsland as a productive pastoral district and future home for European settlers. Stone monuments or cairns were erected across the region to honour his achievements.

More recently though, his name has been associated with a much darker aspect of our region’s history: the massacres of its original inhabitants whose land the white settlers took as their own, often violently.

But was Angus McMillan the main instigator and leader of those massacres? Many people have been led to believe so, based on scant and often unsubstantiated evidence. Rob Christie’s book explores further evidence and delves deeper into the background of McMillan’s place in the history of our region. He shows that the McMillan monuments are an important part of Gippsland history, that he was one of many responsible for the demise of Gippsland’s Indigenous people, involved in the notorious massacres, but not deserving of the title of mass murderer.

“He needs to be remembered for his connections to the Aboriginal people, both good and potentially bad. The cairns … should be the focus for telling the largely untold story of the first custodians of Gippsland. If this includes the darker side of white settlement then it must be included. The story of the massacres stands alone and is not dependent on McMillan; there were many others who played a significant role in the persecution of the Gunaikurnai. Through the cairns McMillan can be a conduit between the present and what we need to know of the past, but there is insufficient evidence to warrant him being portrayed as the ‘Butcher of Gippsland’.”

This book has been written with respect and insight, with thoroughly-evidenced research and with acknowledgement and understanding of the clash of characters and cultures that can lead to conflict.

Was Angus McMillan a mass murderer or a convenient scapegoat?

PB, 234pp, 2023

$49.95

Out of stock