Stan Grant stars in new documentary Before 1770 that aims to ‘challenge false narrative of Captain Cook’

Journalist Stan Grant features in a contentious new documentary exploring a new theory about Captain Cook and a “lie” about how Australia was founded. See the video.

EXCLUSIVE

Journalist Stan Grant features in a contentious new documentary that aims to “challenge the false narrative of Captain Cook” by celebrating the history between Muslims and Indigenous Australians in the pre-colonial period.

Produced by the Islamic Abu Hanifa Institute in Berala in Sydney’s west, Before 1770 recreates the journey of sea cucumber fisherman, called Macassan trepangers, from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi to northern Australia.

Promotional material for the documentary said it was “designed to encapsulate the history of Muslims in Australia before the First Fleet.”

Before 1770 recreates the journey of sea cucumber fisherman, called Macassan trepangers, from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi to northern Australia.

Director Sheik Wesam Charkawi said Before 1770 was a story of family, connection and mutual respect that was anchored in fact.

“Certainly, we want to challenge the false narrative of Captain Cook,” he said.

“Australia was not discovered. Aboriginal people are the world’s oldest continuing culture.”

A new documentary, featuring journalist Stan Grant, aims to “challenge the false narrative of Captain Cook”. Picture: Supplied

It is widely accepted that Indigenous Australians have been on the continent for at least 50,000 years, with some archaeologists believing Aboriginal history stretches back 65,000 years.

Captain James Cook arrived in Botany Bay in 1770 while Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet in 1778, which is the official state date of Australia’s colonial period.

A trailer for the film shows a reenactment of a pre-colonial sailor, presumably Captain Cook, on a vessel as Grant speaks over the vision.

“When a nation is founded on a lie, then how do we find a sense of belonging and connection?” says Grant, who was one of several people interviewed for the documentary.

Prominent journalist Stan Grant features in a new documentary titled Before 1770. Picture: Supplied

Grant, a Wiradjuri-Kamilaroi-Dharrawal man, stood down as host of Q&A after being subjected to vitriolic racist abuse after making controversial comments over the ongoing impacts of colonialism in Australia ahead of the coronation of Charles III in 2023.

He also published a book The Queen is Dead in 2023 that argued for the end of the monarchy in Australia and called for a reckoning over the past injustices suffered by Aboriginal Australians.

Promotional material for the documentary said it is “designed to encapsulate the history of Muslims in Australia before the First Fleet”.

Indigenous businessman Warren Mundine said he considered the Macassans cousins to Indigenous Australia but said modern Australia started in the colonial period after the arrival of Captain Phillip in 1788.

“Macassans were trading with Aboriginal people from northern Australia and for me that’s something for us as modern Australians that we should be celebrating,” he said.

“But to then jump to modern Australia and say that the institutions and everything we have here is a lie I think is a big stretch.”

A screengrab from the trailer of Before 1770. Picture: Supplied

Australian National University professor Campbell Macknight, who was interviewed for Before 1770, said the purpose of the documentary was to prevent young Muslims from becoming disengaged from wider Australia.

“The political purpose of the film is to reassure young Muslims in western Sydney that they really have a place in modern Australia,” said Professor Macknight, who has published a book on the Macassan trepangers.

“And that there were Muslims in Australia before Captain Cook.”

A screengrab from the trailer of Before 1770. Picture: Supplied

University of Adelaide associate professor Sally K. May said there was evidence supporting contact between Indigenous Australians and Macassan trepangers, including a fishing boat called a prau, that was radiocarbon dated to be older than before 1664.

“Before the 1600s is more difficult to prove but most archaeologists would agree there has been ongoing contact for many hundreds of years,” she said.

“These earlier contacts may not have been ‘Macassan’s’ hunting trepang but may have been trading other items.”

Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar said Australia’s history predated the arrival of the British but said the creation of the nation in its current form was due to English settlement.

“Before [settlement] then you had multiple groups covering parts of Australia, you didn’t have a single state and you certainly didn’t have a single Aboriginal state,” he said.

“By all means tell the story of different groups but don’t pretend that it created Australia because it didn’t.”

Grant was approached for comment.

Originally published as Stan Grant stars in new documentary Before 1770 that aims to ‘challenge false narrative of Captain Cook’