There’s a knock on your front door. You open it. There’s a
stranger there, pleasant enough, say’s he’s looking around the
neighbourhood for somewhere to live. You invite him in, give him
a cup of tea. He goes on his way. Some time later, he appears at
the door again. This time with several friends, some of whom you
really don’t like the look of. Somewhat reticently, you invite
them in. Gradually, they begin to take over your house. Where
you thought they only wanted to look around, it becomes obvious
they’re not going away. They bring in their own food, spread
themselves around all the rooms, trash your furniture, clog up
your plumbing and generally wreck your house while hardly taking
notice of you. Eventually you find yourself sleeping in the
backyard. They’ve taken over completely. This is, more or less,
what happened in what we now call Australia when the first
Europeans arrived, although as an allegory, it doesn’t begin to
describe the impact and the devastation that European invasion
visited on the orig