The actions of a few Aboriginals were more than outweighed by the horrors inflicted on local tribes by white settlers. Wholesale slaughter of hundreds of innocent Aboriginals took place in retribution for the actions of a few. Settlers enlisted renegade blacks from further south to act as native police, assisting their mass killings of fellow Aboriginals and providing a convenient excuse when blamed for the bloody raids. Mainland Aboriginals were exiled to Fraser Island, but here too they were persecuted, with many being driven into the sea to their deaths on Christmas Eve of 1851 by native police under the local white commandant. Timber felling and sand mining for minerals became big industries on the island during the twentieth century, but all that ceased when Fraser Island attained its World Heritage Listing in December 1992 in recognition of the island's exceptional sand dune systems, its rainforests on sand, and its beautiful freshwater lakes.
Forests remain one of the island's most controversial features.
Though the island was heavily logged, large areas of satinays and brush box still remain. Today, tourism is the backbone of Fraser Island's economy. All rights reserved.