Australia pressed Tony Blair to avoid meeting ‘troublemaker’ 1999 Indigenous delegation, archives reveal | National Archives

Tony Blair’s government was privately lobbied by Australia not to meet representatives of Indigenous communities who were described as “troublemakers”.

Papers released from Britain’s National Archives shed light on the behind-scenes-discussions about a delegation that came to the UK in late 1999.

It was led by Patrick Dodson, a Yawuru elder who was to become an Australian Labor party senator and has been referred to as the “father of reconciliation”. During the same trip, he met Queen Elizabeth II as part of a larger effort to foster reconciliation. Dodson has spoken about the significance of that meeting.

However, files including a memo written by Blair’s foreign affairs adviser, John Sawers, reveal the level of angst within government circles about the trip, and refers to…