An Australian academic says the character of British colonisers is often misunderstood by historians.

Academic Sherry Sufi speaks to Chris Smith about the common misunderstandings surrounding British settlement.

“The character of the British empire is often misunderstood by post-colonial historians that are writing in the aftermath of World War Two.

“The new dominant way of thinking [is] that all imperialism was bad. But you can’t generalise and say all colonisers were terrible.”

He says the situation could have been much worse if the Spanish had landed on Australian soil.

“The British empire didn’t intentionally go in there to cause carnage.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview