OK, thread necromancy is a terrible thing, but I've decided that, for now, I won't start a new thread, since this Wiradjuri thing has me honestly curious. The other option I was going to go with was with the Tasmanian Aboriginal tribes, who actually killed 170 Europeans during the Black War, but Henry Reynolds says in Fate of a Free People that there were only 5-7000 Tasmanian Aboriginals, which probably isn't enough for a sustained independence in the face of extensive European immigration.
Anyway, I've decided to build on the ending of DMA's excellent Makarrata TL, but with a more positive result.
After the signing of the historic Parramatta Treaty (Makarrata) of 1827, after a sustained four-year campaign by the Wiradjuri people, public opinion was immediately divided. Some, including John Macarthur, a notable wool magnate who had recently been appointed to the Legislative Council, condemned the measure, and sought Brisbane's removal. Officials in London were more than happy to oblige, having previously come close to dismissing Brisbane during a dispute with the colonial secretary, Frederick Goulburn, which was only delayed due to the pressures of the war. The break in hostilities allowed for Brisbane's dismissal, to be replaced by Sir Ralph Darling.
(Darling was notoriously hostile to the interests of landowners, most notoriously William Charles Wentworth; he would thus have upheld the Makarrata to the letter. This means that his six-year-reign can be a time of relative peace for the Wiradjuri, allowing for our POD from our POD, so to speak)
Amongst the Wiradjuri, internal conflicts arose over relations with Britain. At the time, the Wiradjuri were largely partitioned into three 'clans', with no central governing authority; Wiradjuri society was largely egalitarian, with adult males having generally equal status in government. As a result, no one person could 'speak' for the Wiradjuri, due to the large distances involved between separate groups. This led to the creation of small 'militia bands' of disaffected Aboriginal youths, unwilling to accept British sovereignty, who led attacks on friendly European farmers on Wiradjuri territory. The various 'clans' were unable to police or to stop these attacks, which further excerbated divides within Wiradjuri society.
In 1829, these disputes were at a fever pitch, as several leaders of more distant clans in the northeast refused to accept Windradyne's authority. New 'war bands' began attacks on both the European settlers and Windradyne's followers in the Bathurst district. Darling, and other colonial leaders, placed pressure on Windradyne to halt the attacks, or risk renewed war. A tribal gathering (often anachronistically referred to as a 'Corroboree', although this term refers mostly to gatherings in northwestern Australia) was held to determine the dispute near modern-day Bathurst, of leaders from clans throughout Wiradjuri territory. At this gathering, observed by white officials, Windradyne was affirmed as leader of the Wiradjuri people, and British citizenship was generally accepted. Suttor, by this time a respected intermediary between the Europeans and Aborigines, helped draft a 'constitution', in which the Wiradjuri, while subject to the crown, were allowed a degree of self-government under self-appointed leaders.
(OK, just another word; the main difference this has with DMA's TL is that because of continuing attacks, the Europeans force the Wiradjuri to accept a recognised leader, who can later set up something approximating a government. With the rudiments of central authority, the Wiradjuri can resist encroaching white settlement through the legal system more effectively. Also, this delays Windradyne's death, which allows the Wiradjuri to put up a more concerted resistance)
Darling retired in 1831. Despite the efforts of the growing pastoralist lobby in New South Wales, who through the Legislative Council were gaining increasing influence, the Colonial Office appointed Richard Bourke to the governorship, who continued to respect the Makarrata. John Macarthur, the leader of the pastoralist lobby, died in 1834; this dealt a major blow to the anti-treaty faction in the Legislative Council. However, in 1836, reforms to the Legislative Council allowed for the election of 36 out of the 54 members; since the franchise was restricted to wealthy landowners, a large number of graziers opposed to the treaty gained election.
Meanwhile, in the Wiradjuri Nation, Windradyne continued to be a respected leader. In 1832, in response to a dispute over the handling of the war (in which he was injured, but not killed), he called the first Wiradjuri Assembly, an elected legislature based along the lines of the Legislative Council, in order to fend off claims of growing autocratic rule. At its first meeting, the Assembly sponsored a bill to form a militia to guard Wiradjuri lands against growing encroachment by landowners. The sale of land to the north allowed for the purchase of European muskets from the New South Wales government, ostensibly for 'hunting'. The stage was set for a renewed war.
The first skirmishes came, as these things generally do, through a dispute over a woman. Many Wiradjuri had taken to living on the border of the 'white' territories in the Blue Mountains, and prostitution had become a major trade to cater for lonely pioneers. In 1837, John Macintyre, a trapper in the Blue Mountains, refused to pay after receiving 'services', as they were euphemistically referred to in the press at the time, from an Aboriginal woman. He was later found dead, in mysterious circumstances. Despite Macintyre's rather dubious history and nature, the anti-treaty faction in the Legislative Council used this to prompt a military expedition into Wiradjuri territory. Although this was in theory to 'apprehend the most notorious murderers' and was justified as a police action, it was largely interpreted at the time, by both sides, as a seizure of Wiradjuri lands. Major Ralph Nunn was placed in command of the expedition. Despite vehemous protests from the Wiradjuri government and Suttor, who by this point was serving as an unofficial 'ambassador', the expedition proceeded over the Blue Mountains into Wiradjuri land.
Ten years had made much difference to both sides. In the case of the Wiradjuri, a semi-professional militia, trained in weaponry, had been set up, with extensive knowledge of the terrain. Major Nunn's expedition, on the other hand, was poorly equipped, had no way of protecting its supply train and faced substantial opposition within the government, where it was viewed as being a violation of treaty terms. Guerrilla attacks by Wiradjuri sapped the expedition's strength. Near modern-day Wagga Wagga, an ambush, lead by Wiradjuri himself, led to dozens of deaths on both sides. Finally, cut off from his supplies and facing mounting casualties, Nunn was forced to retreat. Back home, many landowners advocated the immediate subjudgation of the Wiradjuri.
Into the growing conflict stepped the Colonial Office in London. The expedition was found to have breached the rights of the Wiradjuri, as British citizens, to their own land and to due process as given in the Treaty. The disaster of the expedition forced Bourke to retire, and George Gipps, who was greatly sympathetic to the Wiradjuri, was appointed in his place. The Second Parramatta Conference was held in 1838 between Windradyne and Gipps, reaffirming the treaty 'for all time', and assuring Wiradjuri autonomy would be respected. Windradyne died of natural causes in 1842, but he had assured the future of his nation.
However, in 1851, the Wiradjuri gained their greatest opportunity and greatest threat yet. An Aboriginal prospector discovered a golden mineral, previously thought worthless, near Bathurst. The Gold Rush was on...
OK, some of that is a bit far-fetched. I suppose I could have just written 'and then the treaty is respected, and they eventually become a state', but I decided that a more autonomous route is more likely to lead to a Wiradjuri nation, as well as being much more fun. Of course, if they become an original state (which I could still write in), I could just have them secede during the Depression like Western Australia tried to do, but where's the fun in that?
If you don't ask questions, well you'll never learn a thing IMHO