The origins of Australia's Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars are complex and controversial.

With the expansion of European settlement large amounts of land is cleared for farming, which results in the destruction of Aboriginal food sources.

This, combined with the introduction of new diseases such as smallpox, causes resentment within the Aboriginal clans against the British and results in violent confrontations, coordinated by men such as Pemulwuy.

Whether Pemulwuy is actively resisting European settlement, or is only attempting to uphold Aboriginal law, which often involve revenge acts, is debated by historians.

Regardless, the British believe the attacks made against them are acts of war.