Aside from the old coastal cities, which in Australia are still very young themselves, what you have is a vast stretch of wilderness, wholly natural -- I would expect Clare to contest that statement, on the same basis from which she pitched a fit in the midst of the "history" lesson aboard ship. It's a classic evocation of the civilization/barbarism trope by which the empire justifies past conquest, neatly erasing the present existence and past history of the (now-conquered) people who have been living there all along -- and I would not expect Clare to laugh and say "oh, here he goes again," I would expect her to (quite justifiably) flip her shit.

~ c.