A statue in the northern Queensland city of Townsville has raised the ire of Australian South Sea Islanders, who say it should be changed to better reflect the region's slave history.

A bronze statue of colonial-era businessman Robert Towns, who made his name by 'blackbirding' South Sea Islanders in 19th century Queensland, stands in Townsville's main street.

The South Sea Islander community is calling for the site to include a plaque and statue to pay tribute to those who were kidnapped, brought to Queensland and forced into labour on the cane fields.

The calls follow renewed debate in the United States over the purpose and relevance of monuments commemorating pro-slavery figures of the former Confederate states.

Emelda Davis, president of the Australian South Sea Islanders Association, said her grandfather was kidnapped and brought to Australia when he was 12.

"The Australian South Sea Islanders community in particular are advocating for the rightful inclusion of recognition in terms of the history of the Melanesian labourers that were bought to Townsville by Robert Towns," she said.

"[My grandfather] was taken off the island. It was the beach and he was taken from his family.

"That's my mother's father. That's how recent this history is."

In Queensland, it is estimated more than 62,000 men and women were trafficked between 1863 and 1904 to forcibly work in the maritime industry and the cane fields.

Residents of some 80 islands were affected, including most of modern-day Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Kiribati.

'The first step in this is listening'

Towns made his name by 'blackbirding' South Sea Islanders in the 19th century. ( Wikimedia Commons: ROxBo )

Ms Davis said there is still little acknowledgement of Australia's slave history.

"There's a monument in town of Robert Towns that celebrates his entrepreneurial wisdom and [being a] founding father of the township," she said.

"But it goes to undermine the Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Australian South Sea Islander history that occurred in Townsville in particular as well. It's a whitewash.

"So we want to see the same monuments put up around Townsville that depict the truth of the nation, because our communities are struggling."

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Finding a way to properly acknowledge the complexities of Australia's history is a debate gaining traction.

University of South Australia lecturer Freya Higgins-Desbiolles said Australians need to look at what and whom they commemorate.

"In the case with Townsville and the possibilities to recognise the history of slavery and blackbirding, many Australians are not aware of that history," Dr Higgins-Desbiolles said.

"I think we need to revisit these histories and have conversations about them and actually think about how do we tell them, and whose stories get told?

"But again, non-Indigenous Australians don't seem to be by and large even listening, and that would be my urge. The first step in this is listening."

The City of Townsville has been contacted for comment.