Actually, New Zealand is an almost perfect example of this. Australia had been set up as a penal colony in 1787 when the "First Fleet" arrived, and much persecution of native Aborigines followed. At this time Britain had recently lost the American Colonies, and though there had been a lot of domestic support for the American revolution, the feeling was still very much that colonies fared better under British influence. By the 1830's however attitudes began to change. Britain abolished slavery, repealed many oppressive laws designed to keep Catholics down, and the idea of Humanism was beginning to establish itself in London. The topic of New Zealand cropped up a lot in parliamentary debates, many Radical members (Forerunners of the Liberal Party) thought something out to be done to protect Maori interests and sovereignty.

New Zealand, by 1835, was essentially a lawless land where merchant ships often traded muskets or alcohol with local Maori for women and land. So in 1835 New Zealand was declared independent from Australia (previously it had been under the jurisdiction of the government of New South Wales) and formed a colony in it's own right. People debate the reasons for this, but it's generally accepted this was a measure to reduce lawlessness and protect Maori from getting swindled. Certainly the first two governors, Hobson and Fitzroy, did a lot of work in protecting Maori interests as well as preventing tribes from warring and the French attempting to establish a colony on the South Island.

In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British Crown and many Maori chiefs (Though certainly not all, and controversy surrounds the Maori translations of the English text). One of the main clauses of the treaty was that Maori would only be allowed to sell land to the Crown and any and all previous land deals were considered void. Prior to this and for a long time after Maori chiefs travelled to London, held audiences with British Royalty, and were basically treated as 19th century celebrities.