Having lived in both Australia and New Zealand and casually researching their colonial pasts, it seems as though the Maori were afforded a greater level of consideration than the Australian Aboriginals.
Is this a fair assessment? And if so, what might explain these differences?
Not to forestall further answers because there's always more that can be said and explained, but there's a bunch of replies to similar questions in our Oceania FAQ, by a few different people, including /u/CrossyNZ on Why were/are NZ Maoris treated far better than Aborigines in Australia?, /u/b1uepenguin on Why were the Maori so much more successful at resisting colonization than Australian Aborigines or other Pacific Islanders? and /u/tasfromTAS on Were the Moaris in New Zealand treated much better than natives in other British colonies? And why?