> But even if they went West to East— that still means they would have populated a bunch of tiny islands but skilled Australia. So...why?
I’m not convinced that the Maori did skip Australia: it’s quite possible that they checked ou the East Coast, maybe even traded a bit. But, having found New Zealand, which had plenty of everything they needed (including room to live) why would they colonize Australia, which would have little or nothing of interest to them?
My view is that land-and-food pressure arising from growing populations on small islands drove the migrations. New Zealand had plenty of both.
Australia already had a population, so that’s why they wouldn’t fight to colonize, especially with all the uninhabited islands.
However, the mitrochondrial studies of the pacific population did show them picking up some Papua New Guinea women whose genetic signature is still throughout the Pacific today.