Waterloo Bay Massacre

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Can the minister tell the chamber about steps taken to create a memorial for the Waterloo Bay massacre?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in areas to do with Aboriginal affairs. Australia's colonial past has some very difficult chapters, and there are some very difficult parts of our history. Since white settlement of this country, there have been, particularly in the early days, many instances of massacres of Aboriginal people.

Growing up in Mount Gambier, I know the local Boandik Ngarrindjeri population certainly were aware of a number of sites in the South-East where there were such conflicts and large numbers of Aboriginal people lost their lives. Perhaps one of the better known incidents in South Australia's history, and certainly one I can remember being often spoken about when I worked for the late Terry Roberts as minister for Aboriginal affairs, was what occurred in the mid-1800s on the West Coast of South Australia.

Contemporary and recent accounts following that time talk about, in June 1848, a local hut keeper, John Hamp, being murdered on his sheep station, and there were various accounts of the reasons for that at the time. Contemporary accounts talk about the retaliation that was taken at the time. Most accounts talk about a large number of the local Wirangu being murdered in response to that incident.

Accounts range from some dozens up to a couple of hundred Wirangu losing their lives, and contemporary accounts, and accounts that persist to this day, talk particularly about the cliffs at Waterloo Bay near Elliston, where a number of Wirangu people were forced or pursued off those cliffs and lost their lives. These are not easy things for us to reconcile with where we are today. It was a different time with different standards applying, but what happened in the past is important to remember; it is important to talk about today. Much of what happened in the past informs where we are today with some of the issues being faced by Aboriginal people, and can inform us about steps to take into the future.

A coastal trail has been developed around this area near Elliston, and some time ago the Elliston council, with the help of federal funding, placed a memorial at the Waterloo Bay cliffs in recognition of the local Wirangu people. I know that it has generated some debate in the community over the last few months, and I think the last couple of years, about the appropriate wording to go on that Wirangu memorial at Waterloo Bay.

I pay tribute to the Elliston council, particularly the chairman of the council, Kym Callaghan. With his leadership, the council, after much local debate and debate within council and a lot of consultation with local Wirangu, has used the word 'massacre' on that memorial. It has not been an easy decision for that council to arrive at. There was some community opposition, but telling the truth about what happened in the past is exceptionally important to where we are today, and I congratulate the council for doing that.

There are other similar memorials around Australia that refer to some of these difficult parts of our past, and I know that it is not an easy thing to reflect on. There are people in areas of Australia who have direct descendants, part of their genetic line, who in centuries gone by were involved in some of these atrocities. The leadership taken by the Elliston council I think will make it easier in the future for us to tell the truth about some of these areas of our past.

The Elliston council's example has quickly been followed and has helped others reconcile some of the past. Ned Luscombe, the Deputy Mayor of the Wudinna council, has inherited a large part of, I think, his grandfather's belongings, which included items that had for a long time been in the local Kyancutta Museum. I have spoken to Ned Luscombe about this over the last few months. The items he inherited included remains that he understood were remains from Wirangu people who perhaps were murdered in retaliation in the 1848 massacre that included Waterloo Bay.

As a result of the Elliston council and the debate, and using the word 'massacre' on the memorial, Ned Luscombe has had interaction with local senior Wirangu elders about the return of those remains. Through the procedures in the Aboriginal Heritage Act, that is being facilitated. I pay tribute to the Elliston council. This example is important for our other leaders in South Australia to follow, and I look forward to our reflecting on some of the more difficult areas of our past, how that informs us today and how it can help all South Australians move forward.