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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-02 Daily Xml
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INDIGENOUS SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:53): It is timely that just a few days after ANZAC Day I rise to recognise and pay my respects to the thousands of Indigenous Australians who have served us in every war that Australia has contested or fought.

From the Boer War in South Africa to the most recent current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Australia's history of recognising the services of Indigenous Australians at war has been lacklustre, from a country that treated them not only as second-class citizens but, through a good deal of our history, as non-citizens. Despite this, Aboriginal people ignored prohibitions decreed from on high and enlisted in our defence forces, selflessly putting their own lives and wellbeing on the line and showing both patriotism and courage fighting in hostile lands for the Australian national interest.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander soldiers who fought and survived overseas received none of the accolades their comrades did. Their service has, for the most part, been ignored, and in this our true history has been forgotten, yet they deserve the same recognition, acknowledgement and, of course, respect as their comrades.

In special Indigenous units, for example, they were paid less than other troops—roughly half the pay. Unless they served overseas, they did not have access to many veterans' benefits afforded non-Aboriginal comrades. It is timely that we see the Aboriginal War Memorial project hopefully coming to fruition. I hope that next ANZAC Day I will be able to attend that site, having seen its completion. It has taken four decades of hard fought and passionate campaigning for anomalies such as the lost wages to be rectified and appropriate back pay to be granted. I hope that next year we will see the war memorial.

The most hurtful story that I have heard about lack of respect shown to Indigenous Australians in conflict comes from the Boer War. Reportedly, the 'Black Trackers' or light horsemen who went all the way to South Africa to fight in the first war faced by Australia as an emerging nation—not quite a nation—instead of being welcomed home as heroes were perversely left behind in South Africa, denied re-entry into their country because they were not recognised as citizens of this country, despite their active service. This was, of course, largely due to the White Australia policy.

The commonwealth government of the time supported public opinion prior to 1967 and actually ensured that Aboriginal soldiers who served in the war were not entitled to the same rights, such as pensions and so on. In fact, Aboriginal servicemen were not permitted to apply for the returned servicemen's settlement scheme, which coincidentally saw Indigenous people lose much of their land.

Of course, these views were not shared by all Australians of the time, and I am pleased to say that at least one serviceman, Sapper Bert Beros, a non-Aboriginal soldier in World War II, stood up for the rights of his Aboriginal comrades. He wrote a poem about his comrade, Private West, called The Coloured Digger, which goes:

He came and joined the colours, when the War God's anvil rang,

He took up modern weapons to replace his boomerang,

He waited for no call-up, he didn't need a push,

He came in from the stations, and the townships of the bush.

He helped when help was wanting, just because he wasn't deaf;

He is right amongst the columns of the fighting AIF.

He is always there when wanted, with his Owen gun or Bren,

He is in the forward area, the place where men are men.

He proved he's still a warrior, in action not afraid,

He faced the blasting red hot fire from mortar and grenade;

He didn't mind when food was low, or we were getting thin,

He didn't growl or worry then, he'd cheer us with his grin.

He'd heard us talk democracy—they preach it to his face—

Yet knows that in our Federal House there's no one of his race.

He feels we push his kinsmen out, where cities do not reach,

And Parliament has yet to hear the Abo's maiden speech.

One day he'll leave the army, then join the League he shall,

And he hopes we'll give a better deal to the Aboriginal.

It is because of people like Sapper Bert Beros that we do see equality in this nation and, of course, the recognition of Aboriginal people in this country as full citizens. There were some in previous generations who recognised this injustice then, and it is important that our current and future generations rectify the lack of respect afforded to Indigenous diggers.

ANZAC Day, of course, is commonly seen as the forging of our nation, and we all know the phrase, 'Lest we forget'. However, Aboriginal soldiers were the best we forgot, and I hope next year we will see them remembered in South Australia with an appropriate war memorial. I will be supporting that memorial with a donation, and I hope that my fellow councillors will too.

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