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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-06-06 Daily Xml
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Motions

Aboriginal Veterans Commemorative Service

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:56): I move:

That this council—

1. Commends Reconciliation SA and Aboriginal Veterans SA on the ANZAC Day service at the Aboriginal War Memorial;

2. Acknowledges the contribution of Aboriginal service men and women; and

3. Recognises that their sacrifice often did not result in equal treatment to their non-Aboriginal brothers and sisters in arms.

I rise today to speak to this motion. I was honoured once again to attend the ANZAC Day service at the South Australian Aboriginal War Memorial. I commend Reconciliation SA and Aboriginal Veterans SA for once again putting on a moving and memorable morning. It was particularly memorable for me this year, as I was able to share it with my family. I laid a wreath with both my father, Jim, and my eldest son, Marley, that morning.

ANZAC Day is an important day when we honour the men and women who have served Australia, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. It is especially important on this day to remember the sacrifice made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, part of the oldest living culture this planet has seen, and their contribution in defending their country, our country.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have served in all of our major conflicts since the Boer War. Ken Jones has been a family friend of mine for 30 years and gave a moving speech at the ANZAC Day service about his grandfather, William Charles Westbury. William Charles Westbury served in the Boer War, the only recorded Aboriginal South Australian to do so, and then enlisted for World War I. He was in the first wave to land at Gallipoli before being injured. Once recovered, he continued to serve on the Western Front—a remarkable story of service and sacrifice.

But until 1949, non-Europeans were officially barred from serving in our armed forces. Despite that policy, it is estimated that in excess of 1,000 Aboriginal people enlisted to fight in World War I alone. Eric Bogle's lyrics to Lost Soul speaks to the treatment of many Aboriginal soldiers, who at the time of their service to Australia could not vote or even counted as citizens. As Eric Bogle's lyrics record:

Why did you come here, Ngarrindjeri man, to fight and die here in this cold and alien land?

You owed them nothing, yet your life you freely gave, the mark of a warrior, not a servant or a slave.

Those Aboriginal people in the armed services lucky enough to come home were not treated in a way that a grateful nation ought to treat their heroes. They were not given full citizenship. Many found they were excluded from accessing the soldier settlement scheme, government nominated areas of land for returned soldiers. The scheme often provided assistance with erecting buildings, purchasing stock or seeds, establishing fences, draining and irrigation. Approximately 37,000 soldiers took up land under the scheme.

On the other hand, many Aboriginal people returning from war faced demeaning controls on their behaviour under protection acts, with their wages and movements controlled by protection boards. They were not permitted to drink at the local bar with their comrades and were often refused membership at the local RSL. There is little government support for wounded or mentally scarred Aboriginal veterans. Their service and sacrifice was often ignored by government and society in general. That is why the unveiling of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial in 2003 was such a significant occasion. Then commissioner Frank Lampard OAM said on that day:

Many in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of Australia have come to view 'ANZAC' as a party to which they have not been invited.

With the unveiling of the memorial in 2013, Frank said:

Well, I am proud to say that lack of recognition ends today.

Slowly, we have been righting some of the wrongs of the past in this respect, giving that recognition which ought to have always been afforded.

Last year, I and many, many others attended another step towards righting some of those wrongs when we attended the full military funeral for Private Miller Mack, with all the honours deserving of a soldier who had put their life at risk for their country. It had taken 98 years to give Private Mack a service befitting his military service and allowed him to be buried on country—his Ngarrindjeri country.

Private Miller enlisted in the Army in 1914 and served in World War I as a member of the 50th Infantry Battalion, the first South Australia battalion to see active service. The colour of Private Miller Mack's skin did not matter in the trenches of war, but on his return to Australia he resumed his place as a second-class citizen, sent back to the then Point McLeay Mission under the instruction of the Protector of Aborigines, and he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died on 3 September 1919.

I know that for many Aboriginal people who have served in the Defence Force it can be difficult for their families to decide whether to be buried alongside your brothers and sisters in arms or on country with thousands of generations of cultural connection. Private Mack, at the time, did not receive the dignity of either. Private Mack's final resting place was an unmarked pauper's grave in the West Terrace Cemetery. It is a great shame that for too long a blind eye has been turned to the service of so many Aboriginal men and women who went to fight for their country and were denied a proper burial. Private Mack's ultimate sacrifice was befittingly honoured when his family inadvertently discovered his burial place and returned him home to be buried on Ngarrindjeri country near Raukkan.

Mr President, I want to pay tribute to the past and present members of Aboriginal Veterans of South Australia, and others who have done so much to support Aboriginal veterans, some of whom are here in the gallery today. In particular, I pay tribute to senior Kaurna man, Uncle Lewis O'Brien; Frank Lampard OAM, who I have known for many, many years in many, many roles; Geoffrey Cooper; Bill Denny, who many will know; Simon Kelly; and so many others. We recognise your service and the service you have put in since serving your country and the sacrifices you have made and you continue to make. Thank you for everything that you have done.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I also want to pay tribute to the extraordinary service of the Lovett family. One of my closest friends, my uncle Mark Lovett, is here with us today. The story and service of his family is a remarkable one. The Lovett family occupy an impressive position in Australian history. The Imperial War Museum in London say they know of no other record of military service by a single family that matched that of the Lovett family. The Lovetts are Gunditjmara people from Victoria's Western districts. Known as the 'fighting Gunditjmara', they fought settlers in the frontier wars in the 1840s.

The Lovett family stuck to their true colonial nicknames and continued fighting for decades once a settlement occurred. Overall, 20 members of the Lovett family, including two female members, have served Australia in both war and peacekeeping missions, from the Western Front to East Timor. During World War I, five Lovett brothers voluntarily enlisted to fight with the Australian armed forces and, like many other Aboriginal people, their applications were nearly rejected; however, they were accepted because they were 'not pure blooded blacks'.

Against all odds, all five Lovett brothers returned home safely, but to face the same discrimination as other Aboriginal returned soldiers. When they returned home, much of the Lovett's traditional family lands around Lake Condah were sold to the state government for its soldier settlement scheme. The Lovett's application for land under the scheme was denied. Despite this disregard for their World War I service, four of the five original Lovett brothers re-enlisted during World War II. Again, all returned unharmed, as has every member of the Lovett family who served in Australia's armed forces.

More recently, the Lovett family has received more of the recognition that has been deserved. In 2000, the Lovett Tower at the Department of Veterans' Affairs building in Canberra was named in recognition of the Lovett family's contribution to the Australian military.

Thinking of the Lovett family, the fighting Gunditjmara and of all Aboriginal people from all Aboriginal nations reminds me of a line from Vonda Last's song, For Love of Country. In speaking of Aboriginal soldiers, she notes that they kept watch for the first 40,000 years. It is hardly surprising that many people whose heritage in this country dates back to, according to custom, time immemorial, and according to science at least 65,000 years, wanted to protect their country.

In honour of veterans here today, in recognition of those who are not and in recognition of the countless battles still being fought by Aboriginal people to receive the rights and the respect they deserve, I commend this motion to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.

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