Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders - contribution to military forces
HON ALISON XAMON (East Metropolitan): Anzac Day occurred since we last sat, and I want to raise some issues specific to Anzac Day. I went to quite a number of services, as I am sure nearly all members did in their electorates. I went to the march and saw my grandfather march for probably the last time in his life. There are many stories that we could tell about Anzac Day, but I want to talk about our Indigenous veterans because I was surprised to discover that although this issue has been raised in federal Parliament, apparently noone from this house has put anything about this on the record. That is why I am taking the opportunity to say a
few words about it.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have contributed to Australia’s military forces for many years and are under-recognised for the important part they have played in Australia’s military history. We do not know the exact number of Indigenous Australians who have served in the forces. The Australian War Memorial has kept some records of Indigenous war service. Aboriginal trackers have served in the Australian military as far back as the Boer War. Approximately 400 to 500 Indigenous Australians served in the First World War and as many as 6 000 Indigenous Australians served in the Second World War. They served as either enlisted servicemen or members of regular units or in support units. During the Second World War, the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion had around 745 Indigenous Australians in 1943, and the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit was one of several irregular forces raised. There is now an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial was raised in 1994 as part of the International Year for Indigenous Peoples. It now holds regular services on Anzac Day and also during NAIDOC Week.
In the First World War it was illegal for Aborigines to serve in the armed forces. Do not forget that these were times when, much to Australia’s historical shame, Indigenous Australians were counted as fauna and were not even recognised as human beings. Nevertheless, Indigenous Australians did enlist as heavily suntanned white people if their skin colour was considered light enough. Otherwise they found themselves enlisted as New Zealand Maori or even African Americans if they were considered to be too dark to legally pass as white Australians. They were paid the same as white Australian servicemen; the conditions were the same; and the expectations were the same as those for the other soldiers. For many of these Indigenous Australians this was the first taste of equality they had ever had. Restrictions on Aboriginal service were eased in October 1917 after a referendum on conscription had been lost. If an Aboriginal person could prove he had a white parent, he could enlist. However, again, much to the shame of our history, these servicemen returned from that war to an intensely discriminatory Australia. They did not receive the education and employment opportunities of their white colleagues, nor did they receive the civil liberties or the government assistance that other returned soldiers enjoyed, despite the fact that they made the same sacrifices and put their lives on the line in exactly the same way. They could not join the Returned and Services League. The soldier settlement scheme, which gave farmland to returned soldiers, did not automatically apply. In fact, only one Indigenous soldier received land under this scheme. Of course, the irony of it is that some of the best farming land in Aboriginal reserves was confiscated for this same scheme. Let us not forget that often many of them came back and their children were subsequently stolen.
By the Second World War, Indigenous Australians could enlist. At least they were certainly able to do so at the start. This was an interesting time for a lot of Indigenous civil liberty groups because they were quite divided over whether they should do so. On the one hand it obviously meant that they were visibly contributing to the protection of Australia and they recognised that this was an important move. On the other hand, the shoddy treatment they were experiencing and that they knew was likely to come after their service time raised the obvious question of why they would bother. In any event, by 1940 they were told that they could not enlist any more anyway because it might upset the white Australians. It was not until war broke out in the Pacific that it was agreed that they could join again. Again, as occurred for World War I, once they did come back from World War II they came back to similar conditions. This lack of recognition of service by our Indigenous Australians continued until after the Vietnam War.
I would like to turn the attention of the house to an organisation I am a member of called Honouring Indigenous War Graves. This organisation was founded by an Indigenous Vietnam War veteran, who was determined to set right the lack of acknowledgement given to our Indigenous servicemen during Australia’s war history. This organisation was founded in 2005. Its objective is to acknowledge the services of our Indigenous veterans throughout Australia who were not appropriately recognised upon their return from conflict or for services provided for Australia and the peoples of Australia. Basically the work of Honouring Indigenous War Graves is to provide a sense of pride and closure to families of Indigenous war veterans and to raise awareness among the general public—which I hope I am also able to assist with in some way through this statement—through the ceremonial laying of headstones for Aboriginal veterans who have not been honoured. The organisation also assists Indigenous families to research documents and access information about veterans’ lives. This is really important to Indigenous veterans’ families. It is a source of great acknowledgement and pride. It is important for
both the elders of those Indigenous communities and for the younger generation to learn the truth about their family connections and involvement in Australia’s history. The organisation is now enjoying a large degree of support from people in the defence forces who are playing very particular roles within the ceremonies themselves. I will read from my notes a quote from Honouring Indigenous War Graves —
Their participation in these ceremonies provides the families with a sense of pride in the acknowledgement that their family members have indeed played a pivotal role in the ongoing defence of Australia, and that their contributions are highly regarded and respected by all within the Australian Defence Forces and various government organisations throughout the country.
This recognition is vitally important to the families. I think, despite the sadness and shame of this history, it is quite a positive story that a small group of veterans recognised that there was an injustice and worked to fix it. These people are providing-voluntarily I will add-closure, recognition and pride for the families of WA’s Indigenous veterans. They rely on small grants and donations and I think it plays a very important role in furthering the cause of reconciliation as well as long-awaited recognition of the service that Indigenous veterans have given to this country. I am really pleased that so much has been done by this group in such a short period. I encourage all members, if they do not know about this organisation, to find out about it and lend their support to it. I know that this is just one of the many stories we could tell, but I thought it was timely to at least bring members’ attention to this particular group.