The
commemoration service at St Saviour’s Anglican church in inner city Redfern
paid respect to past and present indigenous servicemen and servicewomen.
The church,
hung with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, was the end point of the
inaugural Coloured Diggers march, which had set out from the Redfern
neighbourhood known as The Block.
Former and
current armed forces personnel, joined by more that 200 family and friends,
marched behind a banner bearing the words Honour, Recognition and Respect.
Pastor Ray
Minniecon and organiser Brenda McDonnell led the service, under the theme Our
Unsung Heroes.
NSW
Governor Marie Bashir, federal Labor Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek and
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore led the congregation in placing rosemary sprigs
and plastic poppies as an act of reconciliation.
Family
members of returned veterans told the gathering of discrimination their loved
ones had suffered in pubs and RSL clubs.
Retired
naval submariner David Williams acknowledged he had been refused entry to pubs,
but said he was proud Aboriginal people were now respected for their
contributions to Australia’s
armed forces.
“I say
to walk down most streets of Redfern in this day and age, and to have a parade
and have you guys to say thank you for my colleagues from past, present and
beyond on, it is unbelievable,” Mr Williams said.
“And
I’ve never been so proud, I had tears in my eyes, I tell you, I’m a big sook
when it comes to those sort of things,” he said.
Mr Williams
said the armed forces had been ahead of their time in employing Aboriginal
people without discrimination before it was made law.
“The
military was the first equal opportunity employer in Australia, long before it was
gazetted,” the 29-year veteran said.
NSW RSL
president Don Howe dismissed reports that the organisation opposed the separate
Aboriginal Anzac Day march.
“I
hope that Anzac Day is above politics, creed and race,” Mr Howe said.
“We
had no problem with it. We endorsed it. In fact we’ll be working with the
Aboriginal community for a special service at the Anzac Memorial (in Sydney) on May 31, which
is Aboriginal Reconciliation Day, he said.