But missing from the weather-worn plaques listing those who
served in war are the names of many of the indigenous diggers who fought
alongside them.
Aborigines have fought in every major war the nation has
been involved in since federation. Yet, until Vietnam, all but a handful were
shunned upon returning home: denied veterans’ benefits and a place beside their
mates on the honour roll.
Now, more than 100 years after they first donned the
uniform, Australia’s
indigenous diggers could finally be recognised in bronze with Sydney’s first indigenous war memorial.
A group of Aboriginal former servicemen and members of the
Redfern community known as the Coloured Diggers Project are campaigning for an
Aboriginal monument to be built at Bennelong Point, Hyde
Park or Circular Quay.
The idea has support in principle from the City of Sydney Council and a
draft model, by the sculptor Anthony Symonds, will go on display at Customs
House from Anzac Day for public input.
A Vietnam
veteran, John Kinsella, the nephew
of Australia’s most famous
indigenous soldier, Captain Reg Saunders MBE, said the lack of any indigenous
monument in Sydney
was wrong.
“When my uncle came back from serving in Korea he
couldn’t even get a beer in a pub let alone a pension, and he wasn’t permitted
to become a citizen until 1968,” Mr Kinsella said.
“You can walk into any country town in NSW and read the
names of the diggers who fought there but I can’t find my relatives on any
honour roll – how is that right?”
Gary Oakley, the president of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Veterans and Services Association of Australia, said there was
a “lost generation” of indigenous diggers.
Members had retreated to the safety of their communities in
the face of ongoing discrimination and were still experiencing the effects.
“The flow from that discrimination is still being felt
by these diggers,” Mr Oakley said.
“They didn’t get pensions, they didn’t get medical
care. Some of them didn’t know they had rights and some of them were denied
those rights. Some of these families, especially the war widows, are still
suffering – living under a piece of tin.”