Mr BAYLEY – Aside from the Cenotaph, a place that I find incredibly poignant when it comes to remembering veterans, is the very modest War Memorial on Cape Barren Island.
Mr PEARCE – I have not been there.
Mr BAYLEY – It’s very poignant because at least half a dozen or so names of old fellows who died, Aboriginal soldiers in the Great War, who, if you think about it in context of the time, were not even recognised as citizens and yet they were volunteering and heading off to war to fight for, effectively, the colonial forces that had conquered their country.
Aunty Wendal Pitchford is a Palawa elder who has campaigned long and hard for recognition, not necessarily of Aboriginal veterans who fought in the conventional wars, but Aboriginal veterans from the Black War, the original war here on this country of Lutruwita. She, in 2022, managed to get the RSL to support her and some of her people marching in the Anzac Day parade and she has run a campaign for a long time to try to get formal recognition of the Black War through a memorial.
I want to put to your perspective and the government’s perspective around this and whether it’s something that you’d be willing to try to understand more of, to meet with Palawa elders, to understand their commitment to some of their old fellas who fought and died on this country, for this country, and whether you’d be willing as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs to help champion this. I acknowledge it crosses over to another minister’s portfolio, but we’re talking about veterans here, veterans, you know of this country and on this country.
Mr PEARCE – You raise a very valid point. Actually, there’s a splash of Indigenous in my family, so it means a lot to me. And then a lot of the old families from the north-west, it’s like that. Also, as a young digger was trained by the aunties in tracking and survival in the Northern Territory. They keep you alive. That’s literally saved my life with some of the stuff that I’ve been through with them.
So, it is important and I value the significance that our indigenous folk have had in serving the nation and you rightly point out that they weren’t able to vote, but some of them gave their life, you know? I’m very proud to say that, honestly, during my 20 – almost 21 years of service, I never saw a lick of racism. In fact, you were judged by what’s inside you, not what’s on the outside.
So that’s where I come to this argument from, in terms of recognising a particular Indigenous war or not. I’m not going to get into that, but I don’t care where people come from, what colour their skin or you know, anything else for that matter. If they’ve served our country, they’re Australian through and through and we are all equals, we were all brother and sisters in arms. So that’s my position. I’d love an invite. I mean that.
Mr BAYLEY – Look, I guess the context is slightly different. I hear you saying though, the Aboriginal people who have served their country, I guess, from their perspective, those people they’re talking about, the old people they’re talking about absolutely did serve their country. It was a very different country, it was the country as opposed to the nation.
I could ask for your commitment today to engage your mind and some time in this. It would be, you know – and give them the opportunity to – it’s their pitch to make to you at the end of the day. If we could facilitate that, that would be very welcome and appreciated.
Mr PEARCE – By all means.
Mr BAYLEY – Thank you.
