Wominjeka! Yumalundi!*

We pay respect to First Nations people and to their Elders past, present and emerging. This website was developed in Naarm (Wurundjeri Country, Kulin Nation) and Kamberri (Ngambri and Ngunnawal people) on land that always was and always will be Aboriginal and has never been ceded. This website contains information and images (including images of people who have died) that may cause distress to First Nations people. 
* Wominjeka means ‘welcome’ or ‘come with purpose’ in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Yumalundi means ‘Hello’ in the Ngunnawal language of the Canberra traditional owners.

Defending Country

Defending Country applies to all who have fought for Australia or parts of it. It applies just as much to First Australians (Arrernte, Noongar, Wiradjuri, and others), defending their Country on Country (and dying on Country), as it does to uniformed Australians fighting our overseas wars.

For an expanded explanation of Defending Country, link here.

As a veteran I can’t see how my service was somehow more deserving of being commemorated than that of First Australians warriors who fought bravely against superior forces. (Noel Turnbull, 104 Field Battery, Vietnam, 1968-69)

The Australian Frontier Wars

Read why the Australian Frontier Wars are important to Australia and Australians. In summary:

  • Australia is built on the Frontier Wars.
  • The Frontier Wars killed tens of thousands of Australians.
  • Intergenerational trauma cannot be left in the silence.
  • What we commemorate shows what we regard as important.
  • We need to close the Commemoration Gap.
Australia was fought for in an endless war of little, cruel battles. (David Marr, Killing for Country, 2023, p. 131)

Reading List Selections

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Frontier Wars
First Nations History
Frontier Conflict: The Australian Experience (c. 2003)
Attwood, Bain and SG Foster, ed.
Based on a forum held at the National Museum in Canberra c. 2003 this book presents a series of essays by leading contributors on the subject of conflict between Aborigines and settlers.
Frontier Wars
Queensland
In the Shadow of Holocausts: Australia and the Third Reich (2017)
Loos, Noel
Noel Loos has concluded that the Aboriginal people in Queensland had been subject to a genocide, a holocaust different from that inflicted on the Jews in Europe, but equivalent to it.
Frontier Wars
Western Australia
Some Known Frontier Conflicts in Western Australia
Morrison, Jane
Seeks to document the frontier conflicts between European colonists and Australia’s First Peoples. Maps, timelines, names of warriors, memorials, resources, latest news. Separate sites for each state.

Related sites and organisations

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Patrons and Supporters

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Defending Country thanks these distinguished Australians for agreeing to be Patrons of our website and project. While each of them supports the objectives of the Defending Country campaign, they do not necessarily endorse every post or every word on the defendingcountry.au website and do not necessarily agree with each other on everything.

Patron
Thomas Mayo
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Patron
Clare Wright
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Patron
Henry Reynolds
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Patron
Megan Davis
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Testimonials

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Advice about Australian Research Council grant funding for Aboriginal History Archive 2.0
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New report from Medical Association for Prevention of War includes principles to improve the Memorial's treatment of war
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Summary of ABC Late Night Live segment with presenter David Marr and Professor Peter Stanley
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Marking the War Memorial's gradual progress towards proper recognition and commemoration of the Frontier Wars
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Quick review of two recently-tabled War Memorial corporate documents
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