Defending Country was recently given access to a letter to Hon. Kim Beazley AC, Chair of Council, Australian War Memorial, copied to Minister Matt Keogh. The letter is paraphrased with permission of its author.
The letter urged that the Memorial give prominent recognition to the Frontier Wars as an attempt by First Australians to defend their land. It also urged that the Memorial Council decision of 19 August 2022 be rescinded because it understated the significance of the frontier wars. 'They were not merely an adjunct to subsequent uniformed military conflict. They were central to the foundation of modern Australia, and deserving of reverential recognition at the national War Memorial.'
The author of the letter has received a reply which has also been made available by permission. Here it is in full, minus the addressee's name.
22 July 2024
Dear
Thank you for your correspondence dated 7 July 2024 in relation to recognition of Frontier Wars at the Australian War Memorial. Your original correspondence was addressed to our Chair, the Hon. Kim Beazley AC and subsequently copied to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Hon. Matt Keogh MP. Please accept this response on behalf of them both.
In September 2022, the Memorial’s Council committed to providing a broader and deeper depiction of the violence perpetrated against Indigenous Australians. Chair of Council, The Hon Kim Beazley AC has also spoken publicly of that presentation showcasing ‘the dignity of resistance’.
The presence of frontier violence in the Memorial’s galleries has been in place for many years, including in the previous Colonial galleries. The National Collection has contained associated works since 1985. These Colonial galleries conveyed the 19th century history of men from Australian colonies serving in British campaigns in New Zealand, the Sudan, China and South Africa and a small number of works depicting frontier violence. This gallery has been removed temporarily due to construction works for the Development project and will be reinstated in 2028 as the Pre-1914 gallery representing these themes and service.
The development of this gallery will commence in 2025 and be informed by five advisory groups including Veterans and Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Groups.
To learn more about the Development please visit: www.awm.gov.au/ourcontinuingstory/
Thank you for taking the time to write
Yours sincerely,
[Signed]
Leanne Patterson
Acting Director
There are a couple of things to be said about that reply. First, although it was clear from the correspondent's letter that the person knew the full terms of the Memorial Council decision of 19 August 2022 (not September) the Memorial's spokesperson gave a misleading summary of that decision, ignoring the crucial qualifications in it about links between massacre victimhood and uniformed service and about the other institutions that would tell the 'full story' about the Frontier Wars. The full text of the Council decision is reproduced below from information made public by the Memorial in September 2023.
Secondly, the Memorial's letter picked out Mr Beazley's 'dignity of resistance' quote but ignored his other frequently repeated - and just as important - statements that the Frontier Wars would have 'substantial' coverage, in a 'separate section'.
Thirdly, the brief description of the proposed Pre-1914 gallery hints at the fact that the Frontier Wars will not be getting a separate section, but will be sharing space with the minor expeditionary forces to the New Zealand Wars 1845-72 and the Sudan 1885. It omits the other important point, however, that this shared space will amount to just 198 square metres, or 1.1 per cent of Memorial gallery space after the redevelopment - and that is also from the Memorial's own figures.
All of the above is exasperating enough. Then there is the point that the correspondent had written not to the Acting Director of the Memorial, nor even to the Director, but to the Chair of the Memorial Council, Mr Beazley, with a copy to the responsible Minister, Mr Keogh. Fobbing off replies down the line like this has a long tradition in the Veterans' Affairs portfolio; Defending Country's predecessors, Honest History and Heritage Guardians, had quite a collection of such letters.
Defending Country had hoped that Minister Keogh's (or perhaps Chair Beazley's) imaginative initiative to call for public Expressions of Interest for positions on the Memorial Council might have signalled not just an improvement in the Memorial's chequered history on the Australian (Frontier) Wars but a more professional approach to dialogue with the Memorial's constructive critics. Not so much - yet.
On the plus side, however, there have been articles recently quoting reappointed Memorial Council members, Susan Neuhaus and Glenn Keys, stressing the Memorial's role on the Frontier Wars. Perhaps there are some folks at the Memorial and associated with it who really wish to see change. They need to make more noise.
Appendix: Decision of 19 August 2022: extract from confirmed Minutes
It was agreed that Frontier Violence perpetrated against Aboriginal Australians would, as in the previous Colonial Galleries, continue to be presented in the new Pre-1914 galleries.
It would provide a broader and deeper depiction and presentation of the violence perpetrated against Indigenous Australians.
Wherever possible it would relate to and inform, subsequent Indigenous military service to Australia, providing a context for that service.
The gallery will inform visitors of the significant institutions whose charter it is to tell the full story of Frontier Violence.
The gallery will be developed in full consultation with the Council throughout its development.
Image credit: Confederate Civil War Lieutenant-General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson (Wikipedia) (1824-63), renowned for his stubborn resistance against large odds. Not a good role model in this case.
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