The AWM Council is planning on including presentations about atrocities committed against Aborigines and the so-called ‘colonial wars’. Read all about it here “War Memorial chair, former Howard government minister Brendan Nelson, revealed the Memorial’s governing council had decided they would have a “much broader, a much deeper depiction and presentation of the violence committed against Indigenous people, initially by British, then by pastoralists, then by police, and then by Aboriginal militia”.
The AWM’s intention has led to an immediate reaction from veterans, politicians and national media.A petition has been organised by retired veteran Peter O’Brien Lieutenant Colonel (rtd) and Vietnam veteran. And he has called his RSL NSW State Branch to publicly oppose this measure and to make representations to RSL National to the same effect.
The National RSL has responded as reported in The Australian Newspaper article Memorial wrong for ‘frontier wars’: RSL
The Returned and Services League of Australia is urging the Australian War Memorial not to display frontier war artefacts to preserve the site’s exclusive focus on honouring the sacrifice of those who have served in defence of the nation.
RSL Australia president Greg Melick said the AWM was created to honour the sacrifice of Australian servicemen and women who had fought for their country or joined peacekeeping operations, arguing that the story of the frontier wars would be more appropriately told through a separate monument.
See in the article Peta Credlin report on the Australian War Memorial being the “soul of our country” and should not spread a ‘distorted politically correct’ version of history
