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Tributes to indigenous effort
By LT Kris Gardiner
Volume 50, No. 13, July 26, 2007 |
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PROUD DAY: CPO Jerry Savage, of HMAS Cairns, at the service.
Photo: CPL Rachel Ingram |
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Inset: Guests watching the smoking ceremony.
Photo: CPL Rachel Ingram |
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The throaty hum of the didgeridoo is not normally part of Australians standard military arsenal.
But when the Australian Defence Force commemorated National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observation Committee (NAIDOC) week in Canberra on July 11, the didgeridoo was “front and centre” at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial.
The president of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans Association, David Williams, said he appreciated the ADF’s involvement with the event. “They have bent over backwards to bring to the fore the contribution made by indigenous service men and women … it’s marvellous,” he said.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the citizenship referendum for Aboriginals. Equality is something the ADF has been promoting since federation.
Many veterans at the ceremony spoke of positive personal experiences with the ADF, and acknowledged its ability as a pace-setter, influencing change in Australian society.
Mr Williams related one of his own experiences while serving as an ordinary seaman on the destroyer HMAS Vampire in the 1960s.
His ship was to visit a South African port, but the country’s apartheid policy would have discriminated against him and three other Aboriginal sailors onboard. “When we learnt that the four of us would be left behind, the entire crew all the way up to the captain, voted unanimously to not go.”
Mr Williams also praised the ADF for the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Program (AACAP), and providing support to the Australian Government.
“G’day’ and a smile mean a lot more and go further in communicating than any weapon.”
The ATSI Memorial’s bush setting, 350m behind the Australian War Memorial, and the sound of the didgeridoo provided a symbolic backdrop for the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, as he spoke of the important role played by indigenous servicemen and women since the Boer war.
“Their specialised skills are absolutely vital to our success,” ACM Houston said.
“Today Norforce, the Pilbara Regiment and the 51st Far North Queensland Regiment continue monitoring our borders against illegal migrants, quarantine infringements and maintaining northern security.”
Members of the local Ngunnawal tribe performed a traditional smoking ceremony to purify the site and promote a new beginning as tribal elder Mrs Agnes Shea celebrated the close relations between the Australian Defence Force and indigenous people.
Other guests at the service included the Vice Chief of the Defence Force Lieutenant general Ken Gillespie, CAF Air Marshal Geoff Shepard and the Deputy Chief of Army Major General John Cantwell. |
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