Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander war memorial unveiling
Published on 08 December 2016
A special war memorial will be officially unveiled at Mildura’s Henderson Park today to honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers involved in conflicts for Australia.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial is one of only very few across Australia to honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who enlisted in the army.
It’s the result of months of work led by Mildura Rural City Council’s Aboriginal Action Committee (AAC), which sought to ensure the memorial properly acknowledged the hardships faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women.
Today’s official unveiling of the granite war memorial will start at 11am and include a dedication service and wreath-laying ceremony, with addresses from both the AAC and the Mildura RSL.
It will conclude with a community lunch in Henderson Park.
Sunraysia residents are invited to join the AAC at today’s unveiling and to pay their respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women.
Mildura Rural City Council Mayor Glenn Milne said he was pleased that Mildura was one of the few areas in Australia to feature an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander war memorial.
“It’s important that Mildura, with its rich Aboriginal heritage, be home to one of the few memorials in the country that acknowledges the sacrifices made by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers,” Cr Milne said.
“It was also great to see our Aboriginal Action Committee working so closely with the Mildura RSL to make this monument a reality.”
AAC chairperson Norsiyah Mokak said the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers still remained largely untold.
“It’s hard to imagine what it must have felt like for our World War I and World War II Aboriginal men and women who enlisted to join the army at that time,” Ms Mokak said.
“They weren’t considered citizens, they had to often renounce their Aboriginality and then they went and did their duty just the same as any other soldier or nurse. They lived and died alongside their fellow white soldiers. However when they came home, they went back to a life of inequality and no recognition of their sacrifices.”
Development of the memorial was managed by a working group of the AAC and funded through the Victorian Government’s Restoring Community War Memorials and Avenue of Honour Grants Program.
ENDS