Hi. I am Greg and I want to mourn more than grumble today. Last week we celebrated Armistice Day, the end of the war to end wars. And we unveiled a memorial to Aboriginal soldiers who have fought for our country. Lest we forget.
But did we forget or fail to memorialise the Aboriginal soldiers who first fought for their country – against the European invasion? And what about the Australian militia that went to New Zealand to quell the Maori uprising in the 1860s, or the ten South Australian contingents who fought the Boers in South Africa and the Boxers in China at the turn of the last century.
After the war to end all wars, there were Australians in the British forces that fought on behalf of the aristocracy in the Russian Civil War, and a few brave volunteers who were the first to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War before the second world war swapped one dictator for another in Poland and ended in nuclear holocaust in the Pacific.
And after that Australians saw service in the Korean War and the Malayan emergency in the 1950s, and the Indonesian confrontation beginning in 1963. And then came the disaster in Vietnam and a generation’s respite before we went to defend a feudal regime in Kuwait against a dictator in Iraq – I’m sure it had nothing to do with the oil. Then there was the second Gulf War searching for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and the invasion of Afghanistan which ended up being our longest official war.
And to finish this list, we must remember the Australian peace keepers in Africa, the Middle East, Timor Leste, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere.
Overall, a pretty mixed list – from heroic and necessary fights in defence of highest principles to cruel adventures for imperial self-interest.
I have no experience or even real comprehension of what those who fought these wars endured and make no judgement on them. But when it takes my whole 2 minutes to list the wars of our nation’s short history, I wonder at what point should our remembrance question the militarism of our heritage?
It’s not just about history, it’s also about culture and current priorities. Not just our foreign policy, but more locally, do we really want the second largest research organisation in the country to be dedicated to warfare, or our manufacturing base to be built on warships in the Port River? And is it ok to take over my local school with Maritime Courses to provide the kids of western suburbs a job in those industries? Perhaps it was forever thus for workers, but can we imagine a less militaristic future?
I hope so, but until then I am Greg, I am grumbling.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-16/
First Broadcast: 19 November 2013
Greg's Grumbles can be heard on Radio Adelaide during SACOSS' Small Change program - 6pm every Tuesday night. 101.5FM or online.
Could the two following 'battles', 'uprisings', 'revolts'or wars where military force was used in Australia to assert dominant rule be included?
ReplyDeletea) The Battle on Castle Hill (Toongabbie) 4th March 1804 when 200 convicts & 30 poor tenant farmers staged an armed insurrection against the British colonial authorities...the army and marines of H.M.S. "Calcutta" were dispatched to put down the revolt. 25 of the 230 insurrectionists were killed and untold numbers were flogged.
b) The Eureka Uprising on the Ballarat goldfields, 3rd Dec 1854, 276 men of the 12th & 40 Regiments mounted & foot police attacked the miner's stockade. 5 soldiers died & 30 diggers gave their lives in the struggle for independence. 114 were captured and imprisoned. These two episodes have been historically documented as significant events especially the later which was a turning point in the establishment of a developing democratic trend in Australia.
Regards, John