The Cairns Post

Indigenous Diggers win a war memorial

- PETE MARTINELLI peter.martinelli@news.com.au

TORRES Strait and Aboriginal service men will be honoured with a sculpture at the Australian War Memorial.

The AWM is commission­ing Daniel Boyd, a Kudjla/ Gangalu artist from North Queensland, and Edition Office architects for the work, called For Our Country.

It is expected to be installed by early March next year.

AWM director Dr Brendan Nelson said the sculpture would recognise the “equality of sacrifice” of indigenous servicemen.

“In the Second World War, in the Torres Strait especially, they formed a unit to defend the northern part of Australia,” Dr Nelson said.

“Today when we talk about protection of our borders, one of the most significan­t roles is played by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the north.”

The $450,000 sculpted pavilion will be set into a fire pit, where indigenous people from around Australia will be invited to intern soil from their lands.

“I imagine in the future it will be a place where we will be able to have commemorat­ive ceremonies conducted by and for Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal­s,” Dr Nelson said.

Today, the legacy of Torres Strait soldiers who served in the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion in World War II is continued by soldiers of the 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment.

“I think there is a bunch of things starting to culminate,” 51FNQR commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Tim Rutherford said.

“One of those is recognitio­n of 100-plus years of service by first peoples.

“To have that alongside other monuments and memorials is special.”

The pavilion and fire pit will rest within an 11m diameter circular stonefield, with a 10m wide, 2.7m tall wall of two-way mirror glass, covered in thousands of transparen­t circular lenses.

“It will give indigenous veterans a rally point at the memorial,” Lt-Colonel Rutherford said.

“We now have a formal structure that says ‘this is part of our history’.”

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 ??  ?? SERVING: Private George Toby, Private Goodwill Billy, Corporal Chris Pabai and Private Morrison Pearson of 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment.
SERVING: Private George Toby, Private Goodwill Billy, Corporal Chris Pabai and Private Morrison Pearson of 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment.

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