House debates
Monday, 1 September 2014
Motions
Boer War
11:44 am
Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I move:
That this House acknowledges:
(1) that as we approach the Centenary of ANZAC we also reflect on the forgotten war in which Australians first participated—the Boer War;
(2) that as a parliament and parliamentarians we remember the beginning of Australian military history in which more than 23,000 Australian men and women put on uniforms to fight in South Africa and that about 1,000 paid the ultimate sacrifice;
(3) the amazing work that the National Boer War Memorial Association is undertaking to ensure that this war is not forgotten by advocating and raising funds for the erection of a specific National Memorial on ANZAC Parade, Canberra, to honour those Australians who served in the Boer War; and
(4) the need for additional funding to see this beautiful memorial, with its 1.5 times life size mounted troopers in bronze, which already has Government approval, a designated site and finalised design, to be completed by 2015 as part of our celebrations of Australia’s proud military history.
All wars are important, particularly to those who are profoundly affected by them—families, civilians, servicemen. However this war, the Boer War, has a particular place in our history and we should remember it. It is something we do not do. We came into being as a nation during this conflict—something pretty unusual for any nation.
At the outset, I want to thank Bill Woolmore from my electorate who is very involved in the Boer War Memorial Association for bringing this matter to my attention and asking me to remember this war and leave a mark for future generations so we never forget in the form of a magnificent memorial.
Australia's contribution to the Boer War of 1899 to 1902 was massive considering our small population at the time. Twenty-three thousand men and women from Australia served in South Africa. About a third of these did not serve with our forces because too many people volunteered and made their own way to South Africa. There were also many Australians living in South Africa before the war and they also joined many units.
Our countrymen did us proud in the Boer War and left a lasting impression. They also set the foundations of Australia's military history—a benchmark and a group of experienced officers for our later conflicts in the First World War. The Boer War was the first time that Australians and New Zealanders served together in War. About 1,000 Australians made the supreme sacrifice in the Boer War, by far our greatest loss outside the two world wars of the 20th Century. We also were awarded our first Victoria Crosses in South Africa as well as 161 other awards for gallantry. Forty-three thousand horses were also sent to South Africa at the time and none returned home. Many were lost to the harsh conditions and many were shot at the end of the conflict.
Major General lain Spencer, speaking at this year's Boer War address in Melbourne, commenting on our soldiers, said:
Although, they joined up for a variety of motives, as young men do, including seeking adventure, economic pressure, or even to escape an unhappy home life, patriotism generally played a part. There is a common theme in many of the contemporary records of fighting to help the mother country, for empire, and also for Australia—to show we were worthy of nationhood in our own right.
He went on to say the importance of the Boer War goes beyond this. We often talk about Gallipoli being the baptism of fire, where we forged our national and military history but—and it is a big 'but'—he thinks this came from the Boer War and that the crucible of Gallipoli was born in the Boer War.
He said:
We had already redefined our attitudes to the British military. While we desired their respect as professionals, we knew we were better. We knew this because during the Boer War we had begun the process of defining our military characteristics: toughness, good humour, compassion and a healthy disregard for useless rules. We were fighters, not spit and polish parade ground soldiers; men and women who kept on under all conditions.
On returning to Australia from the war, many soldiers were carrying severe physical and emotional wounds and, unlike today, there was only minimal support for them and their families. They were welcomed home and many memorials were built but there has never been a national memorial. This is not something that is sinister—again, Canberra was not created until well after this conflict and there were two major conflicts after this so many things happened that prevented the idea of a Boer War memorial coming into being. But the idea has never gone away. These events need to be remembered. Our nation needs to honour the first men and women of Australia who went to war and pay the debt of gratitude owed to them. We need to remember the Boer War more than just the situation of Breaker Morant and Peter Hancock—that is the what most people have the impression the Boer War as. But we need to ensure that the great bravery that was shown at Elands River conflict and the Mafeking siege are also remembered. Amazing spirit was shown in these conflicts.
The National Boer War Memorial Association has raised more than a $1 million but another $3.2 million is needed. This war deserves a special place in our memory. A site has been dedicated to a memorial. There has been a huge competition. Now Louis Laumen is now creating an amazing sculpture in bronze. He has already been commissioned and has cast in bronze the first horse with the second on the way. But, for this to be completed, more money is needed. So I am calling on everybody out there in the public to jump online, go to the Boer War memorial site at www.bwm.org.au and register today to be part of this. Government needs to get on board in order to make this memorial a reality. (Time expired)
Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Is the motion seconded?
11:49 am
Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I second the motion. I commend the member for Chisholm for bringing this motion about the Boer War to the parliament. While the current generation's knowledge of the Boer War is largely based on movies such as Breaker Morant, like many families I have a special connection as my great-uncle, Major Edmund Righetti, volunteered as a private to join the Victoria's first contingent to go to the Boer War in 1899. He was severely wounded, invalided home and after convalescence returned to South Africa and rose through the ranks to Captain. His revolver, stamped with a 'Q', is the only one of its kind in the Australian War Memorial.
By way of background, diamonds were discovered in the Boer Republics in 1869 and gold in 1886. This discovery and subsequent exploitation of the mineral resources was the ultimate trigger for the conflict. On 10 October 1899, the British government received an ultimatum from the Boers demanding that additional British forces be removed from the British colonies of the Cape and Natal. The ultimatum gave the British 48 hours to act or the Boers would declare war. The British then sent out an appeal to their colonies for 'Manageable numbers of dutiful military apprentices, company-sized units, preferably foot soldiers that could embark by 31 October 1899 and be attached to regular regiments on arrival.'
Australia contributed more than 16,000 out of the total 448,000 combat forces from the United Kingdom and other colonies for the duration of the war from 1899 to 1902.
Lieutenant Colonel John Howells RFD recounted earlier this year at a presentation to the Royal United Service Institute, New South Wales, the story of one particular tragedy with consequences that possibly saved many Australian lives in subsequent wars. In June 1901, a newly arrived contingent from Victoria, the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, under the command of a British officer Major Morris with no South African experience was tracking a party of Boers. On 12 June, they camped for the night but, unbeknown to the Victorians, they too were being tracked by another party of Boers. Major Morris personally placed guards up to a kilometre away from the encampment where, in accord with King's regulations and consistent with his experience in India, he ordered the soldiers to erect their bell tents, stack their weapons outside their accommodation and bed down for a good night's rest.
In the dimming light of sunset, the tracking Boers, dressed in salvaged British khaki, easily passed the sparsely placed guard parties, crawling to within 30 metres of the main camp. The result was a massacre.
They ran along the line of saddles and shot men in their beds.
Eighteen were killed and 42 were wounded, the largest casualty list of an Australian contingent in that war. The action ended when an order given by a well-spoken Boer to the detachment's bugler resulted in 'cease fire' being sounded. This saved lives but resulted in unfounded accusations of cowardice being levelled at the Victorians.
Australian troopers James Steele, Arthur Richards and Herbert Parry, who objected to fighting under the orders of a man who called the Australians 'cowards', were given a summary court-martial and sentenced to death. Lord Kitchener intervened, commuting the sentences to 10 years' jail before a speech in federal parliament pronounced that this was a disgraceful way to treat men who had volunteered to go to war. The men were ultimately released.
This motion also has a great deal of local significance for my electorate. In May 2013 I received a petition delivered to me on horseback adjacent to Federation Stone. My colleague, Senator Ronaldson, the now Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and I were the recipients of a petition with more than 10,200 signatures calling on the then federal government to support a national Boer War memorial on Anzac Parade. More than 500 Australians lost their lives in that conflict. The men and women involved in this conflict deserve to be remembered with a lasting and fitting memorial.
I would also like to acknowledge the ongoing work of Miles Farmer and Queensland Committee Chairman Ron McElwaine from the Sherwood/Indooroopilly RSL sub-branch. The Sherwood Boer War cemetery was restored with Centenary of Australia funding and support from the then member for Moreton, Gary Hardgrave. The names on the Boer War Memorial are also reflected in many of the local street names. Students from Corinda State High School take part in the Sherwood/Indooroopilly RSL's now annual Boer War commemorations on 4 February each year at the cemetery. The students also exchange messages with students from the Emelo High School, with whom they now have an ongoing linkage. I commend the motion to the House.
11:54 am
Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I support this motion by the member for Chisholm. As we reflect on the Centenary of ANZAC we also remember the first conflict Australian people partook in, the Boer War, which occurred in South Africa between 1899 and 1902.
The electorate of McEwen contains the township of Seymour, which has a long military heritage with links back to the Boer War. One of Seymour's crowning glories is its rich military heritage. The town contains sites like the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk and the Australian Light Horse Memorial Park. Seymour has been a site for military training since the late 1800s. During the Boer War Australians served mostly in mounted units formed in each colony before being despatched to South Africa. In Victoria, Seymour was one of the sites used for military training. Mounted troops who trained on the hills and plains around Seymour saw action against Boer guerrillas. These mounted troops where independent thinking and country bred, and their stock horses were particularly suited to the unconventional warfare being fought in South Africa.
More than 23,000 Australians served in South Africa; 1,000 never returned home. The Boer War saw six Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians for valour. Another 161 individual bravery awards were made to Australian soldiers during the conflict. More than 43,000 horses were also sent across the Indian Ocean, but only one returned. The sacrifices made by Australians during this conflict are only surpassed by World War I and World War II. Australia's contribution during the Boer War was very significant.
The war was the first in which Australia fought as a nation, but it is the only major war not already commemorated on Anzac Parade in Canberra. It is hard to believe that there is no national memorial to Australia's first conflict. The National Boer War Memorial Association has for many years been working to rectify this situation. It has diligently been advocating for proper national recognition. In 2008 a memorial site was allocated on ANZAC Parade. The memorial will be built alongside 11 other memorials, which include memorials to World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The memorial will commemorate the 1,000 Australians who made the supreme sacrifice in South Africa.
In 2012, Chief of Defence Force General David Hurley unveiled the design for the National Boer War Memorial. The memorial will feature a life-size section of four mounted troopers galloping through the bush of a wide open, rural landscape. According to Keith Smith, spokesperson for the National Boer War Memorial Association:
The memorial recognises that all Australian troops in the Boer War were mounted or dependent on horses to tow their ambulances, artillery and supply wagons, to match the highly mobile Boer soldiers. It recalls their endurance and sacrifice, cast in enduring bronze.
Work has already begun on sculpting the four bronze statues of Australian mounted troops in action, but without further government and private funding the memorial will not be ready for next year when Australia commemorates the Year of the ANZAC and our proud military history. Projects of this scale need a lot of support not only from government but also the community. The National Boer War Memorial Fund needs to raise an estimated $3.2 million to complete the memorial. I can only hope we will see support for this worthy project from the Abbott government.
Recently, due to Abbott government budget cuts, the National War Memorial was advised that $800,000 a year funding for its Travelling Exhibitions program would be cut forthwith, losing funding for what had been a 17-year tradition of travelling exhibitions from the Australian War Memorial.
I hope the Abbott government takes note of the national support given to this very worthy project by successive governments and also lends its support to seeing a national place of reflection comes to fruition to honour the memories of those who were the first to sacrifice so much for this great nation.
11:58 am
Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
First I would like to very much thank the member for Melbourne for scurrilous ruining proceedings so that obviously my speech is going to be cut short!
As the events of war slip from living memory, they grow more not less important. This is so because of that oft quoted truism that 'those that fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it'. But more than just a quote, the Boer War was a most savage war and a most modern war—modern, in the way it speaks to us today about how public opinion can change, and those lauded upon leaving can be reviled upon their return.
Lyddite, a powerful explosive that was used in shelling in World War I, was first used in the Second Boer War—commonly called the Boer War—as was trench warfare, the widespread use of machine guns and aerial observation such as the use of balloons at the siege of Mafeking. Another dreadful innovation was concentration camps, where thousands of women and children died of diseases such as typhoid and black water fever. Nearly a century later I recall the depth of animosity of the Afrikaner people had towards the English as a result of that policy.
There are parallels in the type and conditions of engagement experienced then, and experienced now in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Debate interrupted.