Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

For most of our nation's history our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been ineligible to vote; however, that has not stopped us allowing them to die for their country. On 29 September 2012 I attended the memorial service at Ipswich Cemetery in Raceview in Ipswich, recognising the service of Aboriginal soldier Trooper Horace Dalton some 56 years after his death. I thank the Ipswich City Council for organising the wonderful service.

Horace Dalton was a trooper in the 11th Light Horse Regiment in World War I in the Middle East. Whilst he fought for the freedom of all Australians he did not enjoy the same rights as other Australians. He was not even considered an Australian citizen. Like many of his military cohort he had to be economical with the truth to enlist—only, at 19, he did not lie about his age rather he lied to satisfy the requirement that service people be of substantially European origin.

He served in Egypt from 1918 to 1919 and died in Ipswich in 1956. There was no military funeral for Trooper Dalton. When he returned from war he was not even allowed to attend reunions. I was proud to be part of that memorial service and dedication of his grave which finally recognised his service to his country. The Ipswich City Council, the local RSL, serving military personnel, clergy and members of the Ipswich and wider community came to show their respects.

Trooper Dalton's 73-year-old son Ken said his father had been a staunch patriot who had felt a duty to defend Australia. In other words, he felt compelled to fight for the rights of Australians that he himself did not enjoy. Ken said his father had been like any young guy who wanted to sign up and help his country. Even though his country had treated him shamefully, he was a proud Australian who was proud of his service.

Ken gave a very moving speech. He did not pull any punches about what his father had to endure and the depth of the institutional racism in Australia at the time of World War I and in subsequent years. But now his children and grandchildren are seeing the benefits and they are enjoying the rights that he himself did not enjoy.

The irony was that Trooper Dalton had to sign a statutory declaration saying he had the correct heritage to be an Australian soldier when he was one of the true owners of the land. Mabo would come many decades later. There was a referendum in 1967 and in 1962 they got the right to vote for the first time—six years after he died.

The recognition of Trooper Dalton is in large part due to the work of Ipswich RSL member Matt Rennie. I thank Matt for his work. Matt had worked to ensure that Trooper Dalton was honoured properly after discovering his grave seven years ago. Trooper Dalton had been buried in an unmarked grave along with 72 other former soldiers at Ipswich Cemetery.

His grave now bears a plaque detailing his service.

It is a shameful part of our history that Indigenous Australians were not recognised for the significant role they played in our armed forces. In spite of the restrictions on non-Europeans entering the war, about 1,000 Indigenous Australians fought in World War I. By World War II there were over 3,000 Indigenous Australians in the armed forces of our country, and many of those people lost their lives. However, it may be the opportunity we have now to recognise the bigotry and racism of mainstream Australia in those days, and to recognise what these men had to endure to fight for the country which treated them so shamefully after they came home.

Serving in the trenches was the first time many non-Indigenous Australians had even encountered Indigenous Australians. This had been a time when Indigenous Australians could not enter a public bar, own property or even vote in an election. The beginning of the end of this electoral and economic segregation did not happen until 1962 and 1967, when we recognised Indigenous Australians as citizens and gave them the right to vote. The Australian Defence Force gave these Indigenous servicemen an opportunity to earn a decent wage.

Gary Oakley, a curator in Indigenous liaison with the Australian War Memorial, has noted that the ADF was the first equal opportunity employer of Indigenous Australians. When they came home, like Trooper Dalton, they could not attend reunions or share a beer with their mates. Yet Indigenous Australians have participated in every war and peacekeeping mission since this country has been involved. Today, there are 800 Indigenous Australians serving in the ADF and we should be proud of their service historically and contemporaneously.

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