Barnaby Joyce slams Australian War Memorial for ‘disrespectful’ gender pronoun switch

The Australian War Memorial is facing claims it has disrespected fallen soldiers and their families by adopting a gender neutral pronoun on a major social media platform.

The Australian War Memorial has changed the use of pronouns for fallen soldiers on social media to avoid mistaking the genders of servicemen and women.

From January 1, the national memorial in Canberra has started to use the possessive pronoun of “their” – instead of “his” or “her” when referring to a fallen soldier’s service in daily Last Post ceremony announcements on Twitter.

The War Memorial did not provide an official explanation behind the decision, but sources have told The Advertiser it was to avoid mixing up the genders of fallen Diggers.

“The use of ‘their’ is grammatically correct and used only to denote possession,” a memorial spokesman said.

Opposition veterans’ affairs spokesman Barnaby JoycePicture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“The decision to use ‘their’ is for digital content on social media only. There will be no changes to Last Post Ceremonies or in the Memorial’s galleries.”

Opposition veterans’ affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce said it raised serious questions about how the War Memorial respects fallen soldiers.

“No one buys the argument this was suddenly changed to ensure perfect grammar,” Mr Joyce said.

“The notion that this decision was made to avoid mistakes online is equally unbelievable, because the Australian War Memorial uses the correct pronouns in ceremonies.”

Mr Joyce suggested it was an act of “woeful woke-ism” and the “worst form of disrespect” committed by “pen-pushers”.

Examples of the Australian War Memorial using the 'their', pronoun in reference to fallen male Australian Diggers. Picture: Twitter

“Basic questions need to be answered. Who asked for the change in social media policy? Who was consulted? And were any checks made with the families to see how their loved ones chose to be recognised, because that’s the most important thing when showing respect,” he said.

According to the War Memorial, Australia has lost more than 103,000 service personnel in multiple conflicts, including 61,673 in World War I and 39,656 in World War II.

At 4.45pm each day, the memorial holds a Last Post ceremony in the commemorative courtyard to remember and share the story of an Australian armed forces member who died during, or as a result of, war service.

“In the Last Post Ceremony for 1 January 2023, we remember and pay tribute to Flight Lieutenant Leo Braham Patkin and their service in the Second World War,” the War Memorial posted Twitter.

Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

According to the memorial’s website, Flight Lieutenant Patkin was born in Melbourne and served in the RAAF. He died in Germany on January 2, 1944, aged 30.

A spokeswoman for Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said: “The Minister was not aware of the phrasing of Australian War Memorial tweets”.

“The Australian War Memorial is an independent agency and is responsible for its own social media,” the spokeswoman said.

In other social media activity not related to Last Post ceremonies, the Australian War Memorial uses the his and her when referring to service men and women.

The memorial uses different phrasing for Last Post ceremony announcements on Facebook.

The RSL did not respond to The Advertiser’s requests for comment.

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