Beazley says marking Frontier Wars fits Charles Bean’s ‘original vision’ for memorial

New Australian War Memorial chair Kim Beazley says commemoration of the ‘Frontier Wars’ is consistent with WWI correspondent Charles Bean’s original vision for the shrine.

Then Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson, World War II veteran Bob Semple and Kim Beazley at the 2018 Anzac Day National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

New Australian War Memorial chair Kim Beazley says commemoration of Australia’s “Frontier Wars” is consistent with “a broad interpretation” of World War I correspondent Charles Bean’s original vision for the shrine.

But the former Labor leader said the “overwhelming proportion” of the national institution would continue to be dedicated to those who served the nation in the major wars of the past century.

Days after he was appointed as head of the Australian War Memorial Council, replacing businessman Kerry Stokes, Mr Beazley told The Australian that it was his “sacred duty” to stay true to Bean’s vision, which was underpinned by law.

“(The council) has an overwhelming requirement on it to honour the memory of those who fought for Australia in wars, particularly those who … have become casualties,” he said.

Mr Beazley takes the role amid controversy over the War Memorial’s commemoration of the massacres of Indigenous Australians by early European settlers, and concerns over the scale and cost of its $550m redevelopment.

Bean’s vision was for “a ­national memorial that would commemorate what the nation had done during the war”.

Mr Beazley said the inclusion of displays depicting Australia’s Frontier Wars was in accord with that vision “on a

broad interpretation of it – but that interpretation has been in play for some time now”.

He noted historian Geoffrey Blainey was one of the first to call for Australia’s frontier violence to be depicted in the memorial, making the argument in 1979.

Much historical research had occurred since then, he said, with historian Lieutenant General John Coates identifying 33 battle sites between Indigenous Australians and early settlers.

“So in the galleries of pre-Federation or pre-Australia conflict, yes, there will be recognition,” Mr Beazley said.

He said the commemoration of the Frontier Wars would not lessen the space dedicated to honouring those who fought and died under the Australian flag.

“I think the overwhelming proportion of what is done in the memorial, is the recognition of the initial purpose – to be a place of honour for those who served the nation,” Mr Beazley said.

Kim Beazley gives a commemorative address at the National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, in 2018. Picture: AAP Image/Rohan Thomson

The recognition of alleged war crimes identified in the Brereton report would also be controversial, Mr Beazley conceded, but the memorial was committed to telling “an honest and truthful” story of the allegations exposed by Justice Paul Brereton.

But he said any changes would have to await the conclusion of ­investigations into the alleged crimes.

Mr Beazley, a former governor of Western Australia who has also served as ambassador to the US, said the current building works at the memorial – due for completion in 2028 – would create ­additional galleries and places of contemplation for veterans.

But he said the renovation would barely alter the building’s most sacred spaces – the Hall of Memory, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Pool of Reflection and the courtyard listing Australians killed in war.

Mr Beazley said it was the council’s responsibility to keep watch over the project to ensure the building continued to reflect its original purpose and “enhances its status even more among the Australian people”.