Scott Morrison gives Diggers equal billing with indigenous elders

Scott Morrison has moved to give Australia’s veterans equal billing with indigenous elders at formal events and ceremonies.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with 3RAR soldiers at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

Scott Morrison has moved to give Australia’s veterans equal billing with indigenous elders “past, present and emerging” at formal events and ceremonies.

In the past year, the Prime Minister has worked to give the same recognition to ex-servicemen and women as is given to the “trad­itional owners of the land”.

Without any formal announcement or public statement, Mr Morrison started thanking “any serving men and women in our ­defence forces” in speeches and is now including the acknowledgment every time he recognises ­indigenous leaders.

At the Liberal Party council dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Saturday, Mr Morrison began his speech by acknowledging “the Ngunnawal people, the elders past, present and emerging”. “Can I also acknow­ledge, as is my habit, anyone who is serving in our defence forces and certainly those who are veterans, and simply say on behalf of a very grateful nation, thank you for your service,” he added.

The “acknowledgement of country” is the formal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islande­r land owners and has been used for more than a decade.

Mr Morrison has been including an acknowledgment for veterans since he became Prime Minister last year and has acknowledged veterans in his Liberal Party campaign launch and during his visit to the US last month.

At the weekend, he delivered the traditional indigenous acknowledgment as the leader of the “party of Neville Bonner (the first indigenous member of parliament) and Ken Wyatt (the first indigen­ous cabinet minister)”. He then thanked Australian Defence Force members for their service.

In Ohio with US President Do­n­­ald Trump last month, Mr Morrison asked veterans in the crowd to put their hands up and thanked them for their service, “not just to the US but to the great alliance betwe­en Australia and the US”.

When The Australian asked Mr Morrison on Tuesday why he was adding veterans to the national acknowledgment, he said: “Since I became Prime Minister, I’ve regularly made a point of thanking veterans for their service at the beginning of my speeches, because they’ve served our country with distinction.

“We rightly acknowledge our first Australian traditional owners­ and I have always felt in this spirit we also acknowledge those for whom we owe the greatest debt: to be able to live in the best country in the world and enjoy the freedoms they paid for.”

The deputy chairman of ex-services­ support group Soldier On, John Bale, applauded what the Prime Minister was doing: “I noticed­ him acknowledging veterans a few times and thought how great it was but didn’t realise he is now doing it all the time. A lot of work is being done in the community to support and recognise veterans and anything the Prime Minister can do is welcome.”

The Coalition passed legisla­tion on Tuesday which Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester said aimed to help members of the community “better recognise the unique nature of military service and further acknowledge the service­ and sacrifice of veterans and their families”.

Mr Chester said the Australian Veterans’ Recognition (Putting Veterans and their Families First) Bill 2019 established the Australian Defence Veterans’ Covenant, which provides a formal way for Australians to show their appre­ciation to current and former ­Australian Defence Force personnel and their families.