Nelson’s proposal to honour stopping boats ‘disgraceful’: Greens

Greens leader Richard di Natale calls for Labor to distance itself from a plan to honour navy personnel who helped “stop the boats”.

Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has called on Bill Shorten to distance himself from his defence spokesman Richard Marles’s support for navy personnel who have helped “stop the boats” to be honoured in a potential expansion of the Australian War Memorial.

Mr Marles told yesterday’s Australian he supported AWM director Brendan Nelson’s ambition for the national memorial to showcase the stories of sailors who stopped illegal boat arrivals from reaching Australia.

Senator Di Natale said Dr Nelson’s proposal was “disgraceful”.

“It diminishes the contribution of the many Australians who have served and died in foreign wars,” the Greens leader told Sky News.

“It seeks to create some sort of equivalence between a policy that is I think a shameful one, and one that in years to come many Australians will recognise as something that has no place in a modern democracy, and I was very concerned that Richard Marles appeared to support this announcement.

“What we’re suggesting is that to create some sort of equivalence between those many brave people who fought and died in foreign wars, that somehow that’s equivalent to people who served in terms of implementing a government policy, that’s just fanciful and the bottom line here is if there’s an additional contribution that’s going to be made in this area then it should go to returned servicemen and servicewomen to support them.”

Senator Di Natale accused Dr Nelson of a “disgraceful politicisation of an issue that should never be politicised.”

“What should happen right now is the Opposition Leader should make it very clear that he doesn’t support Brendan Nelson’s announcement,” he said.

“Bottom line: there are many, many brave men and women who fought and died in foreign wars. That’s what the war memorial exists for.

“It exists for us to be able to commemorate their contribution. It’s not there as a device to try and advance the government of the day’s policy around immigration or border protection.”