Butchulla elder Glen Miller oversees work on ‘symbolic structure’

A “symbolic structure” that will remember the first men who died on Australian soil defending their country is coming together in Maryborough.

The third shield has been cast for a unique memorial in Maryborough that will commemorate the first men who died on Australian soil fighting for their country.

The poignant sculpture, the vision of Butchulla elder Glen Miller, is being cast in Olds Engineering foundry and will be the first memorial in Australia dedicated to the men who died fighting to defend Aboriginal land during colonisation.

Mr Miller has long felt a need to have a symbolic structure that showed the unevenness of the battles.

“The point of the memorial is to show that normally Aboriginal men would line up and throw spears, then wait for them to be picked up and throw them back to keep the fighting going.

Paul Johnston (left) and Lachlan Hansen pour the molten metal into the mould for the third shield.

“These men were waiting for the spears to come back and were mown down by muskets.”

He said from January 1788 to February 1942, when Darwin was bombed, the Aboriginal men were the only ones who died on Australian soil defending Australian soil.

Bullet holes in the bronze shields would send a powerful message when the sculpture was placed in Queen’s Park beside the bunya pine, near the guns overlooking the river.

Butchulla elder John Ellis (right) was intrigued by the moulding process explained by Robert Olds.

The three shields would signify the three laws of the Butchulla people: what is good for the land comes first; do not take or touch what is not yours; if you have plenty you must share.

Mr Miller said he was grateful for the support of Robert Olds and Olds Engineering.

Glen Miller (left), Robert Olds and Downer Queensland Manager Operational Tony Prove examine the moulds and castings for the shields.

Mr Olds said the work of casting the sculpture had been an unexpectedly rewarding experience in getting to learn about the Butchulla people from a different viewpoint.

“This has brought out into the open things that need to be talked about.”

Originally published as Butchulla elder Glen Miller oversees work on ‘symbolic structure’