Wominjeka! Yumalundi!*

We pay respect to First Nations people and to their Elders past, present and emerging. This website was developed in Naarm (Wurundjeri Country, Kulin Nation) and Kamberri (Ngambri and Ngunnawal people) on land that always was and always will be Aboriginal and has never been ceded. This website contains information and images (including images of people who have died) that may cause distress to First Nations people. 
* Wominjeka means ‘welcome’ or ‘come with purpose’ in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Yumalundi means ‘Hello’ in the Ngunnawal language of the Canberra traditional owners.

Defending Country

Defending Country applies to all who have fought for Australia or parts of it. It applies just as much to First Australians (Arrernte, Noongar, Wiradjuri, and others), defending their Country on Country (and dying on Country), as it does to uniformed Australians fighting our overseas wars.

For an expanded explanation of Defending Country, link here.

As a veteran I can’t see how my service was somehow more deserving of being commemorated than that of First Australians warriors who fought bravely against superior forces. (Noel Turnbull, 104 Field Battery, Vietnam, 1968-69)

The Australian Frontier Wars

Read why the Australian Frontier Wars are important to Australia and Australians. In summary:

  • Australia is built on the Frontier Wars.
  • The Frontier Wars killed tens of thousands of Australians.
  • Intergenerational trauma cannot be left in the silence.
  • What we commemorate shows what we regard as important.
  • We need to close the Commemoration Gap.
Australia was fought for in an endless war of little, cruel battles. (David Marr, Killing for Country, 2023, p. 131)

Reading List Selections

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First Nations History
First Knowledges Law: The Way of the Ancestors (2023)
Langton, Marcia and Aaron Corn (Edited Margo Neale)
How Indigenous law has enabled people to survive and thrive in Australia for more than 2000 generations. The sixth in a series on First Knowledges; others cover songlines, architecture, design, land management, botany, and astronomy.
First Nations History
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia (2018)
Heiss, Anita, ed.
What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia? This anthology attempts to showcase as many diverse voices, experiences, and stories as possible to answer that question. Each account reveals, to some degree, the impacts of invasion and colonisation.
First Nations History
People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia (2020)
Karskens, Grace
A landmark history of Australia's first successful settler farming area, which was on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. Award-winning historian Grace Karskens uncovers the everyday lives of ordinary people in the early colony, both Aboriginal and British.

Related sites and organisations

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Patrons and Supporters

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Defending Country thanks these distinguished Australians for agreeing to be Patrons of our website and project. While each of them supports the objectives of the Defending Country campaign, they do not necessarily endorse every post or every word on the defendingcountry.au website and do not necessarily agree with each other on everything.

Patron
Thomas Mayo
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Patron
Clare Wright
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Patron
Henry Reynolds
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Patron
Megan Davis
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Testimonials

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Picture of the Tauranga Monument in New Zealand with comment
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Outline of the Australian War Memorial's posts marking NAIDOC Week 2024
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Wide range of materials, including based on the documentary The Australian Wars and promoting NAIDOC Week
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Professor Reynolds looks at the implications of the recent change to the membership of the War Memorial Council
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Three reasons why the "sacred soul of the nation" Anzac cliché needs examination
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