Clare Wright and Thomas Mayo were featured at the Sydney Writers Festival on 22 May and their remarks were reported in The Australian on 23-24 May. Professor Wright and Thomas Mayo are both Patrons of Defending Country and Professor Wright is also Chair of the Council of the National Museum of Australia.
Among other things, Professor Wright said Australians are trained to recognise 'the military valour of certain soldiers in certain wars' while there was 'forgetfulness' about the Australian (Frontier) Wars and they were neglected by institutions like the Australian War Memorial. There had been 'brainwashing' about Gallipoli and its alleged role in birthing the Australian nation. On the other hand, since the Voice Referendum there had been a revival of interest in First Nations history.
Thomas Mayo spoke about the renewed interest in Indigenous literature. 'Young Australians are learning a lot more about it at school, and they're talking about it at home.'
The Australian weighed in with an editorial on 24 May: 'There is a long campaign by generally left-wing historians against what is called "Anzackery", said to be the chauvinist celebration of Australians fighting other people's wars ... [Our ancestors] should be studied on the terms of their own times, and their founding achievements for all of us should not be dismissed'.
The article in The Australian quotes a spokesperson for the War Memorial on its current policy towards the Australian Wars. The quote gives a misleading and incomplete summary of the decision made public to Senate Estimates in 2023, leaving out two crucial qualifications in that decision and some important words about how the Pre-1914 gallery will include other conflicts besides the Australian Wars. More on this issue.
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