The Australian War Memorial has become an infrequent witness at Estimates hearings of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee. Veterans' Affairs or Defence matters have squeezed the Memorial out of its (usually short anyway) time slots and it has been excused from appearing. When Memorial Director Matt Anderson fronted the Committee on 3 December he said it was the Memorial's first Estimates outing for a year.
The following matters went down in 55 minutes and are reported in Hansard. There's a video also for connoisseurs of body language and suppressed irritation: start from mark 12.04. Defending Country's main interest was in the Memorial's continuing dance around the Australian (Frontier) Wars but we touch on other matters. We have inserted paragraph breaks and some comments in italics.
The Director's hints of '200', 'more', even '400' square metres being available for the Australian Wars are very interesting, even encouraging.
The Australian Wars (pages 43 and 47-48 of the Proof Hansard)
Senator DAVID POCOCK (ACT Independent)
The Senator asked about progress.
Mr Anderson: 'The progress is, Senator, as I said in my testimony to this committee previously, that once we conclude the galleries in Anzac Hall—we're currently doing 15 galleries simultaneously—and once those staff are released from those duties, which we hope will be by the end of February, we will be in a position to turn their minds to the standing up of the gallery teams that will work on the Frontier Wars, the pre-1914 galleries as they're also called, because those galleries will also include the Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion, Sudan and New Zealand. But that will start in earnest from February, when we stand these teams up.'
Defending Country comment: The Director is still sticking with the plan to squeeze the Australian (Frontier) Wars into the Pre-1914 galleries, even though the Australian Wars continued after 1914, and saw the deaths of perhaps 100,000 Australians, compared with less than 800 deaths for the imperial military excursions that the Director lists. This has been the Memorial's plan since at least August 2021, despite statements by Memorial Council Chair Beazley that treatment of the Australian Wars should be in a separate or special section and in substantial space. One could drive a Bushmaster through the gaps between the Director's and the Chair's remarks.
Mr Anderson mentioned a War Memorial conference next year on Imperialism and Resistance and went on to talk about the galleries opening in 2028.
'Of course, we have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory body providing advice to the gallery design team. We'll have a veterans advisory committee. We'll have InclusAbility and disability advisory committees. We'll engage in national consultations around this.'
Defending Country comment: Defending Country has said more than once (e.g. here) that the membership of the Memorial's ATSI advisory body is much better suited to advising on recognition of Indigenous service in uniform than on the Australian Wars. Consultation with First Nations needs to extend beyond this group. Further, there is no mention of consultation with historians. Defending Country and its associate website Honest History have been posting articles for almost ten years about the Australian Wars at the Memorial; we hope to be included in the 'national consultations'.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE (Greens, NSW) (emphasis added)
Senator Shoebridge: '[H]ow much gallery space will there be in the Australian War Memorial after the current redevelopment and how much will be devoted to the Australian Frontier Wars?'
Mr Anderson: 'About 426 square metres is what's called the 1914 galleries. Decisions around how that space is allocated to Frontier Wars versus the imperial versus the resistance element of it, I don't know yet, Senator. That will be part of the design process that ultimately will determine how much space is devoted precisely to Frontier Wars.'
Senator SHOEBRIDGE claimed Honest History had suggested Australian (Frontier) Wars floor space would reduce after the Memorial redevelopment. He was mistaken.* (NOTE below)
Mr Anderson: 'No, it's the other way around. Prior to the development, the floor space devoted to the Frontier Wars consisted of one piece of artwork and an interpretive panel. I suspect that what will happen will be in the order of 200 times larger, as in 200 square metres or more devoted to Frontier Wars compared to what was there previously ...'
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Is that 200 square metres out of how many metres for the exhibition space?
Mr Anderson: It goes back to the gallery master plan, but the total gallery space that is available by the end of the job—
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: What will that be?
Mr Anderson: Will be 15,000 square metres.** (NOTE below)
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: So, out of 15,000 square metres, you have decided that you would allocate 200 square metres to the Frontier Wars?
Mr Anderson: It could well be more, Senator.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: You just told me 200.
Mr Anderson: I said it could be more, Senator. I said that the team will decide what goes into the pre-1914 galleries and the space that's allocated. It could be 400. I don't know and I won't be—
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Did you say that?
Mr Anderson: I did say that. Senator, the point is we had pre-colonial galleries, as they were called prior to the development, and the gallery master plan always said that we would replace those with what we're now calling the 1914 or the pre-1914 galleries. That's the space that's available to us.
Defending Country comment: The Director's hints of '200', 'more', even '400' are very interesting, even encouraging. We'll follow it up. Defending Country options for the Australian Wars recently received short shrift from the Director, however.
Mr Anderson insisted in Estimates that space allocation is not the only measure of the importance the Memorial attaches to the Australian Wars. He referred to recent articles in the Memorial's Wartime journal, the proposed international conference, and travelling exhibitions.
Senator SHOEBRIDGE: 'I'm going to put it on the record that, for my party, the Greens, allocating barely 1 per cent of the floor space to the Frontier Wars, if that's what ends up happening, consistent with what you've suggested may be happening, would be gross disrespect to First Nations peoples, and gross disrespect to the scale of the Frontier Wars that covered this continent and the appalling loss of life to First Nations peoples from the Frontier Wars. For the record, I want it said that 200 square metres, barely 1 per cent of the space, is gross disrespect to the struggle First Nations peoples had.'
Mr Anderson: 'That's your position, Senator, and I would say that we will work with the appropriate people, the galleries, the curators, our First Nations peoples, on the stories that we tell. By the way, in concert with other cultural institutions, Senator, it's important that we tell the story, and we're on the record as committing to more broadly and more deeply tell this story. But we're also on the record, through our chairman, Kim Beazley, to give our First Australians the dignity of resistance. That's what we're determined to do.'
Defending Country comment: The Director continues to give misleading representations of the Memorial Council's determination of August 2022, leaving out its qualifications about later service in uniform and the role of other cultural institutions, and of Chair Beazley's remarks, leaving out his references to substantial space and separate section. More on this. And again, no mention of historians.
Other matters
Memorial's Big Build progress and resource implications (pages 37-39)
The Director fielded but did not answer some questions from Senator Henderson (Liberal, Vic). He stressed the installation of objects ('Big Things' and '4,000 small objects') as a marker of progress and foreshadowed the Memorial's need for an additional 24 staff (ASL).
Arms dealer donations and deals (pages 39-40)
Senator Shoebridge got the Memorial's Elliot Woods, Acting Assistant Director, Public Programs, to list what arms manufacturers Boeing and Leidos were to receive in return for their donations of $US150,000 each. They were two long lists, including use of the Memorial's IP for promotions, branding and signage ('theatre presented by Boeing'), adverts in the Memorial's Wartime magazine, invitations to events, content on videos and podcasts, and so on.
The benefits these companies receive are way out of proportion to the 'small change' size of the donations. Then there's the ethical question (of war memorials receiving donations from the 'merchants of death'), around which the Senator and Mr Woods (and later Mr Anderson) thrust and parried.
Ben Roberts-Smith picture censored and panel updated (pages 40-42)
Senator Shoebridge and Director Anderson argued about the Memorial's treatment of a photograph of Mr Roberts-Smith on the day of the action that led to his Victoria Cross. The Senator was critical of the Memorial for cropping a photograph to remove the body of a dead Afghani. The Director stressed that the photo was important because of the day it was taken, while the cropping recognised that some of the audience would be children. The Senator was not convinced. The Director also touched on the Memorial's updating of the panel describing Mr Roberts-Smith in action and since.
New Council appointments (page 42)
Senator David Pocock asked duty Minister Senator McAllister whether the appointments of Peter Tinley, Lesley Alway and Major General Wade Stothart were in accord with principles recently announced by the Government. The Minister took the question on notice.
Contracts for Australian and overseas companies (pages 43-44)
Senator David Pocock asked the Memorial about the granting of Big Build contracts to overseas firms. Executive Director (Development) Hitches provided relevant figures.
Non-award of Les Carlyon Prize to Chris Masters (pages 44-47)
The Director blamed the non-award to Chris Masters on communication difficulties regarding the criteria for the award (about whether it was for emerging authors only). Again, Senator Shoebridge was not convinced. He was also critical of how the Director had dealt with the Memorial Council on this matter. Press report.
NOTES
* Defending Country and Honest History have said more than once that the space the Memorial has allowed for the Pre-1914 galleries after redevelopment is only slightly larger than it allowed for Colonial Conflicts before redevelopment: 'Memorial management’s current plans for Pre-First World War space [410 square metres] in the redeveloped Memorial will add just 25 square metres to the space that those conflicts – all five of them, including the Frontier Wars – occupied in the Memorial before the redevelopment. That is effectively presenting a raised middle finger to the Australians who looked to our premier commemorative institution to lead the way to honest and proportionate depiction and commemoration of this part of our history.' (Honest History, 5 May 2023)
** Our December 2023 calculations using the Memorial's own figures are: 9954 sq m gallery space in pre-redevelopment Memorial; 7748 sq m new gallery space produced by redevelopment; 17 702 sq m total gallery space after redevelopment. At Estimates, the Director told Senator Henderson (Proof Hansard, page 38): 'We have 9½ thousand square metres. We are currently 6,000 square metres [presumably, extra]. When we get to the end of this, we will be 15,000 square metres of gallery space.' The Director uses the 15,000 figure again during the hearing. We will check with the Memorial about the difference between the 2023 and Estimates figures.
Picture credit: The Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by HRH The Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), May 9 1901 (1903). Tom Roberts (1856-1931), oil on canvas Parliament House Art Collection, Department of Parliamentary Services, Canberra ACT.
Tom Roberts' painting, known as 'The Big Picture', hangs in the foyer of the Main Committee Room at Parliament House, Canberra. It is on permanent loan to the Parliament of Australia from the British Royal Collection. Estimates Committees hearings are held in the Main Committee Room.
Defending Country will publish (subject to our Editorial and Moderation Policy) without amendment any comment the Memorial or the Minister or the Department of Veterans' Affairs wish to make on this post.
