Submitted by Paul Daley on
Thirty years after its creation the memorial is more important than ever in its service of national memory
It is three decades since white Australia threw an exclusive party for itself to celebrate a bicentenary of European invasion and settlement that trampled on the sensibilities of this continent’s Indigenous people.
While debate around the celebration of Australia Day (Invasion Day) on 26 January intensifies yearly amid momentum for inevitable change, the nation is still remiss when it comes to officially commemorating the many tens of thousands of Indigenous people killed in frontier wars intrinsic to European “settlement” and expansion.
Related: Massacres and protest: Australia Day's undeniable history
The beauty of the memorial is at odds with the horror of the experiences and events it connotes
Related: "Wholesale massacre": Carl Feilberg exposed the ugly truth of the Australian frontier | Paul Daley
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