War Memorial is a place to ‘show recognition’ to those who died in uniform

National RSL Deputy President John King says the purpose of the War Memorial is to honour those who died in uniform protecting Australia.

It comes after outgoing Chairman Dr Brendan Nelson advocated for space in the memorial to be dedicated to the frontier wars between First Nations peoples and the British settlers.

“That is quite separate from the colonial times, which was pre-Federation,” he told Sky News host Peta Credlin.

“The RSL does, in fact, acknowledge that there should be some placement somewhere for the recognition of those incidents but not at the Australian War Memorial – it should be a space where it can tell that story for the people of Australia.”

Mr King said information about the frontier wars should be in state museums where residents can look at the “total history” of where they are from.

“The War Memorial, as it stands, is a place for those who lost their lives, for their families to come back and reflect on those losses and to show recognition of those people who did give up their lives for our freedoms,” he said.

National RSL Deputy President John King says the purpose of the War Memorial is to honour those who died in uniform protecting Australia. It comes after outgoing Chairman Dr Brendan Nelson advocated for space in the memorial to be dedicated to the frontier wars between First Nations peoples and the British settlers. “That is quite separate from the colonial times, which was pre-Federation,” he told Sky News host Peta Credlin. “The RSL does, in fact, acknowledge that there should be some placement somewhere for the recognition of those incidents but not at the Australian War Memorial – it should be a space where it can tell that story for the people of Australia.” Mr King said information about the frontier wars should be in state museums where residents can look at the “total history” of where they are from. “The War Memorial, as it stands, is a place for those who lost their lives, for their families to come back and reflect on those losses and to show recognition of those people who did give up their lives for our freedoms,” he said.

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