WHAT THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL DID NOT SAY ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

19 November 1998

In today's Daily Telegraph the statement is made that the Governor-General, Sir William Deane, has given "some endorsement" to a view expressed by Professor Ken Inglis at the launch of Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape that "warlike encounters between black and white" should be commemorated in the Australian War Memorial.

That statement is false. The Governor-General has indicated no view in relation to that subject either when launching Professor Inglis's book or elsewhere. To the contrary, when asked by a reporter from The Australian newspaper at the launch whether he agreed with the view that there should be some Aboriginal monument in the Australian War Memorial, the Governor-General replied that he had not directed his mind to that question and had no comment to make in relation to it. That remains the position.

Nor is it possible to imply the "endorsement" suggested by the Daily Telegraph. At the launch of Professor Inglis's book, the Governor-General spoke before the remarks made by Professor Inglis to which the Daily Telegraph referred. Sir William's comment that there were certainly almost no official monuments to the Aborigines slaughtered in such warlike encounters during the 19th Century was a simple statement of fact. It was not related to Professor Inglis's subsequent remarks. Nor was it in any way related to the Australian War Memorial.