RIP Queen Elizabeth II

[DJC]

You say “they” defended the indigenous Australians, implying they were white guys. But you’re right! Indigenous Australians were excluded from service. A few were allowed in as long as they were “substantially of European origin”. I guess you could say the ANZACs defended the indigenous Australians in the same way they defended kangaroos and koalas. Should we focus on the protection provided as an unintentional consequence of protecting White Australia or should we focus on the discrimination that excluded indigenous Australians from the armed forces?

That's not quite correct Mav.  It is estimated that 15 Indigenous Australians served in the Anglo-Boer War, 1,200 in World War 1 and 6,000 in World War 2.  While the “substantially of European origin” rule was applied, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians  were generally accepted for enlistment if they had not "lived in a tribal environment". 

Discrimination really only kicked in when Indigenous veterans were excluded from the war service benefits granted to all other veterans. Ironically, the Lake Condah Aboriginal Mission in southwestern Victoria was broken up to provide soldier-settlement farms but Aboriginal veterans from the Mission weren't eligible.  Uncle Reg Saunders was from the Mission.  He served in World War 2 and again in Korea and attained the rank of Captain.  He got nothing but his war medals for his exemplary service ... and people wonder why Indigenous Australians don't just accept what they've got.

As an ex-serviceman, nothing annoys me more than "they fought for the Queen".  QE2's reign started in 1952 and those who served in Korea, Vietnam, Malaya, Iraq, and Afghanistan weren't there for the Queen.  They were there because politicians decided that sending our young folk off to fight in other countries was the right thing to do.  I didn't serve the Queen, I served because a bloke whose brother captained Essendon pulled a marble out of a bag and it had my birthday on it.

Paying respect to a dead foreign monarch at the same time as paying respect to Indigenous Australians doesn't work, particularly when that monarch's predecessors oversaw and profited from colonisation.