Speeches
Friday, 29 May 2026
Launch of the second edition of 'For Love of Country', by Ian Smith
Rod and I are pleased to join you today, during National Reconciliation Week, for the Aboriginal Veterans Commemorative Service and to launch the second edition of Ian Smith’s For Love of Country.
As Governor, it is a privilege to join this gathering of veterans, families, and supporters.
In 2022 I was pleased to attend the launch of For Love of Country’s first edition, bringing to light the service of hundreds of First Nations personnel from South Australia, in careful detail, from the time of Federation.
This second edition records the lives and service of 445 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, up from 422 in the first edition.
For some families, these pages may reveal, for the first time, the depth of their ancestor’s service.
This book is a gift to those families, and to all South Australians.
To properly honour these 445 individuals, we must also speak truthfully about the circumstances they faced.
A great many served their country in war, while being treated as lesser citizens. Some required written government permission simply to volunteer, or were discharged on racial grounds.
A large number returned from war to find the discrimination and marginalisation they had hoped to leave behind was waiting for them — unable to determine where they would live, and in some cases, unable to share a drink with their former comrades on Anzac Day.
For Love of Country honours the outstanding courage of these First Nations personnel, not only on the battlefield, but in the very act of enlisting.
As Bill Denny writes in the foreword, many First Nations Australians have felt excluded from Anzac and all it has come to represent – like a “party” to which they were never invited.
For Love of Country proves, with evidence, that they were there, serving shoulder to shoulder, and that our understanding of the Anzac story is incomplete without them.
Moreover, the book provides an opportunity for First Nations’ contributions to be recognised and celebrated.
I thank Ian for developing this second edition as more service people came to light.
This is clearly an area where our knowledge will only continue to grow, as I imagine the community will continue coming forward with more information.
Ian himself acknowledges this in his introduction to the second edition, describing a third edition as an open question. After 15 years of research even to be open to continuing is a measure of Ian’s big-hearted dedication and thoroughness.
I also thank you for responding directly to a request from Aboriginal elders to see more faces alongside names and including 150 photographs in the new edition.
Friends,
The theme of this year’s Reconciliation Week is ‘All In’, a call for all Australians to commit to reconciliation every single day.
I thank Ian wholeheartedly for going ‘all in’ on his meticulous research for, and commitment to, the second edition.
I also thank all the individuals and organisations who have supported this work, including Uncle Frank Lampard and Aboriginal Veterans SA; Reconciliation SA, Veterans SA, and all the South Australians who approached Ian with new information.
In the dedication of For Love of Country, Ian writes, “there is more to do to properly recognise the service” of First Nations personnel.
That is true. I’m confident that, as a community, we will.
Today, let us pause to recognise the significance of For Love of Country, and the full weight of its contribution to reconciliation in South Australia.
It is now my great pleasure to officially launch the second edition.