Get over it! The hypocrisy over Anzac Cove

Their removal as children and the abuse they experienced at the hands of the authorities or their delegates have permanently scarred their lives. The harm continues today, affecting their children and grandchildren. Paul was made a ward of the State of Victoria for 18 years and he shared his experience in the report:

The foster family would punish me severely for the slightest thing they regarded as unacceptable or unchristian-like behaviour, even if I didn't eat my dinner or tea. Sometimes I would be locked in my room for hours. Countless times the foster father would rain blows upon me with his favourite leather strap. He would continue until I wept uncontrollably, pleading for him to stop.

Didn’t happen Johnny?

Well I’d like to pretend that Australian soldiers didn’t fight and die at Gallipoli but after being presented with evidence to the contrary I accept that after the long fought battle at Anzac Cove with the Turks that started on April 25, 1915, 8,000 Australian and New Zealand Army Corps volunteers were killed.

I’m also happy to accept that Phar Lap triumphed during the Great Depression of the early 1930s, when a hero was most needed by the people of Australia. I read that he conquered the local racing scene - 36 wins from his last 41 starts - and then won North America’s richest race, the Agua Caliente Handicap, in 1932.

Furthermore I’m happy to acknowledge that a 22-year-old, English-born trade union activist, John Simpson Kirkpatrick, famously used a small donkey to carry men down from the front line, often exposing himself to fire. The bravery of this “man with the donkey” soon became the most prominent symbol of Australian courage and tenacity at Gallipoli. Although Simpson carried no arms and remains an enigmatic figure, the nature of his sacrifice made a vital contribution to the story of Anzac.

So why then are our stories of massacres and the stolen generation so difficult to believe after the presentation of irrefutable evidence? What hypocrisy!