War is over but family battles on

Aboriginal Herbert Lovett fought in two world wars for the country that refused him citizenship, giving much, says his son Johnny, and getting "so little in return". Photo / supplied.

Push for compensation by soldier's son highlights poor treatment of Aboriginal veterans.

In southwestern Victoria, the Lovett clan are known as the "fighting Gunditjmara" - an epithet they earned in the mid-19th century resisting white settlement.

In the 20th century, having lost their land, the Lovetts joined up to fight on behalf of those who had taken it. Four Lovett brothers enlisted in both world wars; 21 Lovetts in all served Australia abroad - in countries including Japan, Vietnam and Korea. The family's military record is believed to be unequalled in the Commonwealth.

But that service has not been fully reciprocated. Herbert Lovett, one of the four brothers, was a machine-gunner on the Western Front, yet was not even recognised as an Australian citizen. When he came home after World War II, his request for a block of land was ignored - instead, his white comrades were given the land his ancestors had owned before colonisation.

Now Herbert's son, Johnny, is fighting to convince the Government to put right what he considers a "very big moral wrong". He wants compensation for the land on which others grew rich, and for the opportunities his family - condemned to a life of hardship and poverty - were denied. "He [Herbert] gave so much and got so little in return," says Lovett, 64.

Around 4500 indigenous men and women volunteered for the two world wars, but their names are missing from the war memorials in nearly every Australian city and country town, and from the history books. Returning home, some bedecked with medals, they faced the same discrimination as before - unable to vote or buy property, or marry a white partner, and turned away by veterans' clubs.

Under the "soldier settlement" scheme, blocks of farming land were made available for demobilised soldiers to buy or lease.

Herbert, who had grown up on the Lake Condah Mission, applied to the Victorian Government. "He never received a response," says Peter Seidel, a prominent Melbourne lawyer who has taken up Johnny Lovett's case. "He had to go and work on other people's farms, on his traditional country, to support his family. The injustice in that is incredible."

Johnny Lovett is outraged by the way his father - and many of his male relatives - were treated. Five uncles - Herbert, Edward, Leonard, Frederick and Alfred - fought in World War I, in frontline action in France, Gallipoli and Palestine.

When World War II broke out, all but Alfred, who was too old, enlisted again, with younger brother, Samuel. The four older men, in their 40s and 50s, were assigned to garrison and catering units. All returned home safely and to the same prejudice.

When the brothers walked into the Lake Condah pub, in full uniform, the barman refused to serve them. Family lore says they exacted a just revenge - ejecting the barman, locking the door, drinking their fill, then shooting the remaining bottles off the shelves.

Seidel is preparing a submission to the federal Department of Veteran Affairs, arguing the Lovett family deserve compensation. He notes Herbert could join up in 1917 only because he had some white blood - then he was denied land because of his Aboriginality. "On any view, that is a very sad indictment on the state of Australian race relations over the period of two world wars."

In the army, Johnny Lovett says, his father "experienced an equality that he didn't experience in civilian life. When he came back from the war, he was back to being black".

Several Lake Condah families sent dozens of their young men to war. The army's first indigenous officer, Captain Reg Saunders, came from the area. Two female Lovetts - Alice and Pearl - also joined up; Alice was in the Women's Auxilliary Air Force during World War II.

Another soldier from Lake Condah, Stewart Murray, recalled: "The first time [I was] in uniform I felt good and better than in civilian clothes."

Scandalously, though, Aboriginal recruits were paid only one-third of the regular pay, while some received nothing but a few sticks of tobacco.

When Frederick Lovett, Herbert's brother, returned home, he lived in a tent with his family, having also failed to secure a block of land.

Some things have changed. Aboriginal people finally became citizens following a referendum in 1967. In 2000, the Canberra Department of Veteran Affairs building was renamed Lovett Tower.

But it was not until 2007 that nationwide ceremonies were held to honour Aboriginal veterans, and they still have no war memorial. On Anzac Day, some indigenous old soldiers hold separate marches.

The Lovetts have continued to distinguish themselves. Johnny Lovett was one of four men who fought successfully to secure native title on Gunditjmara traditional lands, where their people now camp, hunt and fish. Iris Lovett-Gardiner, Frederick's daughter, earned a doctorate in her early 70s for a thesis on Lake Condah Mission. Nathan Lovett-Murray is a professional Australian rules footballer with Essendon. Ricky Morris, Frederick's grandson, served with Australian peacekeepers in East Timor.