Elizabeth Balderstone's family property is the site of one of the worst massacres of Aboriginal people in Victorian history. She told Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission that fact has led her to call for 'honesty with our history'.
During a cycling trip through France and Belgium, Elizabeth Balderstone took in the sight of a landscape that had witnessed "enormous tragedy".She was on the trip to visit the grave of a relative killed in the brutal combat of World War I — and was struck by how the bloody history that had claimed his life was remembered.
That killing was itself a reprisal for the killing of Aboriginal people by colonists at the nearby Port Albert settlement.The University of Newcastle's massacre map summary states the party of 20 horsemen who carried out the attacks were dubbed the "Highland Brigade". But she told the Yoorrook inquiry she was currently investigating the best way to ensure the sacred site remained in Gunaikurnai hands for the future.Over the years, Ms Balderstone said her relationships with Gunaikurnai traditional owners had deepened her understanding of the region's past and helped inspire her to advocate for its history to be better known.
"If truth-telling and honesty with our history as a nation is finally taking place, these sorts of quiet places of tribute and memory could perhaps be a vital part of the process."
Yoorrook Vic Treaty Truth Telling Massacres Colonisation Gippsland History
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