Who the hell do we think we are?  We are huffing and puffing and threatening because in Papua New Guinea they are going to build a multi-billion dollar copper and gold mining project that will affect parts of the Kokoda Trail.

We are also upset, apparently, because the Turks plan to fly a giant flag at Gallipoli. A national flag which will dwarf the Australian and British flags which fly there.

These are sovereign nations. Sure Kokoda means a hell of a lot to us. It’s a place of almost inhumane terrain where Diggers and their Fuzzy Wuzzy local guides and supporters trudged through endless mud and up and down jungle tracks. And they died and they stopped the Japanese advance on our doorstep  and helped save this country.

But. It happened in another country. If the Frontier Resources mining project is blocked that will deprive locals of desperately-needed revenue.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says Australia will try to have it declared a protected zone under a World Heritage listing. Imagine if other countries decided to seek World Heritage listings for every war time location?

How would we react if the Japanese decided they wanted to list Sydney Harbour and build a monument in the middle of it to commemorate how far their mini-subs got in World War II?  Or maybe a statue of a Japanese bomber in the main street of Darwin to commemorate the bombing raids.

But it is at Gallipoli where we are way out of line. We are lucky that the Turks allow us to observe Anzac Day there every year at Anzac Cove.  Lucky they have banned development there. They want to install a towering flag pole and a giant Turkish flag? They’re entitled to. We invaded their country in World War 1. Thousands of Allies died in that insane campaign. Eighty-six thousand young Turkish soldiers died at Gallipoli making the ultimate sacrifice defending their own land. Not one Australian soldier died here defending this country from the Turks.

Kokoda is not being obliterated. It’s importance to Australians will not diminish. To many Australians it is an occasional training track for footy teams and a stunt for a TV program by Kevin Rudd and Joe Hockey several years ago. We’ve abandoned the Fuzzy Wuzzies in the past. Let’s not do it again by meddling in their country’s future.

Friday, February 8, 2008