Australia's occluded voices - Ned Kelly's history wars

Abstract

'Such is Life'. These are the 'famous last words' spoken by the bushranger Ned Kelly. Or at least that's the way the story goes. It is difficult to say anything about the historical figure without encountering the massive legend. For it is not only the voice of Ned himself, but also a booming chorus of oral tradition, including bush ballads, that have sung Ned's praises. Hanged in Melbourne on II November 1880, Ned Kelly shares his anniversary with another kind of Remembrance Day relating to violent conflict. In Australia today, Australia's national museums and art galleries often give primacy to the once-occluded voices of rebels, including Aboriginal people who resisted colonisation. Activists, radical and revisionist historians have brought once-suppressed voices within earshot. In reflecting upon Ned Kelly's voice, this chapter considers its place as a 'native voice' in the multiple settler-coloniser spaces of Australia.