Indigenous Vet Ricky Morris Leads Melbourne's Anzac March

When five Indigenous brothers left their home at Lake Condah to fight in World War I, they thought their country would recognize their sacrifice. Instead, Australia gave land grants to nearly 12,000 returning soldiers in Victoria alone, but not one went to the Lovett brothers.

This Anzac Day, Ricky Morris will march at the front of Melbourne's commemoration as an RSL ambassador, representing the same organization that once rejected his grandfather Frederick Amos Lovett. He's one of 25 descendants from the Lovett family to serve in uniform, a legacy believed to be unmatched anywhere in the world.

The Lovett brothers' story reveals a painful chapter in Australian military history. All five served in WWI, and all but the eldest returned to fight again in WWII. Their reward was watching government contractors blow up their church with 13 sticks of dynamite in 1957 and seeing their mission land divided among white veterans.

Today, Morris runs a plumbing business in Melbourne where he employs 10 Indigenous apprentices. "They all call me Uncle," he laughs, acknowledging it looks like "nepotism gone wild." But it's really about rebuilding what was torn apart when his family's community was forcibly dispersed.

The ruins at Lake Condah still stand, marked by a makeshift timber cross where the steeple once rose. Inside a reconstructed dormitory sits the church altar beside a single word: "Stolen."

Why This Inspires

Morris's march comes just one year after an Indigenous elder was booed while delivering a Welcome to Country at the same ceremony. His presence at the front represents more than personal achievement. It's about changing how Australia tells its story.

Lynn Mizen, vice president of RSL Victoria, calls the denial of the Lovetts' land grants a "sad indictment" but says Morris's leadership matters. "We've got a long way to go to recognize Indigenous servicemen and women," she says. "Having Ricky as an ambassador will be part of changing that culture."

In Heywood, near Lake Condah, four Lovett brothers now look down from a 30-meter-high water tower, their faces painted alongside other Indigenous military heroes. Last year, the Yoorook Justice Commission recommended the Victorian government provide compensation to First Peoples denied soldier settlement blocks.

"We're trying to undo 200-plus years of trauma," Morris says. When he marches toward the Shrine of Remembrance, he'll be honoring everyone who fought before him, including the grandfather who deserved so much more than he received.

Australia now has approximately 3,159 Indigenous service members, making up 3.7 percent of the defense force and finally beginning to see the recognition that five brothers from Lake Condah never got.