Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to support the motion moved by the member for Pearce. There are many people who say that foreign forces have never invaded Australia. They would say that, when you look at all the armed conflicts we have been involved in, Australians have always fought battles away from our own territory. This is very much a post-1970s view. We should of course remember that in World War II the Japanese did in fact invade Australian territory. Most Australians may not recall that, apart from Japanese air raids which decimated parts of Darwin and northern Western Australia, as well as the sinking of HMAS Kuttabul by midget subs in Sydney, Japanese forces did actually invade Australian sovereign territory during 1942. I am of course referring to what is now known as Papua New Guinea, which was then the Australian protectorate of Papua.

One of the most critical campaigns that Australians were involved in during World War II was that fought along the Kokoda Trail, in the Owen Stanley Ranges. Stretching for over a hundred kilometres in some of the most rugged and inhospitable terrain in the world, it is traversable only by foot. This proved to be a logistical nightmare for the movement of ammunition and medical and other supplies for Australian soldiers who fought to prevent the Japanese from establishing a base at Port Moresby. The Kokoda and subsequent campaigns in New Guinea were pivotal events in our history as they represented the first time that Australian territory had actually been threatened directly by an enemy during an armed conflict. These battles formed part of the battle for Australia, fought primarily in the South Pacific. It was also the first time Australians had fought and defeated an invader on Australian soil without the direct assistance of the United Kingdom. The Kokoda campaign further complemented Australia’s emergence as a nation in its own right, as well as its military effectiveness.

With an overwhelming superiority in numbers, with 30,000-strong mostly Australian forces, they suffered approximately only 625 casualties as opposed to Japanese losses of around 6,500. Courage, mateship and sacrifice are all examples of the qualities that are part of the Anzac legend first mythologised by Charles Edward Bean during the First World War. It could also be argued, however, that these terms can also apply to the ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’, especially the Koiari people, who carried supplies and equipment for Australian soldiers. They were often called ‘as gentle as a bush nurse’, and it is believed that not one known injured digger was ever abandoned by a fuzzy wuzzy angel.

Without the assistance of the fuzzy wuzzy angels and their invaluable knowledge of local terrain, it is questionable whether Australian forces would have been able to prevent the continued onslaught of the Japanese. Unaware of local conditions, the orders given by senior Australian commanders were largely unrealistic and impossible to implement. Armed with local knowledge, however, Australian diggers were far better equipped to defeat Japanese forces than they would otherwise have been.

One of the most iconic photographs of Australian involvement in World War II is that of the significantly wounded Australian soldier Dick Whittington being led to safety by fuzzy wuzzy angel Raphael Oimbari. The fact that this photo has been so widely—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

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