Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change) Share this | Hansard source

I rise also to extend my sincere condolences to the family of Australia’s last World War II Victoria Cross winner, Ted Kenna, who passed away on Wednesday, 8 July, aged 90 years. In particular, my thoughts go to his wife of 62 years, Marjorie, their sons Robert and Alan, their daughter Marlene and their 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Ted Kenna represented a very tangible link to one of the most important periods in Australian history. Only once has Australia faced a direct threat to our national sovereignty when the Japanese conquest of South-East Asia and Papua New Guinea left us vulnerable to occupation. For his courageous actions near Wewak in PNG, Ted Kenna was awarded the Victoria Cross. It took the courage, commitment and determination of men like Ted Kenna to restore peace and security to our neighbourhood. With Ted Kenna’s passing, we pause to remember the remaining World War II veterans who proudly served this country.

Just touching on some of the actions of Ted Kenna which resulted in his Victoria Cross being awarded, it is important to recall that on 15 May 1945 Private Ted Kenna was a member of Alpha Company of the 2nd/4th Battalion. Their role was to clear the Japanese defenders from Wirui Mission south of Wewak air base on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. During that mission, Ted Kenna came under heavy machine-gun fire from the Japanese. Risking his life, he stood in clear sight of the enemy and took out two or three machine-gun posts using a Bren gun fired from the hip, then one of his colleague’s rifles. In part, his Victoria Cross citation reads as follows:

The result of Private Kenna’s magnificent bravery in the face of concentrated fire was that the bunker was captured without further loss, and the company attack proceeded to a successful conclusion, many enemy being killed and numerous automatic weapons captured.

Just three weeks after that battle on 5 June 1945, Ted Kenna was badly wounded in action, sustaining life-threatening wounds to his face. It was while he was recovering from this injury that he met his wife Marjorie, who was a nurse at the time.

Our national values, which underpin the values our army subscribes to, could have been modelled on Ted Kenna, from what we know of his actions. He was a very modest man who rarely spoke of his deeds, yet he set an example of courage and determination that will serve to inspire future generations.

Today, we have just two surviving Victoria Cross recipients, who of course represent the highest embodiment of bravery and dedication to duty: Keith Payne VC, who was awarded a Victoria Cross for his service of May 1969 during the Vietnam War, and, most recently, Trooper Mark Donaldson VC, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia in January of this year for his courageous actions in Afghanistan on 2 September 2008. The courage of these men inspires current and future generations of Australians. I send my regards to the family of Ted Kenna.

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