Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Death is not a topic that I find easy to talk about, but that is what we are speaking about today as we honour these brave Australians—Private Nathan Bewes, Trooper Jason Brown, Private Tomas Dale, Private Grant Kirby and Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney. The stark finality of the sacrifice of these young men can never be properly expressed by mere words because words alone seem to belittle the sacrifice these Australians have made on our behalf. Of course, members of this House have spoken and will speak to this condolence motion. They, like me, seek to properly and justly honour these men.

The sheer tragedy of these deaths should remind us that war is not something remote. For many Australians our connection to these young men, to war and to Afghanistan is through today’s interface—television and internet news. War by television is close enough to touch yet far enough away that it is just not seen. I say this not as a criticism but rather to showcase the distance between our remarkably cohesive, vibrant and safe community and the harsh reality of this war where young Australians do their absolute best for us and often pay the ultimate price for us. Sadly the remoteness of this war and the 15-second-grab nature of television news mean that many Australians do not see that reality, do not see the pain and suffering.

Over the last two months I attended the funerals of Private Grant Kirby and Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney. The Prime Minister was at those funerals, as was the Leader of the Opposition. They were there, like me as the local member for the Gallipoli Barracks, the home of 6RAR, to pay their respects and those of this nation to these brave men. As important as that is, those funerals serve to remind us all that death is not a solitary thing because not one of us is alone. We have families, wives, partners, children, mums and dads, grandparents, good friends and colleagues. They all share the burden of this sacrifice made on our behalf, made in the name of our nation. Their pain will not go away. At each of these funeral services I saw evidence of that—wives, children and Noah MacKinney, who was born only a matter of hours after his father’s funeral. That is the price that is paid as fine Australians, so many of our best, go to war.

Our soldiers do not choose their wars; we do through our government. Those decisions are not made easily, no matter the political persuasion of the government of the day. The stark reality of war hits home most harshly to those whose loved ones have paid the ultimate price for us. In saying this I ask that we all reflect on the challenge and burden that we place on our armed forces and acknowledge the sacrifice they make on our behalf, willingly going into battle fully understanding the risks they take of death, injury, pain and mental torment. We as a nation ask so much of these Australians and we ask it of their families as well.

So my challenge to my fellow Australians is to take the tragedy of these deaths, think of how you would cope if it were your son, your partner, your father or your friend, and open your heart to these brave Australians who died for you. In particular, open your heart to their families whose lives and responsibilities must go on, having themselves made this enormous sacrifice for all of us. As we pay our respects to these courageous Australians, let us never forget the debt this nation owes to those who go to war, to those who do not come home, to Nathan Bewes, Jason Brown, Tomas Dale, Grant Kirby, Jared MacKinney and their families. How our nation repays that debt is a matter of honour, not of accounting. As the families consistently said at the funerals: do not let their deaths be in vain.

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