Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to add my voice to those who have spoken before me in offering my condolence to the family, friends and colleagues of Sapper Rowan Jaie Robinson. The life of Sapper Robinson has been cut down all too soon. At the age of just 23, Sapper Robinson had achieved much more than many others of such a young age, and it is noted that his skill belied his youth. He joined the Army in 2006 and after his initial recruit training joined the 3rd Third Combat Engineer Regiment. Sapper Robinson was on his second deployment to Afghanistan, after also having diligently served under Operation Slipper in 2007-08.

The sapper's role is truly an important one—and, as often coincides with such importance, it is also a dangerous one. The combat engineers lead from the front, protecting their colleagues from the dangers they are to walk into. It takes a truly brave individual to serve in this role, and Sapper Robinson was one of those special individuals, possessing the required characteristics of courage, leadership and, above all, mateship. As his commanding officer said of Sapper Robinson:

Whether it was clearing a path potentially littered with IEDs, fighting for his mates or providing overwatch, no task was too great and no request to help was ever unanswered.

He went on to say:

Rowan was a man who was as selfless as he was courageous.

The loss of Sapper Robinson, following that of Sergeant Brett Wood and Lieutenant Marcus Case, has had a deep impact on the Holsworthy community. Each time news breaks of the loss of a soldier serving overseas, our community turns inwards, asking whether the soldier lost was 'one of ours'. Ultimately, the answer to this question is yes—for even when the soldier in question has not been stationed at Holsworthy, he is Australian and we feel the same deep sense of loss.

Coincidentally today, parliament had a group visiting from the Holsworthy Public School, a school heavily populated with the children of service personnel based out at the local Holsworthy Barracks, including friends and colleagues of these three brave young men. The principal, teachers and students feel this loss, alongside our broader community and the nation as a whole, and this was evident today.

Living in our nation, we sometimes take for granted the freedom, democracy and opportunity that we all enjoy. But we must be ever vigilant to protect these sacred principles. Sapper Robinson certainly did not take these principles for granted, and his actions showed this. Our nation and those that cherish these sacred principles will forever be indebted to Sapper Rowan Jaie Robinson.

In closing, I would like to express my personal and deep sympathies to Sapper Robinson's family, whom he loved so much, in this time of such great loss. To his parents, Marie and Peter, to his brothers, Ben and Troy, and to his sister Rachael: my thoughts are with you.

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