Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that:

(a) the band of the Royal New South Wales Lancers, based in Parramatta, makes a significant contribution to the local community;

(b) similar Army Reserve Bands across Australia make significant contributions to their local communities;

(c) these bands provide a key link between communities and the Australian Defence Force in this time of high operational tempo;

(d) the recent Government decision, as part of the Strategic Reform Program, to remove financial support for these bands places the onus for support on regimental associations; and

(e) such associations consist largely of retired veterans without the financial resources to provide such support; and

(2) calls upon the Government to continue support for Army Reserve Bands, thus ensuring these key links with the local community are not lost.

I would like to take a moment or two to say something of the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers. It is the oldest cavalry regiment in Australia. It was established on 3 January 1885. It is a regiment that has had troops deployed in South Africa at Federation. It took its name in 1956 when the 1st Royal New South Wales Lancers and the 15th Northern Rivers Lancers amalgamated. It carries battle honours of a number of former regiments, to a total of 31, from the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. Highlights include Gaza-Beersheba, the defence of ANZAC, Jordan, New Guinea, Wareo-Lakona, Gusika, Borneo, Balikpapan, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Egypt, Damascus, Stockton Bight and the Solomon Islands again. It is a regiment that has contributed troops as groups and individuals to many contemporary operations undertaken by the Australian Defence Force. It has very distinguished leadership and I acknowledge particularly its most recent honorary colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Warren Glenny, who was the General of the Army Reserve for Australia.

The band of this particular regiment has been part of the Lancers almost from the beginning and was established in 1888. From its earliest days it struggled with financial survival, being forced from 1891 to undertake fundraising to purchase instruments due to the inadequate support from the General Officer Commanding, New South Wales. In 1897, the band was transferred to Parramatta and was located in the historic Lancer Barracks, which were built in 1819 under the instructions of the then Governor Lachlan Macquarie. They remain there today as the longest continually occupied military post in Australia.

The band has been involved in the Commonwealth of Australia inauguration ceremonies in 1901, leading a section of the parade through Sydney. The following day, with 21 other bands, it participated in the Commonwealth Inauguration Tattoo. This event, with an attendance of over 30,000 people, was the largest attendance at any gathering in Australia to that point in time. On 12 March 1913 it played at the Canberra foundation ceremony. In 1921 it commenced the annual participation in the Anzac Day march through Sydney, and this year on Anzac Day I remember the band of the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales lancers playing and leading a significant part of that ceremonial parade. It played at the formal opening of the parliament following the accession of King George VI in 1922. On 18 October 1959 it led the regiment to receive the freedom of entry to the City of Parramatta. During the centenary of the regiment in 1985 it led the regiment to receive the freedom of entry to the City of Sydney.

This band has been extraordinary. It has provided support to events across the local community, such as the Westmead Children's Hospital Bandaged Bear Ball, Floriade in Canberra, the Australia Day citizenship ceremonies at Parramatta, regimental dinners—I note the member for Parramatta is here; she and I attended the most recent regimental dinner, where again the band was playing. It has provided buglers for the local RSL Anzac Day services, the Anzac Day march in Sydney, the Reserve Forces Day 2011, the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Vietnam Veterans' Day 2011, the Battle of Crete service at the Sydney Cenotaph, the Manly Jazz Festival, and buglers for funerals of veterans. It is a vital link between the community and the military, and so at this important time of ongoing operations, when one is seeking to get people to support the military, when one is seeking to recruit people for the reserves, this is the visible face that people see and can relate to. To constrain it is, in my view, quite inappropriate at this time. The band is a reminder of the proud and longstanding military history and record of service of a very fine regiment.

So I want to speak about the funding cancellation. A minute on 24 August last year directed that ongoing support for bands in respect of replacement and repair of instruments and ceremonial uniforms would be withdrawn from most regimental bands. When I think of the size of the defence budget—and I know that there is a need for savings—I find it extraordinary that the savings are being made in relation to the replacement of instruments and ceremonial uniforms. I find that absolutely extraordinary.

This band has enormous local support. I have no doubt that the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers Association will provide support for their band, but it needs to be recognised that that will come from the pockets of retirees, many of whom are superannuants and whose savings are dwindling. Such spending also reduces the support the association can give to their other activities—in the case of the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers, the fundraising for their museum and community activities in which they are engaged.

Regimental bands support communities and they bind communities to the military. It is very important when troops are serving overseas—in Afghanistan and elsewhere—that that support is forthcoming. Given that there are very few military units now based in Sydney—and there are not many Army Reserve units—bands are even more important than ever in bringing the community and the ADF closer together. The lancers recently deployed a squadron minus to the Solomon Islands, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to service.

The cancellation of support for the Army Reserve bands comes with a budget that has cut defence spending dramatically, as I have mentioned. Ongoing efforts by Labor have seen, I think, unfortunately, a steady withdrawal of support for the Army reserves. It has been cloaked as a strategic reform program, but it aims to pick off what I would call low-hanging fruit to make quick savings—low-hanging fruit like stopping reservists being paid for attending Anzac Day ceremonies in 2010; low-hanging fruit like reservist funding, such that the Army Reserve can no longer meet their full training and development needs for anything other than high-priority tasks; and low-hanging fruit like support for Army Reserve bands, like that of the lancers.

As you would know, there is no higher priority that the coalition has than the defence and security of Australia and its people. But targeting organisations like Army Reserve bands is, in my view, a very seriously misguided saving. It is a saving that will separate the community from the military. It is a saving that puts the onus for support on a bunch of superannuated veterans and ex-servicemen. It is a saving that hits communities as much as it hits the motivated reservists who form part of the bands. Specific funding allocated to ADF reservists is now insufficient to meet their training and development needs for anything other than high-priority tasks.

This motion deserves to be passed vigorously, and I hope the military brass are hearing what I hope will be support from both sides of the House. (Time expired)

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