Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

'Thank you for your service'—they are very simple words and they are the only words I believe our Defence Force personnel ever expect to hear in response to the incredible courage that they show and the risks that they take. So we gather here today as we did earlier in the other chamber and simply say, 'Thank you for your service, Corporal Baird.' The 2nd Commando Regiment, as the former minister was just saying, is an extraordinary group of men. They have a deep connection to my community of the Sutherland Shire. The former minister may remember Paul Cahill. I suspect Paul may have actually guarded him on one or two occasions when he was in Afghanistan. I know he has done that for many other ministers. He has since moved on from the Defence Force. But he, like so many others, demonstrated the courage, strength and commitment of this incredible regiment of fine Australian soldiers. With one of their number having fallen yet again, we come together and we simply bow our heads and say: lest we forget and thank you. We do that out of a sense of grief but also out of a great sense of pride not just in their achievements but in their fine character, dedication and commitment.

Corporal Baird was shot and killed in action in a fire fight with insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Saturday while serving with his mates of the 2nd Commando Regiment under the distinguished Special Operations Task Group. He was the 40th Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan. Before Corporal Baird's death, 19 of his colleagues in that group had fallen in combat. They were men who had walked different paths but were brought together to live, fight and die together for the love of their country and their desire to defend its values.

The Australian Defence Force Chief, General Hurley, described Corporal Baird as one of the most iconic figures in the regiment. That is no small tribute to a man in a regiment made up of so many incredibly iconic figures. Cameron Baird was a soldier on his fifth tour of Afghanistan, having also served his country in East Timor and Iraq. It is not uncommon for those from the 2nd Commando Regiment to serve that many tours. On average, they do about three, they tell me. But many do far more than that, as Corporal Baird had done. He won the Medal for Gallantry for his Iraq actions in 2007 of leading his men forward under heavy fire to recover a mortally wounded member of the team, with complete disregard for his own safety. That is the commando's mark of bravery. The 2nd Commando Regiment is 800 strong—sons, brothers, fathers and uncles who face danger every day, yet go about their work with quiet determination and professionalism. Over the weekend they lost their 11th son in Afghanistan. The 2nd Commando Regiment now represent more than one in four of Australia's 40 war dead since 2001. The regiment specialise in intensive offensive action and uphold the proud legacy of their forefathers who served in independent companies in the Second World War.

Recently I had the opportunity, with my friend the member for Blaxland, to walk the Wau to Salamaua track, the Black Cat Track, in Papua New Guinea. Joining us on that trek was Lance Corporal Andrew Ellis of the 2nd Commando Regiment. At the 2nd Commando Regiment's headquarters at Holsworthy—as the member for Hughes will know—there is a picture of Major George Warfe, who was part of the 2nd/3rd Independent Company. Each day as they go about their business, training and various things out there, this figure looms large—Major George Warfe. He led a highly skilled unit. He was flown into Wau from where they set about driving the Japanese back towards Mubo around the Black Cat Track. The 2nd/3rd Independent Company were credited with a series of key successes in New Guinea and were known for their dogged perseverance against the odds. These men went deep into enemy territory to gather intelligence and set ambushes in the most rugged mountains and impenetrable jungle at the mercy of a very hostile enemy. Their victories came at a great price, just like those of the 2nd Commando Regiment. Of the hundreds of men who initially flew into Wau, there were just 34 left by the end of the campaign. The 2nd/3rd Independent Company were credited with killing almost 1,000 enemy soldiers and they lost 65 of their own in battle. Another 119 were wounded and 226 were evacuated on medical grounds.

I tell this story because that is the tradition of the 2nd/3rd Independent Company and the commandos who have inherited the legacy. Their legend is today carried on by men like Corporal Baird and his mates and those who serve in the 2nd Commando Regiment, formerly known as 4RAR Commando. Corporal Baird was born in 1981; that makes him about the same age as Major Warfe was when he first commanded that independent company back in 1942 and throughout 1943. Many years later, Major Warfe was brought back time and time again to set up their jungle warfare school and advise during the Vietnam war. These were men who were very highly skilled and dedicated in this form of fighting, whether it be in the jungles of New Guinea or, now, the deserts of Afghanistan.

The 2nd Commando Regiment is based in Holsworthy. Many of their members, their families and their friends live in my electorate of Cook in the Sutherland Shire—and they will be feeling this deeply. They will be thinking of their friends, brothers and husbands who will be going on the next tour. They will be thinking of those who are already there. It is a time for the community to put their arms around them and embrace them. In this place, it is a time for us to honour them, to say thank you and to let them know we are with them, because each day—I can only imagine—must be absolute torture for the wives, partners, girlfriends and children. I remember several years ago that we stood in this place and remembered Sergeant Brett Till of Oyster Bay, who was the 10th soldier to fall. I went to the baptism of Sergeant Till's young son, Ziggy, whom he never got to meet and who is now growing up with his mother. There must be constant stress for the families of those who are over there serving.

When this terrible news came, it was not just Corporal Baird's family who had to confront it—that is terrible enough, indeed too terrible—but all the families out there who are thinking about their loved ones. The sense of shock, the sense of fear and the sense of isolation is something we must empathise with and identify with today as we remember, rightly, the bravery and sacrifice of Corporal Baird.

That they have inherited the legend is now being borne out in the battlefields of Afghanistan, because these soldiers from 2nd Commando Regiment are now the most decorated, have suffered the highest casualties and have served in the greatest numbers. That is a record of service which should just humble us all—and I know it does, to a person—within our parliament.

The 2nd Commando Regiment changed its badge recently when it formed its new name to reflect the history and traditions. That is why I have spoken about this history and these traditions: because they are very important to those men who serve. They reflect on them constantly. When I was with Corporal Ellis with Jason Clare in New Guinea, he would talk about this often—about their tradition, the brand of brotherhood amongst them and how committed to each other they are, in a way that is very hard for anyone outside of that to understand. A new badge was chosen, and, in the tradition of the Australian independent companies, it includes the distinctive double diamond unit colour patch, along with the traditional commando knife. I am proud to wear that badge, which was given to me by Corporal Ellis, today in this place, particularly on this day as we remember his fallen comrade, Corporal Baird.

We extend our heartfelt prayers and deepest sympathies to Corporal Baird's family. We mourn his loss and we honour his sacrifice. We think especially of his partner, his parents and his brother. So too do we remember and honour the corporal's many colleagues, his mates who doggedly continue on his work in his memory, brave Australian sons of the 2nd Commando Regiment, who continue to serve today in our name, under our flag, to defend our values. Lest we forget.

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