Mal Brough (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is an opportune moment for me to pay my respects to the 5th/7th Battalion. I was privileged to be at the War Memorial on Monday. This was the first battalion I joined as a 17½-year-old soldier. Brigadier Chris Appleton (Retd) said these words at the dedication: 'The men of the battalion inherited a proud tradition of soldiering and service from the 5RAR and 7RAR at the linking 40 years ago. In 2006 the men of our battalion returned that tradition to where it belonged, not only sustained but embellished, to be honoured and borne with pride in the 5RAR and 7RAR. We expected the new battalions would do well, and they have. We are proud of them. One of the traditions inherited and returned was the Gabby Hayes toast. Gabby Hayes was killed in action in Vietnam with 7RAR in 1967. He left a sum of money in his will to be used to drink a toast each year on his battalion's birthday, and for 33 years that has been done. Gabby Hayes reminds us that the central figure of our battalion, as in all Australian battalions, was and remains the soldier—the hungry, thirsty, filthy, exhausted digger who keeps going because he will not let his mates or his battalion down. We dedicate this plaque today to the 5th/7th Battalion—the Tiger Battalion.'

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