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

I rise today on behalf of the people of my electorate of Ryan, to join with my colleagues to highlight the heroism of one young Australian: the late Corporal Cameron Stewart Baird. The Ryan electorate is home to Gallipoli Barracks. I note that this award and the bravery and sacrifice it recognises is of particular significance not only to the serving men and women of Gallipoli Barracks and to the veterans and defence families living within Ryan but also to the whole community.

Corporal Baird is the 100th Australian to receive the Victoria Cross, our highest military honour. The Victoria Cross, hand-fashioned from the metal from Russian guns captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean war, from 1854 to 1856, has been awarded posthumously to Corporal Baird in recognition of his remarkable bravery. Displays of courage, loyalty, duty, endurance, initiative, sacrifice, humility, discipline and mateship; behind every award of a Victoria Cross is a remarkable story involving all these qualities which Australians hold dear as part of what has become known as the Anzac spirit.

I spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vail when he was in my office as part of the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program last year. Todd has undertaken many overseas deployments, including to Afghanistan. I asked Todd for his thoughts, to try and understand, even in a small way, how it feels to lose a comrade. This is what he said:

The first notification usually strikes you to the core. I was at home at the time and found out through friends who had heard it on the news. Everyone who you meet or talk to will ask questions about who it was and the circumstances in which it occurred. Expecting you as a member of the Defence Force to have all the answers. However, you know no details due to the blanket media ban, which is not lifted until the next of kin have been notified and approved the release of the name. During this time you speculate along with everyone else. Being a member of the ADF you do wonder if you knew him-particularly as the media said he was in a leadership role.

The news brings a sense of reality which hits home. You realise that the profession you have chosen can be deadly. You think of his family and what they must be going through. It makes you think of your own family and you put yourself in their shoes and wonder how they would cope. You also think of the injured and hope their injuries will not leave them maimed with little quality of life.

Having spent time in Afghanistan you can visualise the incident, your senses are alert to the sights, sounds and smell of the afghan countryside, they play over and over again in your mind on a never ending loop.

In the end you reconcile your feelings by knowing he died doing what he loved, surrounded by his mates.

When Queen Victoria created the Victoria Cross in 1856, after the Crimean War, she had it be inscribed with the words 'For Valour'. Valour: the perfect word to describe Corporal Baird's actions. On 22 June 2013 Corporal Baird displayed conspicuous valour, leading to his ultimate sacrifice in close combat with a determined enemy, as a commando team leader in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. He repeatedly drew enemy fire away from his team members and charged enemy positions under heavy fire. His actions enabled the enemy to be neutralised and his team kept safe.

We must never forget that we as a nation send young men and women to war and that they fight on our behalf with honour and courage. Corporal Baird was an outstanding special forces soldier. He exemplified what it meant to be a commando, living by the attributes of uncompromising spirit and honour—truly in keeping with the finest traditions of the Australian Defence Force. Corporal Baird's commitment to his chosen career as a soldier and to our mission in Afghanistan was unwavering and his leadership in action was exemplary, consistently inspiring those around him to strive for more. We must not let the loss of his life be in vain. His bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Lest we forget.

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