Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Recently, I attended a welcome home and dedication service for our local young veterans who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. As a nation and as a community, on the Central Coast we have a responsibility to ensure that their service is never forgotten. The event at Ettalong Beach was an important opportunity to honour these people. I thank Colonel Donald Tait OAM for his address that recognised their service, including those deployed from our community—men and women who have made such great sacrifices at war. It was a great privilege to join in a march before the service down the streets of Ettalong, a march that was applauded by hundreds of local residents, who lined the short parade route. It showed just how important it is to support those who come home wounded in body and spirit, and to honour them and their families as they adjust to being home again.

The Vietnam Veterans Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Association Gosford sub-branch did an excellent job in organising the march and ceremony, and the proceedings that followed. Thank you to association president Robert Purcell and secretary Robyn Creswell for your work organising the day, and your continued dedication to returned service men and women. It was also an opportunity to dedicate a new memorial at Ettalong Beach, where many people laid wreaths under the immortal words 'Lest we forget'. To all our service men and women, to those who made it home and those who did not, I salute your service. I thank the families and friends of those who serve, who often carry a heavy burden. You have made our world and our community a better place.

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