Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Not only is this Australian National Flag Day; it is the 75th anniversary of Australia's entry into the Second World War. On 3 September 1939 at 9.15 pm, a statement by our then Prime Minister Robert Menzies was broadcast on radio stations across the country. Mr Menzies said:

It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially, that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war. No harder task can fall to the lot of a democratic leader than to make this announcement.

Prime Minister Menzies subsequently set up the Department of Munitions. He dispatched the Second Australian Imperial Force and reintroduced compulsory military training for young men. After Menzies' fall in 1941, it was Prime Minister John Curtin who then led our country through the war in the Pacific and helped to bring victory to the Allies. Today, we honour the memory of the leaders who served our country and we salute the service of our people. Almost a million Australians served in the Second World War, some 40,000 died. We fought against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa; and against Japan in South-East Asia and other parts of the Pacific and, of course, the Australian mainland came under direct attack for the first time.

The Second World War was a defence of freedom against tyranny. It was fought against the evils of fascism and Nazism. It was fought to defend civilisation. On this 75th anniversary of the war's commencement for us, we remember our allies, especially Britain and the United States. We remember the sacrifice of the Australians who died, the suffering of those who were wounded or taken prisoner of war and the mental and physical scars of those who made it home. To them, we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

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