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

There are some things in our lives that should be sacrosanct. The unconditional love of your children and the love of your country are two that spring to mind. The ability to pay your respects to those who so loved their country that they gave their lives in defence of it should be another. It is well know that the idea of the Australian War Memorial came from Australia's official war correspondent and official World War I historian, the great Charles Bean, one night while talking with others after days of inspecting the battlefields of Pozieres in August 1916. His confidant, AW Bezley would later say:

I cannot recall the actual conversations today I do remember that on a number of occasions he talked about what he had in his mind concerning some future Australian war memorial museum.

Bean was among those who landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and was well aware of the human sacrifice men were making for their country. To him it seemed fitting that such sacrifice was properly and respectfully memorialised.

Bean's vision for a memorial was given life by another who landed at Gallipoli that fateful and nation-defining day, Captain John Treloar. In 1917, Treloar was appointed head of the Australian War Records Section in London and it is the work of his team that provides the Australian War Memorial with so many of the relics from World War I that give life to the collection today. With the aid of his team and orders given to soldiers to do their own collecting for the envisaged war museum, 25,000 pieces were collected and formed the backbone of the first collection of the Australian War Memorial.

Like the design of Canberra itself, a competition was run for the design of the Australian War Memorial in 1927. However, no single entry was able to fulfil Bean's vision for the memorial which he stated as:

… on some hill-top-still beautiful, gleaming white and silent, a building of three parts, a centre and two wings. The centre will hold the great national relics of the A.I.F. One wing will be a gallery—holding the pictures that our artists painted and drew actually on the scene and amongst the events themselves. The other wing will be a library to contain the written official records of every unit.

Two designers were asked to submit a joint entry and it is this design by Emil Sodersteen and Jon Crust that was constructed and opened in 1941. Prior to the opening of the Memorial building, the collection was displayed first in Melbourne from 1923 to 1925 and then in Sydney until 1935. The memorial building was expanded with the addition of the wings in 1971 to house the growing collection. Prior to this, some of the memorial's collection had to be sold due to space constraints. The most recent update is a new World War I gallery which was only opened last night in time for the centenary of ANZAC. Through all these many years, the Australian War Memorial has been open at no charge to all those who wish to come and pay their respects to our country's fallen. This bill ensures entrance and access to the Australian War Memorial will always remain free.

Since 1860, from the Maori Wars in New Zealand through to current engagements, 102,787 Australian men and women have given their lives in defence of our country. Among them are members of my own family. There are 102,787 reasons the Australian War Memorial should be free forever for everyday Australians to go and pay their respects to the people whose blood gave us the country we have today. There are 102,787 reasons why this government believes it is important enough for parliament to legislate free access to the Australian War Memorial and not just leave it to fate. This is a matter close to my heart. My family has a long history of service to our nation through the ADF and its predecessors, and I understand their desire to serve.

I have heard people say that the Australian War Memorial glorifies war. I would respectfully say to those people that they have never visited the Australian War Memorial and sat by the reflection pool on a sunny morning, or attended the extraordinarily moving Last Post service conducted each evening. The Australian War Memorial does not glorify war. It remembers and recognises the struggles we have faced as a nation and those brave men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. And I do not believe that a child visiting this hallowed place is any more likely to grow up to become a soldier than anyone else. A visit reminds them that the privilege they enjoy in their lives lies at the feet of those who have gone before them and those who had the courage to stand up for what is right.

A schoolchild visiting the Australian War Memorial as part of their year 7 Canberra trip should not have to pay to enter what is a special place. As well as the museum and war records wings, the Australian War Memorial contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The remains of this Australian soldier, killed on the Western Front, were interred in the Hall of Memory in 1933 to serve as a symbol of the sacrifice given by all who served and died—a man that Prime Minister Keating referred to in his 1993 eulogy as 'all of them' and 'one of us'.

I believe that visiting the Australian War Memorial gives children a greater sense of the world around them and emphasises just how fortunate we really are. Yes, 102,787 lives are a lot for such a small nation, but when compared to other countries we are fortunate. We are indeed fortunate that evil leaders like Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin and Idi Amin have never held power in our country. We are fortunate that our allies share our beliefs and our ambitions not only for our countries but for the whole world. And we are fortunate that we have men and women who choose of their own free will to don the uniform of the Australian Defence Force. We should all be grateful to every man and woman who dons the uniform. I am grateful to their families who support them. And I am grateful that, because of this bill, honouring our fallen heroes will remain the right of every Australian until the end of time.

May I finish with a further quote from Mr Keating about just what the unknown soldier and all those honoured by our War Memorial represent:

We have gained a legend: a story of bravery and sacrifice and, with it, a deeper faith in ourselves and our democracy, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be Australian.

It is not too much to hope, therefore, that this Unknown Australian Soldier might continue to serve his country—he might enshrine a nation's love of peace and remind us that in the sacrifice of the men and women whose names are recorded here there is faith enough for all of us.

I commend this bill to the House and trust there is not one person in this House or the Senate who will vote against it.

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