Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

One hundred years ago, Australian troops were engaged in trench warfare with the Turkish forces in Gallipoli. Fighting alongside soldiers from New Zealand, Britain, India, France and other allied nations, they faced a formidable and determined foe in the Ottoman army. From a population of fewer than five million people at the time, over 416,800 Australians enlisted in World War I, of whom over 60,000 were killed and some 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. The Australian casualty rate of nearly 65 per cent was amongst the highest of the war.

Each year, we gather on Anzac Day to remember those Australians who served their country in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations and reflect upon the terrible cost of war. What each of us takes from the Anzac story can be quite personal, but what it means for our country is profound. In Charles Bean's history of Australia in the Great War, ANZAC to Amiens, he observes:

… Anzac stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat.

In Les Carlyon's definitive account of the Gallipoli campaign, he observes:

There is such a thing as the Anzac spirit or tradition, although no-one can define it neatly. It is compounded of many ideas: refusing to give up no matter how hopeless the cause, dry humour and irreverence, mateship, fatalism, stoicism and more again.

Both these descriptions speak to us today about the qualities we still see and value in ourselves as Australians.

This year, I represented the Australian government and the Australian people at Anzac Day commemorations in Ypres Belgium to honour those who fought on the Western Front in the First World War. On the eve of Anzac Day, I laid a wreath at the Menin Gate: a memorial to the missing, including 6,191 Australians killed whose graves are unknown. I remain in awe of the fact that town buglers have played the last post at Menin Gate every evening since 1929 with the exception of the period of German occupation during the Second World War.

I participated in a number of other local commemorative events, with a highlight being the Anzac Day service at Tyne Cot cemetery with the Minister-President of Flanders, Mr Geert Bourgeois. After the ceremony, I collected handfuls of the soil from around the war graves that will be used in the establishment of a commemorative garden at the Australian War Memorial here in Canberra.

What makes Anzac Day special is that millions of Australians mark it each and every year. This year almost 400,000 Australians attended Anzac Day ceremonies in Australia and elsewhere in the world. On this centenary year of the landing at Gallipoli the attendance at Anzac Day services in my electorate of Curtin, in the western suburbs of Perth, far exceeded previous years. The dawn service at the State War Memorial in Kings Park, located within my electorate, saw a record-breaking crowd reportedly of over 80,000 people. At services in Claremont and Subiaco around 1,000 people attended each—a reflection of the significant connection felt by those in the Curtin community with this special commemoration.

Many residents have a story to tell of their forebears. I have learned the story of the Curlewis brothers—among many Cottesloe residents who enlisted to serve in the Australian Imperial Force in the First World War. Corporal George Curlewis, Lance Corporal Selwyn Curlewis and Captain Gordon Curlewis, who served in the 16th battalion, and Corporal Arthur Curlewis of the 12th battalion, were four brothers who landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Only one would return home. Upon his repatriation to Australia with a head wound George said of his brothers, 'It was their duty to go, and they did not deserve so much praise, but they were glad to have it.'

This year many local schools and community groups undertook special projects to commemorate the Anzac Centenary. Cottesloe was Western Australia's first surf life saving club, established in 1909. Five years later, 46 of its members would enlist to serve in the First World War—10 would not return. To commemorate the centenary of the landings at Gallipoli life savers from the Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club travelled to Turkey to take part in a surfboat race, symbolising the beginning of the Anzac legend where men rode small boats to the shores of Gallipoli.

In my electorate of Curtin, nine projects received Commonwealth funding through the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. The Cottesloe War Memorial Town Hall used its grant to develop an electronic honour roll of the service men and women from the local area, providing access to almost 1,000 names with stories and individual profiles. Last week I joined the Rosalie Primary School community to unveil their new Anzac courtyard, paying tribute to the school's historic links to the First World War through its founding principal Harry Naylor, who led troops of the 11th Battalion. The courtyard offers students and staff a special place to reflect on the century of selfless sacrifice, commitment and courage by the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. The number of Australians attending Anzac Day services and the multitude of commemorative projects show the ongoing significance of Anzac Day for Australians and its lasting lessons about war.

One of the truly extraordinary aspects of the Gallipoli campaign is the way it forged the contemporary relationship between Turkey and Australia. It is a relationship with an important history that we honour, but also a relationship that looks forward and is focused on working together to achieve our common goals. Australia sees Turkey as an important partner in global security. As a member of NATO, Turkey is a significant contributor to operations in Afghanistan. Turkey is also a crucial ally in the international community's efforts to combat Daesh in Iraq and Syria, and it bears the particularly heavy humanitarian burden of hosting 1½ million Syrians who have fled across the border.

Australia's contemporary relationship with Turkey also has rich cultural and social dimensions. Acknowledging the contribution of people of Turkish heritage to modern Australian society and showcasing the rich diversity of our innovative and multicultural nation, the Australian government is supporting the Australian International Cultural Council's Year of Australia in Turkey and the Year of Turkey in Australia in 2015: a series of bilateral exchanges to build on the Gallipoli centenary. I am confident these exchanges will foster great collaboration in the arts and cultural sector between Australia and Turkey. Last evening, on budget night, I was pleased to host both the Turkish Ambassador and the New Zealand High Commissioner, who were present on the floor of the House during the budget speech as a token of our appreciation to New Zealand, our partner in Anzac, and to Turkey, now our partner in global affairs.

Let us never forget that the Anzac story is one of tragedy—the tragedy of lives lost, families in mourning and a nation scarred. But it is a story that reflects on our past and our future. At the end of our speeches as parliamentarians we always say, 'Lest we forget'. Tonight I will say we will never forget.

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