Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

This year, the Centenary of Anzac saw services held across Australia that were attended in record numbers, and had an understandably special intensity. That was certainly the case in Fremantle, where a huge crowd gathered in the dark for a moving dawn service at Monument Hill, which included the ceremonial unveiling of plaques that listed all 849 of the Fremantle men who lost their lives in World War I. This project, initiated by Chris Grisewood, a former warden of Monument Hill, has been many years in the making and was only possible through the work of the city of Fremantle's history and heritage staff, especially its archivist, Andrew Pittaway.

In the week before Anzac Day I had the honour of launching a book by Andrew called Fremantle Voices of the Great War, which draws on letters, diaries and oral histories to tell the story of the 3,000 Fremantle souls who went off to Gallipoli, Palestine and the Western Front. The toll, measured in the lives of young men, was felt heavily in the Fremantle community. One-third of working age men were lost. At least now their families have a place they can visit to see them remembered by name, and a book in which their stories are told. For example, in Fremantle Voices, gunner George 'Chitter' Brown describes the harsh reality of his first days on the Western Front:

I lost my best pal Sgt Henry Robinson from Fremantle. He was captain of the North Fremantle juniors and extremely popular with all who met him … He leaves a young wife and child at North Fremantle.

I have chosen that excerpt partly because there were so many members of the North Fremantle Football Club killed or seriously wounded in World War I that the club was unable to remain part of the West Australian Football League after the war. That story is told in full in a wonderful book by Baden Pratt called Hell for Leather: The Forgotten Footballers of North Fremantle.

I was also glad to attend events that were focused on young people. The Beaconsfield Primary School Anzac service did a brilliant job of exploring and explaining the different aspects of Anzac Day, rather than assuming that kids will simply absorb its significance by repetition over the years. The Cockburn RSL's annual Anzac Youth Parade was again excellent—featuring 26 local schools, 1,400 school children, and doing a particularly good job of acknowledging the role of Indigenous servicemen.

The Centenary of Anzac was an opportunity for everyone in the Australian community to pay their respect to those who have served this country. And as much as we honour those who have served and who serve today, we cannot allow young people to believe that the courage and sacrifice of the Anzacs, as well as the other fine human qualities like camaraderie and compassion, and even good humour, that can emerge in extreme circumstances, in any way glorify or justify the folly, futility and the terrible damage of that military disaster and, indeed, all wars.

In the words of the 10th Light Horse Regiment Sergeant Hubert Ulrich:

I was in the thick of it often but thank God I came safely through. I saw many splendid young fellows pass out. It was heartbreaking, war is terrible! Pray God it may soon be over.

It is over. It began 100 years ago and will never be forgotten. We will remember them.

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