Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

It is truly a great honour to rise to speak to this motion commemorating the Centenary of Anzac and the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli. It is a matter of deep national significance, and members have made many heartfelt contributions to the debate.

Australians enjoy a unique way of life that is the envy of the world. In 2014, almost 200,000 people migrated to Australia from every corner of the globe, seeking the great Australian promise of hope and opportunity. We enjoy many privileges as Australians. Most fundamentally, and above all else, we are safe, we are prosperous and we are free. It is not by chance that we are so fortunate. Freedoms and values which are today taken for granted are the enduring legacy of those who came before us. We have been kept free by the sacrifice and courage of great generations of Australians. Our service men and women, past and present, have through their service touched the lives of all Australians. All of us in this place representing our constituents as freely and democratically elected members of parliament are able to do so only because of those Australians who fought valiantly to preserve our democratic institutions against the threat of tyranny.

Much, of course, has changed since 1915. Borders have been redrawn, old empires have faded and new powers have emerged. Conflicts have arisen across the globe and through the decades. Time and time again, Australia has stood on the side of right as a vanguard of freedom and democracy. Today, as new and insidious threats arise that seek to poison our nation and to destroy our institutions, our security agencies and service men and women stand unyielding sentry in the best values and traditions of the Anzacs, ensuring that those enemies of all humanity will never succeed.

As foreign lands are again plunged into turmoil, and as we look toward the new and evolving challenges of the future, we must never forget the past. By learning from the past, we may stand on the shoulders of those great men and women. This Anzac Day, just over a month ago and 100 years after the Gallipoli landings, we paused to remember our nation's lost sons and to reflect on a storied century of service and sacrifice. At RSLs, avenues of honour and war memorials around the nation, on the rocky shores of Anzac Cove and atop the rolling hills of Villers-Bretonneux, record crowds gathered amidst an electric atmosphere. Australians, no matter where they lived, no matter their background and no matter the differences between each of them, had come together for the most significant remembrance event of our lifetimes. The Anzac Centenary has been a great coming together of our communities.

In my electorate of Dickson, the heartfelt and driven desire to honour the fallen has been inspirational and simply overwhelming. The Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program provided the community with the opportunity to hold truly remarkable memorial services and to create tangible and permanent expressions of our solemn gratitude. Through the Dickson Anzac Centenary committee, it was my humble privilege to assist local groups in securing the full $125,000 available under the program. The successful grant applicants were the Samford RSL sub-branch and Avenue of Honour Committee, the Dayboro War Memorial Association, the Pine Rivers District RSL sub-branch and Anzac Memorial Avenue Centenary Committee, and the Bray Park-Strathpine RSL sub-branch. Each submitted ambitious project plans, which they pursued with relentless pride and purpose.

The picturesque Samford Valley lies nestled between the mountains in the south-west of Dickson. Just beyond Samford Valley is a place of sombre reflection and a physical connection through history to our past—the Samford Avenue of Honour. The Avenue of Honour project is based around a newly constructed 700-metre pathway, which is shaped in the green pastures of Samford Parklands. At the path's highest point, a spectacular sandstone monument has been erected. It bears a plaque memorialising 20 local servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice. Twenty hoop pines have been planted along the length of the path, standing in their memory. A total of 100 trees have been planted, symbolising the 100 years of the centenary. These are just some of the elements of what is a breathtaking achievement.

I was honoured to officially open the avenue at last month's Anzac Day service in an avenue dedication ceremony. Years of work culminated in what was a remarkable event. I sincerely congratulate the committee on its resounding success. Under the outstanding leadership of President Jamie Whitehead, the Avenue of Honour Committee took what some believed to be an unattainable aspiration and gave it form and direction. Today, I thank Jamie, the committee secretary, Bill Gibson, the treasurer, Ian Ruffles, the artist and creator of the avenue, Jamie Maclean, and committee members John Denyer, Carmel and Ross Mazzeo, and Peter Bishop. The Samford Avenue of Honour Committee has left an indelible mark on the Samford community. Long after we are gone, in many years from now, our great-grandchildren may walk among towering pines and reflect upon the service and sacrifice of the distant past and the coming of age of a young nation.

Dayboro, a town of yesteryear, lies in the north-west of Dickson. Dayboro is a small and tight-knit rural community which has long held a proud connection to its past and shown a reverence for service. The Dayboro War Memorial Association is a testament to those values. In 1920, the Dayboro War Memorial was erected by the residents of Dayboro and district. It stood 14 feet tall and looked over the town from the elevated grounds of the state school. The memorial was inscribed with the names of 15 men from the district who died on service in the Great War. It also bears an honour roll naming the 34 men who returned home. Many years later, a solemn plaque was affixed in memory of six locals killed during the Second World War. In 2011, the memorial was relocated from the school to Roderick Cruice Park.

Almost 100 years after Dayboro residents first dedicated the memorial, the Dayboro War Memorial Association has marked the centenary of the Anzac with a project for the enrichment of the existing memorial site. Three tall black granite columns have been erected directly beside the grand old monument. These columns are etched with the names, the known history and the photographs of the 15 local people who made the supreme sacrifice. The columns give humanity, dignity and meaning back to those men, who are no longer mere names on a list. For the first time in a century, as their faces peer back from the glassy black stone, the people of Dayboro can see their lost sons again.

The project also involved the construction of a full-scale model trench and the purchase of World War I army uniforms for a re-enactment on Anzac Day. Generations of Dayboro residents will thank the Dayboro War Memorial Association for what they have done to preserve their history. Today, I congratulate them in this House. President Richard Hawkins, Vice-President Neil Rowe, Secretary Pamela Miller and Treasurer Michael Flannigan should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved for their beloved Dayboro and for what they have done to honour these men who have given their service to our country.

Anzac Avenue is a heritage listed road that runs from Petrie in the east of Dickson right through to Redcliffe in Luke Howarth's electorate of Petrie. The avenue was constructed by returned First World War servicemen as part of a postwar employment assistance scheme. It was to serve both as a tourist drive, connecting greater Brisbane with the sandy beaches of the Redcliffe peninsula, and also as a utilitarian memorial to those lost in the war. Construction began in 1922, and the road was opened to traffic in 1925. The Anzac Memorial Avenue was dedicated to Queensland's fallen service personnel, and from 1925 to 1929 around 1,800 trees were planted along its length. To this day, Anzac Avenue remains the longest memorial avenue in the state.

I want to pay tribute to the committee. They performed an outstanding duty. I was also privileged to be invited to the Petrie School of Arts to join the White family in planting a memorial tree as part of the committee's 100 Trees for 100 Years project. The Petrie School of Arts was the location of the first memorial tree planting in 1925, when the trees were planted by the then Governor of Queensland, Sir Matthew Nathan. I acknowledge the good work of David Dwyer, of Tony Watson, of Treasurer Darryl Neilds and committee members Judy Kranen, Brent Ledez and John Coutts. Each of these people were outstanding in the work that they did. I would also like to recognise all the schools and the work of the RSLs and to congratulate winners Jason Lejcak of Genesis Christian College and Megan Kennedy of Kurwongbah State School for the outstanding work that they did. They were awarded for the work they did in recognising the soldiers. I recognise also the members of the Bray Park RSL—John Burgess ED KM, Chairman Phil Symonds, Historian Brian Avery, Bowls Club Liaison David Antney, School Liaisons Lin Lahey and Peter Spies, also for his fundraising work, as well as Alex McMillan, Treasurer, and Brian Kay and subcommittee members Phil Livingstone, John Carruthers, Alf Richardson, Alan Davis, Mick McMillan and Jack Eviston. All of these people need to be enormously proud of the contribution they made.

In closing, I will very quickly acknowledge three more as my own family looks to the First World War service of James and Edward Leitch and Leonard Draper. Leonard was tragically killed in action two weeks before his 23rd birthday. We have an enormous amount to be proud of in this country, and the commemorations that took place in my electorate and around the country in this year of centenary commemoration are a great honour to our country. I thank the House.

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