Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the minister for his intervention. And every year of course in Anzac Cove and in every corner of Australia, in every town and city, we do gather to commemorate the events of 1915 and all those events that followed them right throughout the course of what came to be known as the Great War. It is interesting to recall that something like almost 500,000 Australians enlisted to fight in the First World War. We were a population of just five million then. So, around 10 per cent of our population served in the war, something that is just unimaginable now. In recent years we have gone through conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with a significant number, but the numbers just pale into almost insignificance when you consider the 60,000 Australians who gave their lives for Australia in the First World War and the 156,000 or 157,000 or so who were injured, many quite seriously. When you think about it or analyse it, you can almost attribute Australia's losses during the Second World War to the imperfect settlement of the Great War. It was a conflict that had very significant ramifications for our country.

But the first battle, the landing at Gallipoli, is often seen as the birth of our nation, or at least the birth of Australians as we know them—the introduction of the Australian spirit, the Australian way, the Anzac tradition. That is why it remains such a significant event for all Australians. Of course, the more time that passes between 25 April 1915 and the present day, the more important it will be for us to remember and to remind. None of us knew those who landed on the shores of Gallipoli, and certainly they will be a more distant memory to those who follow us, and that is why it is so important that we continue to attend Anzac Day services in such large numbers. That is why it is important that the government of the day continue to put a very heavy emphasis on Anzac Day, to ensure that people do remember. I note that the further we move from 1915 the more emboldened people are to be critical of both the intervention and the way in which we commemorate those events. I think people are entitled to pass those criticisms. That is their right, and I do not challenge their right, but I think it is very, very wrong.

There were tragic mistakes made at Gallipoli and those tragic mistakes had very large consequences. But what we commemorate on Anzac Day is not war or what went wrong or what went right; what we commemorate on Anzac Day is the sacrifice and the fact that, regardless of the wrongs or rights of the strategy and the orders of their masters, Australians did what was asked of them without question, which is well depicted, of course, in the movie Gallipoli. I think the term 'without question' is very appropriate in this instance, and we should continue to very actively commemorate that day and the events which followed it in that spirit: young Australians volunteered to go to a distant place—with a very shallow understanding, it must be said, about why they were going, who they were fighting, what the strategy was and what the ultimate objective was—absolutely without question. When things looked hopeless and they were asked to keep going, they kept going, and that is what we commemorate each Anzac Day and at every service throughout the year when we remember those who have served in the First World War and, indeed, in the Boer War before that and in each and every conflict in which Australia has been a participant since.

Like those who have spoken before me, I want to pay tribute to those in my own electorate who make sure every year, but particularly this year, that the events of 1915 are properly remembered and commemorated. Leading them, of course, are those who make up our RSL sub-branches. They are all magnificent in my electorate, as I am sure is the case in each and every electorate around this country. Every year they work for months in advance to make sure that Anzac Day is an appropriately solemn occasion and that the commemorations run smoothly and, indeed, that people get something to eat and something to drink after the ceremonies themselves. This year, in the centenary year, local RSL sub-branches worked for years, really, to make sure the commemoration was all that it should be. I pay tribute to each and every one of them. They are all volunteers and they do wonderful work on behalf of not only the community but of course the veterans whom they represent.

Our local councils were also very active, not only in making applications for the funding provided by the government to make sure the events were properly commemorated but also in providing the in-kind assistance which is necessary on the day, from traffic management right through to the tidying up of local cenotaphs and the parks around them. They do a magnificent job and I thank them for those efforts.

I want to make mention of the Maitland RSL Sub-Branch because most members are aware that in the lead-up to Anzac Day we had very significant rains and floods in the Hunter Valley and it provided disruption for Anzac Day commemorations. I know that none of my other sub-branches will be offended if I say that Maitland possibly has the most beautiful environment for an Anzac Day service. The cenotaph is a very significant one and Maitland council always does a wonderful job in preparing the grounds and making sure the place is as beautiful as it possibly can be. I feel for the Maitland RSL Sub-Branch members who were forced to move their commemoration to the Maitland Town Hall, which itself is a significant building. In fact, it is where Edmund Barton, our first Prime Minister, delivered the first campaign speech for the first election around Federation, but Maitland Town Hall is not really designed for an Anzac Day ceremony. It was unfortunate that the floods and rains forced our local RSL sub-branches to take that second option, but that does not detract from the magnificent work they did in ensuring that the events for the centenary year were appropriately commemorated.

I quickly mention the residents of Gillieston Heights who were landlocked by the floodwaters. Both roads going into the town were blocked and the residents very quickly managed to organise their own Anzac Day ceremony on 'Gillieston Island', as they called it—the member for Paterson will be familiar with the term—so that local residents did not miss out on the opportunity to commemorate the centenary events. I congratulate all involved. It is a great privilege to be able to speak to this motion.

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