Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

It is with sincere and profound respect for those who have sacrificed so much for our nation that I stand here today to honour and commemorate the Centenary of Anzac. Just over a month ago, on Anzac Day, we as a nation paused and we reflected on our nation 100 years on from that heroic landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps—the Anzacs—on the shore of Gallipoli in Turkey. I am most pleased that we continue to have the opportunity throughout this year and years to come to remember our nation's most important commemorative event. I often wondered what it would have been like to have been one of those young, energetic, very brave and at times foolhardy young men who stormed the beach—those who signed up for military service because of the adventure, not knowing what their fate would be.

In 2010, along with my colleagues at the table here, we had the opportunity to visit Afghanistan as part of a defence exchange. After we had been to Tarin Kowt and Kandahar, I took the opportunity to go on to Gallipoli where I was joined by Malcolm Turnbull, now the Minister for the Environment, the Governor General and Warren Snowdon, who was then the Minister for Veterans Affairs. As an aside, I said to my young brother, who has now passed, that I was going to Afghanistan and I really wanted to take my father's original medals to Gallipoli and wear them at the Gallipoli service. He said to me, 'Why don't you take Grandfather's medals?'

Until that that point in time I had never realised that my grandfather had served in Gallipoli. My family has had a tendency never to talk much about their service, even though they were in the British forces.

I found the experiences that I had in the two days I spent in Gallipoli to be very deep and moving. We went from Canakkale to Eceabat. The first thing we did on 24 April 2010 was attend the Turkish international services. It was very moving to listen to the Turkish side of the story and their brave and heroic efforts. We departed Mehmetcik Abidesi and went to the French memorial at Morto Bay. Again, it was a very moving service. From there we went to the Commonwealth memorial at Cape Helles. That is where the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, because I tried to realise what it would have been like for my grandfather in storming those beaches. I cannot explain how I actually felt. It was very moving.

The next day, Anzac Day, we all took off on the ferry that went across to Anzac Cove. We sat there and witnessed the audience of people looking out across the water examining the beach, trying to understand what would have been going through those young men's minds as the hail of bullets rained down upon them, and yet they kept going. Yes, they landed in the wrong position. But their determination was so strong and their bond, their mateship, came to the fore like never before, and they dug in. They dug the trenches out of survival, hence the name 'diggers'. With my colleague Stuart Robert, we walked up and down some of the trenches. We visited some of the various sites. We went to Lone Pine and attended the ceremony there. We visited the Turkish memorial of the 57th Regiment. We went to the New Zealand memorial service at Chunuk Bair memorial. Each and every one of those services and each and every one of those grave sites hold special meaning and different meaning for each individual country but collectively recognise and reflect the heroic contribution that people made.

From there I had the opportunity to go over to Brussels and catch up with my very dear friend the Hon. Brendan Nelson, who happened to be the ambassador. He had organised for me during that tour, amongst other things, to visit Polygon Wood and to go to the museum in the Zonnebeke Chateau, which is a unique display of how people lived in those times and dealt with the effects of war. We went to Tyne Cot Cemetery and visited Hill 60, where miners from my region dug the tunnels to put the explosives under the hill to disrupt the German forces. We went to Flanders Field. Perhaps the most moving thing for me personally was to attend the Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate, where I was honoured to be asked not only to present a wreath but to recite the oath. That gave me a sense of appreciation, and I reflected on the contributions of people in my electorate.

I thank the government for providing $125,000 to my electorate to help celebrate and reflect on people's contributions. I appointed a very distinguished independent committee to assess the applications for those funds, headed by Glenn Wall, a former veteran from Vietnam; Dennis Martin; Bill Garrett, the Hon. Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair, AC, former Governor of New South Wales; Keith McNeil; and Sonny Morris—all people deeply embedded within my veterans community. They assessed, independent from me, all of the applications.

They deemed that applications such as the Nelson Bay RSL Sub-Branch should receive money to erect a commemorative stele at Apex Park, to recognise the centenary of the service and sacrifice of those who served in the First World War. The Dungog RSL received money to restore a Krupp field gun for display in front of the RSL. The Dungog and District National Servicemen's Association received money to upgrade and replicate First World War honour rolls at the cenotaph in Stroud. The Bulahdelah War Memorial Trust were given money to establish a memorial garden and a commemorative exhibition. The Forster-Tuncurry RSL received money to upgrade their Lone Pine memorial. The Port Stephens Naval Association received finances to establish a memorial for the HMAS Psyche. The Karuah RSL produced a commemorative booklet about First World War soldiers from the Karuah area. The Newcastle Legacy Fund, Port Stephens Group received money to produce a tribute for the 100 years of service. The Maitland Grossmann High School received money to install an Anzac Centenary memorial garden. The Tilligerry RSL Sub-Branch received money to install a memorial plaque. The Gresford Community Group received money to plant memorial Lone Pine trees and Gallipoli roses for each locally born person who served in the World War I. The Raymond Terrace RSL Sub-Branch were given money for the Seaham 'knitting circle' memorial. Great Lakes College received money to research, design and construct memorial boards which detailed the battle of Lone Pine and the seven Victoria Cross recipients. The Port Stephens Veterans and Citizens Aged Care received money for a wall mural of the Anzacs. The Tea Gardens RSL received money to create a commemorative plaque for display. This was great work, well researched, understood and accepted by our community. I wish there had been more money for all the projects that were put forward, but sadly finances were somewhat limited.

As the member for Hunter said, this Anzac Day was rather special in our community, particularly in and around the Hunter region. I personally attended the dawn service at Dungog, which days before had been severely affected by floods, with loss of lives including two servicemen. I also had the opportunity to go to Nelson Bay for their Anzac service. On the way through I drove to Karuah and joined them for breakfast after their dawn service. It showed their spirit, because they did not have any power, so their complete dawn service was done by torchlight and candlelight. It did not dampen their enthusiasm.

What impressed me most of all at the various Anzac services I visited, those where my family represented me and from speaking to my staff who represented me was the number of people who turned out this year. The crowds were larger than ever before at each and every service across my electorate. So I say, 'Thank you' to my constituents for coming out after a difficult week and a storm event to pay their respects to those who gave us the freedoms and democracies that we enjoy and live by today. It would be remiss of me if I did not thank the people who are currently serving in overseas theatres of operation for their contribution to the safety and security of this nation, Australia.

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