David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the centenary year of the Anzac landings, I think it is more than fitting that we in this House remember the service of those that have gone before us, and I offer some of my reflections on this Centenary of Anzac year.

One of my earliest memories from childhood was as a little infant school student, attending Anzac Day marches along with my classmates, where, at the intersection around the cenotaph, what seemed like thousands of people were gathering. That was from the early sixties, in a different time and a different space, and there were many living returned servicemen and women. One of my grandparents who served in World War I was still alive; my maternal grandfather had already passed on, but grandmothers, cousins and aunts all related stories from the war. So it was much more tangible at the time. Some of the sentiments to our opponents in the various wars and combats were still alive and palpable.

By the time I reached my teens, the closest I got to military service was joining the cadet force, but sentiments were quite different for a period there, and in retrospect the nation looks back on that with a bit of shame. There was a slight collective embarrassment or neglect regarding the service of our Vietnam servicemen and women. So much so that you were basically criticised by a lot of your peers for attending parades and being involved in the cadet corps. The cadet corps involvement became definitely uncool. It was only when we had the welcome home parade that, on a public level, that sentiment officially changed. People came to realise that the servicemen and women of Vietnam had done just what every other Australian serviceman and woman had done, and that was answer the call—particularly as many of them were conscripts.

By the time I reached my 20s, my interest was piqued in all things historical, but nothing was more interesting than a trip to Turkey to visit Gallipoli and see what it really was like. So I travelled there long before there was a good road down to the beach. A lot of the restorations had not occurred, but the lines of graves and the ceremonial areas were well tended by the Turkish nation, and it really was quite moving. We made our way down to Anzac Cove, and walking in from the water and looking up at the cliffs really did put into relief how frightening and daunting the prospect of scaling those cliffs must have been with a hail of bullets coming down at you. It must have been a horrible, horrible episode in anyone's life if they served in any battle, let alone there. The bullets are the same everywhere a serviceman goes and so are the bombs, but being there on the site of such a well-documented battle over many months really brought it home.

When I returned, I had the opportunity to read through my maternal grandfather's diary. He had been through the Anzac peninsula and on to the battlefields in France. My other grandfather served too in that same conflict, and my father and uncles served in World War II. It was through my father and uncles that I learned a lot about the service of our service men and women and saw up-front some of the consequences of putting yourself in harm's way for the betterment of your nation and our democracy.

There are some things that are seared into the memory of every Australian, and one is the phrase 'lest we forget'. I am very pleased to say that, in recent years, the ceremonial recognition and commemorations of Anzac Day are much more appropriate to the memory of those who have gone before us and served, and 2015 was by no means an underdone event in the Lyne electorate. At dawn in Port Macquarie, there were no fewer than 10,000 people assembled by the banks of the Hastings River on the town green for a very memorable service led by Port Macquarie RSL sub-branch President Greg Laird. No larger crowd has ever been seen in greater Port Macquarie. Returned service men and women were joined by up to four generations of descendants. We heard some very moving speeches, wreaths were laid, prayers were made, a very eerie last post and reveille were played, and the Australian flag was raised after the initial lowering. Some people in boats passed by just at the time the bugler was playing.

In Taree, on the Manning, similarly huge crowds turned up, I am told, at the dawn service, and I had the opportunity of joining them later in the morning for a very moving ceremony preceded by a march through the town attended by service men and women, community groups, school groups and lots of volunteer service organisations. There was a specially formed choir and a fly-past, and I would like to compliment the Taree sub-branch of the RSL led by its president, Bob Coombes, and Darcy Elbourne and Dennis Lawrence, who have been organising these services for many years. At that service in Taree, we had a very developed group of memorials that were very well restored and maintained, including the original cenotaph, which is really quite an amazing cluster of memorials for a town the size of Taree.

I then had the opportunity of moving on to a special luncheon with the Kendall RSL Sub-branch members, and they similarly had an incredibly large turnout for the small village of Kendall: up to 600 people made it to their dawn service. It was a very interesting set of speeches that we had from members and returned servicemen. I had the opportunity of attending four school-based RSL services, and I would like to compliment all of them. At St Joseph's in Taree, Mark Mowbray, the principal, organised a wonderful ceremony, with all the schoolchildren involved. Likewise, at St Joseph's in Wingham, Principal Emma Timmins did a wonderful job. At the Wauchope High School we had a huge turnout—every student. I do not think there were any non-attendances at school that day. Principal Glen Sawle was ably assisted by Des Hancock from the Wauchope RSL, along with teacher Graham Pinkerton.

I mentioned that saying 'lest we forget'; I can say that the Lyne electorate definitely did not forget. They turned up in droves, in their thousands, to honour the service and the sacrifice of our veterans over many generations. Everyone now is aware of their service and the principles for which they fought valiantly and for which many died. I am so pleased that the Australian populace now has a much greater awareness of the original sacrifice of our ANZAC veterans, and the service and undertakings of subsequent generations.

Debate adjourned.

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