Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

On Anzac Day this year I joined thousands of people in my local community to pay tribute to those who fought and died in service of our nation.

I attended the ceremony conducted at Riverstone RSL, and what an enormous day it was. The returned servicemen of Riverstone, Robin Young and his team put on an amazing morning for everyone, including such great organisation and a community breakfast. One of the official photographers showed me one of the images they had captured as dawn broke over Riverstone, and you could not see the roads in Riverstone for the sheer number of people covering every single vantage point. I do not think there has ever been that many people in the township of Riverstone at any given time.

My husband, Michael Chaaya, ably represented me at the Seven Hills RSL ceremony. I was so proud that a former member of this place, Frank Mossfield, one of my predecessors, himself a national serviceman, represented me at Blacktown RSL.

Together, we marked the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, a day we will never forget; our identity has forever been altered because of the war. The Gallipoli campaign exemplified true Australian values. As Banjo Paterson wrote of Gallipoli: 'Through what you boys have done, our old world differences are dead. We are all Australians now.'

At this point I think it is appropriate to mention another service I was able to attend later on Anzac Day. This was a special multicultural service, conducted at the Wenty Leagues Club. It was supported by Holroyd Council and various community groups, including the very large Tamil population, who I am proud to represent, in the southern end of my electorate.

On that point of what it means to be Australian, I think it is appropriate that I quote from some of the words I shared at that ceremony:

In marking the 100th anniversary of the most sacred battle in our nation’s history, it is fitting therefore that we tell the story of all those who refused to allow adversity to diminish their sense of duty or extinguish their drive to make Australia live up to its promise of equality for all its citizens.

When the outbreak of war came, our young nation was stained by exclusionary policies based on race - with the Commonwealth Defence Act of 1909 barring any person not 'substantially of European descent' from enlisting.

And yet, in spite of this, men from an array of ethnic backgrounds and traditions chose to maintain an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation and found a way to enlist.

In Rockhampton, for instance, in April 1915, six men came in unison to the recruiting depot to enlist in the AIF. Two of them were Belarusians, two Ukrainians, one Russian and one Ossetian. They were allocated to the newly formed 26th Battalion and sailed to Gallipoli.

On their voyage, they were integrated with Australians from all walks of life including Chinese Australian Billy Sing, Greek Australian Peter Rados, Charles Lautala, a fisherman of Finnish origin and Indigenous Australian Arthur Homer.

Each one of these men had suffered under the blight of overt and legalised racial discrimination but yet here they were, serving their nation as equals - with just as much patriotism and commitment as anyone else.

In doing so, they poignantly demonstrated that citizenship rests not on a person’s race or ethnicity but rather on a firm commitment to the social and moral values which underpin our society.

How relevant that is, as we consider issues of citizenship in our political discourse today.

We remember not only the First World War. We also remember the service of Australian service men and women in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Through the Anzac Centenary grants program in the Greenway community, we were able to acknowledge this legacy. I want to applaud the work of our centenary committee for all the work they did. They were great people. We had diverse representation, including the RSL, some local historical societies, the Nashos and our local councils, to name but a few. And they did all this in their own time and in such an exemplary manner.

In Greenway we were able to partner with local RSL sub-branches, organisations and schools to deliver a couple of these outcomes, including: a plaque and photoboard of local women who made a contribution to the war effort; a replica of the Riverstone district First World War honour roll, which went missing a couple of years ago and was formerly a feature at Riverstone railway station; and publishing a book, Diggers from the Shire of Blacktown 1914-1918, an excellent book by the Riverstone Historical Society. It complemented the Riverstone and District Historical Society's book Riverstone and the First World War. As you go through both of these books, you notice the names of the people who served are in many cases not just one person but multiple people from the same family, and their names today represent not only prominent streets in our local area but even suburbs in our local area. Suburbs were named after these families whose members fell in the Great War.

We also had a participation by the Sikh Bagpipe Drums Band, which came over from Malaysia, and they participated in the Anzac Centenary celebrations across Sydney. As you would be well aware, Mr Deputy Speaker Jones, I have a large Sikh community in my electorate. In fact, the most prominent surname in Blacktown is not Smith or Jones; it is actually Singh. It is so important to recognise that the efforts included many people from subcontinent backgrounds, and that includes Sikh backgrounds.

I want to mention the outstanding contributions by local students, and not just for conducting their own Anzac Day ceremonies at their own schools and participating in ceremonies on Anzac Day itself; they also participated in the Greenway Anzac writing competition, which I organised for primary and secondary students across the electorate. I particularly want to thank the Greenway Anzac writing prize selection panel, which consisted of three local judges: Mr Chris Gammage, Mr Lauder Scott-Rogers and Ms Rosemary Phillis. I want to acknowledge all those who contributed.

In the senior division, years 9 and 10, the winner was Patrick Gleeson from Glenwood High School. In the intermediate division, years 7 and 8, the winner was Liam Lengronne, also from Glenwood High School. In the junior division, years 5 and 6, the winner was Jessica Couzins from St John's Primary School, Riverstone; runner-up Kate McInerney from Vardys Road Public School; highly commended, Olivia Coram from Barnier Public School. And I congratulate all the finalists: Mackenzie Goodrum, Ryan Sinclair, Kaitlyn Tavoletti and Cameron Chalmers from Rouse Hill Anglican College; Saxon Peter from St John's Primary School, Riverstone; Isabelle Jackson from Metella Road Public School; and Olivia Sienna Campos from Barnier Road Public School.

It was great to see the enthusiasm with which these young people chose to participate. It was also great to see the attendance of their families and teachers at the special ceremony that I held at Seven Hills Plaza. I want to place on record my thanks to the management of Seven Hills Plaza Shopping Centre for hosting us that day and also to the member for Blaxland who came along as a special guest speaker.

He has not only walked the Kokoda Track but also most recently went to Gallipoli. We had him share his thoughts. We had shoppers coming throughout the centre while it was going on and just about every person stopped and was engaged in exactly what the member for Blaxland had to say, so I am very grateful to him for being the special guest speaker.

The courage and immense sacrifice of those who had laid down their lives in defence of our nation must always be remembered. I thank the Greenway community for coming together in such large numbers and with such enthusiasm and respect to honour this sacrifice. Lest we forget.

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