Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On April 25, 1915 the young nation of Australia—a nation that had federated only 15 years earlier—sent soldiers onto a distant shore in the nation that we now know as Turkey. The plan was a simple one: Australian and New Zealand troops were to cross the narrow peninsula and knock out the forts guarding the waters leading to Constantinople and the Black Sea. As we all know, despite the spirited efforts of the ANZACs, things did not work out quite as planned. By this time 100 years ago, thoughts of a quick and decisive victory had faded and troops from both sides were digging in for a long campaign. Ultimately, the campaign would not achieve its objectives and, after eight months, Allied soldiers would slip out under cover of darkness.

All of this begs the question: why do we celebrate this campaign? What is it that makes the people of this nation, a people who have enjoyed 100 years of almost uninterrupted peace at home, crawl out of their beds in the pre-dawn gloom on 25 April each year and pause, as the sun comes up, to remember those soldiers and all of those who have since served? For a nation still finding its way in the world, the servicemen who fought at Gallipoli planted the seeds of our national identity, and those seeds bore incredible fruit. A young nation was looking for its own identity and, like any adolescent, we needed role models. As the stories of bravery, ingenuity, self-sacrifice and mateship filtered back, we realised that we could find our role models, define our identity and establish our self-worth as a nation by looking to the way these men had conducted themselves under incredibly trying conditions and drawing our strength and defining our values from them.

As I have already mentioned, Australia is a peaceful nation. When we fight, we meet the enemy in distant lands a long way from the families, friends and homes our soldiers are sent out to protect. Given that so many of our young people have never had to meet a foe on a battlefield, I wanted to use my time here today to single out some of the values that were forged on that cold peninsula a century ago and show how, in my electorate, those values are alive and well.

The Prime Minister told the people of Australia that the Commonwealth would, if the next of kin request it, repatriate the remains of 25 Australian servicemen killed in the Vietnam War and buried in Malaysia and Singapore. That speech was the result of countless hours of organising and lobbying by the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia and their Northern Territory president, Bob Shewring, who was one of the key people involved. Over past few years, Bob has written to me, met with me, called me and briefed me on how the campaign that he called 'Bring Them Home' was going. He has been in direct contact with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. I have no idea how many hours Bob has put into researching and lobbying but I know why he did it—because Bob, as a former serviceman, treasures those values that the Anzacs left to us. Bob and his colleagues in the Vietnam Veterans Association know that it is not right to ask someone to put their life on the line for their country, for someone to sacrifice everything, without the nation honouring that sacrifice. Bob would not leave his mates behind. Thanks to the efforts of Bob and his colleagues, those who made the ultimate sacrifice can now rest in peace in Australian soil. Australia owes Bob a debt of thanks.

Just before Anzac Day, I spent some time in Afghanistan. It was a privilege to be able to be there with our troops, and I got to see firsthand how they were going to commemorate this Anzac centenary in that theatre. Some of them were quite excited and very honoured to have the opportunity to commemorate the centenary in the theatre of war. Honouring those who served is not a tradition reserved to servicemen or ex-servicemen. In my electorate of Solomon, I had the honour of attending a series of events put on by schoolchildren across Darwin and Palmerston. On Friday the 24th, the last school day before Anzac Day, I attended a special school assembly at Palmerston Christian School. Led by the school captains, the Palmerston Christian team put on a heartfelt memorial assembly. Handmade floral tributes were laid, an Army chaplain addressed the students and there was a stirring rendition of We are Australian which, I much confess, brought a lump to my throat and a lump to the throats of many in the audience. The principal, teachers and students of Palmerston Christian School have much to be proud of.

Just down the road at Palmerston Senior College, the students hosted a combined assembly, with several surrounding primary schools also attending. A moving ceremony was held, complete with a combined service honour guard of local cadet units. Wreaths and books were presented in memory of the fallen, and a spectacular sculpture to commemorate Indigenous servicemen was unveiled on the school grounds. Participation was the cornerstone of the day's events, with younger students submitting artwork in a series of Anzac themed displays and competitions, and the school library playing host to an exhibit of Australian military history. I was also fortunate enough to attend the commemoration at Larrakeyah Primary School, where a sincere service was held. Students came together for a period of reflection, laid handmade tributes to the fallen and paid their respects.

Later in the evening, students from schools across Palmerston gathered at the town's cenotaph shortly after dark for the youth vigil. The youth vigil was organised by the Palmerston RSL and it gave students from around Palmerston a chance for some quiet reflection as they mounted an honour guard around the memorial from dusk till dawn.   The students worked in shifts, symbolically guarding the memorial through the night leading up to the Anzac Day dawn service.

There were a number of    fantastic initiatives throughout the electorate of Solomon in memory of those who served. As the federal representative of this fantastic area, I was privileged to assist some of these through the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program, and the youth vigil was one of those. The Darwin RSL club put forward two awesome programs which are worthy of mention. The Borella Ride was the flagship event of the Northern Territory's commemoration of the Centenary of Anzac. The ride commemorated the journey made by Albert Borella, who walked, rode a horse and hitchhiked on a mail coach to get from Tennant Creek to Darwin and then travelled by ship to Townsville to enlist in World War I. The story of Borella is a fantastic one, and the re-enactment of his journey is a once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity. But, because the story unfolds along one of the most remote highways in the world, the Stuart Highway, there would not be many people who could benefit from it if not for the work of the Darwin RSL. The Darwin RSL put together a documentary crew to film the ride and use it as the basis of a documentary that could be shared with the world. Because of their work, people around the globe can share in this most amazing of Territory stories and share the Anzac spirit.

Another measure put forward by the RSL, which I felt was particularly important, was correction to the roll of remembrance at the Darwin Cenotaph. It should go without saying that any nation prepared to put people in harm's way owes those people a duty of care after the last shots have been fired—to the survivors, the best of care and the benefits of the peace and prosperity they have defended. To those who fell, the least we can do is remember them—know their names and their stories and acknowledge their sacrifice. It is with this duty in mind that a team of voluntary researchers from the Darwin RSL—and I need to once again single out my friend Bob Shewring in that team—went through the rolls and found there were some errors and omissions on the lists of the fallen at the Darwin Cenotaph. Their tireless research meant that new brass plaques were able to be cast to commemorate those who fell and whose names were not recorded or were recorded incorrectly.

It was at that same Cenotaph that I attended the Dawn Service. I was honoured to read a message from the Prime Minister and lay a wreath on behalf of the Australian government and its people. The ceremony was solemn and very well attended. My husband, Paul, chose to attend the Palmerston service on my behalf and reported that that was also very well attended. It was a great honour to see the community rally together to mark this occasion and, in doing so, to demonstrate the tenacity, loyalty and mateship that the original Anzacs were so highly renowned for.

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