Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This year marks 100 years since Australian and New Zealand troops landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey on 25 April 1915. In this centenary year, we came together—as we do every Anzac Day—to remember our nation's most significant commemorative event. By the end of the eight-month campaign, more than 8,700 lay dead. The Anzac spirit—the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice—was born on that day 100 years ago.

Australia's broader contribution to the First World War is breathtaking. From a population of less than five million, some 417,000 Australians volunteered and enlisted. By the war's end in November 1918, over 61,000 had been killed in action. A further 155,000-plus had been wounded. Australia's casualty rate was the highest in the British Empire. It is worth noting again: every one of these Australians was a volunteer. It is easy to get lost in the enormity of these figures; to lose sight of the very personal and tremendous sacrifice of each and every one of these individuals, their families, and their communities. Rural and regional Australia was particularly hard hit by the sacrifice. It is easy to form the view that the men and women who served at Gallipoli and throughout the First World War were superhuman—that they possessed qualities that made them 'natural' warriors, or better placed to deal with the horrors of war. The truth is that these young men and women were ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. This is the true tragedy, and indeed the true glory, of their sacrifice. They were young people from our cities, towns, villages and regions. They were confronted with the full horror of war and conducted themselves with honour. I like to think of them as extraordinary, ordinary Australians.

One of these extraordinary, ordinary Australians was my great-uncle, Bill Browne, who served on the Western Front, endured the horrors of the Battle of the Somme, and won a military medal in 1918. I was very privileged to have known him when I was a little boy. Another was my great-great-uncle, Charles Briggs Hardy. Charlie was a blacksmith's assistant from Sydney, and was aged 21 when he enlisted as a private in the 19th battalion in February 1915. My great-great-uncle served in Gallipoli and in France. Fortunately, he kept a diary of his time at the front, and the State Library of New South Wales has digitised this piece of history. The diary is moving reading—though some of my great-great-uncle's entries are less than politically correct, as one might imagine from a 21-year-old 100 years ago. In the early parts, for example on a particular day in August 1915, it is very matter of fact, with him recording on that day that 'Corporal Wilson got his head blown off. He was the first to go down in B Company.' And in September, he noted a friend had 'died of wounds. Hard luck for Dick.' Then to increasingly sad entries, such as: 'Today ... I am 22 years old and have never had such a miserable birthday in my life.' And there is a moving passage from 23 November 1915, where he writes of a dream of kissing his younger sister, Rose, in the trenches before going over the top to die. Private Hardy was wounded at Gallipoli—a 'holiday wound,' he called it—but returned to the fighting, and took part in the evacuation. He was wounded again, this time very seriously, at the tragic Battle of Fromelles on the 19 July 1916. Luckily that was the end of the war for him. He was shipped back to Sydney, married his sweetheart, had four children and lived till 1974.

The battle of Fromelles, as members would well know, was that dreadful initiation for the Australians to the Western Front. Over 5,500 Australians became casualties, almost 2,000 of them were killed in action or died of wounds and some 400 were captured. This is believed to be the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War. Many consider the battle of Fromelles the most tragic single event in Australia's history. But it is not just the Gallipoli campaign, or Fromelles, or indeed World War I that we commemorate on Anzac Day; we pay tribute to all the men and women who have served our nation in all wars, conflicts and on peacekeeping operations—the extraordinary, ordinary Australians to whom we owe so much.

I believe that it is tremendously important, as the local member and representative of the people of Eden-Monaro, to attend as many services and commemorations as possible. I would like to inform the House of some of the opportunities I took to do just that right across the region. It also highlights the creativity and imagination of the community I serve and the broad range of activities held to commemorate the centenary. Prior to Anzac Day, I visited the Bega historical society's exhibition The Great War: Tales from the Far South Coast, which opened at the Bega Pioneers Museum in March. This exhibition was made possible by funding under the Australian government's Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program and the Bega Valley Shire Council. The exhibition runs through until the end of 2018, thus commemorating the four years of Australia's involvement in the Great War.

In addition, I was very pleased to join the school community of Jerrabomberra Public School in their recent commemoration of the centenary of the ANZAC landings. I also had the great honour of unveiling a commemorative stone in the playground. It is always important for the children of today to have knowledge of the past and reflect on those who have served and sacrificed for our country. At Jerrabomberra, that service and sacrifice has a unique currency. Of the nearly 1,000-strong student body, approximately 230 are children of Defence Force members. These children, along with their friends and teachers, live the Anzac tradition of service and sacrifice each and every day.

Another Anzac Centenary grant project was the Queanbeyan PeaceKnits open day of cottage garden knit-art and other activities held to mark the 100th anniversaries of the 'war to end all wars' as well as of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom peace congress in 1915. Further, I joined the Cooma-Monaro Centenary of Anzac dinner held at the Cooma Ex-Services Club. This historic dinner was a fine and memorable salute to the men and women of the Cooma region. While only a small town of less than 2,200 people in 1915, several hundred enlisted from the Cooma district with 53 of them making the ultimate sacrifice.

I had the honour and great pleasure to attend an Anzac Centenary memorial dinner in Bombala, honouring the service, sacrifice and support to the nation's wartime efforts in all conflicts by the men and women of the southern Monaro. On the eve of Anzac Day I also attended the dedication of the new war memorial in Bombala. Another Anzac Centenary grant, this project has produced a striking sculpted rock centrepiece surrounded by boulders symbolising the 34 World War I names on the Bombala Cenotaph.

My Anzac Day was extremely busy but tremendously gratifying. I attended a moving dawn service in Bega. The Bemboka light horse troop emerged from the predawn mist creating a poignant and stunning opening for the 600 locals in attendance. I joined locals in Narooma for their 'gunfire breakfast' at Club Narooma. I was also able to speak with Jacob Castagna, who designed the magnificent memorial at the club. I attended the morning service at Bergalia, just south of Moruya. This tiny memorial, in a place that many in the House would not have heard of, was attended by more than 200 people from around the district. This service in Bergalia typified what this centenary of the Gallipoli landings means to our country.

In Moruya, I attended the launch of another centenary grant project, the Soldiers of the Eurobodalla. This project produced six documentary films detailing the lives of five servicemen and one nursing sister from our local region who served this country during the Great War. I then attended the morning service in Batemans Bay, where approximately 2,000 people gathered to commemorate the centenary. A particularly moving part of the ceremony was when special scrolls were given to families and descendants of a group of 26 fallen diggers who enlisted in Batemans Bay and are buried overseas. My final engagement for the day was the launch of another Anzac Centenary grant project. Some 465 men and women from the Braidwood district volunteered and went to Word War I, but 88 did not return. Individual booklets have been published on the 88 and the task continues for the 377 who did come home.

Over the years I have visited the cemeteries at Villers-Bretonneux and Gallipoli, and these experiences have left an indelible imprint on my mind. But so too does standing amongst your community, with young and old, on Anzac Day and reflecting on those extraordinary, ordinary Australians to whom we owe so much. Lest we forget.

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