Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

On the eleventh hour of 11 November 1918 an armistice was called and the so-called Great War came to an end, at least for some. For the Armenians, the Assyrians and the Pontian Greeks, the suffering, the torment and indeed the dying continued right through to 1923. The casualties of the Great War were 17 million dead, of whom seven million were civilians, and 20 million wounded. Australian casualties were 60,000 killed and 156,000 wounded. They are the worst losses of any kind in our nation's history. In fact, if you add together the casualties of all the wars after that, you still do not get to those losses.

On Remembrance Day we stop to remember those losses and the suffering that families right across the country endured. But we should also think about the value of living in peace and how over the centuries the greed and selfish egos of individuals have too often caused so much misery to others. It still happens today. For Australia, the end of World War I saw a new dawning. Not only did RSLs start to spring up around the country but we saw soldier settlements established right around the country. For many of the new migrants who came subsequently, those soldier settlements became their new home—just as right now, in South Australia's Riverland, one of those soldier settlements has become the home to many of the Indian people who have come here from their own country.

Remembrance Day is also the time to acknowledge all of the Australians who have served our nation over the years. It is something we do not do well enough in this country. A week ago I attended a 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin service at the Salisbury RSL. The member for Port Adelaide and the member for Wakefield joined me at that service. As we know, 240 lives were lost as a result of the bombing of Darwin, and the bombings continued for some 19 months afterwards. The Darwin Defenders were formed and military personnel and civilians both took part in security operations. Jeffrey Marr was one of those defenders. He enlisted immediately after the bombing of Darwin and in the months that followed he drove a truck in convoy carting 44-gallon drums of fuel from Alice Springs to Darwin. With the Japanese bombings continuing right across Northern Australia, he and his fellow drivers were under constant threat and risk of life. Yet his family's requests for recognition of Jeffrey's qualifying service have been denied and continue to be denied. In another example, in the Vietnam War Able Seaman Michael Ey risked his life as a naval diver to find and disengage explosives placed by the enemy in the vicinity of US naval vessels. Michael Ey's bravery was recognised by the US, who awarded him the Bronze Star—but no recognition by the Australian government.

The military awards system is failing our defence personnel, and we need to do better. There are many other cases that I could allude to and that at times I have taken up with various ministers ever since I have been in this place—on most occasions without any success whatsoever. Yet, having listened to these individual accounts of what these people did in service to this nation, it beggars belief that we do not afford them the recognition that I believe they are entitled to and that they deservedly should be granted. Perhaps this is a matter for another time.

Finally, I also want to acknowledge those people who served in the Korean War. Their service is often overlooked. Over 17,000 Australians served in the Korean War—340 were killed and 1,216 were wounded. Quite often when we speak in this place, and when I go to other services, including RSL functions, it seems that the Korean War is perhaps touched on but never given the recognition that it ought to be. In fact, the Battle of Kapyong, which saw 32 Australians killed and 53 wounded, could be described as a heroic effort that in some ways could be compared to the Battle of Long Tan—which we do acknowledge each year, certainly in my part of Adelaide. We have done that for many years, and rightly so—but we should be doing the same thing with other battles. There are other examples I would dearly love to touch on, but today we are talking about Remembrance Day. Every community in this country that I know has borne the pain of war—that is why Remembrance Day is so important.

See this speech in context