Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity today to note the ministerial statement made by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Mr Chester, in regard to veterans and their families and also the accompanying statement made by the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, the member for Kingston. There are many veterans who live in Rockingham and Kwinana, across my electorate of Brand in Western Australia. There are many women and men serving on HMAS Stirling on Garden Island, the Royal Australian Navy base located in my electorate. Families of serving women and men offer critical support for those who do enlist to commit an important part of their lives to our nation. Soon HMAS Ballarat will depart from its berth at HMAS Stirling to participate in Operation Manitou in the Middle East. It's a very long way from home, a very long way from the beautiful surrounds of Garden Island and Rockingham. In my capacity as the member for Brand, I've had the very great honour of being at one of these farewell ceremonies as one of our Anzac class frigates goes off to participate in Operation Manitou. I don't have family on board these ships but, as a local member of parliament and as a human, it is nonetheless a very heart-wrenching experience to witness a large ship like that, with its large complement of women and men serving our country, drift off from its berth to go and do its great work in the service of this nation. And when HMAS Ballarat does depart, I will be there and I will witness that sadness of families waving goodbye to their loved ones. Their loved ones, the ones serving on the ship, are doing their duty. Equally, the families themselves do their duty and get on with their lives, as they must. It is important that we as parliamentarians and also the community as a whole continue to support those families that have to get on with their lives while one of their family is away serving this nation.

As outlined yesterday by the shadow minister for veterans' affairs and my friend, the member for Kingston, Labor has proposed a military covenant to be signed by the Prime Minister and Chief of Defence Force and support it through legislation so regular reports can be issued to parliament to make sure we're meeting our commitment to those who have served. I know the government is looking at this as well and I welcome action so that we can do better to help serving men and women once they have left the service of our nation. As has been noted, it won't be dissimilar to the United Kingdom's Armed Forces covenant.

It's also very important, as we know, to support veterans in their post-service employment opportunities. It can be a very difficult time for veterans and their families as they leave the service of the Australian Defence Force. Labor's been very supportive of developing a national family engagement and support strategy for the benefit and wellbeing of the families of those serving. It is particularly important to make sure all families are helped through any distress and post-service injury that their loved one has suffered. We look forward to being able to work with all members of parliament, whether it is this year or in future years or with future terms of whichever government, to make sure we serve our nation's veterans well.

I would like to note my local associations that serve veterans and their families: Rockingham RSL sub-branch, which my father was a member of for many years before he died a number of years ago; Kwinana RSL sub-branch; the Port Kennedy RSL sub-branch, a fantastic organisation—each of these are fantastic organisations; and also the Totally and Partially Disabled Veterans Association of Western Australia located in Baldivis. I look forward very much to attending the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice ball that is being organised by the Safety Bay Ex-Services and Community Club in Rockingham on 10 November. It will be a remarkable commemoration of 100 years since the end of World War I. Other support organisations in my community that support veterans and their families I would like to acknowledge include the Marilla House Community Centre on Point Peron Rd at the Naval Club and also the Veterans and Veterans' Families Counselling Service. They always do great work for the families of serving women and men when they are away, and I thank them for all the work they do.

November 11 2018 will be the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that brought to an end the four brutal years of conflict that was World War I, a war that devastated Europe and, of course, had ramifications for Australia. Australia was a nation with quite a small population at the time and it's fair to say it lost a generation of men and that affected this country's development for a number of years.

In World War I, which was called the Great War, nine million combatants died and seven million civilians perished, so all in all it's estimated that 16 million souls were lost to that very brutal and devastating conflict. On the anniversary of Armistice Day, we'll stop on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to remember the Great War. In 2018 we'll remember a hundred years since that devastation came to its end. My grandfather, Major George Morris, was a royal marine in World War I, and he's part of that generation that lived to also serve in and survive World War II, having been provost marshal in Alexandria. We can barely understand the catastrophe that was Europe in the first half of the 20th century from the very safe and secure lives that we live here in Australia. People like my grandfather and my grandmother certainly lived that, as did many, many others. They were lucky to survive, living as they did in England but nonetheless serving that cause at that time. My father, John Morris, was also a veteran of World War II, having been a radar operator on ships that participated in the Arctic convoys during the last couple of years of the war. He would tell us many stories, often; I can't remember them all. It was a terrifying time for a young man, quite frankly, in the swells of the northern oceans on the way to protect merchant navy vessels trying to supply Russia so that they might survive the last days of World War II.

This 11 November, coming up soon, will be our opportunity to reflect on this catastrophe and the part Australians played in it as well as to reflect on the devastation and the deaths that were caused by that brutality. There have been ceremonies across Europe since 1918 to reflect on the Armistice. I once went to an Armistice Day ceremony in Benouville in France, a village near the Pegasus Bridge, which was a World War II landmark for some of the British forces; Benouville was one of the first towns in that part of France they retook in World War II. I went with my mum and dad and my husband Jamie. We were travelling and wanted to be in France on 11 November, and that's the town we rocked up to at that hour. We participated in a very simple, very dignified ceremony to remember the Armistice. We were welcomed by the French people in that village and by some British people who were also there at the time. In fact, the young mayor of the village at the time invited us into the local town hall and shared a kir royale—a type of sparkling champagne. They were very kind, and they recognised at that ceremony, in an impromptu fashion, the contribution of the Australian soldiers to both the conflicts, World War I and World War II, which that part of the world had to participate in just by virtue of their geography. That was a long time ago, maybe about 15 years ago, but I remember it fondly and I remember the French and their kindness to us when we visited.

On 11 November we will remember all those lost in conflict, beyond World War I and World War II—all those who still serve in conflicts and put their lives on the line to protect the ideals of this nation and of Western liberal democracies. I, and all parliamentarians along with me, acknowledge the commitment of the personnel of the Australian defence forces. We must do better to help our serving women and men when they finish that time in service. We must recommit to them, this day and into the future, to make sure we do the right thing and help them as best we can to have a future beyond their service. I want to encourage as many people as I can, if they can, to make the effort to get along to an Armistice Day or Remembrance Day ceremony on 11 November. They're very moving. They're quite simple. They remember a particularly brutal war that we must always remember, never forget, and make sure we don't repeat. Even though we still continue to engage in conflict around the world, maybe one day that will end. But, in the meantime, lest we forget.

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