Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Edward 'Teddy' Sheean was born in Lower Barrington on Tasmania's north-west on 28 December 1923, the youngest of the 14 children of labourer James Sheean and his wife, Mary Jane. He was educated in Latrobe before gaining casual employment on local farms—an ordinary life and not uncommon for many young men of his age at this time. Like many, Teddy heeded the call to serve his country, enlisting in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve in April 1941.

In 1942, Teddy began his service as an Oerlikon anti-aircraft gunner on the newly commissioned corvette HMAS Armidale. This led to an act of extraordinary courage by this young, unassuming man from rural Tasmania. Teddy Sheean's actions are well worth repeating, and the following description comes from the Australian War Memorial collection:

In October 1942 Armidale's captain, Lieutenant Commander David Richards, was ordered to Darwin and, on 29 November, the corvette began her last operation. Along with two other vessels, she was to undertake a resupply and evacuation mission to Japanese-occupied Timor.

Having been seen by Japanese reconnaissance pilots shortly after leaving the port, Armidale was destined for a dangerous journey. She and the other corvette on the operation, HMAS Castlemaine, missed the rendezvous with the third ship, in Timor's Betano Bay, but met her later some 100 kilometres off-shore. The plan having gone awry, Armidale was ordered to return to Betano the following night. Facing a long day in enemy waters and the certainty of attack, the crew waited.

When in the mid-afternoon she was hit by two aircraft-launched torpedoes, Armidale began to sink fast. Sheean was wounded and, rather than abandon ship, he strapped himself to his Oerlikon and began to engage the attacking aircraft even as the ship sunk beneath him. He shot down two planes, and crewmates recall seeing tracer rising from beneath the surface as Sheean was dragged under the water, firing until the end. He died on 1 December 1942 aged just 18. Only 49 of the 149 men on board survived the attack and subsequent ordeal on rafts and in life boats.

Many of the survivors attributed their lives to Sheean's actions, and his story of incredible bravery and valour has become legendary in Tasmania. Sheean's actions were recognised with a posthumous mention in dispatches, awarded on the recommendations of Armidale's commanding officer. However, at the time his actions were not recommended for receipt of the Victoria Cross.

Let me be absolutely clear: there is no-one here—not my colleagues, nor I and certainly not the Prime Minister—who has ever disputed his valour. The Victoria Cross for Australia is our most pre-eminent Australian gallantry decoration. We must always uphold the integrity of the Victoria Cross and everything that it stands for. Today, we see a shameful display by Labor and others, playing politics for their own gain. What has transpired over the past few weeks has been nothing short of appalling. It's important to note that in January 2013, after a two-year inquiry into 13 cases of unresolved recognition for past acts of gallantry, which covered over 166 submissions from 125 individuals and organisations, the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal found that there was no manifest injustice with the award of the mention in dispatches and that there was no new evidence to support the consideration of Sheean for the Victoria Cross for Australia.

There are, clearly, different views on whether there is compelling new evidence about Sheean's actions in 1942. As the Prime Minister stated last week, overturning a decision relating to a Victoria Cross nearly 80 years after Sheean's heroic actions in 1942 would need compelling reasons. Consideration of the awarding of a retrospective Victoria Cross should only occur in light of compelling new evidence, or if there was evidence of significant maladministration. Given the differing views, the expert panel put together last week will examine all available evidence and provide advice. My colleague the member for Braddon, Gavin Pearce, an esteemed veteran himself, my Liberal Senate colleagues and I have consistently advocated for Teddy's actions to be recognised. This panel will provide rigorous examination of the evidence while also upholding the sanctity of the Victoria Cross. It provides a pathway forward that is above politics, as it should be. How terribly sad that the actions of one incredibly brave Tasmanian have so quickly become a quest for political gain by a desperate opposition grasping for relevance.

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