Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Inscribed in the wall of the War Memorial are the words: 'No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for a friend.' They're very solemn words and they strike to the heart of every veteran and every person who has ever served—and every person who has lost anyone as a result of that service. I want today to acknowledge all the young Australians who worked up the courage to finally go into a recruiting office and raise their hand and swear by oath or affirmation that they'll put their life on the line for the defence of their country. They raise their right hand and they swear an oath to Australia, its people, its government, its Queen, her heirs and excesses according to law, so help me God. Once that solemn pledge has been made, then that young Australian's life changes, and it changes in a very profound way. Veterans and those who are serving will understand exactly what I mean. I don't have the words to articulate the degree of soul-searching that happens prior to making that decision to make that pledge. We then take them to their recruitment training establishments at Kapooka or Cerberus or Edinburgh at the Australian Defence Force Academy or the Royal Military College, and there we teach them, we ingrain in them, we inculcate in them very deeply, very solemnly that their importance as an individual is secondary to that of the team and that the person on their right and the person on their left are the people they should make the ultimate sacrifice for. They would, in an instant, give their life for that person on the right or the left.

Many ask why, and the answer is simple: it's because that person on your right or your left would give their life for you. This is further inculcated, further strengthened, further reinforced as we take them through initial employment training, and then they finally march into their unit. Upon marching into a battalion, they see the battle honours that unit has received, and they feel and they smell and they taste the legends of generations that have gone before them. They understand the importance of the person on their right and on their left. Then, we, as a nation, put them in harm's way. We send them to the most dangerous places on the planet, and there they're required to engage the enemy by whatever means that might look like. But, ultimately, they're willing to put their life on the line for their mates, for their unit, for their country and for their mission.

Then the funerals come as a result of that. I've spoken in this place before what it means, and those that have attended a military funeral will understand the significance and the solemn feel that that portrays to everybody that's involved. At the conclusion of one particular funeral, which I'll never forget until the day I die, I was required to pass the Australian national flag to a next of kin, as is the tradition. I'll never forget the look in that mother's eyes as she took that flag, and in this place of words I'm lost for the words that describe what I've felt that day. I wanted to bring that young bloke back. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to have the words that would ease her pain. And I didn't. I felt guilty that I, as part of the leadership team, had taken her son away. I still feel guilty. I still feel inadequate. I still feel as if there were words that I should have said that I couldn't, and I'm sure that there are many people in my position that want to say those words and can't.

Let this remind people of those words that can't be said. Let this remind people of the tears that we shed in private. Let this remind people of the ultimate sacrifice that is paid in defending our nation and its people. If we can do nothing else for those that make that ultimate sacrifice, we can do this: we can remember them. We must never forget them. Lest we forget.

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