Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

It's quite upsetting to speak on this condolence motion and talk about Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, or 'Fitzy', as his mates know him. Jack was a member of the Special Operations Command. He was a special forces soldier, and the 2nd Commando Regiment was his home. When I think about Jack, I think about his family, his loved ones, his mates and his service to this nation and I think about the unit that he served in.

The 2nd Commando Regiment is a combat war-fighting unit within Special Operations Command. It operates alongside other SOCOMD elements. The role of 2 Commando is to conduct strategic strike, counterterrorism and special recovery operations. They are a war-fighting capability. 2 Commando focuses on advanced force operations, direct action missions. Self-contained, flexible and rapidly deployable, they are structured for both special operations and domestic counterterrorism, and they have quite a few specialties. One of those specialties is parachuting. Special operations do combat jumps. They jump behind enemy lines to disrupt the enemy movement, to take the fight to this nation's enemies. To do this, you must train how you fight. There is significant risk with the training that the 2nd Commando Regiment does, and tragedies, unfortunately, happen. Due to the actions of members of 2 Commando who were on this training parachute jump as well, they were able to get to the ground as quickly as possible, work on Jack and get signs of life back in him, and, in doing so, it led to the family being able to say their goodbyes, which is a great testament to the calibre of the members in the unit.

To his mates that are watching back in the regiment, there's nothing I can say that will fill the hole and the pain that you're feeling right now. To Joel, Jack's dad, nothing we can say in this place can even come close to being able to help or fill the hole of pain as well, and, to the family, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Jack's dad, Joel, in 2009, as the defence minister, came to Townsville to see me off on my deployment to Afghanistan. He sent me to war. We had conversations when he was the member for Hunter, and I thanked him for the deployment. People were killed on the deployment that I was on and have been killed on subsequent deployments. Joel Fitzgibbon, as the minister, spoke to families and attended funerals. He saw the sacrifice of our brave men and women that have deployed, and not once would he have ever thought that he would be receiving the call that he used to make. I'm sorry that he had to take that call. Defence and the members of defence put themselves at risk every day. Now the members of 2 Commando are training for how they would fight on operations, and they train hard so they can fight easy. Parachuting is not just inherently dangerous; it is a vital skill set of the 2nd Commando Regiment.

Just last weekend, I hosted members of 2 Commando here in Parliament House. I gave them a tour, showed them around, had a chat about life, had a chat about the unit and spoke about Jack, and the pain that's going through every single one of his mates will be there forever. When we went out that night to another event, where there were another 30-odd members of 2 Commando, you could see it in their eyes, their voice and how they spoke to each other that the pain was real and the sadness was real.

A friend of mine is a member of 2 Commando, and I had a long chat with him that night and the next day. The pain that he feels is reverberating through 2 Commando, Special Operations Command and the wider ADF community and it will be there forever because they lost a brother. They lost their family member—a person that they call family. I've lost friends of mine, and it stays. It's like losing a part of you, and it stays with you forever. My heart breaks for Joel and the family, his loved ones and his mates. My heart breaks for SOCOMD because they lost a fighter, a member of their family and a member of their tribe. They lost someone who would sacrifice everything in the name of service and who was a professional. I'm sorry that this has happened.

Without our Special Operations Command, our members of the SAS and 2 Commando, training this way and training hard, they would lose vital skill sets to keep this nation safe. Second Commando will continue to jump, continue to train hard and continue to take the fight to the enemy when they're called. And the memory of Jack, Fitzy, will be forever with the unit, and his spirit will be on the shoulders of every soldier who finds themselves at 2nd Commando and every soldier who serves in the Australian Defence Force.

We've lost too many people on operations, but we lose people in training as well, and we must honour them. We must honour them not just in condolence motions but in ways that are fitting for their unit, and for the wider Australian public to know that the risk is real. The risk is extremely real.

So I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm sorry—to your brothers at 2nd Commando, who have lost a mate. And I know that they would be so proud to have called Jack Fitzgibbon, Fitzy, a brother. 'Without warning' is the motto of 2nd Commando. They are professional, we will see them in the fight again soon, and I'm very sorry for the loss.

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