Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I join the debate to express my condolences on behalf of the people of Gippsland. In doing so, I want to associate myself with the heartfelt comments the member for Paterson just delivered in this chamber. The member for Paterson's right: there is no greater service that anyone can give to our nation than to put on the uniform of the Navy, Army or Air Force and potentially place themselves in harm's way to help Australians or our compatriots who can't necessarily help themselves. Putting on that uniform is a sign that you love your country, you love your mates and you are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect this extraordinary country that we all live in.

Jack Fitzgibbon served in the Australian Defence Force for over 10 years, with six years in the special forces 2nd Commando Regiment. As we have heard, he was the son of Joel—a great friend of many in this place—and Dianne, brother to Grace and Maxine and partner to Kass. He deployed to assist his fellow Australians in the floods in 2022 and prior to that was deployed to Papua New Guinea. Amongst his many skills we've heard about in this place was his experience as a parachutist, having done 106 jumps, with 95 into military freefall. He was a reluctant leader. He was certainly identified as a leader by men and women in uniform alongside him. He was promoted to lance corporal in 2023.

Last week I think we saw the federal parliament at its best when the Fitzgibbon family was here for the condolence motion, when the Prime Minister, the opposition leader, the defence minister and the shadow defence minister spoke so eloquently not only about Jack Fitzgibbon but about all the men and women who serve, thanking them for that service. It was an important moment because we had our friend and former member of parliament Joel Fitzgibbon in the chamber to hear the words. Joel was one of those unusual characters in this building who had friends on both sides of the House. He was able to cross the political divide, not unlike the members opposite here today. He had the capacity to reach out across that political divide, to put away any false enmities and to focus on what was good for the future of Australia. And, like the member for Paterson, I was shocked and appalled to hear of Jack's death. I didn't know Jack—clearly, she did—but to think of a father having to bury their own son is tragic.

Obviously, Gippslanders understand the nature of military service. We have RAAF Base East Sale, which has been an incredible and important training base throughout our nation's history. RAAF Base East Sale is home to the magnificent RAAF Roulettes, and has also known tragedy in its time. Sadly, we had six people killed with the Red Sales aerobatic team in 1962—it's a long time now—when those aircraft went into the ground in Gippsland. I was reminded of that when the shadow minister for defence talked about the fact that, as much our Australian Defence Force personnel are incredibly professional and skilled, training accidents do happen. Training accidents are rare, thankfully—thank God that they're rare—but, tragically, they do happen. And they happen because our Australian Defence Force has to train at the edge to make sure they're ready in times of crisis. So if they're to be deployed, they need to be able to demonstrate that they've learned the skills, that they trust those skills and that they trust their mates. They practice those skills so they can deliver them at the time they're required.

We heard last week that Jack Fitzgibbon died doing what he loved. In truth, our Australian Defence Force personnel don't really have one family: they have two families. They have their actual mum and dad and siblings; that's one family they have. But they have their family at work, in uniform. I have been privileged over the last 10 years to spend some time with a lot of Australian Defence Force personnel. For someone who had never had the capacity or the willingness—perhaps not even the courage—to serve in uniform, to spend time with the men and women of the Navy, Army and Air Force as a minister and assistant minister has been an extraordinary privilege. But I also had some time with 2nd Commando Regiment during my time as the veterans' and Defence Force personnel minister. In fact, they provided the protection detail for me in Afghanistan, and I felt to be in very safe hands for the time that I was in Afghanistan and Iraq. There were some in my own party who would rather that they didn't bring me back safely but, thankfully, they did! But what I can say from the time I spent alongside these men and women—often very young men and women—is that whether they're deployed in a conflict zone, or in humanitarian aid and disaster relief, or whether it's in defence assistance to the civilian community in the Asia-Pacific region, they are so highly regarded around the world. They are respected, acknowledged and recognised for their professionalism, their capacity to get the job done and their leadership—often in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. I have to say, without any shadow of doubt, that the finest leaders I have met in my time as a member of parliament have been those young men and women in uniform. They're highly skilled, they're patriotic, they're determined, they're passionate and they don't let their mates down.

So my heart goes out to the Fitzgibbon family, and also to Jack Fitzgibbon's other family: the men and women in the Australian Defence Force. Lest we forget.

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