Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hope that this House condemns in the strongest terms the act of defacing our war memorials, here in Canberra and anywhere else, by pro-Palestinian protesters. It is deeply insulting for veterans and current members of the Australian Defence Force and for others that have put their life on the line, including the Australian Federal Police, to do the work that must be done to protect the sovereignty of our nation and our democracy. It undermines the significance of these memorials, which are symbols of national pride and remembrance, when such actions are taken.

I heard on the weekend—I think it was on Sunday—about the defacing of the Vietnam and Korea war memorials. On the way in to this place, very early on Monday morning, I stopped by to see it with my own eyes. I could not believe that it had happened, but it had. Like other speakers, I won't give those messages any more oxygen, but it was an abhorrent thing to see, knowing the sacrifices of those that have given so much for our nation—their lives—but also the effect that has had on their families and those that came back from defending Australia. We owe them everything. We owe them our freedoms, our very lives.

It was with great disgust that I saw the damage to the Vietnam War memorial, given all that my father and his mates went through to do their bit to represent our country and serve our nation. Just before I came down here to the chamber, I received a call from John Haward—not that one, a different one—the president of the Box Hill RSL. John is a great man. I met him in Vietnam, and I gave him a dink on my motorbike out to the Long Tan cross. It was a magic experience to be there in the rubber plantation, as I'm sure those who have been there would agree, and see the Long Tan cross. It's so moving because you realise how lonely former generations of soldiers, sailors and airmen would have felt at times. They had their mates with them, but at times they would have thought, 'I'm so far away from home, and this is a really dangerous place.'

I was at the Vietnam memorial with dad and his mates when it was opened, and it was such a healing thing for them. For some idiot, some scumbag, to deface that is just totally disgusting. What John wanted to pass on to me was that he appreciated my words. The first thing I did when I got up to this place was speak to the media and say how disgusted I was at that. John had heard that, so he gave me a call to say, 'Thanks, mate.'

For the Korean War veterans—we think Canberra gets cold—how cold and difficult that operating environment must have been. Again, men and women of the Australian Defence Force served us in places like Korea. For someone to deface that memorial, given so many Australians died, is deplorable. The other thing that's deplorable is the Greens political party, because they do nothing but protest. They do nothing but grandstand. For them to suggest that in some way spray-painting a war memorial anywhere is freedom of speech is just so disgusting and so out of step with mainstream Australia. I just want all the veterans and their family members out there to know that we back you every day.

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