Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to recognise an important date, 11 November. 11 November, or ‘Poppy Day’—Armistice Day as it is known by many—is a date which, together with 25 April, or Anzac Day, lives deep in the Australian psyche. It is the day on which we commemorate the sacrifices and service of Australians during World War I and honour their memory. As we will not be in the House on that important day, I wish today to pay my respects to the memory of all of those who served in the Great War. The Somme, Pozieres, Ypres, Villers-Bretonneux, Bullecourt, Amiens, Passchendaele and the Hindenburg Line—the names of these places and the battles that were fought in them are part of the collective Australian memory. My own grandfather, Arthur Horden Baker, served with the Australian Army in France and gave his life there. Let us take a few moments of our time on this busy day to quietly reflect on the service and sacrifice of those who served, to honour their memory and to recall the significance of the First World War not only for Australia but for all of the peoples of the world.

I vividly remember my emotions when I had the privilege of attending the Anzac Day service in Gallipoli in 2005. I was assailed by a sense of history, by feelings of great sadness and by feelings of great pride. In particular, I felt a great sense of personal debt to those countrymen who had been there before me in that place—those who were there at a time which history now records as one of Australia’s finest hours.

Australian troops earned a reputation for their gallantry and courage under dreadful conditions. Gallipoli, Simpson and his donkey, the charge of the light horse at Beersheba: all of these reinforced the narrative of mateship, endurance and courage which underpin our Australian culture. As CEW Bean, the official war historian, so eloquently wrote, Australian troops were:

Steadfast until death—just the men that Australians at home know them to be. Into the place with a joke; a dry, cynical Australian joke as often as not, holding fast through anything that man can imagine. They’re not heroes. They do not intend to be thought or spoken as heroes. They’re just ordinary Australians, doing their particular work as their country would wish them to do it.

From Gallipoli to Long Tan, from 1914 to the present day, Australians have always served their country with courage and distinction. To those who served in the Great War, we owe more than can ever be repaid. We honour their memory. We do remember them. And to paraphrase the words of CEW Bean, we pray to God we are worthy of them. Lest we forget.