Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Monday, 2 April—this coming Monday—at the Osborne Park RSL memorial hall in my electorate of Stirling, I will be recognising the following former servicemen and servicewomen of Australia by presenting them with the Australian Defence Medal: Miss Helen Cope, Mr Trevor Baird, Mr Martin Bond, Mr Gerald Edwards, Mr Ronald Eggleston, Mr Colin Guthrie and Mr John Hunter. I am very pleased to be able to host this ceremony in the lead-up to this year’s Anzac Day commemorations, and I am proud to recognise the contribution made individually by these men and women.

The Australian Defence Medal was introduced by this government in March last year to recognise the service of more than one million current and former Defence Force personnel who have served since the end of World War II. It is a commitment made to recognise the outstanding contribution that these men and women have made to Australia’s proud military history. The Australian Defence Medal is an important tribute to those who have given so much for our country, and today I recognise this small but important group individually and thank them for what they have done for Australia.

As we will not be back in this place before Anzac Day, I want to pay tribute today to the RSL clubs in my electorate. I have been invited to be the representative of the Australian government at services being held at the Nollamara, Scarborough, North Beach and Osborne Park RSL associations at different times throughout Anzac Day, commencing with a dawn service and concluding with an afternoon service. I will attend each of these services with a sense of pride that I am able to actively participate in these moving and memorable occasions. All of the RSL clubs in my electorate are outstanding examples of the true Anzac spirit. In both their deeds and actions throughout the local community, they embody all that is best about Australian values. Their members are proud to have been able to serve their country and in turn we are very proud of them.

This Anzac Day is the 92nd anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli and each year, rather than fading in the annals of our history, I think this important event becomes more relevant to each successive generation of Australians. We must continually encourage our younger citizens to understand the Anzac story and ensure that it is passed on to future generations.

I am heartened by the increasing number of young people who attend the Anzac services as it is a time for them to learn about the conflicts that we have fought in the past and for us to remember the young lives that have been lost in the defence of our country. Anzac Day is also a local day for each of us in our communities to give thanks to the Australian men and women who are serving in our defences forces both here at home and particularly overseas in places as diverse as East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan and to encourage future generations to pay homage to what those people have done to make Australia a secure place to call home.