Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the evening of 27 April, Turkish time, I was returning from dinner with the Turkish Defence Minister in Ankara when I received one of those phone calls every defence minister dreads. The CDF was calling to inform me that we had lost a special forces soldier in Afghanistan and that a number of his mates had been wounded. The fact that the call came only two days after Anzac Day added to the sadness and poignancy of the news. Lance Corporal Marks was only 27 years of age and yet had already been a member of the Australian Defence Force for almost a decade. Having enlisted in 1999, he had served the 4th Field Regiment as a gunner and as a medical assistant to the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. In 2005 he realised a lifelong dream in joining the Sydney based 4th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment—the commandos. It was as a commando that he came to serve in Afghanistan as part of the Special Operations Task Group. He was a career soldier, and the commandos represented the pinnacle of what he wanted to accomplish.

As the Minister for Defence, I come into regular contact with our service men and women and every day I witness their dedication, their skill and their courage. I am consistently amazed by their Achillean approach to their work and their overwhelming pride in what they do. From all that I have seen and heard of Lance Corporal Marks, he represented those qualities exceptionally well, and I know that his family and colleagues are justifiably proud of his service. He was highly respected by his comrades and his peers and was a soldier whose dedication and enthusiasm was an inspiration to all of those around him. He was also a wonderful and caring husband and father. He truly strove to be the best he could in everything he did.

Despite their grief, Lance Corporal Marks’s mates are continuing to fight against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan and are making a significant contribution to the stability of the region. Our troops, in conjunction with our coalition partners and of course the government of Afghanistan, are playing a vital role in keeping the Taliban and other violent extremists on the back foot. They are working tirelessly at nurturing the conditions for progress and development. Our special forces are clearing out the insurgents, and our Reconstruction Task Force is constructing patrol bases, schools, bridges and hospitals and of course training the Afghan National Army.

The international community must remain committed to this project and to a brighter future for Afghanistan, providing greater prosperity and continued freedom for every Afghan. We must honour the memory of those who have given their lives for this cause: Sergeant Andrew Russell, Trooper David Pearce, Sergeant Matthew Locke, Private Luke Worsley and now Lance Corporal Jason Marks. I thank the hardworking and professional members of the Australian Defence Force. We must never forget that our troops serving across the globe face danger every day from Afghanistan to Timor Leste, from the Solomon Islands to the Sinai, to Iraq and elsewhere. We must never forget that they work tirelessly to secure our safety and to promote our national interests. We must never forget their dedicated service and what their courageous sacrifices impart to the broader Australian community.

I felt very fortunate to be in a position to visit Tarin Kowt soon after Lance Corporal Marks’s death, both to pay my respects to him and what he did for his country and to visit in hospital his wounded mates. Both were moving experiences. The wounded, I can report, were in high spirits. They were mourning their lost mate but they were keen to get back out there again.

On Saturday I enjoyed another privilege when I welcomed home around 1,000 soldiers returning from East Timor and Afghanistan. I was there, of course, to thank them for what they are doing for their country and its people, for what they are doing for regional security, for what they are doing for global security and for what they have done for the people of Afghanistan and in East Timor. Sadly, one of those from Reconstruction Task Force 3 was not there. David ‘Poppy’ Pearce was a member of that group and sadly lost his life in Afghanistan.

The loss of Jason Marks, Poppy Pearce, Matty Locke, Luke Worsley and Andrew Russell serves as a sombre reminder of why we pause on Anzac Day and why we acknowledge all those who have served and those who continue to serve. It reminds us that the Australian Defence Force personnel face danger every day and that every day they deserve our respect and appreciation.

Again, I offer my sincerest sympathies to Jason Marks’s family: his wife, Cassie; his two young children, Connor and Ella; and his parents, Paul and Sharon. He was a young husband and father taken from them far too soon, and I cannot begin to imagine their grief. I further express my heartfelt condolences to his friends and fellow soldiers from the 4th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, who have also felt the pain of Jason’s death.

In response to an article that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning, can I say that the government of Australia is proud of all the men and women who serve in the Australian Defence Force, no matter whether they belong to the Navy, the Army or the Air Force and regardless of which particular role they might fill in any of those services or in the Department of Defence. When it comes to deploying Australia’s military forces, the government is guided by its principal military adviser, the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. Let me take this opportunity to express on behalf of the government our complete confidence in the CDF, which is borne out by the fact that we recently reappointed him for another three years in that job.

The professional military advice provided to government on troop deployments is always predicated on using those force elements with the best chance of getting the job done as safely as possible—achieving their mission on behalf of the Australian people while minimising the risk of casualties. Our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and elsewhere around the globe have been doing all that we ask of them, with the greatest of courage, professionalism and effectiveness. Tonight I again thank them for everything that they do for their country.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join the Minister for Defence in supporting the motion of condolence for Lance Corporal Jason Paul Marks, who was tragically killed in Afghanistan on 27 April 2007. Our nation’s gratitude to the men and women in our Defence Force is immense. They willingly commit to putting their own lives in danger, on the line daily, for others. While we have immense gratitude to our service men and women, sadly when we lose a fine soldier like Lance Corporal Marks the pain too is immense. Words can never do justice to the fine soldier that we have lost in Lance Corporal Marks. Beyond the pain we as a nation feel when we lose one of our internationally respected Australian soldiers is the loss of the man that was Jason Paul Marks. The loss of this man—this husband, son, father and friend—is immeasurable.

Australia presently has more than 1,000 personnel in Oruzgan province, including the Reconstruction Task Force and the SOTG, comprising members of the 4RAR (Commando) Battalion and Special Air Service Regiment. Lance Corporal Marks was in the lead platoon preparing for a company level assault 25 kilometres to the south-east of Tarin Kowt, in Oruzgan province, when they were attacked by the Taliban on 27 April 2008. There was a heavy exchange of small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades between the Australian troops and the Taliban. Even though coalition air support involving Apache helicopters and F16 fighter bombers struck back at the Taliban position, four soldiers were wounded by small arms fire in the same action that took the life of Lance Corporal Marks early in the contact with the Taliban.

I was indeed humbled to be on the tarmac at Richmond RAAF base for the ramp ceremony on Saturday, 3 May, when this brave soldier’s body was returned to his homeland, to his wife, Cassandra, and to his family. It was an incredibly moving experience to bear witness to soldiers from his regiment, 4th Battalion, RAR (Commando), forming an honour guard as his casket, draped in the Australian flag he so valiantly fought under and decked with flowers, was carried from the C17 military plane. An Army piper played as the solemn procession made its way across the tarmac; a more poignant scene is hard to imagine. The tributes for this young man, this son, husband and father who has made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, flowed in.

Defence Force head, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, has described Lance Corporal Marks as one of the country’s finest soldiers. The Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, paid attribute to Lance Corporal Marks on behalf of the Australian Army when he said:

He is a true Australian hero, a great bloke ... admired and respected ...

He said Lance Corporal Marks had become a part of Australia’s history and the history of the Army and that that would be revered. Major General Tim McOwan, commander of the Australian special forces, said Lance Corporal Marks was a remarkable soldier who was extremely dedicated to his role as a commando and as an Australian soldier. Major General McOwan struck at the core of the feelings that Lance Corporal Marks’s colleagues had for Lance Corporal Marks, when he said:

Jason epitomized what every commando strives for: courage, strength and determination. He certainly had a strength of character that set him apart. Jason was an extremely well liked man and his loss will be keenly felt throughout his unit and the wider army.

Lance Corporal Marks was also a vital member of a family. He was a much loved husband to Cassandra and a father to two small children—Ella, five months old, and Connor, five years old—who will not know their father in the years to come. Hopefully, they will be comforted in part by the extreme outpouring of emotion and genuine feelings from his colleagues and the Australian public. He was a man who would be nameless to the people of Afghanistan but who gave his life so that they may live in hope of a better life.

Born in Broken Hill in New South Wales, Lance Corporal Marks grew up in Yeppoon in Queensland. He enlisted in the Australian Regular Army on 2 March 1999. After recruitment and initial training, he was posted to the 4th Field Regiment as a gunner until 2003, whereupon he transferred to the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps as a medical assistant. In 2005 he undertook special forces entry and commando selection, after which he was transferred to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and posted to the 4th Battalion (Commando) in the Royal Australian Regiment. After completing his specialist commando training he was posted into a commando assault platoon, where he served as a commando assaulter, signaller and mortar specialist. Lance Corporal Marks was also a combat fitness leader and a Pashto linguist.

Lance Corporal Marks was a decorated soldier who had seen operational service in East Timor and Afghanistan, and he was employed to both theatres on more than one occasion. Jason had been awarded the Australian Active Service Medal, clasp East Timor and clasp International Coalition Against Terror; the Australian Service Medal, clasp Timor Leste; the Afghanistan Campaign Medal; and the Australian Active Service Medal. He was also awarded the Unit Citation for Gallantry as part of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan in 2006.

According to his wife, Cassandra, all Jason ever wanted to do was join the army. She said:

All Jason ever wanted to do was to join the army …

He was the type of of man who knew what he wanted, even from the age of 12. All Jason ever wanted to be was a soldier.

Becoming a Commando was a dream of Jason, he was proud of who he was and proud of what he did.

Buried in his childhood home town of Yeppoon in Queensland, his name will now forever be recorded in history linked with the Anzacs and other brave men and women before him on the town’s cenotaph. I say to his wife, Cassandra, to his two young children, Ella and Connor, to his mum and dad, Sharon and Paul, to his brother, Lance, and to his brother-in-law, Phillip: our nation shares your loss and grief. I can assure them that at the going down of the sun and in the morning we shall remember Lance Corporal Jason Paul Marks. Lest we forget.

Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to also express my sorrow at the loss of Lance Corporal Jason Marks of the 4th Battalion (Commando) in the Royal Australian Regiment, who lost his life on 27 April while serving with the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Marks died when his patrol was attacked by about 20 Taliban extremists in Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province. Jason Marks was 27. He was born in Broken Hill and later lived in Yeppoon, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. He enlisted in the Australian Army in 1999, serving in the 4th Field Regiment. Lance Corporal Marks served as a gunner until 2003, then as a medical assistant in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. He had served with 4RAR (Commando) since qualifying for special forces in 2005.

Australia will remember Jason Marks as a dedicated, superb soldier. At the ceremony marking the return of his body home to Australia, the Special Operations Commander Australia, Major General Tim McOwan, said:

Jason epitomized what every Commando strives for: courage, strength and determination. He certainly had a strength of character that set him apart. Jason was an extremely well liked man and his loss will be keenly felt throughout his unit and the wider Army.

Lance Corporal Marks leaves behind a young family. His wife, Cassandra, has told the nation of a devoted father and loving husband whose dream was to serve in the Army as a commando, a man who was proud of who he was and what he did. To Mrs Marks and her two children, Connor and Ella, I express my deepest condolences. The loss of any serving member is a tragedy for Australia but it is devastating for the family left behind. Today we honour his memory, and the Australian government, the Department of Defence and my department will be offering all the support available to assist the Marks family. Case officers from my department will be meeting with Mrs Marks this week to ensure that the Marks family receive their full compensation entitlements.

Another four soldiers were also wounded during the battle in which Lance Corporal Marks lost his life. While we cannot name them here, it is important today that we also acknowledge their injuries, suffered as a result of their service to the nation, and their loss of a fellow soldier and a mate.

Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand it is the wish of honourable members to signify at this stage their respect and sympathy by rising in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Committee.

Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.