Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008, cognisant of the amendment moved by the member for Mackellar. The bill seeks to provide a mechanism to enable a memorial that is outside the ACT and meets certain criteria to be recognised as a military memorial of national significance. I do so recognising that this is a new category, as the new government now agrees with the opposition that it is not possible to make a memorial outside the ACT a national memorial under the 1929 ordinance, hence the new category called ‘military memorials of national significance’. I also note the broad community support for this measure, while noting the RSL’s desire to see maintenance included in the bill, which it is not.

The genesis of this bill is that the Prime Minister personally promised that the very worthwhile Australian ex-prisoner-of-war memorial in Ballarat would be made a national memorial, which by virtue provides maintenance funding. Indeed, the Prime Minister, as quoted in the Age on Thursday 28 June 2007, whilst he was visiting the ex-prisoner-of-war memorial, said he would:

... move anything … to ensure that this is properly recognised as a national war memorial.

Prime Minister, you have misled the veteran community, as a new category of memorials has had to be created, and there can be no maintenance attached to these memorials. Maintenance will be the responsibility of the relevant state or local authorities, as the bill makes it clear that no funding is attached. I guess the Prime Minister could not move anything after all. It was interesting to note, though, that in question time today the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Mr Griffin, made it very clear what the government can move with respect to veterans affairs—and that is to rip $110 million out of veteran entitlements. Thirty-three million dollars was ripped out by raising the partner pension age from 50 to a massive 58.5 years of age; $77 million was saved by ensuring that partners of veterans, if they separate, lose the spouse pension 12 months after the separation. And, in a particularly insidious move by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, in a bill that was classed as uncontestable and non-contentious was hidden a pro rata mechanism, so that a veteran who was a reservist or was working part time would receive only pro-rata part-time compensation.

On the one hand the Prime Minister and his Minister for Veterans’ Affairs moved to create a military memorial of national significance to honour prisoners of war and others who have served, as more memorials come on line, yet on the other hand they moved $110 million of veteran entitlements simply as a budget saving mechanism when the budget has a $22 billion surplus. It is, in my opinion, unconscionable.

By way of history, between the Boer War at the turn of the last century and the Korean War in the 1950s, 34,737 Australian service men and women were incarcerated in prisoner-of-war camps across the globe. Approximately 8,591 Australian military personnel were captured by German and Italian forces during World War II, predominantly in North Africa, Greece and Crete. Over 22,000 Australians were captured in the Pacific theatre in World War II. Thirty-six per cent of them would perish—8,031 died in captivity in some of the most horrific conditions. Furthermore, 29 Australians were captured in the Korean War. It is also interesting to note that a prisoner of war is not entitled to receive the Victoria Cross, even if their acts of bravery would otherwise deem them eligible. They would receive the George Cross. Under the imperial awards system, the British Defence Medal was given for over 180 days of service, but service as a prisoner of war was not included in that imperial medal award. Why is it so, when over 34,000 Australian prisoners of war were incarcerated and were still, while in captivity, fighting their enemy at every chance? A number of Australian prisoners of war were shipped to the Japanese mainland proper and put in munitions factories and mines and continued the fight against the enemy through sabotage and other means. Why, in such circumstances, is bravery not rewarded through a Victoria Cross but only through a George Cross? It is something I intend to take up with the parliament at a future date.

Looking back in history in recognition of the unique ordeal of the prisoners of war captured in the Pacific in World War II, the former Howard government made a one-off cash payment of $25,000 to all living Australian prisoners of war and civilian detainees and internees who were held by Japan during World War II. This ex-gratia payment was also made to the surviving widows and widowers of former prisoners, acknowledging those who lost their spouse to the POW camps or supported their partner on their return from the war. The payment was made to eligible veterans, civilians, widows and widowers who were alive on 1 January 2001. In those cases where an eligible recipient had died since that date, the payment was made to their estate.

May I reiterate that this is in absolute stark contrast to the Labor budget just handed down that ripped $110 million out of veterans entitlements, even though there was a $22 billion surplus. If you ever wanted to know which side of politics actually respects, esteems and values the veteran community, you only need to compare these two acts. One is an act of generosity, acknowledging the suffering of POWs who served in the Pacific theatre; and the other is an act of unconscionable conduct, ripping $110 million away from those who are least able to afford to have it taken from them.

By way of war memorials across the rest of the nation, my own electorate of Fadden has a number of significant war memorials that I wish to bring to the attention of the parliament. The Coomera War Memorial; the Labrador Memorial Hall; the Nerang War Memorial; the Honour Roll and Memorial Wall at the Nerang Services Club, which is on the border, of course, of Fadden and the neighbouring electorate of Moncrieff; the Pimpama School of Arts Honour Roll; the Upper Coomera War Memorial; the Upper Coomera CWA Hall Honour Roll; the Upper Coomera CWA Hall, which was originally the Coomera District War Memorial Hall before the name change; and, of course, the Pimpama and Ormeau War Memorial. This particular memorial was built thanks to the locals raising the funds to honour those who served in WWI, including the six local men from the Pimpama and Ormeau area who lost their lives. The memorial was originally by the road and was relocated to the church grounds. In 1995 the original Pimpama/Ormeau digger was relocated to Miles Historical Village War Museum in the Darling Downs and replaced with a new digger. The inscription on the memorial states:

They gave their all. Let you who pass, saluting here their names, see that through you no slur, nor stain, nor shame falls on the land for which they gave their lives—Australia.

It is a very suitable inscription that the parliament would do well to remember, especially the current government, when it looks to meet the needs of our veterans.

They gave their all. Let you who pass, saluting here their names, see that through you no slur, nor stain, nor shame falls on the land for which they gave their lives—Australia.

The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial situated adjacent to Lake Wendouree honours more than 35,000 Australians who were held prisoner from the Boer War through to the Korean War. It was conceived by Ballarat sculptor Peter Blizzard and designed as a journey, with footpath stones cut into the shape of railway sleepers to symbolise the Burma railway built by Australian POWs during the Second World War. The monument is completed by six huge basalt obelisks listing the names of POW camps where Australians were held. It is important because, as Lord Byron once said:

For there are deeds that should not pass away,

And names that must not be forgotten.

Associations today continue to keep the memory alive of those over 35,000 Australians who were incarcerated fighting for their country. Let me acknowledge Mr Norm Anderton MBE, the President of the Gold Coast District of the Queensland Ex-POW Association. It is my tremendous pleasure to join the member for Moncrieff and the member for McPherson as co-patrons of this very worthwhile organisation that seeks to care for, to honour and to meet the needs of former prisoners of war.

War memorials do not praise war; they honour people. In this vein it is suitable and appropriate that I honour some of the people who work hard in the Coomera Oxenford RSL Sub Branch in the cause of veterans, notably the president, Norm Kelly; the chaplain, Len Harrop, and his wife, who provide so much support; and the other branch members who work tirelessly.

I support the Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008. Anything we can do to honour our veterans is incredibly worth while. We do not honour war, we do not praise combat; we honour people. And whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, I support the second reading amendment proposed by the shadow minister.

For there are deeds that should not pass away,

And names that must not be forgotten.

The 35,000 prisoners of war, Australian men and women across the globe—their deeds should not pass away; their names will not be forgotten.

Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today in support of the Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008. This bill not only acknowledges the significance of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat but creates an opportunity to give recognition to other significant memorials throughout the country. Rockingham, in my electorate, holds the second-biggest Anzac morning march-past west of Adelaide. The City of Rockingham Returned Services League, currently headed by the very capable Trevor Soward, does a fantastic job in organising a truly inclusive commemorative day. Rockingham, however, is a Navy town, so this year was, of course, special due to the recent discovery of the HMAS Sydney. In Western Australia the discovery of the Sydney evoked memories of a time of dark days—days of great peril, of love and of loss.

The month before the Sydney engaged the Kormoran off the Western Australian coast, John Curtin courageously assumed the Prime Ministership of Australia. In the two years of war up to 19 November 1941 about 2,000 Australian service personnel died. The loss of the Sydney in a few hours of action off Australia’s own coast increased that number by 645—no small proportion. The following three years would see a further 37,000 die. The next three months saw Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Australia’s northern shores at Darwin, Wyndham and Broome. In the lead-up to Anzac Day, I spoke to a number of current and former Rockingham residents about the loved ones that they had lost on the Sydney that fateful day in 1941. I spoke to Leslie Taylor, who told me of the loss of his 21-year-old brother, Able Seaman Kenneth George Taylor. Les is 84 this year. He donated $100 towards the search effort when he heard they were looking for the Sydney. ‘I wanted them to find her,’ he said. For Les, finding the Sydney has at last set his mind at rest about his brother. Barbara Woods was only 14 when she heard that her brother Ray might be lost on the Sydney. Barbara remembers the telegram, the confusion and the search for her 22-year-old brother. Barbara told me of her sense of relief at finally knowing what happened to Ray.

As we speak, Trevor Soward and the RSL at Rockingham are already preparing for 19 November, the anniversary of the date the Sydney went down, to organise a local commemorative event to the men lost in 1941. I encourage all members of this place to discuss with their local RSLs and their Navy clubs ways to commemorate the 645 men of the Sydney. I visited the HMAS Sydney memorial at Mount Scott in Geraldton recently. It is a fitting tribute, and it should qualify under this legislation for recognition as a memorial of national significance.

In thinking about places and events of national significance, I must acknowledge the port city of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. For years Albany has been my family’s preferred summer holiday haven. There are good reasons why Albany is significant to the Anzac story and there is definitely more than enough reason why an Albany memorial should be considered for recognition as a memorial of national significance. The Anzac legend was born on the shores of modern day Turkey on 25 April 1915, when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps invaded the Gallipoli peninsula. This daring but unsuccessful campaign ended after eight months and over 25,000 Australian casualties, with over 8,000 deaths. Albany’s role in this story may not be automatically clear, but I, like many who are residents of the Great Southern, often think of Albany and Anzac in the same thought. Albany is significant for two reasons. Firstly, the troops who were to die, be wounded or survive the shores of Gallipoli assembled off Albany and departed Australia from this harbour, with the first convoy departing on 1 November 1914. Secondly, the Anzac Day dawn service—which is now a part of our cultural heritage—traces its roots back to a service held on Mount Clarence in Albany.

The troops involved in the Gallipoli campaign were from the length and breadth of Australia and New Zealand. Each state and New Zealand supplied a quota of troops, who made their way by sea to the rendezvous point off the port of Albany. The ships began to assemble from 24 October 1914. When they arrived in King George Sound, Albany, the troops were not allowed ashore, although many did get a trip to land to take part in marches or other organised excursions. Charles Bean, war correspondent and historian of the First World War, describes in great detail the final departure of our young men from our Australian shores. He writes:

At 6.25 on the morning of November 1st, in bright sunlight, with the harbour glossily smooth, the Minotaur and Sydney up-anchored and moved out between the sun-bathed hills to sea. At 6.45 the central line of ships (known as the ‘first division’ of the convoy) started, the inshore ship (Orvieto) leading, and each of the others turning to follow as the line passed them. Half an hour later the second division of transports followed; then the third; finally the New Zealanders in two divisions.

By 8.55am all 36 transports (26 Australian and 10 New Zealand) with their three escorting cruisers had set off.

The ship Sydney, which Bean referred to, is of course HMAS Sydney I, the predecessor to the Sydney II sunk off the Western Australia coast in November 1941. The first Sydney was a distinguished light cruiser that, as it was protecting the Anzac convoy, sank the German ship Emden near the Cocos Islands—not so far from the location where the Sydney II went down 27 years later. For many of the troops who fought at Gallipoli, Albany was the last that they ever saw of Australia. That spring morning at dawn, Albany townspeople lined the shores and assembled on the summit of Mount Clarence, overlooking Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound, to watch the convoy carry the men to war. Local Albany boy John Swain was one of the men who left with the first convoy, bound for the shores of Anzac Cove where, on 25 April 1915, he was in one of the first waves of soldiers to hit the beach. After being severely wounded in the hip while climbing the steep scrubby hills of Gallipoli, with casualness he wrote home to his mother, reassuring her that he was all right. ‘The bullet broke no bones, only made a clean hole right through and both wounds are healing up nicely,’ he said, adding that he did his bit before being wounded.

Albany clergyman Reverend Arthur Ernest White did much to promote the commemoration in Albany of the sacrifices of the Anzacs. After being shipped back to Australia, having been gassed and wounded on the Western Front, Reverend White was given permission to hold a special requiem mass for the battle dead at the altar of St Johns Church in Albany. After the service, he and some of the Albany townspeople climbed to the summit of Mount Clarence. As he looked out over the harbour, he said:

Albany was the last sight of land these Anzac troops saw after leaving Australia’s shores and some of them never returned. We should hold a service (here) at the first light of dawn each Anzac Day to commemorate them.

Reverend White is not well known in Australian history, but the tradition that he established endures today as the dawn service. It is a tradition that grows stronger every year. The people of Albany remember well their role in the Anzac story. Following in the tradition set by Reverend White, today they hold the dawn service on Mount Clarence at the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial and a street parade and memorial service on the foreshore. I have attended the dawn service. It is the most moving dawn service in Australia. I have been to many dawn services throughout the country, and I think we do a good job of acknowledging the sacrifice made by our service men and women and their families. The Perth service draws an impressive crowd and Canberra’s, of course, is the national service. But the Albany service would have to be the most poignant, the most touching, of all.

Standing on Mount Clarence looking out across Princess Royal Harbour as the sun slowly rises over the archipelago, you can visualise the Anzac soldiers sailing to war. At the end of the service, two boats come from either side of the heads and launch symbolic flares into the dawn sky. There is rarely a dry eye on Mount Clarence. Albany’s link to the Anzac story and the well-organised and inclusive service make it a truly worthwhile event to attend. If you cannot get to Gallipoli, you must witness a dawn service at Albany. In the Western Australian parliament, the local member for Albany, Peter Watson, is proud of the strong relationship that exists today between Albany and Gallipoli. In fact, the Mayor of Gallipoli and the Mayor of Albany signed a friendship agreement on Anzac Day in 2003.

After the Anzac Day parade on 25 April 2008, work began on a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the First World War. The City of Albany and the local Returned and Services League have long held a plan to make Albany a national centre of Anzac commemoration. They are right to do this. We in this place should support their initiative. Albany was the last port of call for those who forged the Anzac legacy through their sacrifice and struggle—the last port that they saw Australian shore from. Three-quarters of those who sailed in the first convoy would eventually return to Australia wounded. Thousands more would not return at all.

This bill provides the perfect avenue to recognise Albany as it should be recognised. Albany is perfect as a site for a memorial of national significance. Likewise, I believe that the 100th celebration of the Anzac landing will be an event of great national significance. I believe that the commemorations should begin not on 25 April 2015 but on 1 November 2014 and that they should begin at Albany.

As a final note, I would like to share more words that Reverend White recited as he stood overlooking King George Sound as a wreath floated slowly out to sea, in an event that created the first dawn service. He said:

As the sun rises and goeth down we will remember them.

I commend the bill to the House.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion before the House. In doing so, I wish to pay tribute to all those heroic Australians who have served as prisoners of war. More specifically, I wish to do this by drawing attention to the experiences of four remarkable Australians who live in my electorate of Cook and by telling their story in this place—a story that will resonate with the experience of so many others; an experience that produced in them a unique character, of which we are all beneficiaries. In preparing to speak on the Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008, it was my honour and privilege to spend time with these men, to listen to their stories and to be humbled by their sacrifice.

The generations of Australians who have served, as the Leader of the Opposition often says, in our name, in our uniform, under our flag, to protect our values, whether in hostile or peacekeeping situations, occupy a special place in Australian society. This is no more true than for those Australians who became prisoners of war, forced to suffer the indignities and abuses of imprisonment at the hands of the most ruthless of captors. This bill and the recognition afforded to the memorial at Ballarat provide further recognition of the unique standing of Australians who have served as prisoners of war. It is fitting that we recognise them through this memorial. It is disappointing that what was promised by the government to recognise this memorial, as the member for Mackellar noted in her remarks, has not been delivered. The expectation knowingly and willingly created by the Rudd government, then in opposition, was to create a national memorial, which would carry with it ongoing funding for maintenance. This expectation has not been met in this bill. I do not wish to detract from the tribute paid to our prisoners of war by making further reference to this point, but as we mark this occasion it is important to hold the government to account for its failure to honour that pledge.

In 2004 Don Collumbell, aged 83, travelled to Ballarat to attend the opening ceremony for the memorial we recognise in this bill today. Don grew up in what he described as a ‘kids’ paradise’ on the Burraneer Bay peninsula not more than 100 metres from where my family and I live today. He attended Cronulla Public School and later Hurlstone Ag as a boarder and went to work for the MSB in Circular Quay in 1937. In September 1942, Don signed up with the Air Force. His father was a war veteran and would not let him join the Army, and there were no Navy ships for him to sign up with at the time. So the Air Force it was for Don. At that time Don had never set foot in a plane, let alone taken to the sky.

Don was sent to Bomber Command in the UK, where he trained as a navigator for 12 months. After completing training he crewed up at the local pub—the Coach and Horses—with two other Aussies, including the pilot, a Brit from Yorkshire, a Kiwi and a Welshman. It was not long before Don was flying missions in a Halifax over Germany. Life expectancy in Bomber Command was not something you talked about. Don said: ‘If you dwelt on it you couldn’t carry on.’ Boarding school had toughened him up, but all of this was put to the test in the months that followed.

In late January 1944, 16 aircraft set off on their first mission to Berlin. Don thinks it was their 13th overall mission. Thirteen minutes from the target they were attacked by a fighter that took out their hydraulics, meaning they would have to open the bomb bay manually. They pressed ahead and were hit by a second fighter, causing the leading edge of the wing to catch fire. At 20,000 feet Don and the crew bailed out over the suburbs of Berlin. The Aussie pilot from Glenelg and the wireless operator from Yorkshire did not make it. The sky was filled with aircraft, exploding shells, searchlights and smoke. Don described the situation as ‘a bit daunting’. He landed in an elderly lady’s backyard, where police later arrived and took him and his Kiwi bomber mate away, with 200 to 300 people in the street waiting to lynch them. Don said it was his first drive in a Mercedes convertible.

After interrogation, they were sent to a camp, where there were 1,400 air force personnel in the main compound, including 100 from the RAF. After D-Day, things tightened up, and with the Russians approaching their position they were moved—first to a nearby port, where they were put aboard the Insterburg for a journey down the Baltic, where Don did not drink for four days. At port, some were chained together and sent by train to another camp. The rest, including Don, were run, not marched, along the road with prisoners dropping their gear in order to keep up. There was one guard for every three prisoners. The Germans’ plan was to get them to make a break for it into the woods, where machine guns were set up to open fire. Thankfully, the Allied camp leader could speak German and instructed everyone to hold their ranks. They were then put into confined quarters, nine to a group, for four weeks, after which time they were put back on the road and marched a further 1,000 kilometres to a location near Hanover.

Soon after the Allied advance guard came through, the war was over and Don made his way back to the UK. Don returned to Sydney in September 1945, saying it ‘needed a good coat of paint’, and his wife, whom he had married in London before his capture, followed in January 1946. Don took up his place once again at the MSB, where he found a sympathetic workplace, supported by colleagues who were also veterans and a supervisor who had lost two sons in the war.

Don and his wife lived together in the shire for the next 50 years, making their own contribution to building our local community together with so many other World War II veterans who joined Don in the shire after the war. Don’s wife passed away 11 years ago. Don remains an active member of the Cronulla RSL sub-branch where he is held in high regard, taking the opportunity wherever he can to pass on his own experiences for the benefit of future generations.

William ‘Bill’ Thornton was born in Western Australia in 1919 and grew up on a dairy farm before his family was evicted in the 1930s when, after a rabbit plague during Great Depression, they were unable to meet their interest payments. He left school at 14 and seven years later, in April 1940, with his father’s consent Bill joined the AIF. He travelled to the Middle East for training in the desert as an anti-tank gunner. His service took him to Bardia, Tobruk, Tokra—where his unit was visited by the then Prime Minister Bob Menzies—and then to Crete, in what he described as ‘the worst battle a person could ever go through’.

Despite having victories over the Germans in Brekleyan and Retamon, where Bill was stationed, his unit was defeated in Melamie. The night before Bill’s capture German tanks rolled into Retamon. They were ordered to evacuate to their last position, but Bill did not make it and was captured in a cornfield in May 1941.

After five weeks in a Turkish barracks in northern Greece, with barbed wire, poor food, searchlights, patrols, vermin and lice—and where escapees were punished by standing for hours in the sun—he was put onto a train to Germany. There were 50 prisoners per truck. Diarrhoea was spreading and sanitation was non-existent. Several prisoners escaped by jumping from the moving train. The Germans responded by promising to shoot the remaining prisoners if anyone else jumped. In November 1941, Bill was put in a 10-man working party where for six weeks they worked in summer clothes, with one blanket at night, in the middle of a German winter to drain a frozen swamp. Bill admits that if it were not for the arrival of the Red Cross packages that finally caught up with him and his fellow prisoners he doubts he would have survived.

Like my grandfather’s brother Len, Bill served out the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war working as an indentured farm labourer, during which time he broke both wrists and injured his back in an accident. The POW hospital had one doctor, two orderlies and 200 British and Australian troops needing care. Despite his injuries, he was then forced back to labour with a gun to his head.

At the end of war he marched for three weeks to get to Munich on four days of rations. He said he saw many terrible things along the way. One incident he relayed to me was when he saw two teenage girls accept a lift from a German convoy only to then observe an American fighter fly over and take the convoy out.

He came home to Australia and, in 1950, he married his wife, Nancy. They moved to the shire and lived there together for the next 52 years. Sadly, Nancy died in 2002. Bill studied accountancy and worked for the Department for Works in New South Wales as well as the federal Taxation Office. He was also a local coach for the Miranda Magpies soccer club.

Bill and Nancy had five sons and two daughters, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Bill will turn 90 next year and lives in Miranda. Some weeks ago, when I asked him at the Miranda RSL what message he wanted to relay about his time as a POW, Bill simply said, ‘I’ve seen too much injustice.’

Roy Kent was a POW held by the Japanese in Changi and then Kuching in northern Borneo. Roy and his elder brother were sent to an orphanage when he was only five years old, following the separation of their parents during the Great Depression. Eventually Roy and his brother were reunited with their mother after she remarried. They went to live in Newcastle, where Roy decided that school was not for him and he dropped out, aged 15 years.

Roy enlisted in the Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, when he was only 17 years and three months old. He had lied about his age, much to his mother’s annoyance, telling the recruitment officers he was in fact 21. After several months of training in Australia, Roy was sent to Singapore and, as part of the 2/20 battalion, headed north up the Malay Peninsula to Port Dickson.

After Pearl Harbor the Japanese landed at Kota Bahru near the Malaysian-Thai border. The Australian diggers found themselves with weapons that were totally inadequate to defend their positions. Orders were given to evacuate to Kranji airfield where every man was to get out as best he could because they were completely surrounded by the Japanese. Roy and several other soldiers loaded themselves into a truck and made for Kranji. Roy was lying on the floor of the truck and was hit in the arm by a passing bullet. Eventually the truck could go no further, as a bullet had hit the radiator, so they made for a casualty clearing station that had been established in a rubber plantation. Roy’s wound was treated and he was shifted by ambulance to the 13th Army General Hospital at Serang. During his stay in hospital, he watched the Japanese bombers and artillery blast Singapore, as he said, ‘to buggery’. He was now behind enemy lines.

After the surrender, the Australians were sent to Changi Barracks by truck. After his wound had healed, Roy was passed fit for a work detail. On 28 March 1943, just after Roy’s 19th birthday, he and his brother were put on E Force, which consisted of 500 men bound for Sandakan to reinforce B Force. They sailed from Singapore and arrived at Kuching on the island of Borneo. It was here that he saw out the rest of the war in the camp called Batu Lintang.

After the war Roy returned home and recommenced his employment with David Jones. He took on a variety of other jobs, but he soon found himself working as a barge master for the Australian Petroleum Company in Papua New Guinea. Roy eventually married Margaret. After the birth of their first child the couple returned home to Sydney in 1955. Roy found new employment with Stannard Brothers driving a workboat engaged with the construction of the Kurnell oil jetty, which supported the new Kurnell oil refinery. Roy was to work on Botany Bay in the shire for the next 30 years. For some of this time Roy and his family were living on the waterfront at Kurnell. Eventually he would buy a house of his own at Miranda with the benefit of a war service home loan. Roy and Margaret had two other children, one of whom they lost tragically at age 13. After his retirement, Roy and his wife, Margaret, travelled extensively in Australia and abroad. Roy is now 85 and he lives in Sylvania.

George Forwood was born in Ramsgate. He joined the AIF at 16 years of age in Martin Place. He said:

We used to see the troops sailing out through the heads and we used to wave to them and it just got you, and I decided then that I would go with them. I was that type of kid, always looking for an adventure.

George’s father did not approve as he was a First World War veteran, who had been gassed in France. George said he did not mince any words in telling him about what he should expect in war. George said:

My dad said he would go and see the army to get me pulled out. I said, ‘If you do that I will go and join up under a different name.’ Soon after, he told me he was quitting his job to join up and be with me. He went to the same training camp I was at but the day after I had left. Our trains passed in the night.

George was put in the 8th Division. He arrived in Singapore in 1941 and they were first attacked by the Japanese in December. George contracted scrub typhus and was in hospital when he was captured by the advancing Japanese. He said:

I was in a coma and, when I came to, the Japanese were bombing around the hospital. Because I couldn’t get out of bed and there was stuff flying all around me two sisters—

he said with a smile—

laid on top of me to protect me. Word came through that the Japanese were outside the hospital and they were going to come through and anyone who wasn’t a patient they were going to shoot. There was an Indian regiment and some of them ran into bed so they wouldn’t get them. The Japanese came in and tore all the blankets off us, took away the people who weren’t sick including the Indians and shot them.

George was then put in a prison camp after a fortnight and reunited with some mates who thought he was dead. George said, ‘After six weeks, our body muscles began to deteriorate because we were on just a rice diet.’ George contracted severe haemorrhoids soon after and had to be operated on by Australians doctors working without sufficient supplies. They didn’t have enough anaesthetic and the doctor was halfway through the operation when it wore off. He told the doctor he could feel everything, and he had to bite on a stick and have two men hold him down.

George’s next move was to Thailand to work on the Thai-Burma railroad. POWs were stuck in a rice truck on a train without enough room to sit down. They had turns to squat down. There were eight to 10 days of that, day and night. The train never stopped. He said:

If you wanted to go to the toilet you had to have your mates hold onto your arms as you went outside the door. You had just a bowl of rice for breakfast and dinner. Meanwhile anything that crawled or climbed in trees like monkeys you would pounce on and eat to stay alive.

When put to work on the railway, George said you always had a mate to share the work. If one was sick, the other would take over. This went on until the war finished. He said:

If you showed any sign of sickness you would get a belting because the Japanese didn’t like you getting sick. I fell from a bridge while putting sleepers on top of a bridge. When I came to, a Japanese guard said to me, ‘Back to work,’ and I had to get on with it. There was no place for anybody who was sick. If you were sick and could not go to work you were put on half rations.

He went on to say:

A lot of the poor buggers who went down on half-rations didn’t survive. Your body just wouldn’t keep going. You never thought of death, even though it was all around you. We could be talking together at night time and wake up in the morning and there’s no response. Your mate is dead beside you. You become hardened to it. I was so young; it was an experience for me. I grew up in the prison camps. I went from 17 to 21.

When the railroad was finished, George was kept there with 50 Australians to do the railway maintenance work. George and his fellow prisoners endured being bombed and machine-gunned by Allied forces during this time.

During the railroad construction, POWs built a bridge and deliberately did it so poorly that when the first train went over it would fail. However it turned out that the POWs were loaded into the first train to go across, and George was on board. He said he could hear the wood creaking and thought they would plunge to their deaths. Eventually they made it over the bridge and apparently it stayed up for years.

At the time of the surrender, a Japanese captain came over and he told them the war was finished. He said, ‘Very sorry for what you have been through.’ In commenting on this, George simply said, ‘which was a lot of BS, you know’. They were eventually moved to another camp and allied supplies were dropped from planes. A couple of days later, they were in bed and could see a lot of women coming down in uniforms. As it turned out it was Lady Mountbatten. She said, ‘What’s wrong with you boys? Are you all sick?’ One of George’s mates, who was naked, got up to show her. She was devastated and had tears rolling down her face, and she made sure they all had clothing. George also met Admiral Mountbatten not long after, describing him as ‘a real gentleman’.

On his return to Sydney, George was met by his father, mother and younger brother at Central Station. He did not recognise them. George could not sleep when he returned. He would just sit in the corner of the room and smoke. He could not stand anyone near him. George first went back to live with his family in Mortdale, arriving when he was 21. He eventually attained work as a linesman on telegraph poles and spent most of his life in the St George district before moving to the shire.

George still drives his car around town and lives with his wife, Norma. They have been married for many years. George is 83 years old. George said:

Living in the jungle, you become an animal, but you do change eventually. I still have dreams about the war. They are things you can’t get rid of, because you have no idea how a human being was treated by another human being. I haven’t been back there and I wouldn’t go back. There’s too many memories and I lost too many mates up there.

Before concluding, I would like to honour a number of others. I do not have the time to tell their stories in this place but their stories are equally remarkable. These men are currently with the Miranda and Cronulla RSL sub-branches: Alex Barker, Basil Barrett, Joe Byrne, Bob Chapman, Jack Howland, Rudy In Den Bosch, Alfred Jacobs, Mic Jordan, Herbert Lamb, Paul Lavallee, James Lillington, Alick Moroney, Bill Minto, John Salter, Ron Smith, Arthur Toms and Eric Wilson.

In closing, I would like to quote Sir John Carrick, a former senator for New South Wales, a former distinguished minister, the longest-serving General Secretary of the Liberal Party of New South Wales and, most significantly, a former Japanese POW. In an article some years ago he said:

For those of us who were there and survived, a great and enduring learning experience. For everyone, a reminder that totalitarian forces must not be allowed to grow strong. Lest we forget! Forgetfulness and complacency are the rogue genes of democracy.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I commence, I commend the member for Cook for his contribution. It was great to listen to. I am quite humbled after that to stand to speak about the Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008 before the House.

Australia has a long and proud tradition of honouring and remembering our war heroes. Our war memorials are an important part of this tradition. They ensure that history is not forgotten and tell the stories of Australians at war, which is really our national story, the Australian national story. As all Australians would know, we have never declared war on anybody initially, but we have always been prepared to go to war. That conundrum, I guess, is the Australian story. War memorials provide a focal point for reflection on this and commemoration of those who have paid with the ultimate sacrifice in these foreign wars.

War memorials are found at gathering places for events such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day. Even though I am a new MP, I have gone to a lot of Anzac Day ceremonies, which I have always enjoyed, but it was particularly poignant and enjoyable going as an MP. It is up there with citizenship ceremonies in defining what Australia is all about. I again commend the work of all the RSL members in my electorate who have done such great work on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day in ensuring that we will remember.

In Canberra national memorials, like the Australian War Memorial, are recognised for their national significance and, of course, their location in the ACT. Who has not been moved when touring the Australian War Memorial and seen that honour roll and that long, long list of people who have made the ultimate sacrifice?

I am very pleased to speak in support of this legislation as it will enable the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat to be declared a military memorial of national significance, and it will be the first memorial outside Canberra to be so recognised. The bill will also provide an avenue for other memorials throughout Australia to be recognised as national memorials. Presently, only memorials on ‘national land’ can be submitted for consideration as national memorials. The authority to approve national memorials lies with the National Memorials Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister. This authority is derived from the National Memorials Ordinance 1928.

The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat holds the names of more than 35,000 prisoners of war, from the Boer War to the Korean War. I could mention many of the prisoners of war who reside in my electorate of Moreton, and certainly in my visits to, and talks with, the Sunnybank RSL, the Sherwood-Indooroopilly RSL, the Stephens RSL and the Yeronga RSL I have heard many amazing tales, always told in a self-effacing way. But, rather than select a couple of people from my electorate, I am actually going to talk about two gentlemen—or one in particular—from my hometown, which is a little bit west of St George, between Dirranbandi and St George. Two brothers who signed up from there—I think they have actually got Dirranbandi written on their sign-up papers in World War II—were Gordon McCosker and Jack McCosker. I do not know Jack well at all. He was captured in Germany and what was notable about him was that his family had basically conducted a memorial service because they had assumed that he was dead.

Jack’s brother, Gordon Joseph McCosker, serial number QX11185, played a big part in my life. As a young boy in primary school I went to school with his son Paul—and I hope his other sons are listening tonight because I know when I spoke to his widow, Betty McCosker, she told me that she would tell all of her children. I used to spend a lot of time out at their property at Dundee. I spent many, many weeks and months out at Dundee because Betty is very good friends with my mother and mum still goes out there to spend time at Dundee. In fact, I think I earned my very first dollar ever—and it was a dollar note—in about 1971 cleaning out the shearing sheds during shearing time at Dundee. Unfortunately I did not keep it, but I do remember it very well and what it felt like in my hand. But, for all of the time that I was out there in the 1970s and growing up, Gordon McCosker, ex-prisoner of war, never talked about the fact that he was a POW. He never told his story, and in fact his widow Betty said tonight that Gordon basically never talked about it. In fact, I got quite a shock, in year 12, when I saw Gordon at an RSL service. That was the first indication that I had had that he had military service. Not only was it military service but he had been captured at Singapore. He was in Changi and worked on the Burma railway and, having heard from the member for Cook of the horrors that were experienced, I can understand why perhaps it was not something he talked about. Instead he just came back to the land and worked hard all his life. But his name is on the Ballarat memorial.

This memorial recognises the bravery and sacrifice for their country that people like Gordon Joseph McCosker and his brother Jack endured. The memorial was completed in February 2004 and it was the first memorial to prisoners of war that specifically honoured all Australian POWs from all conflicts. In other words, the Ballarat memorial is national in every way except for its location, which is beyond the borders of the Australian Capital Territory. It was for this reason that the Prime Minister committed to recognise the memorial as a national war memorial. This bill delivers on that election commitment.

The government has also provided $160,000—in keeping with its status as a national war memorial—to help maintain the Ballarat memorial appropriately. I have not yet seen the memorial, but it is certainly something that is on my list of things to do. I must note that, unfortunately, the previous government refused repeated requests to recognise it as a national memorial. Their reasoning, as I understand, was that they believed it could not legally be done—which was obviously technically correct. Thankfully, we are able to look beyond the black letter of the law to the intent and what was right and honourable, and so we have this legislation before the House.

It is no small feat to amend legislation, but the very persistent, very vocal and currently, I think, still very pregnant member for Ballarat has proved that it can be done. Incidentally, I do wish the member for Ballarat well in her confinement in the time ahead. On that note I also thank the member for Ballarat and the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs for their efforts in bringing this legislation to the parliament. The Ballarat community also deserves praise for their efforts to honour our POWs in this way. As I said previously, this bill also puts a mechanism in place for other memorials throughout Australia to become military memorials of national significance. The mechanism is there; however, I stress that this process is separate to the National Memorials Ordinance 1928, which will continue to oversee the recognition of national memorials in the ACT.

The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, with the written approval of the Prime Minister, may declare military memorials of national significance outside of the Australian Capital Territory. This bill will in no way undermine the significance or the status of national memorials in Canberra. Nor should we expect a free-for-all because memorials must meet strict and thorough criteria to even be considered national memorials. For example, the memorial must be of an appropriate scale, design and standard in keeping with the nationally significant status—and I should note here that the Ballarat memorial is an impressive 130-metre black granite wall; the memorial must be a memorial for the sole purpose of commemorating a significant aspect of Australia’s wartime history—obviously commemorating all POWs, from the Boer War through to today, is something worth doing in terms of all the sacrifice that the names on that memorial acknowledge; the memorial must have a major role in community commemorative activities; and the memorial must observe Commonwealth flag protocols. These criteria will ensure that only deserving memorials are afforded national significance status.

With the exception of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat, an application will be required for the declaration of future memorials. The bill also puts in place a further safeguard to protect the status of national memorials. It gives the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs the power to revoke a declaration, should a memorial cease to meet the legislated requirements—although, in terms of Australia’s history of honouring our dead and those who have sacrificed for and served this country, I find it hard to believe that that would ever occur. Still the mechanism is there. The war memorial in Ballarat holds a very special place not only for the Ballarat community but also, even more so, for all Australians—it is a place we should visit to commemorate the 35,000 POWs, from the Boer War to the Korean War, whose names are on that monument. This legislation not only recognises the national significance of the Ballarat memorial but also ensures that military memorials throughout Australia can be esteemed with national recognition into the future. I commend the bill to the House.

Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008 is significant. It is significant in that it recognises the need for Australians to be able to recognise throughout the country the service of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. But it is also significant because it actually breaks a commitment that the Labor Party made at the last election and it underlines a misleading of the veterans community of this country. The commitment previously made during the election was that there would be a national memorial in Ballarat. But, as we all know, that is in fact not possible; it is not possible to have a national memorial in Ballarat. So this bill creates a new category, which is a military memorial of national significance. The veterans community in Ballarat and the veterans community in Australia will be disappointed to know that, in fact, by an artificial device, we are going to have a memorial in Ballarat which is not as was intended and as was promised at the last election.

The Rudd government have been very active in telling the community they are going to deliver on all of their election promises. Well, this breaks an election promise. It is really sad that I have to stand up in this House and express concern about breaking a promise to the veterans community and to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force, because defence is traditionally a non-political area—it is traditionally an area where all of us, on both sides of the House, support what we do in the name of our nation under our flag. But it has to be said that this is a broken election promise that we are putting through the House tonight. I am sad about that. I am also sad that really no funding has been provided for these sorts of things, because as we all know without money things do not happen. That will create some difficulties.

I note also that the previous speaker indicated quite correctly that the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs may declare a memorial of national significance, and then he added: with the approval of the Prime Minister. Why is our country running continually, in everything it does, on the approval of the Prime Minister’s office? I think we have all noticed, I think the government ministers have noticed and I think the media have noticed that nothing happens without the central control of the PMO. That is really debilitating for the mechanisms of government—to have everything run by and approved by the PMO just slows everything down. It is not, I guess, a good mechanism for government in this country.

What I would like to tell the parliament about tonight is Jezzine Barracks in North Ward in Townsville. Jezzine Barracks has a long, famous and worthy history in the order of battle of the Australian Defence Force. It is the home of the Kennedy Regiment and it has been there since before the turn of the last century. I was a key figure in making sure that, when 11th Brigade—the reserve brigade in the north—decided that they would relocate from Jezzine Barracks to Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, we would gift the whole of Jezzine Barracks, except for the military museum and the brigadier’s house, to the community for community purposes. One of those possible community purposes is to have a memorial of national significance in the north, and I will come back to that in a moment.

The significance of the gifting was that the previous government promised $5 million to refurbish the headquarters, 31st Battalion, RQR, so that it could be turned into a modern Army museum; the current museum, which is on the headland at Kissing Point, at the fort there, would move down to its new location; and the headland would be restored to what it was originally, when it was set up to defeat the Russians if they came to invade Australia. It sounds like Fort Queenscliff, and I guess that it is. We gifted the land, which was worth about $25 million in my estimation—prime land in North Ward in Townsville—and we made that available to the community. On top of that we made a commitment that, if the council put in $10 million, we would put in $10 million to redevelop the land; and, if the state government put in $10 million, we would put in a further $10 million. So all up the package was worth about $50 million, to provide the most magnificent bookend to Townsville’s Strand, to be enjoyed and used by the community.

I return to the memorial of national significance. In thinking about what kind of memorial you would put in this sacred place, there are a couple of choices, in my view. You could have a memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea, which was a turning point in World War II in the Pacific and was run out of Townsville. That would be a very significant memorial, in which I am sure the Americans would be interested in participating because they were so crucial to that battle. Equally, we could have a memorial to Australia’s ready deployment force, 3rd Brigade, which operates out of Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, Australia’s largest Army base. It is the ready deployment force, the online battalion that is tasked with being able to move anywhere within 24 hours. Most recently, when we had to deploy to the Solomon Islands when there was further unrest there, from go to whoa it was 18 hours. To get to nobody at Lavarack Barracks and everybody in the Solomon Islands took 18 hours, a magnificent response. Indeed, virtually all of Australia’s overseas deployments in the first instance in the last 20 years have come out of Townsville, and that is to everywhere: Somalia, Rwanda, Timor, the Solomon Islands and Iraq.

I think either of those two memorial proposals that I am making here tonight would be fitting, and I would suggest my community would certainly support either, but personally I would like to see a memorial to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force in Townsville who have been part of Australia’s ready deployment force.

On Monday in Townsville I was privileged to attend a welcome home for the troops. This was a welcome home for 5th Aviation Regiment, which runs Australia’s Black Hawk helicopters and is soon to run Australia’s MRH90 heavy-lift troop helicopters and the Boeing CH47 Chinooks. We have got the Black Hawks in Timor and the Chinooks in Afghanistan. At the welcome home, about 80 troops arrived back from Timor. I made no bones about it: our nation most admires the work that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force do, particularly those from Townsville. It was quite poignant. The families were there waiting for the troops, both men and women, to return. Outside I saw a grandma and grandad and their grandson, young Declan, who had a bunch of flowers because his mum, Lieutenant Brooke Bailey, was coming home from Timor. It was my privilege, in the welcome home—which is done privately, not with the families—to call out Lieutenant Brooke Bailey from the group and present her with the bunch of flowers that Declan had brought to the airport. They wanted me to do it. There was a universal cheer when that happened, but what it also indicates is the family nature of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force today and how important families are when they are deployed overseas.

When this bill passes the parliament, I will be recommending to the committee charged with planning the redevelopment of Jezzine Barracks in Townsville that it consider the establishment of a military memorial of national significance at Jezzine Barracks. I will recommend that it consider a memorial either to the Battle of the Coral Sea in World War II or to the current ready deployment force that so well serves our nation from Townsville. I commend the bill to the House.

Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is interesting to hear the member for Herbert’s comments on the return of soldiers from Iraq. In fact, I have done a similar meet and greet, and it was very much a great opportunity to pay tribute to and thank those men and women who have served our nation and to see the excitement of their families after their return from their long absence—and I take the point of the flowers; that was a very great gesture.

I speak tonight in support of the Military Memorials of National Significance Bill 2008. This bill recognises the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat, which is another election commitment honoured by the Rudd government. The purpose of this bill is also to provide a mechanism that will enable a memorial which is located outside the Australian Capital Territory and meets specified criteria to be recognised as a military memorial of national significance. This means that many military memorials will be recognised and that Australia’s visible military history can be assured. The Prime Minister, then Leader of the Opposition, committed himself in June 2007 to recognising the Ballarat memorial if Labor won government. The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs stated on 19 March 2008:

The Australian Government will soon be able to deliver on its election commitment to recognise the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat as a memorial of national significance …

He said:

It is fitting that Ballarat’s Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial is the first memorial accorded national status under this … legislation.

The explanatory memorandum to the bill says:

The Bill will provide a mechanism to honour the Government’s election commitment to declare the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat, to be a national memorial. National memorials are recognised under the National Memorials Ordinance 1928 and are restricted to memorials within the Australian Capital Territory. This Bill will recognise the national significance of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial … and will enable, in the future, other memorials that meet specified criteria, to be recognised as a Military Memorial of National Significance.

I am hoping that this new legislation will ultimately do very well for electorates like mine. As I have said on many occasions, the electorate of Forde is quite a diverse electorate. We go from the high urban density in the northern end to the sprawling farmlands of the south, but within that, of course, sits the people who make up the community. We as a nation and as a community have given a certain level of respect, and pay tribute very regularly, to people who have served this country and to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. So, for me and the electorate of Forde, there is so much significance.

Growing up in a family that had many military personnel, including decorated personnel, going back to just after the Boer War, I grew up with oral history to a large degree and with a lot of the memorabilia that come with that. My father tragically died 20 years ago—he was a World War II veteran—and the stories and the understanding that I had of his service and the actions that he took during and after the war, and certainly the way that he paid tribute to his comrades in the years following the war, are interesting. Interestingly enough, I realise now that a lot of people from his era—certainly those who went before him in earlier campaigns—are no longer with us, so it is very important that we find ways of ensuring that we can maintain an understanding of our past.

The electorate of Forde has a very rich military history. Many in the House would probably not be aware of just how rich that history is, although many would know the names that I am going to mention in this speech tonight. You might find it surprising, Mr Deputy Speaker, that during the Second World War 20,000 American soldiers from the US 32nd Infantry Division were based at Camp Cable. Camp Cable is located between the townships of Logan Village and Jimboomba. That is now quite a populous region of some 10,000 people. From 1942 to 1943 there were 20,000 American soldiers who resided there. If you compare that to the population today it is quite significant.

In July 1942 the American 129th and 120th Field Artillery Battalions of the 32nd Infantry Division left Adelaide for their new camp, which initially was called Camp Tamborine because it is adjacent to Tamborine Mountain and Tamborine Village. Most of the personnel were sent overland by train, but others were sent by liberty ships. In brief explanation, the liberty ships were cargo ships that the US built for the British and also used themselves—in this case, for moving troops. Three days after departure, off the New South Wales coast, one of the liberty ships was torpedoed on its journey from Adelaide to Brisbane by a Japanese submarine. We know from the Battle of the Coral Sea and other actions that there was a lot of Japanese and enemy activity in the region. The only death, luckily, was that of 25-year-old Sergeant Gerald O Cable, Service Company, 126th Infantry, from Michigan. When the 32nd moved into the new camp at Tamborine, they decided to call it Camp Cable after the late Gerald Cable. After the war a Department of Main Roads engineer, Mr FS Parkes, suggested that a cairn of remembrance be erected to remember the Americans who served at Camp Cable. Other than these small memorials, there are no longer any visible signs of Camp Cable except for this shrine, which was erected near the original main entrance to the camp. The plaque reads:

CAMP CABLE

THEY PASSED THIS WAY

1942-1944

In the area, if you look at some of the earlier drawings and paintings of some of the local artists, you see that they capture a lot of the activity of the American troops while they were there. There are another couple of memorials that make up this area of Camp Cable near the original entrance. One is dedicated to Robert Dannenberg, who trained at Camp Cable and later lost his life in December 1942 in New Guinea. Another small stone was erected to remember a mascot dog called Vicksburg from Vicksburg, Mississippi. The dog was killed in a road accident at Southport in 1944.

The US 155th Station Hospital was also located at Camp Cable. The camp was evacuated during the battle of the Coral Sea and was a staging point for a lot of the actions in North Queensland. The 155th Station Hospital at Camp Cable was built on some high ground above the Albert River. There was a dental ward, an operating theatre, a barber shop, a mess hall, a kitchen, a PX store, nurses quarters, a motor pool, a hot water boiler house, a steam boiler house, a tennis court, a recreation hall and a sewage treatment plant. We are talking about 1942 and 1943 and 20,000 men. As I said, there is just no evidence of this having been in the region other than these particular memorials. The camp was built by an Australian civilian group, possibly the Civil Construction Corps, who had their own self-contained camp area adjacent to the hospital. Going on from that, and adjacent further down the road, is an area very well known to many people, the township of Canungra. Canungra is the location of a large military establishment called the Kokoda Barracks.

Debate interrupted.