Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently had the great pleasure of visiting the RAAF base in the electorate of Pearce, the RAAF Base Pearce, where I attended the graduation parade of the No. 2 Flying Training School students who have recently completed the No. 214 RAAF Advanced Pilots’ Course. Having seen the 16 newest pilots in the country firsthand, I thought this was a great opportunity to let the House know that Australia’s security and our future is in safe hands.

I have been attending services at the RAAF Base Pearce over the 15 years that I have been the member for the Pearce electorate. While the personnel and the commanding officers often change, one thing that does not is the absolute dedication of these young men and women and of those engaged in the management and training programs of the base—a dedication to their training, a dedication to making the most of their abilities and a dedication to their country. These abilities and attributes see quality men and women turned out each year, after which they are assigned different postings around Australia.

It is interesting to note that the Royal Australian Air Force is the youngest of the three armed services in Australia and yet—as the House is perhaps not aware—is the second oldest independent and permanent air force in the world, which I feel underlines our commitment and willingness as a nation to embrace new technology and innovation.

The pursuit of excellence is reflected in the aims of the course provided to young pilots. It produces a pilot who is capable of flying training aircraft with the skill and confidence necessary to allow ready transition to operational aircraft. When you see the precision flying that takes place on that base, especially at graduations, you realise just how important their discipline, their knowledge of the capability of the aircraft and their attention to every minute detail are in ensuring that they are able to control the aircraft—if they are not, of course, it may endanger life.

Apart from being able to fly these incredible aircraft, the graduates must also be capable of discharging the duties and responsibilities of a junior officer in the Australian Defence Force. Therefore, they must have outstanding leadership capabilities. While attending the graduation at the base I was shown around by Squadron Leader David Campbell. One could not hope to find a better example than Mr Campbell of the kind of citizen the military can turn out. Mr Campbell is incredibly articulate, confident, disciplined and well-mannered—all skills the youth of Australia could benefit from learning. Mr Campbell is very much at the forefront of that training. (Time expired)