Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House record its deep regret at the deaths of Private Nathan Bewes, Trooper Jason Brown, Private Tomas Dale, Private Grant Kirby and Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney while on combat operations in Afghanistan and places on record its appreciation of their service to our country and tenders its profound sympathy to their families and friends in their bereavement.

On behalf of the whole House I extend heartfelt sympathy to Private Nathan Bewes’s parents Gary and Kay, his sister Stephanie, and his partner Alice Walsh; to Trooper Jason Brown’s parents Graham and Ann and his sister Stephanie; to Private Tomas Dale’s parents Karen and David and his brothers Samuel and Joe; to Private Grant Kirby’s parents Jo-anne, Gary and Dianne, his sister Lauren, his brothers Luke and Shaun, his former partner Edwina and his two daughters Isabella and Madeleine; and to Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney’s wife Beckie, his daughter Annabell and his son Noah, his parents Terry, Jane and Ian and his siblings Caleb, Jordan, Meg and Charlotte.

I also want to express my deepest sympathy to the extended family and friends of these five brave men, including the members of their respective units, whose service in Afghanistan has been so distinguished. Our thoughts are with them as they come to terms with the loss of their mates.

As all members know, these five fine men have already been brought home and laid to rest, but it is important that we the people’s representatives remember their sacrifice here in the heart of our nation’s democracy. We must always be grateful, because a nation that allows itself to forget is not worthy of the legacy they have left to us. But we will not forget. We will remember these five men who came from different suburbs and towns, attended different schools and held different beliefs but who came together in the fellowship of our Defence Force, united by a single ideal: to serve our nation in the noble profession of arms. They did so willingly, because every member of the Australian Defence Force is a volunteer. They deliberately chose a life of hardship and danger, and there can be no greater sacrifice than that which is freely made for others.

I know that not every Australian, or indeed every member of this parliament, accepts the wisdom of our presence in Afghanistan. That is why we will have an open and intelligent debate on the subject, worthy of a free and sovereign parliament. In that debate the government will steadfastly defend its policy that Afghanistan is a necessary engagement directly linked to Australia’s security needs. We will restate our position that no Australian soldier will stay in Afghanistan a day longer than is necessary to do the job. That is, of course, a debate for another time.

Today we honour the courage of these men and their 16 colleagues who made the supreme sacrifice before them. We reaffirm that every soldier who serves at the behest of an elected government goes with the guarantee that they will be sustained in the field and also when they return. That is especially so for those who are wounded or traumatised—to them we owe unstinting support. We owe also a special duty to the bereaved, because the five men we honour today have all left parents, siblings and friends, along with two widows and four fatherless children who will be embraced by a lifetime of care and support. Above all, we owe a debt of honour to those who gave their best years and the full measure of their future hopes for our sake. Grant Kirby was 35; Jason Brown and Jared MacKinney were 29 and 28; Nathan Bewes, 23; and Tomas Dale, 21. Soon their names will be inscribed at the Australian War Memorial, joining them forever to the ranks of the Anzac legend, where they belong. Over the century to come I am certain that no year will pass without a comrade or loved one coming to Canberra and placing a poppy next to their names on the Roll of Honour, because the truth is that, as Australians, we do not forget. We remember our own. We remember their courage and their sacrifice and their very clear sense that in this world there are things worth fighting for and things worth dying for. A country that can count such men amongst its people is a very fortunate nation indeed.

Today we recall these fine men as they were a few short weeks ago: fit and strong, highly trained, much loved by their families and so very proud of serving in the Anzac tradition. They left as soldiers and we welcomed them back as heroes: home for good, at peace forever and remembered always. I commend the motion to the House.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members—Hear, hear!

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since this parliament last met Australia has lost five fine soldiers. I join with the Prime Minister in mourning the loss of Private Nathan Bewes, Trooper Jason Brown, Private Tomas Dale, Private Grant Kirby and Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney—all fine soldiers, all serving their country and all now lost in the war in Afghanistan. They were professional soldiers. They were dedicated to the Army, they lived for the Army and they died for their country. We mourn their deaths and we support the mission on which they were embarked.

I join with the Prime Minister in stating and restating the support of the coalition for the cause for which they were fighting. Like the Prime Minister I remind the House that there is no such thing as a risk-free conflict. There is no such thing as risk-free combat. A serious country with serious armed forces has to be prepared to take casualties if the cause is just, and this is a just cause. Helping to build a more stable society in Afghanistan is a good cause; helping to train the Afghan National Army is a good cause; helping to build decent civil institutions is a good cause; helping to promote ordinary human decencies in a troubled country is a good cause; and trying to deny Afghanistan as a base to those who would do us harm in Australia is undeniably in Australia’s national interest and is fully supported by the coalition which I lead.

Our armed forces in Afghanistan have a hard job and a dangerous job, and let’s not kid ourselves: it may well be a long job. As the Prime Minister said, they will not stay longer than is necessary but we should not pretend that it may not be a long and difficult task. As the Prime Minister said, we have lost five fine men but we best honour their memory by staying the course on which they were embarked. We mourn with their families. We mourn their passing but we celebrate their lives and we celebrate their cause.

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a sad honour to speak on this condolence motion. It is an honour as Minister for Defence to commend the service of five brave young Australians serving in Afghanistan but it is a sad one as we are tragically reminded that these men are sons, brothers, husbands and fathers. They were also the great mates of men and women in the Australian Defence Force, in particular those who were in Afghanistan facing the same risks as these five Australians. I met with some of them last week while visiting Australian personnel working as part of the International Security Assistance Force—ISAF—in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan last week, I was particularly pleased to again hear that Australian personnel are highly valued and respected for their effectiveness and their conduct, including their interaction at the local community level as they continue to work not just in Australia’s national interest but in the international community’s interest as they seek to stare down on our behalf international terrorism.

The families of Private Nathan Bewes, Trooper Jason Brown, Private Tomas Dale, Private Grant Kirby and Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney can be proud in knowing that their boys were highly regarded colleagues and very effective soldiers. This condolence motion will remind them of their great and tragic loss but it is also an opportunity for this parliament and our nation to commemorate their service to our country. While their families will remember these men for more and very personal reasons, we will remember them as brave young Australians who served our country and served it well.

Mr Speaker, I make some remarks about the five. On 9 July 2010 Private Nathan Bewes was tragically killed by an improvised explosive device while part of a dismounted patrol in the Chora Valley region in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan. He was 23 years old. Born in Kogarah, New South Wales, in 1986, Private Bewes joined the Army in 2005. He was qualified in direct fire support weapons, combat first aid and as a driver of the protected mobility vehicle. Private Bewes completed a deployment to East Timor in 2006 and was on his second deployment with the First Mentoring Task Force in Afghanistan at the time of his death. His father stated:

The army was his life-long passion. It was all he wanted to do.

On 13 August 2010, Trooper Jason Brown died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds sustained during an engagement with Taliban insurgents in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. He was 29 years old. Born in Sydney, Trooper Brown joined the Army in 2000. Trooper Brown completed deployments in East Timor in 2001, 2003 and 2006. He was deployed in June of this year for the first time to Afghanistan as a member of the Special Operations Task Group. Trooper Brown was an outstanding career soldier. His father stated that he was ‘born to be a soldier.’

Private Thomas Dale was serving in the First Mentoring Task Force when he was killed in action as a result of the explosion of an improvised explosive device on Friday, 20 August this year. He was 21 years old. Private Dale was born in Lancashire in the United Kingdom in 1989. He immigrated to Australia with his family in 2003 and lived in Adelaide. He joined the Army in 2007. After successfully completing his recruit and infantry basic training, he was posted to the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. This was Private Dale’s first operational deployment. Private Dale was an outstanding soldier. His family stated:

Tomas loved the Army and it was all he wanted to do from an early age. He knew the risks from going overseas but he was willing to take that risk for the cause he believed in.

Private Grant Kirby was serving with the First Mentoring Task Force when he was tragically killed in action as a result of the explosion of an improvised explosive device on Friday, 20 August of this year. He was 35 years old. Private Kirby was born in Nambour, Queensland, in 1975. He joined the Army in 2006. This was Private Kirby’s first deployment to Afghanistan. It was, however, his second deployment to the Middle East. He had previously deployed to Iraq and also to East Timor. Private Kirby was an outstanding career soldier. His father said that his son always had been keen to be in the Army—and I quote his father:

In fact after suffering shin splints in his first attempt to join, he stuck with it and successfully tried again.

Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney. On 24 August this year, Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney was tragically killed. He was conducting a dismounted patrol in the Tangi Valley area of Deh Rawud when fired on by a number of insurgents. He was aged 28. Lance Corporal MacKinney was born in Canberra in 1982. He joined the Army in 2002 and, in the same year, successfully completed his recruit training. He was qualified as a commander and driver of the protected mobility vehicle, an Assault Pioneer and a sniper. This was his third deployment to the Middle East and his second to Afghanistan. His mother said:

He was patriotic. He was a dedicated soldier who was realistic about the risks.

These five men had much in common. They were all men of honour. They all served their nation with distinction and courage. They were all cherished by those they loved. And they will always have the gratitude of this parliament and our nation.

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join with the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Defence in offering my heartfelt condolences to the families of five warriors slain on the battlefield—Private Bewes, Trooper Brown. Private Dale, Private Kirby and Lance Corporal MacKinney. They leave behind four wives and partners, four children and numerous siblings and parents. These men were doing what their nation asked of them, and it is therefore entirely appropriate that we all take measure of their sacrifice here today.

It was not so long ago that, under similar joyless circumstances, this House recounted the lives and tragic deaths of private Timothy Aplin, Private Benjamin Chuck and Private Scott Travers Palmer. Not long before that we remembered the lives of Sapper Jacob Moerland and Sapper Darren Smith, two sappers who the member for Paterson and I met personally in Afghanistan in April as they showed us their gear and spoke of their responsibilities, all whilst the sun shone down on the Australian flag they wore proudly on their shoulders.

Today as we gather in this place we again pause to remember those who have given their lives freely for their country—four infantrymen from the 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment and one trooper from the Special Air Service Regiment—five Australians, fallen warriors who have paid the ultimate price so our world can dare to dream of a life free from terrorism and Afghans can dare to dream of a life like ours. George Orwell once said that we sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. The sacrifice of these men is not in vain. They are a beacon of inspiration to others to provide a better future for the people of Afghanistan. They stand tall as men who believed that all people, wherever they may live, should have the opportunity to live in a world free from violence, intimidation and repression.

Though it can only ever be a small comfort, these men died doing what they loved, serving their country in uniform beside their mates, asking no quarter and giving none, believing in the rightness of their cause. They were five highly professional, skilled and dedicated soldiers. They knew the great dangers; they accepted the great sacrifices, and they served in the fine traditions of our country, knowing that the only way that evil prospers is if good men and women do nothing. These five warriors will never share a place with those souls that stand by in ambivalence. Their place will be forever one of honour. They were soldiers. If freedom is indeed the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it, then these five stand tall in our nation’s history. The ancient warrior statesman and king Pericles, who founded the Athenian nation 2,500 years ago and led that nation during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War, stated:

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

Lads, your families will never forget you. Your mates will always honour you and this nation thanks you and salutes you.

Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the cross-benchers I would like to extend the sympathies of the electorates that we represent and join with others in this condolence motion. I think on a day like today when we are celebrating democracy, we can really feel for the families of these five young men who were there defending democracy and representing this nation. I have a saying that I use from time to time which I think may be somewhat appropriate to both occasions. It is that the world is run by those who turn up. We think we turn up—and we do to influence the world around us and to determine policy et cetera—but these young men really turned up for the thing that we represent and what they and our governments have believed is worth fighting and dying for. I do pay my personal respects and the respects of all our constituents to the families of these five young soldiers.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! As a mark of respect I invite honourable members to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank honourable members.

Debate (on motion by Mr Albanese) adjourned.