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

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, whilst we reflect on the very great sacrifices and burdens that are borne by the men and women of the Australian Defence Force it does seem an appropriate time to also celebrate a moment of very great courage and to celebrate particularly the courage shown by Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith, who on 23 January was awarded the Victoria Cross in recognition of extreme devotion to duty and the most conspicuous gallantry. In receiving that award, the highest award our nation can give, he becomes the 98th Australian to ever receive it, the third still living, and the first from Western Australia since 1945.

Ben Roberts-Smith has been called a hero, a legend and a role model, and he is all of these things. But he is also a human being, a husband and a father who grew up in Perth, went to school and played sport just like every other Aussie kid. But when he joined the Army 15 years ago he took on new risks and new responsibilities; risks and responsibilities that most of us will never comprehend. The greatest of these responsibilities and the core of the Anzac story is to look after your mates. On that day in June last year when our Australian forces came under insurgent attack, Ben did what he needed to do to bring his comrades safely home. As he would say later on—and put so simply—‘You don’t let your mates down.’ He did not.

I have had the opportunity now to talk to Ben on three occasions and on each of them I have been struck by his unassuming nature. He is a humble man who wants nothing more than to return to his unit and to return to his mates. Ben, who was quickly dubbed by the newspapers ‘Big Ben’—you have got to love a headline like that—is a man of very big stature, but very big in character as well. If you have seen him, as I have, with his wife, Emma, and their baby twin girls, Eve and Elizabeth, you are struck by his gentleness and the depths of his love. If you have met his remarkable family—father, Len, mother, Susan, and his brother Sam, who is an opera singer—you are struck by their close bonds and abundance of different talents. Ben is a remarkable Australian from a remarkable family.

Ben’s award and the award to Mark Donaldson two years ago show that the VC tradition lives on in a new generation, a generation as brave and as selfless as those which have gone before. I honour Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith, and gratefully commend his valour to this House and to this nation.

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

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I am very pleased to rise and echo the words of the Prime Minister. What we have just witnessed in the House today shows that the war in Afghanistan is not without its successes while it has its fair share of tragedy.

The Victoria Cross is the highest and most respected military award that can be given by our country. The highlight of the ceremony of conferral of the Victoria Cross on Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith was the salute that he took from the Chief of the Defence Force. Metaphorically today we all salute him, as every Australian metaphorically salutes him for the rest of his life.

The Victoria Cross is not so much a celebration of martial prowess as of selflessness in time of war. Every Victoria Cross winner has put his life on the line for his mates. Ben Roberts-Smith risked his life to relieve his comrades who were under withering machine-gun fire at the time, just as a couple of years earlier Trooper Mark Donaldson risked his life to rescue an Afghan interpreter who otherwise would certainly have been killed. These remarkable men are great heroes, but they are human beings too. We cannot all be soldiers but we can all be our best selves. May Ben Roberts-Smith’s example and that of his mates inspire every Australian to do more for other people.