Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Seventy years ago today, more than 15,000 Australians, predominantly from the 8th Division AIF, went to hell as Singapore fell to the Japanese and another horrific chapter began in our nation's history, as well as for our allies and the people of Singapore. The indelible scars of these horrific times remain with us to this day and serve as a reminder of what we must never forget.

The Australian prisoners were taken to Thailand, Burma, Borneo, Japan, Manchuria, Indochina, Formosa and Korea. In total, 22,376 Australians were ultimately taken prisoner by the Japanese in South-East Asia during World War II—8,031 of these Australians never came home. These figures are often rounded, but I think it is important in this place that we remember and record our gratitude for the service and sacrifice of each and every one of these great Australians for the love of their country. Our POWs were starved and they fell victim to diseases such as cholera, malaria, dysentery and beriberi and died agonising deaths. They were humiliated, they were force-marched and they were press-ganged into terrible labour. They were beaten, they were beheaded and they were bayoneted. They were shot and they were murdered with a brutality that I cannot imagine, I cannot comprehend and I cannot bear to think about. But think about it today we must and remember it this day we must, especially in this place, and every day we can—because it was their captivity which was the price of our freedom.

After 68 days of a Japanese onslaught along the Malaysian peninsula, the allies were trapped on Singapore Island. Beset by heavy fighting, they surrendered at the old Ford motor factory in Singapore. The unthinkable had happened; the impregnable fortress had fallen. Prime Minister Curtin told the nation:

The fall of Singapore opens the battle for Australia.

Last year, I had the solemn privilege to join 12 young Australians, the member for Blaxland and the member for Lyne as we visited the old Ford motor factory, the allied bunker, the Changi War Museum and the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore. We then walked the Sandakan Death March in Borneo in the footsteps of more than 1,000 POWs who started their POW journey in Singapore 70 years ago this day. Only six returned.

As our mateship trek concluded in Ranau, where the member for Lyne's grandfather was murdered, I recall only too well the eerie contrast between the peaceful greenery of the jungle gorge in which we solemnly stood and the reverberating clamour of silent voices that cried still—the voices of the victims of Australia's greatest ever military atrocity. While they took up their fight in captivity, others took up the fight on the battlefield. Whether it was the 39th Battalion 'chocos' storming into a firestorm at Kokoda, the hell of the Buna and Gona campaigns, victory at Milne Bay, the defence of Wau, the taking of Lae or our landing at Balikpapan, battles were fought and won, blood was spilt and treasure lost. Heroes rose to the occasion—Ted Kenna at Wewak, Bruce Kingsbury at Isurava, Tom 'Diver' Derrick at Sattelberg in New Guinea—but none more significant in our remembrance than 'Weary' Dunlop in those POW camps.

We remember those they fought alongside on those fateful days in Singapore. We ought not forget the fierce and oppressive yoke that fell upon the people of Singapore for almost four years of Japanese occupation. Tens of thousands of lives were lost in mass executions, but the hardship did not cease with the end of the war. Singapore rose once again, however—a testimony to the leadership and strength of our friends and allies who overcame adversity to achieve self-confidence, security and prosperity. That a nation could rebound as quickly and significantly as it did is truly remarkable—to become a thriving economy, a key player and leader in our region and, importantly, a great friend of Australia.

On this 70th anniversary we think of them too—of the camaraderie we shared at a time of great darkness and of the national friendships which have flourished in the 70 years which have passed since. Our shared stories of adversity in the terrible chapter which began for both our nations 70 years ago today remain an enduring reminder of the strength of the human spirit. As we remember the fall of Singapore today, as we remember those 8,031 Australians who died at the hands of their captors in the most terrible of circumstances, may we say on this solemn day, 'Lest we forget.'