Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Battle of the Coral Sea. May 2012 was the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea—the first time ever that the Japanese were turned around in the Second World War. Townsville played a significant part.

To celebrate and commemorate the event we asked high school students in Townsville to write an essay on the significance of the Battle of the Coral Sea. I am pleased to say that although this was voluntary, we had a great response from Kirwan State High School, Pimlico State High School and also William Ross State High School. The winner was Tegan Lynch, whose essay on the significance of the battle and the threats that it did pose to Australia was absolutely fantastic. She was closely followed by Chloe Riordan from Pimlico State High School, and Sam Smithers from Pimlico State High School completed the clean sweep for that high school.

It is also important to recognise that the Battle of the Coral Sea was the very first time that ships were not in direct contact with each other during the battle but the battles were fought by aeroplanes launched from aircraft carriers. The aim of the Japanese was to secure Port Moresby. We were able to stop that and from there push them back up to Guadalcanal to the Battle of Midway and on through.

Although we lost the actual battle, the significance of the battle was fantastic for the defence of Australia, considering the people in the battle were pretty much militia men. Most of the professional fighting force was in Europe and unable to return to Australia.

I would also like to say a special hello to the Indigenous Youth Parliament here today. In the words of the Binal people of North Queensland: waddumulli.