Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Thursday, 27 September 2012 it was a great privilege for me to join the 292 Squadron in the consecration parade of their Governor-General's banner. In particular, it was a great pleasure to join the Governor of South Australia, His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce, who was the reviewing officer, and the Premier of the state, Jay Weatherill, in what was a wonderful parade on a very beautiful Adelaide day. This parade was flawless, I have to say. It was a great example of a parade out there at Edinburgh.

I want to congratulate the parade appointments: the parade commander, Wing Commander Roger McCutcheon; the parade adjutant, Flight Lieutenant Nicola Rhodes; the parade warrant officer, Warrant Officer Steven Peters; and the holding squadron commander, Squadron Leader Colin Gray. The escort squadron included the commander, Squadron Leader Nicholas Pausina, whom I know because he was my escort on an ADF exchange, and he is a constituent of mine. There was also the adjutant, Flight Lieutenant Michael Sleeman; the warrant officer, Andrew Ribbans; the No. 1 flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Christopher Pendleton; and the No. 2 flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Troy Murphy. In the representative squadron were the commander, Squadron Leader James Hawking; the adjutant, Flight Lieutenant Matthew Coombes; the warrant officer, Warrant Officer Nicholas Harding; the No. 1 Flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Adam Steff; the No. 2 Flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Darryl Guerin; the No. 3 Flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Philip Southwood; and the No. 4 Flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Alexander Cave. In the colour party were the colour bearer, Flight Lieutenant Matthew Basedow; the colour warrant officer, Warrant Officer Kevin Schibrowski; and the colour escort, Flight Sergeant Deb Robertson and Sergeant Adam Driscoll. The master of ceremonies was Flight Lieutenant Philip Blakers. As I said before, it was a flawless parade undertaken by those parade appointments and by all of those from 292 Squadron who were parading that day.

The motto of 292 Squadron is 'Prepare the hunter'. It plays a vital role in assisting 92 Wing, which is based at Edinburgh, in doing its job. Its job over the last decade has been very busy indeed. I have been fortunate enough, when I did my Australian Defence Force exchange at Edinburgh, to see what all of the squadrons at Edinburgh do. In particular, I was fortunate enough to go out over the Timor Sea with 292 Squadron and see the important work that it does in border protection. Seeing that work up-front and close and personal changed my mind about many of our border protection issues, and it certainly gave me a great appreciation of the important role that 92 Wing plays up there and the important role that 292 Squadron plays in training and preparing them to do that job.

Getting a Governor-General's banner is no small thing. Non-operational units can only get it after 25 years of service in the Air Force, so it is regarded with great reverence. Colours have of course been associated with military units from the earliest of times.

This was a great day with flawless parading by 292 Squadron. I congratulate it on receiving its colours and on its flawless parade. I wish it every success into the future.