Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House::

(1) that the spirit of ANZAC is one of special significance to all Australians as it showcases the attributes of courage, mateship and sacrifice which were demonstrated at the Gallipoli landing;

(2) that the ANZACs helped define us as a people and as a nation, they were ordinary Australians who performed extraordinary deeds and were drawn from the smallest towns and biggest cities;

(3) that the Government is enabling Australians to honour the service and sacrifice that epitomises the ANZAC spirit by increasing the funding allocated to each federal electorate across Australia to $125,000 via the ANZAC Centenary Local Grants Program; and

(4) the Government's commitment to community-based commemoration, as promised at the last election.

I rise today to move this motion of national significance. The spirit of Anzac is one that defines our nation. It exemplifies all that is great about Australia: courage, bravery, mateship, determination and sacrifice. This year is especially significant, as it represents the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli.

Gallipoli is a moment in our history that we memorialise and commemorate for its magnitude and the impact it has had on our nation. The Australian troops at that time showed their heroism when they stormed the beaches, against all odds. Tragically, our nation lost 8,709 young men on the beaches of Gallipoli between the first landing on 25 April 1915 until the battle's end on 8 January 2016. We must also pay tribute to the 2,701 New Zealanders who also perished. It is moments like this that have brought our nations together.

Having only recently taken part in the Anzac Day ceremonies, it is clear the importance that this historic moment plays in the Australian psyche. Anzac Day is a day on which every Australian reflects on the First World War and its impact, both on the lives of so many Australians and their families and on our nation's identity. To mark the occasion of the 100th anniversary, the government is implementing the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program.

The grants will go towards the holding of commemorative ceremonies and the preservation of the historic and socially valuable monuments and artefacts that relate to this period. The government supports the Centenary of Anzac commemorations and gives this grants program due recognition of the extraordinary world events, where so many lives were lost and destinies irrevocably altered in the defence of freedom. The grants program will also facilitate a reflection by this generation and ensure that the magnitude of that sacrifice will continue to be acknowledged by future generations.

Under the program each electorate receives up to $125,000 as part of the grants process, and applications have come from local RSLs, schools, nursing homes, community organisations and individuals, to name just a few. In my electorate of Higgins, a Centenary of Anzac grants committee was established to review and recommend the applications. I would like to show my gratitude and appreciation to those on the committee who worked so incredibly hard: Chairman Lt Col. (Retd.) David Blackwell, Rev. Bradly Billings, Adrianne Fleming, Garry Thompson, Sharon Werka and Robert Millis. Each of them brought their expertise and each of them gave generously of their time to this most worthy cause.

The committee's work has been vital in seeking the community views on how best to commemorate the centenary and assist me in reviewing all applications for funding prior to their submission to the Department of Veterans' Affairs. To date, there have been 33 applications for grants in Higgins. They range from memorial stones, plaque restoration, commemorative services and digital archiving.

I am pleased to announced that submissions from Villa Maria, St John's Anglican Church, Toorak RSL have all been approved by the department, with submissions from Armadale Primary School Melbourne High School, South Yarra Primary, St George's Anglican Church, St Kevins Boys School, Ashburton Primary School, De La Salle College, Glen Huntly Primary School, Malvern Valley Primary School, Murrumbeena Primary School, Oakley Grammar, St Michael's School, King David School, Solway Primary School, St Cecilia's Primary School, East Malvern RSL, Prahran RSL, Stonnington City Council and Yarra Trams still pending approval.

There is no doubt that the centenary of Anzac 2014 to 2018 will be one of the most significant national periods of commemoration in Australia's history. It is therefore vital that we work together as a community to ensure we pay appropriate tribute to the thousands who answered the call to serve Australia during the First World War and the many who gave their lives in defence of our liberty.

In Higgins we will be taking part in a very special commemoration ceremony. My committee has organised a special commemoration march, a special map has been drawn up of all of the sites of significance in my electorate, and there will also be a service held by all of the churches and the synagogues in my electorate to commemorate this occasion. I would like to thank the minister and the government for their foresight in putting together this special program. It is something that all Australians will be able to recognise together.

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. As a Tasmanian, I congratulate you on your appointment to the Speaker's panel.

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the next 18 months or so, we will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day. In a community like mine, where some 60 per cent of people were born overseas, it is worth reflecting on the fact that there are probably relatively few people in my community whose families were not touched by the horrific war known as World War I. There are probably some whose ancestors fought with Australians and New Zealanders at Gallipoli.

At the time of World War I, around 25 per cent of Australians were born overseas. An estimated 30 per cent of ANZAC soldiers were drawn from that population. Unsurprisingly, most of those were British born, as enlistment in the Australian Imperial Force was at first confined to those of European descent. The rules were relaxed as the war went on and people enlisted from countries as varied as the Philippines and Malaysia to Germany and France, as well as our own Indigenous Australians.

While it is unknown how many Australian soldiers were of Chinese background, two were very well known at the time. One was Billy Sing, whose father migrated to Australia from Shanghai. He ended up being the most outstanding sniper on Gallipoli before going on to the Western Front. Another Chinese-Australian was Caleb Shang, known as Charlie, a message runner and a very brave signaller and sniper on the Western Front. He served in a number of battles and became the most highly decorated Chinese soldier that we have any record of and, in fact, one of the most highly decorated Australian soldiers, being awarded the distinguished conduct medal not once but twice.

Greeks also played a large role in World War I on behalf of Australia, although again their contribution is not as well known, as most Greek-Australian stories arise from the post-World War II migration. But 57 ANZACs across the whole war were born in Greece, and eight of those fought at Gallipoli. The most well known is Georgios Papas, from Queensland, who received a distinguished conduct medal for gallantry, awarded because he was wounded while retrieving other wounded under heavy gunfire.

For people in my community of Vietnamese descent, their relatives may well have fought alongside Australians at Salonika in Greece. My Senegalese and African families may have ancestors who fought with the French forces at Gallipoli, who fought alongside ANZACS. Then, of course, there were the Maltese—six immigrants from Malta and one second generation Australian-Maltese from Melbourne. Four were killed in action in France, two in Belgium and one at Gallipoli, and their remains are buried there. Another 30 Maltese-Australians were engaged in combat in Gallipoli and they survived and returned to Australia as ANZAC survivors.

Of course, the spirit of Anzac Day has a deep Sikh connection. Being subjects of the Crown under British rule in India, Sikhs and other Indians had no choice but to participate in World War I because they were recruits in the British Army. A million Indian troops fought in the First World War. Of them, 700,000 were pitted against the Ottoman Empire. In Gallipoli, they formed part of the New Zealand and Australian Division. Of 5,010 Indians who served in Anzac, 1,926 died and 3,863 were wounded, some more than once. The number of dead, although horrific, paled in comparison to the number that died in France and Belgium. The 371 Sikhs who died fighting at Gallipoli on 3 and 4 June 1915 were from the battalion of the 14th Sikh Regiment. The troop's commander, General Sir Ian Hamilton, wrote:

In spite of the tremendous losses there was not a sign of wavering all day. Not an inch of ground was given up and not a single straggler came back.

The ends of the enemy's trenches were found to be blocked with the bodies of Sikhs and … the glacis slope was thickly dotted with the bodies of these fine soldiers all lying on their faces as they fell in their steady advance on the enemy.

The Indian Army was represented on Gallipoli by the 7th Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade, the Indian Mule Corps, a medical establishment and the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade. The artillery brigade arrived at Ari Burnu with and ANZAC troops and was there from the first day until the final evacuation. It consisted of the 21st Kohat and the 26th Jacobs Mountain Battery, manned by Sikh and Punjabi Muslim gunners, a complete brigade, which served with a day's relief and prided itself on being the first in and last out among the artillery units on Gallipoli. Fourteen Indian soldiers earned the Victoria Cross. The number of Indigenous soldiers who fought at Gallipoli is largely unknown because they were recruited not under the Indigenous badge. In fact, they could not enlist as members of the Indigenous community, but they were there in numbers and should also be remembered.

Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me much pleasure to support the motion moved by the member for Higgins. I do so with an element of reminiscence because a generation ago some social pundits were reasonably predicting the end of the Anzac Day era. By the end of the 20th century, the 1915 Gallipoli campaign and, indeed, the wider Great War had continued to cast an influential shadow across the Australian social landscape. Predictions of declining interest became louder when the final Australian survivor of the Gallipoli campaign, Alec Campbell, passed away in May 2002. Yet, Australia has not seen the end of Anzac commemoration. In fact, quite the opposite is true. More and more Australians enthusiastically join the growing crowds, replete with every multicultural flavour, heritage and cultural taking part in solemn and respectful services every chilly April.

Last Anzac Day in northern Tasmania I joined a big gathering of veterans, families and supporters at the Georgetown dawn service and then at the mid-morning march and ceremony in Launceston. In Launceston, crowds line the streets two and three deep on both sides of the route as veterans young and old moved between them. Far from declining, the expression 'Anzac' and that for which it stands has been nationally embraced and even revitalised. Despite the fact that Australians are busier now than ever before, I doubt that this vital interest will change in the future. By why has the Anzac legend wrong-footed the pundits? Australians are a hard bunch to label or characterise but above all they are a pragmatic, perceptive, generous and gracious people. They are pragmatic enough to recognise the unfortunate need to fight some wars, perceptive enough to understand the futility and wastefulness of most wars but equally generous and gracious to recognise and honour the sacrifice of those who participate in them and who do not come back or, if they do, are changed by the experience. Most importantly, Australians recognise that such sacrifice is made voluntarily in their name and Australians consciously choose to keep and remain faithful to this recognition. Like the US Marine Corps, they are semper fidelis, always faithful, every loyal. Though they may not say it publicly, the pithy expression 'Lest we forget' has been embraced by Australians as few nations on earth and they continue to demonstrate that they have not forgotten, through their actions by publicly and respectfully commemorating the fallen every year.

It is fitting, too, that Gallipoli and Anzac have come to be the collective catch-all expressions under which Australia's multiple wars, conflicts, police actions, peacekeeping and peacemaking missions have been warmly acknowledged by a grateful nation. This phenomenon recognises that Gallipoli was just the start of 100 years of Anzac sacrifice.

That said, a small minority in our community engage in unfortunate revisionist history. Earlier this year, I wrote an article in response to our national broadcaster, the ABC, giving prominence to those who claim that the story of Gallipoli is 'a myth blown out of all proportion'. A story aired on the ABC on 27 January this year containing commentary from a small group that asserts we should focus on the misogyny, racism, discrimination and exploitation at Gallipoli. Instead of honouring more than a century of service and sacrifice by almost one million men and women in uniform, the ABC on that occasion honoured instead the opinions of those who trawl through the history of 1915 Cairo brothels. The wearing of black armbands started in ancient Egypt, but there are clearly those in the ABC still wearing them, intent on nudging the historical pendulum from pride to guilt.

Australia has a new and younger community of veterans, some 72,000 of them during the last decade—and my daughter amongst them. The fact that many of them have been harmed physically or psychologically by recent war makes the lead-up to the Gallipoli centenary next year even more poignant and relevant. With this in mind, I applaud the Anzac Centenary Local Grants program, which will ensure some wonderful commemorative events in my electorate of Bass and across our nation. I again commend the member for Higgins for her motion which maintains this most worthy Australian commemorative tradition and practice. Lest we forget.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to note the bipartisan support for the centennial Anzac commemoration announced by the honourable Julia Gillard on the centenary of Anzac 24 April 2012. The Australian government's Anzac Centenary Local Grants program is assisting and encouraging communities across Australia to undertake their own Anzac centenary projects that commemorate the service and sacrifice of Australian servicemen and service-women in the First World War.

I want to take a moment to thank the independent panel members in Lalor who have assessed and made recommendations on 10 projects from the community: the honourable Tim Pallas state member for Tarneit; Ms Margaret Campbell, a respected local historian and author; and Ms Judith Gilbert, a longtime history teacher and now secretary of the B24 Liberator restoration in Werribee. Only one has at this time received approval and it is creating much excitement. This was promptly submitted by the Little River Historical Society on the day the applications opened. It is for a World War I nurse memorial for Sister Catherine Kit McNaughton and Sister Sarah Sadie McIntosh. They were cousins, both born and raised in Little River. The memorial is to honour the role and the contribution made by local serving women during the Great War. It will be unveiled to coincide with the centenary of the departure of Sister McNaughton from Station Pier in Port Melbourne to her wartime duties on 17 July 1915.

Kit McNaughton's story will also be shared with the broader Australian public this year through Screen Australia's miniseries The Other Anzacs, launched at Parliament House last week, and the ABC documentary series, The War That Made Us, which will be launched at Parliament House tomorrow evening. On behalf of my community, I would like to thank Dr Janet Butler for her curiosity about the nurses from our region and her pursuit of family history for her research. Through that research, she found the diaries kept by Kit during her war service and wrote Kitty's War:The Remarkable Wartime Experiences of Kit McNaughton, published in 2013. Janet was awarded the New South Wales Premier's History Award for 2013 for this work.

I and many from my community attended the launch of Janet's book in 2013 at the shrine in Melbourne. This event brought together people from all over Australia, many of whom were descendants of nurses and servicemen who knew Kit from the war. Janet's research took her all over the country, talking to families about their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and great-aunts. From the diaries of Kit McNaughton, Janet traced many of the nurses who served with her and heard their stories. Through letters and diaries and stories, Janet was able to trace not just their service but their relationships and their lives after the war. Janet's work has informed the ABC documentary to be launched as part of a series tomorrow night. I also acknowledge the work of Clare Wright, our most recent recipient of the Stella Award, for her work on the documentary.

It is important to note the belated acknowledgment of the nurses of the Great War by our country. Kit McNaughton's service was mentioned in dispatches by Winston Churchill. After the war, she was awarded the Royal Red Cross First Class, a British award presented by the then Prince of Wales—who became King Edward VII—on his visit to Australia in 1920.

However, she did not receive an Australia award. In fact, she had to fight for a part-veterans pension in the later years of her life when the trials of her service tolled heavily on her health. Sadie, who never married, had to apply to the Edith Cavell fund for financial assistance in 1950. Therefore, I think it is fitting that modern Australia now looks back and acknowledges the sacrifices made by our serving nurses, the way their service changed the way they saw themselves and others and, in time, the way Australia saw itself. I look forward to Kit and Sadie having a permanent memorial in the town they grew up in, and in the region they returned to, where Kit married and raised her family. I would also note that Kit McNaughton is my grandmother.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Higgins for bringing this motion forward. I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of it. Anzac Day is very important to my family in so many ways. I am the mother of a serving soldier in the Australian Army; the daughter of a fighter pilot from World War II and subsequently a prisoner of war; and the great granddaughter of Sir George Pearce, Australia's longest serving defence minister. It was also TJ Ryan, Premier of Queensland and chairman of the first Anzac Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland after whom my seat of Ryan was named. Also of interest is that Canon David Garland, 'the architect of Anzac Day' as he is known, is buried in the Toowong Cemetery along with 300 soldiers from the First World War. Anzac Day has been observed each year since the memorable landing on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.

In no way does the commemoration of Anzac Day glorify war. Rather, it recognises the sacrifice that our servicemen and servicewomen have made. It is in this tradition that, as we stand for a minute's silence each year, we remember that we are standing in the presence of the dead and their living friends and relatives. It is an occasion for humility and reverence, for silence and thought. Sir George Pearce, as Acting Prime Minister, formally decreed Anzac Day. In his recent book, Anzac and Empire, John Connor, one of Australia's leading military historians, details that 'Pearce was almost single-handedly responsible for creating the key institutions of Australia's modern defence organisation: the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Royal Australian Air Force.' Connor goes on to say that 'to understand Australia in the Great War, you must understand the man behind it.'

To say that our fighting men were drawn from the smallest towns and biggest cities is evidenced by the following statistics. From 1914 to 1918, Australia was a country of a mere four million people. Yet, 416,000 enlisted for service, representing 38.7 per cent of the total male population aged between 18 and 44. Of those, 57,705 were Queenslanders. By the end of the war, nearly 59,000 of our men were dead, 166,811 wounded and 4,000 were missing or prisoners of war. At almost 65 per cent, the Australian casualty rate was the highest of the war. Of the 63 Victoria Crosses that were awarded, five were from Queensland. The ANZACs helped to define us as a people and as a nation. They were ordinary Australians who performed extraordinary deeds and who were drawn from the smallest towns and the biggest cities.

Recently I attended the opening of the Kenmore-Moggill RSL sub-branch where I had the opportunity to discuss with Kenmore State High School's deputy principal, Mr Andrew Blight, the research project being undertaken by the school, in conjunction with the RSL. Students are tasked with researching a local soldier killed in action during the First World War. This creates the opportunity for the next generation to understand and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live in freedom. Students are uncovering the stories of our local heroes as part of the broader community's centenary commemoration of Anzac. St Joseph's school at Bardon has also undertaken a similar project with their grade 7 students. It was an honour to join them last week at the Australian War Memorial.

In my electorate of Ryan, we have taken advantage of the coalition's commitment of a further $25,000 to the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program, totalling $125,000. My electorate community committee recently approved a list of very high quality projects, which will see our community understanding, respect and commemoration grow for the spirit of the ANZACs and for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

Pending ministerial approval, I look forward to seeing the positive outcome of these grants and the benefit that the projects will have on the wider community and on the broader centenary of Anzac commemorations.

I wish to close by paraphrasing the sermon of the secretary of the original Anzac committee at St John's Cathedral, marking Anzac Day 1924. Quoting from John 15:13, he said:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Canon Garland went on to say that there was no room for anything other than a solemn observance of Anzac Day and to expand on his often expressed belief that Anzac Day was the All Souls Day of Australia and that it was therefore inappropriate to wear vestments or play joyous music of triumph but rather be penitent and filled with sorry for a world which caused the sacrifice of bright young lives, our dearest and our best. Lest we forget.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Higgins—a motion that acknowledges the spirit of Anzac and how Anzac has helped define us as a people and as a nation. The landing at Gallipoli—when Australia had barely been a nation for 14 years; a nation in its infancy; a nation which still saw itself as a British colony—by Australian soldiers on that rugged peninsula was really the birth of Australia as a nation. The Gallipoli campaign was a major campaign. Australian and New Zealand troops fought under their own flags for the first time and under their own commanders. They were fighting as Australians for Australia. It is because of that that Anzac Day and that landing at Gallipoli is so special. We can only imagine the despair and marvel at the determination of spirit of those brave men who refused to take a backward step against almost impossible odds.

This is a very appropriate motion that we have before us today. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Shortland electorate Anzac committee and acknowledge the people involved in the committee: Allan Bargwanna, the chair of this committee; the Mayor of Lake Macquarie, Jodie Harrison; Councillor Chad Griffith from Lake Macquarie Council; Councillor Doug Vincent from Wyong Shire Council; the principal of Belmont High School, Geoff Robinson; Peter Stephenson OAM, the RSL state councillor for the Newcastle and Northern Region; Warren Welham, the deputy principal of North Lakes High; Darren McManus-Smith, RSL state councillor for the Central Coast and metropolitan area; and my dear friend Colonel Jim Hodgson, retired, who is 90 years of age and who has made an enormous contribution to the considerations of the committee.

I was pleased when the government increased the Anzac commemorative local grants by $25,000 to $125,000 but I was extremely pleased when the Labor government put in place this program. It is a good initiative and one that will ensure that the memory of Anzac continues on in the history of our nation—although I think that that would happen regardless. In the Shortland electorate the committee has come up with a number of fantastic grants, and I would like to thank everybody who has submitted proposals. I would like to particular thank my staff member, Lisa McDermott, who has overseen this process.

The Redhead Sustainable Neighbourhood have put forward a proposal for three murals and plaques at Redhead Public School. Redhead is one of the communities within the Shortland electorate who has a very strong history relating to involvement in both the First World War and the Second World War. Kahibah Public School has a proposal for an Anzac garden at the school. The East Lake Macquarie Historical Society is putting together the publication of a local Anzac history book for Shortland. St Brendan's Catholic school, on the Central Coast, proposed a remembrance garden and student booklets. Swansea RSL put forward a fantastic proposal for a new rising sun memorial on the foreshore of Lake Macquarie, and that will connect with a similar memorial in Western Australia. The Pelican RSL subbranch put forward a proposal for commemorative medallions for all of Shortland electorate's students.

I would like to add that the Doyalson RSL did put in a proposal for a medallion, but they did it outside the guidelines. I really appreciate their contribution, but unfortunately the minister could not support the proposal. I thank them for going ahead and doing that, regardless of the fact that the proposal could not be supported.

Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Whiteley, I would like to congratulate you on your elevation to the Speaker's panel.

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have only been there for seven months!

Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He is a comedian as well!

An honourable member interjecting—

He is a Tasmanian. Deputy Speaker, I would also like to acknowledge today in the chamber the presence of my good friend the brigadier, the member for Bass. He has served our great nation in Afghanistan, Syria, South Lebanon and Iraq.

Today we rise to speak in a bipartisan manner on a dignified motion put forward by the member for Higgins. The legend of Anzac embodies the spirit of our country, rising out of the Boer War diggers and enshrined on the bloodstained shores of Gallipoli. Together with our brothers and sisters across the Tasman, we joined forces and service, and far, far too many of our young men made the supreme sacrifice. Through our united toils and tribulations, the unique qualities of the Anzacs stand clear. In the words of Charles Bean:

… Anzac stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat.

I would like to add to that list courage, sacrifice, ingenuity, good humour, larrikinism and, of course, mateship. Gallipoli's coming just 14 years after the Federation of our country marked a defining moment in the formation of our nation's identity.

I would like to acknowledge the men and women from the Lindsay community who served. According to the AIF project database, around 352 Australian Imperial Force personnel enlisted with an address in the Lindsay electorate at the time of enlistment, including 246 from Penrith, three from Castlereagh, three from Llandilo, 20 from Emu Plains, seven from Mulgoa, three from Colyton, 64 from St Marys and six from Werrington.

It is true when they say that men were drawn from the smallest of towns and the biggest of cities. In a small town to the south of my electorate, a village called Luddenham, we saw Arthur Booth, Sid Willmington, Jim Roots and many of their mates go off to war. Even to this day, there is a picture of these men, who formed the Luddenham light horse brigade. When Arthur Booth was in Australia, he graded both Mulgoa Road and the Northern Road. He was my great-grandfather. Jim Roots was a legend that lived for over 100 years. He was a local butcher and from 1911 had a butcher's run. And Sid Willmington? He worked at the Luddenham post office. They were truly men of small towns.

I would also like to acknowledge today the $125,000 grant that will go towards our community to acknowledge the service of so many Anzacs who gave their life and their time, leaving from outer western Sydney. I also thank for their work the committee who have served to ensure that we make a good tribute and that the tribute that we provide from our region will appropriately mark the 100th anniversary of Anzac. They include Neville Barnier, Tony Fryer, Faye Lopo, Gary Rumble, Marilyn Stacey, Alan Travers and Erik Weller. I would like to thank them for their service. The Anzac soldiers have helped define us as a people and as a nation. In doing so, I would like to finish with a poem, We're all Australians now by Banjo Paterson. Banjo Paterson's war poetry so often—I possibly biased—tells us of the visions and form so much of our nation's past and future. The poem reads:2

So now we'll toast the Third Brigade,

That led Australia's van,

For never shall their glory fade

In minds Australian.

Fight on, fight on, unflinchingly,

Till right and justice reign.

Fight on, fight on, till Victory

Shall send you home again.

And with Australia's flag shall fly

A spray of wattle bough,

To symbolise our unity,

We're all Australians now.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to thank the member for Higgins for bringing forward this important motion regarding the upcoming Anzac Centenary commemoration. The initiative to commemorate the Anzac Centenary, and World War I to that extent, across Australia is very much a bipartisan effort. I am glad that the current government has decided to continue the funding under the Anzac Centenary local grant initiative, which was brought forward by the former government.

World War I and, in particular, what occurred at Anzac Cove nearly 100 years ago has greatly contributed to building Australia's national identity and shaping the country that we have today. This grant will allow communities across Australia to participate in commemorating a vital time in world history and in shaping Australia as a nation. I am proud to say that my local community has been working hard to develop unique and highly thoughtful ways of participating in this project. The Anzac Centenary Committee, which I established in my electorate last year, has been meeting regularly. It consists of representatives from local clubs, ex-serviceman's associations and schools. It has been working particularly hard to involve the community and young people in very much a collective effort.

I would particularly like to thank Elizabeth Godwin, Principal, Cabramatta High School; Michael Foulkes, Group General Manager, Cabra-Vale Diggers; George Taylor, Jim Thompson and John Dillon from Cabra-Vale Diggers; Barry Brooks from the Fairfield RSL Sub-branch; John Baron from the City of Liverpool RSL; Reg Bonney from the National Servicemen's Association; Taffy Pritchard from Canley Heights RSL; Bill Lottey from St Johns Park Bowling Club; and Geoff Lewsam, committee chair of the St Johns Park Bowling Club. The committee has met regularly and has worked in a very cooperative way to ensure what we regard as a truly unique and exciting way of placing the younger generation at the forefront of these commemorative activities.

The primary project in my local community that will commemorate Australia's involvement in World War I will involve more than 20,000 students from 41 local schools participating in an art competition. The students will have the opportunity to express their understanding of Australia's involvement in World War I and its effect in shaping modern-day Australia in a reasonably unique but certainly very artistic way. The opportunities for learning are immense, not only for the students taking part in the art competition but for the entire community. The winning works will be displayed during a large commemorative event on commemorative Sunday in 2015. The winning pieces will form part of a travelling exhibition and will be turned into a permanent print and electronic resource to be distributed throughout the electorate and particularly throughout schools. The overall theme of the project is 'The importance of not taking peace for granted'. It is a poignant theme. It is a lesson that is important to pass on to younger generations. To optimise the learning opportunities an educational calendar, highlighting daily events from 28 June 1914 to Remembrance Day 11 November 1918, will be created and disseminated using social media. I will be participating in the launch of this actual calendar later on this week.

Between 2015 and 2018, we will be planting a tree at each school in my electorate, a tree which is a descendant from the actual Lone Pine itself.

The Anzac centenary project that will be carried out across my electorate of Fowler, and similar projects across Australia, provide a great opportunity for the whole community to embrace and recognise the importance of maintaining peace and of paying respect to those who gave their lives to ensure that Australia remains a democratic and free country. I commend this motion and I commend all members of parliament taking part in these commemoratives celebrations.

Debate adjourned.