Louise Markus (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The book I referred to in this debate previously, First World War Soldiers of the Kurrajong, referred to a family of brothers, the Lavender brothers, whose story is perhaps unique in that so many from one family volunteered. The brothers were Trooper Andrew, Trooper Victor Michael, Private Clemence Joseph, Lance Corporal George, Private Clive and Private Daniel Sydney Lavender. It is not common to find six brothers who all volunteered to serve in the First World War and returned home. If their father, Henry Lavender, had been a bit younger, perhaps he would also have answered the call and, if the war had lasted longer, perhaps the other seven siblings would also have served—a very special family.

The Woodford Academy, I am delighted to say, also received funding under the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. They engaged in a number of projects. The Make Your Mark in History program included a number of items: an audiovisual interpretive exhibit, permanently on display; interactive e-books, which are also on display in the museum, on three iPads, and which I have had the privilege of enjoying; and the national curriculum year 9 history unit, which is a comprehensive research training program conducted in the classroom and on-site. The 1917 honour board will also be refurbished, with the missing names of 12 boys who went to the war added to it. In all, 54 students from Woodford Academy served in the First World War.

I turn to my own heritage with regard to Anzac history. My grandfather on my mother's side, G Courtney, born in Dapto, New South Wales, enlisted on 8 February 1915. The record of Australian military forces, the Australian Imperial Force, records that he was in the 18th Battalion and notes that he was 18. He was actually only 15. He served at Gallipoli and in France. He embarked on HMAT Ceramic on 25 June 1915, a young teenager, not knowing what he was to face over the next four years.

The records note that on 15 April 1917 he was transferred from the 18th Battalion to the 4th Australian Field Ambulance. As my family tell the story, the reason for that was that they found out he was under age. In fact, his family had been searching for him. When the army realised he was under age, they transferred him from the 18th Battalion to the 4th Field Ambulance. I think he actually saw and endured a lot more during that experience.

The 18th Battalion, part of the 5th Brigade, trained in Egypt from mid-June through to mid-August, and on 21 August landed at Anzac Cove. The battalion had not been ashore a day when it was committed to the last operation of the August offensive, the attack on Hill 60, which lasted until 29 August and cost it 50 per cent casualties. As you read my grandfather's record, you see, time after time, 'illness', 'typhoid', 'shrapnel wounds'—the list goes on.

The 18th Battalion was spared from having to mount an attack across the quagmire that the Somme battlefield had become but did have to continue manning the front through the winter. In 1917, the 18th was involved in the follow-up of German forces during their retreat to the Hindenburg line and was involved in some particularly heavy fighting around Warlencourt in late February.

The 4th Field Ambulance served in the 4th Division. After my grandfather's transfer to the division, the history records relate that, in June 1917, they were in the Battle of Messines and, in September 1917, the Battle of Polygon Wood. In March 1918, the division was rushed to the Somme region to stem the German offensive. The list of their actions goes on. Casualties in the 4th Division included: killed in action, 8,360; died of wounds, 2,613; deaths, 872; prisoners, 2,026; wounded, 27,127. That tells the story of the people that my grandfather served with.

The Australian War Memorial's records refer to one of the most hazardous medical jobs, that of the stretcher-bearer. I have a poem I would like to read out, called Stretcher-Bearers:

Stretcher-Bearers! Stretcher-Bearers!

Seeking in the rain

Out among the flying death

For those who lie in pain,

Bringing in the wounded men—

Then out to seek again.

Out amongst the tangled wire

(Where they thickest fell)

Snatching back the threads of life

From out the jaws of Hell;

Out amongst machine-gun sweep

And blasts of shatt'ring shell.

For you no mad, exciting charge,

No swift, exultant fight,

But just an endless plodding on

Through the shuddering night;

Making ('neath a star-shell's gleam)

Where ere a face shines white.

Stretcher-Bearers! Stretcher-Bearers!

To you all praise be due,

Who ne'er shirked the issue yet

When there was work to do;

We who've seen and know your worth

All touch our hats to you.

This was an anonymous tribute to stretcher-bearers written by an Australian soldier in 1918, in the AIF magazine, Aussie.

There are also a number of relatives on my father's side who served. In fact, his father, John Tyrell, served, as well as Henry Thomas Tyrell and Joseph Michael Tyrell.

What is really important about commemorating the Anzac Centenary this year is that we have the opportunity to acknowledge all those who served. Some made the ultimate sacrifice; others returned home. My own grandfather came home and raised 14 children, believe it or not. Many of them have made a significant impact on this nation. As I stand here today, I honour them and I remember their sacrifice, their love, their courage and their passion for freedom.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on this motion on the Anzac Centenary, and I thank the Prime Minister for putting it forward. At dawn on 25 April 1915, some 16,000 Australians and New Zealanders, the first ANZACs, surged ashore at Gallipoli, in north-western Turkey, in a place we now call Anzac Cove. The journalist Charles Bean—who narrowly outpolled Rupert Murdoch's father, Keith, to be elected Australia's first official war correspondent—described the troops who came ashore that morning as being from 'the outer states': Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and my home state of Queensland. Famously, or should I say infamously, the troops landed about a mile north of where they planned. Charles Bean, in his first report to then Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, offered this description of the landing area:

... a small bay about half-a-mile from point to point with two much larger bays north and south...the hills rising immediately from the sea to 600 feet. To the north these ridges cluster to a summit nearly 1,000 feet high.

One ridge comes down to the sea at the small bay and ends in two knolls about 100 feet high, one at each point of the bay. It was from these that fire was first opened on the troops as they landed.

Bullets struck fireworks out of the stones along the beach. The men did not wait to be hit, but wherever they landed they simply rushed straight up the steep slopes.

So ends the quote. This initial fire from the Turkish defenders soon intensified. By mid-morning, the Anzacs were enduring withering rifle and machine gun fire from above as well as constant shelling. What a hell it would have been. Private Edward Boughen from the township of Rosewood, in Ipswich, in my electorate of Blair, was one of those thrown into battle that day.

Thanks to the Ipswich Historical Society, we know a little of Edward Boughen's story. We know he had attended Rosewood State School. We know his father was a carpenter. And we know that on 20 August 1914—just 16 days after Britain declared war on Germany—Edward Boughen enlisted in the 9th Battalion, the Queensland battalion, of the Australian Imperial Force. Edward was assigned the rank of 'Bugler' and travelled from Brisbane to Melbourne and then to Fremantle for the voyage to Egypt. On 25 April 1915, the 9th Battalion was first ashore at Gallipoli as part of the 3rd Brigade. In the hours that followed, likely as he sprinted along the firing line, carrying a message forward, Edward Boughen from Rosewood was killed. He was just 20. Private Edward Boughen was one of the 650 Australians who lay dead at the end of that first Anzac Day. Many more lay wounded, suffering terribly, and hundreds in the hills were beyond the reach of help. On the beach, the injured waited all day for space on the barges to carry them to medical treatment. You see, there were no spare boats to carry them to the hospital ships until all the troops and stores had been landed. At the end of that first Anzac Day, our troops had fought and died to advance scarcely a kilometre inland and secure a shaky foothold of land.

We celebrate Anzac, not because Gallipoli was Australia's first foreign battle; nor was it uniquely an Australian experience. There were many comrades from other countries. The Gallipoli campaign is not significant because it ended in victory. It didn't. Despite the bravery, sacrifice and unselfish devotion of our men and women at Gallipoli, none of the campaign's vague objectives were met. And when our forces were withdrawn in late December 1915, some 11,448 Anzacs were dead and many more wounded. Perhaps the enduring legacy of those Anzacs and their endeavours at Gallipoli is their courage, mateship and selflessness—the values that we consider fundamentally Australian. Our stamina, courage and good humour when the chips are down was exemplified at Anzac. Our sense of community and selflessness when we see others in need was emphasised and epitomised at Anzac.

On Anzac Day every year we honour our fallen, when we do our best to live by the values they demonstrated in their final moments. They were ordinary people who did ordinary jobs. They were people from every town and city in Australia, including many from the area I represent—the Ipswich and Somerset region, which contains the RAAF Base Amberley, where army and air force personnel are stationed.

People like Private Edward Boughen from Rosewood served at home and abroad, on land, at sea and in the air. Many followed him in the wars afterwards in Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf—not to forget the two world wars. There are peacekeeping operations around the world. As the federal member, I at times go to see the troops departing from home. They continue to serve in the Middle East and Afghanistan. All too often their lives are lost or sadly affected. We remember the families they left behind, whose grief never dimmed.

This year on Anzac Day itself, I had the privilege of attending seven Anzac Day services in Blair, to stand with members of my community and reflect on the courage and sacrifice of those who have defended our nation. I am pleased to report that Anzac Day services in Blair were attended in record number this year.

When Labor was in government, we created the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program, and I am pleased that the current government has continued it and extended it. I want to report on a number of successful projects in my electorate. The Toogoolawah RSL Sub-branch has received $5,500 to support a historical re-enactment of the Charge of Beersheba—the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade's famous mounted charge at the third Battle of Gaza on 31 October 1917. The re-enactment will take place at the Toogoolawah Showgrounds. Many members of the Light Horse were drawn from Toogoolawah and surrounds, and many decedents of those original soldiers continue to live there today.

The Bundamba Anzac Observance Committee received $6,539 to create a living memorial to the 12 Bundamba boys who gave their lives in the First World War, and for a plaque and tree honouring the centenary of the Dungaree March—a recruitment drive that stopped at Bundamba State School in 1915. It was the only 'snowball march' in Queensland during the First World War—a march of 270 kilometres from Warwick to Brisbane, gathering volunteers along the way, including 42 at Ipswich.

The Ipswich Adventist School at Brassall received $5,447 to update and relocate the school's Memorial Stone and flagpole to provide more room for the ever increasing numbers at the school's Anzac Day service. Brisbane Valley Heritage Trails received $2,633 to produce a book entitled The Colinton Boys, which will share the history of the 42 young men from the town of Colinton who enlisted in the First World War. There are only about 55 people on the electoral roll at Colinton, which shows the contribution that that little country town made at that time. St Edmund's Christian Brothers College Old Boys Association received $1,921 to publish a book about the 72 men listed on the Woodend Honour Stone and to commemorate those who died in the First World War.

Brisbane Valley Uniting Church received $2,168 to refurbish its First World War Honour Board and produce a related booklet. The Pine Mountain and Districts Historical Society received $10,000 as a contribution toward the Pine Mountain honour stone memorial project. Despite a rich history of service and sacrifice, Pine Mountain has had no official memorial to local service personnel. The Eastern Suburbs Anzac Day Commemoration Committee received $2,860 for the design, production and dedication of a marble Anzac Centenary stone at Cameron Park, Booval. I opened it officially with other members of the committee last Anzac Day. The Military Brother Incorporated received $250 for the Dungarees Recruitment March Centenary Ride 2015 commemorative plaque.

The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce received $20,000 to assist with the establishment of the Springfield region's first permanent military memorial at the Robelle Domain Parklands, Springfield. I commend the chamber for the work they have done. St Brigids Catholic Primary School received $10,000 to construct an Anzac Memorial Garden in the school and church grounds. Ipswich City Council received $14,808 to assist with the redevelopment of the popular Ipswich Memorial Garden in the heart of Ipswich City. The Esk RSL Sub-branch received $11,990 to erect a memorial at the main cenotaph in Ipswich Street, Esk, that depicts the centenary of the Gallipoli landings.

In Blair, I was pleased to work alongside a local volunteer committee which reported on grant proposals for commemorative projects in Ipswich and the Somerset region. I extend my warm thanks to that committee including: its chair, Jim Runham OAM; then Somerset regional councillor and now the member for Ipswich West, Jim Madden MP; Ipswich City councillor Andrew Antoniolli, former National Party cabinet minister in the Bjelke-Petersen government Beryce Nelson, my good friend; Elizabeth DeLacy, a great local historian and psychologist; Phil Gilbert from the Ipswich RSL; former Bremer State High School principal Bruce Saxby; Ipswich citizen of the year and National Servicemen's Association president, Brian Hall; and the secretary, Kylie Stoneman, one of my electorate officers, who did great work in coordinating everything.

The projects funded by the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program will help ensure the continuation of the Anzac legacy in Blair, where so many military personnel have lived and made sacrifices in their own person and family life in war and in peacekeeping around the globe.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am grateful that the debate on the motion relating to the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli has been continued to enable us all to contribute. For me, this is about being Australian. It is certainly Anzac and it includes our New Zealand brothers and sisters, but it is about the values of our citizenship and what it means to be Australian, when you can identify with those people who have put their lives at risk to give us the freedom that we enjoy here in Australia today. As I think about the way in which Anzac Day is being commemorated Australia wide, I can see why so many people in the past suggested that it may, in fact, best be Australia's national day. What those diggers, as we call them, were about was defending our way of life—and it is unique here in Australia. We respect the rule of law. We have a parliamentary democracy. We welcome people from all over the world to be part of our family. We believe that these entitlements that we enjoy are important enough to defend.

When I reflect upon the way in which my electorate deals with these issues, I am proud of the way in which tens of thousands of people are now coming together regularly. The population that comes together on those occasions reflects the diversity of Australia. Some of the people I am seeing have been allies in other engagements that we have been involved in—the Vietnamese and the Koreans—but I see the Indians and the Chinese, and they see the importance of this event and they now come out to commemorate it. I have been at Gallipoli, I have spoken my Lone Pine and I know how important this is in our history and how important it is for our nation.

It is in that context that I want to note—as I did on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War, where we noted, in a number of memorials around my electorate, the importance of that event—on this occasion, through the Centenary of Anzac grants, the people of my electorate were able to come together. The RSL branches, the sub-branches and the clubs, along with the schools, were able to plan activities which were important. We were able to upgrade our First World War commemorative statues and monuments.

On Anzac Day, I started at 4.30. I do not know whether everybody does at that hour in their electorates. But I was at the Hornsby RSL dawn service, where, as I said, I estimated more than 10,000 people were along what was the old Pacific Highway. It was inspiring to see the park and the cenotaph filled with our veterans, with our young scouts and guides, and with parents and children. The service, in our case, was led by Rod White. Maybe you are coming to know him more, because he is now the New South Wales president of the RSL. He has contributed greatly and facilitated the work of the Berowra Anzac Committee.

We had a similar service at Berowra, organised by the RSL. We were at Annangrove, Glenorie and Beecroft, and I might say that there were events elsewhere at other times involving my communities and the schools. Grants were provided; $12,100 was provided to the Kenthurst primary school. We saw there a new flagpole, brass plaques as well as educational material. For the Hills District RSL, for a new flagpole, there was $1,500; for the Lions Club of Beecroft, for a memorial, $7,000. For a sandstone memorial for the Berowra RSL Sub-branch—a very substantial addition to the longstanding memorial they have had—there was $17,600; the Annangrove Progress Associated updated theirs for $5,400. For the Brooklyn RSL Sub-Branch, for a bronze sculpture of a First World War digger, there was $15,000

For the Marian Catholic College Anzac Centenary garden there was $5,400; for the Redfield College sandstone memorial and statue, $20,000; and for the Pacific Hills Christian School, for their service and special ceremony, $2,400. The Hornsby Shire Historical Society produced an education booklet—$4,900. There was also the Northholm Grammar School commemorative wall.

I might say that I was delighted at the way in which my electors, the citizens of Berowra, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. I am particularly grateful for my state colleagues and the mayors of both Hornsby Shire Council and the Hills Shire Council, together with Major Rod White, Bob Dobson, Alan Forno, Ken Shadie and Dick Gadsden in particular, who came together and regularly attended the committee meetings which planned the engagements that we had in Berowra to commemorate the 100th anniversary of that very significant landing at Gallipoli.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli is a significant event. To acknowledge and understand the 100 years journey that we have just been on, tonight I want to deliver a speech that, hopefully, will enlighten someone who reads this speech in 100 years time. So, in preparing, I have gone back and grabbed some statistics from 100 years ago so that we can understand the transition as a country and as a nation that we have made.

Before I do that: my electorate of Wright is predominantly an agricultural seat, based from the Gold Coast to Toowoomba. There is deep history in my electorate, as there is in those of all of the members of this place. I want to thank the Anzacs, who gave such a commitment to our country, who gave the ultimate sacrifice and who provided a blanket of security for us as a nation for us to sleep under each night so that today we enjoy the pleasures we do, unfortunately due to the sacrifices of the brave men and women who went before us. I want to associate my comments tonight with some of the heartfelt commentary that has gone before me tonight from previous speakers about bravery and the accolades that need to be bestowed upon those brave men and women.

If you are reading this speech in 100 years time, let me take you on a journey. A hundred years ago, Australia was a young nation in more ways than one. Our average age was 24. That was the average age in our country. Today it is 37. Back then, the census showed that the Northern Territory had the oldest median age of 41, with Tasmania the youngest, with a median age of 22.4, so 100 years ago Tasmania was the frontier for our youth. A century later, it is completely reversed, with Tasmania now being our oldest state, with a median age of 40.8, and the Northern Territory, at 31.5, the youngest. Today, the Northern Territory provides opportunity and a haven for those with an element of excitement about them—fishing, tourism, a high income. In Australia in 1915, those aged 65 were classified as being of old age. How about that! Sixty-five was considered to be old. This week we gave tribute to a member of this parliament who passed away. His age was 62, and by all definition in this House we referred to him as a man who passed away way too early at the age of 62.

The average household today has two fewer people than it did in 1915. There was an average household occupancy of 4.5 people; today it is down to 2.6. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in the future. Back in 1915, Sydney was the city where most Aussies resided. However, Adelaide today has twice the population that Sydney did back then. As many people live in Sydney today, 4.9 million, as lived in the whole of Australia 100 years ago.

A loaf of bread would have cost you 3½ pence. A loaf of bread today will cost you around $2.50. Milk has gone from threepence to $1.50. However, land prices' rise has been even more significant. For example, blocks in newly developed suburbs were around 200 pounds, compared to around $600,000 today. You can only quantify what land prices may be into the future.

Irrespective of whether we talk about 100 years ago or we talk about today or we talk about what our country will look like in 100 years time, I advocate that the spirit of Anzac will live on forever. The spirit of Anzac that is being embraced by our younger generation is most comforting. Our Anzac Day parades around our national cities, our national capitals and our regional communities are exponentially growing, year in, year out. Our education system focuses on the contribution that our Anzacs made, and I hope that that will remain the case into the future.

To cite some of those examples in my electorate: on Anzac Day I had the opportunity to attend a community called Beechmont. Beechmont is a small community in the Gold Coast hinterland. They celebrated their Anzac Day somewhat differently, but it was rich with emotion. They celebrated by finding the descendants of those from their community who had gone to war and had not come back, and, for each person from their community, one of their family descendants got up and spoke passionately about what their role was in their community before they left, before they went away to war. It was a heartfelt ceremony in a community that is connected to the spirit of the Anzacs—a tradition in that community that I know will live on because there was not a dry eye, 100 years on, from those descendants who gave accolades to those brave people.

Anzac Day is also an opportunity for us to remember those soldiers who have been involved in conflict who may not have returned as well as they should have. At the Mount Tamborine Anzac Day service for the Anzac Centenary, I had the opportunity to meet a soldier who had been a commando in the Australian forces who was suffering the with the most debilitating illness—not physical, but mental. His stature was one of a very fit, buff, intimidating figure; obviously, he still keeps up his fitness regime. But he came and approached me and he shared with me some of the stories of how he—still today—suffers from the conflicts that he was involved in. And it reminded me that Anzac Day should be not only about remembering those magnificent sacrifices but also about remembering those who made a contribution to war, in whatever way that might have been, and then returned home to their communities—and that sometimes, we as a nation should have been more mature. We should have been more gracious.

I am currently reading a book, written from an Australian domestic perspective, about some of the conflicts that existed internally—in particular, those on the wharves of the then union movement who hampered the transition of medical supplies to our troops, and who raided the personal sacks of soldiers going off to conflict—for cigarettes and other goods. I hope that we as a country have matured since then, and learned from our mistakes there. The last 100 years for us have been something to celebrate for the bravery of those that have gone before. I hope that into the future, we as a nation learn from that. Evidence is already indicating that we are embracing the spirit of Anzac. We are truly embracing it. And we as a nation should be proud of that.

I want to acknowledge in my closing comments the contributions of some friends of mine who assisted with the grants program in my electorate, and who are ex-servicemen in their own right—chairman, Gordon French, and committee members, Marcus Bruty, Brian Ranse and Simon Warner: for your contributions to overseeing, from a commercial perspective, the federal government's grants to help communities commemorate the Anzac Centenary. I thank you so much for your diligence and for the commercial experience that you brought to that process.

Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year marks 100 years since Australian and New Zealand troops landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey on 25 April 1915. In this centenary year, we came together—as we do every Anzac Day—to remember our nation's most significant commemorative event. By the end of the eight-month campaign, more than 8,700 lay dead. The Anzac spirit—the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice—was born on that day 100 years ago.

Australia's broader contribution to the First World War is breathtaking. From a population of less than five million, some 417,000 Australians volunteered and enlisted. By the war's end in November 1918, over 61,000 had been killed in action. A further 155,000-plus had been wounded. Australia's casualty rate was the highest in the British Empire. It is worth noting again: every one of these Australians was a volunteer. It is easy to get lost in the enormity of these figures; to lose sight of the very personal and tremendous sacrifice of each and every one of these individuals, their families, and their communities. Rural and regional Australia was particularly hard hit by the sacrifice. It is easy to form the view that the men and women who served at Gallipoli and throughout the First World War were superhuman—that they possessed qualities that made them 'natural' warriors, or better placed to deal with the horrors of war. The truth is that these young men and women were ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. This is the true tragedy, and indeed the true glory, of their sacrifice. They were young people from our cities, towns, villages and regions. They were confronted with the full horror of war and conducted themselves with honour. I like to think of them as extraordinary, ordinary Australians.

One of these extraordinary, ordinary Australians was my great-uncle, Bill Browne, who served on the Western Front, endured the horrors of the Battle of the Somme, and won a military medal in 1918. I was very privileged to have known him when I was a little boy. Another was my great-great-uncle, Charles Briggs Hardy. Charlie was a blacksmith's assistant from Sydney, and was aged 21 when he enlisted as a private in the 19th battalion in February 1915. My great-great-uncle served in Gallipoli and in France. Fortunately, he kept a diary of his time at the front, and the State Library of New South Wales has digitised this piece of history. The diary is moving reading—though some of my great-great-uncle's entries are less than politically correct, as one might imagine from a 21-year-old 100 years ago. In the early parts, for example on a particular day in August 1915, it is very matter of fact, with him recording on that day that 'Corporal Wilson got his head blown off. He was the first to go down in B Company.' And in September, he noted a friend had 'died of wounds. Hard luck for Dick.' Then to increasingly sad entries, such as: 'Today ... I am 22 years old and have never had such a miserable birthday in my life.' And there is a moving passage from 23 November 1915, where he writes of a dream of kissing his younger sister, Rose, in the trenches before going over the top to die. Private Hardy was wounded at Gallipoli—a 'holiday wound,' he called it—but returned to the fighting, and took part in the evacuation. He was wounded again, this time very seriously, at the tragic Battle of Fromelles on the 19 July 1916. Luckily that was the end of the war for him. He was shipped back to Sydney, married his sweetheart, had four children and lived till 1974.

The battle of Fromelles, as members would well know, was that dreadful initiation for the Australians to the Western Front. Over 5,500 Australians became casualties, almost 2,000 of them were killed in action or died of wounds and some 400 were captured. This is believed to be the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War. Many consider the battle of Fromelles the most tragic single event in Australia's history. But it is not just the Gallipoli campaign, or Fromelles, or indeed World War I that we commemorate on Anzac Day; we pay tribute to all the men and women who have served our nation in all wars, conflicts and on peacekeeping operations—the extraordinary, ordinary Australians to whom we owe so much.

I believe that it is tremendously important, as the local member and representative of the people of Eden-Monaro, to attend as many services and commemorations as possible. I would like to inform the House of some of the opportunities I took to do just that right across the region. It also highlights the creativity and imagination of the community I serve and the broad range of activities held to commemorate the centenary. Prior to Anzac Day, I visited the Bega historical society's exhibition The Great War: Tales from the Far South Coast, which opened at the Bega Pioneers Museum in March. This exhibition was made possible by funding under the Australian government's Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program and the Bega Valley Shire Council. The exhibition runs through until the end of 2018, thus commemorating the four years of Australia's involvement in the Great War.

In addition, I was very pleased to join the school community of Jerrabomberra Public School in their recent commemoration of the centenary of the ANZAC landings. I also had the great honour of unveiling a commemorative stone in the playground. It is always important for the children of today to have knowledge of the past and reflect on those who have served and sacrificed for our country. At Jerrabomberra, that service and sacrifice has a unique currency. Of the nearly 1,000-strong student body, approximately 230 are children of Defence Force members. These children, along with their friends and teachers, live the Anzac tradition of service and sacrifice each and every day.

Another Anzac Centenary grant project was the Queanbeyan PeaceKnits open day of cottage garden knit-art and other activities held to mark the 100th anniversaries of the 'war to end all wars' as well as of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom peace congress in 1915. Further, I joined the Cooma-Monaro Centenary of Anzac dinner held at the Cooma Ex-Services Club. This historic dinner was a fine and memorable salute to the men and women of the Cooma region. While only a small town of less than 2,200 people in 1915, several hundred enlisted from the Cooma district with 53 of them making the ultimate sacrifice.

I had the honour and great pleasure to attend an Anzac Centenary memorial dinner in Bombala, honouring the service, sacrifice and support to the nation's wartime efforts in all conflicts by the men and women of the southern Monaro. On the eve of Anzac Day I also attended the dedication of the new war memorial in Bombala. Another Anzac Centenary grant, this project has produced a striking sculpted rock centrepiece surrounded by boulders symbolising the 34 World War I names on the Bombala Cenotaph.

My Anzac Day was extremely busy but tremendously gratifying. I attended a moving dawn service in Bega. The Bemboka light horse troop emerged from the predawn mist creating a poignant and stunning opening for the 600 locals in attendance. I joined locals in Narooma for their 'gunfire breakfast' at Club Narooma. I was also able to speak with Jacob Castagna, who designed the magnificent memorial at the club. I attended the morning service at Bergalia, just south of Moruya. This tiny memorial, in a place that many in the House would not have heard of, was attended by more than 200 people from around the district. This service in Bergalia typified what this centenary of the Gallipoli landings means to our country.

In Moruya, I attended the launch of another centenary grant project, the Soldiers of the Eurobodalla. This project produced six documentary films detailing the lives of five servicemen and one nursing sister from our local region who served this country during the Great War. I then attended the morning service in Batemans Bay, where approximately 2,000 people gathered to commemorate the centenary. A particularly moving part of the ceremony was when special scrolls were given to families and descendants of a group of 26 fallen diggers who enlisted in Batemans Bay and are buried overseas. My final engagement for the day was the launch of another Anzac Centenary grant project. Some 465 men and women from the Braidwood district volunteered and went to Word War I, but 88 did not return. Individual booklets have been published on the 88 and the task continues for the 377 who did come home.

Over the years I have visited the cemeteries at Villers-Bretonneux and Gallipoli, and these experiences have left an indelible imprint on my mind. But so too does standing amongst your community, with young and old, on Anzac Day and reflecting on those extraordinary, ordinary Australians to whom we owe so much. Lest we forget.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to open by taking the opportunity to detail some of the important accounts from the Gallipoli campaign and World War I. The campaign at Gallipoli began with the arrival of the first Australian troops at 4.22 am on 25 April 1915. Throughout that day, more Australian and New Zealand troops arrived on the beaches. By the end of day one, it was clear that victory for the ANZAC forces would not come easily, and a bitter stalemate set in. Two unsuccessful attempts to force a breakthrough—the battle of Krithia in May and the August offensive—proved both costly and futile. After almost eight months on the peninsula, the ANZAC forces were evacuated, remarkably without further loss of life, on 20 December 1915. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Australians served at Gallipoli, more than 19,000 were wounded and 8,709 were killed in action. There were also 11,000 New Zealanders at Gallipoli: 2,721 were killed and 4,752 were wounded. This Anzac Day, just like every other before it, I not only thought about the Gallipoli campaign but also about the entire First World War and the century of service that has flowed from it.

Australia's involvement in the First World War came at a great cost to our nation. Out of a population of just under five million in 1914, more than 417,000 Australians volunteered to serve in the First World War and some 332,000 served overseas. Australia suffered one of the highest casualty rates of the allied forces. More than 61,000 made the supreme sacrifice and some 152,000, just fewer than one in every two who enlisted, were listed as casualties by the time of the armistice in November 1918.

Rural and regional Australia was particularly hard hit by this casualty rate. The men and women who wore the uniform of the First Australian Imperial Force were, by their own admission, ordinary Australians. They were called to duty to defend their nation and the values we hold dear. However, it was their extraordinary deeds on the battlefield which set them apart. This proud tradition has continued in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations involving Australians, spanning more than a century of service.

I was honoured to be able to contribute in my own little way to the lead-up to the Anzac Centenary through the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. The purpose of the Australian government program was to enable communities to support the centenary commemorations at a local level. I received 24 strong applications for the program and was able to award 15 organisations funding under the program.

One of the successful applications was from the City of Albany Band and the Albany Sinfonia to purchase the musical score to perform an Anzac Centenary memorial concert. I was privileged to attend their concert on 24 April at the Albany Entertainment Centre, which was packed with a sell-out crowd. We were treated to an acoustic delight of music ranging from classical to contemporary and reflective pieces, interspersed with reflective World War One poetry. The evening closed with a rousing rendition of Pomp and Circumstance to which the enraptured crowd belted out, 'Land of hope and glory.' The enthusiastic crowd were invited to sing along with other popular old favourites and were stunned to silence during a unique arrangement of Waltzing Matilda which included a lone bugle solo of the last post. Congratulations to all involved, including the City of Albany Band director, Jim Neil, and the Albany Sinfonia conductor, Vickie Reynolds.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the electorate committee who assisted me in developing an approach for commemorating the Anzac Centenary across O'Connor. Their hard work has made the 15 projects a reality.

This year there were more than 50 Anzac Day services held across O'Connor. This was a clear indication of our strong commitment to acknowledging the legacy the Anzacs forged for the service men and women who have followed in their footsteps.

Some towns used the Anzac Centenary to do something a little different with their services. The Shire of Kondinin unveiled a light horseman statue at Yeerakine Rock. The statue evokes the memory of the young locals who joined the 10th Light Horse Regiment all those years ago. Attending the unveiling was John Browning and his extended family, descendants of Charles John Browning, a young farmer who fought and survived some of the First World War's fiercest battles. They remembered the ultimate sacrifice of his cousin Bernard Browning and gave thanks for Charles's return, albeit badly wounded, to continue his life in WA. Many lines of his family, including his great-great-grandchildren, are still dotted on farms all around Kondinin.

The $16,500 horseman statue, paid for in part by a $10,000 donation from the Kondinin Community and Recreation Council, $2,500 from the Kondinin Hotel Community and Sporting Association and $4,000 from the Carols by Torchlight 'no smoking' grant of 2013, is a special tribute to mark the Anzac Centenary. The Kondinin RSL and shire president, Allen Smoker, said the horseman statue was designed to represent all those who served in conflicts over the years. Although he came up with the concept, seeing it in the dawn half-light blew him away and he expects many others will have the same emotional reaction.

For the Browning family, it is a link to Charles, known as 'CJ', a talented horseman who fought in the 10th Light Horse alongside WA Victoria Cross recipient Hugo Throssell. They arrived in Gallipoli in late May but their first major fight was the notorious charge at the Nek. The waves of soldiers sent out of the trenches and mown down were halted just before it was their turn.

Later, the regiment fought in the battle for Hill 60, where Charles was blown up and evacuated with serious injuries, including the loss of one eye. He returned to the farm in Kondinin in 1916. In 1918, his cousin Bernard was killed on just his third day in France. Charles married his widow, Phyllis, who had two small children. They had four more.

In Albany, 4,000 people were at Mount Clarence at the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial dawn service. Albany, which was the final departure place for more than 40,000 of the first Anzacs, was the birthplace of the dawn service tradition when Padre White led his congregation to the top of Mount Clarence to mourn and remember the fallen in 1930.

From 31 October to 2 November 2014, the Albany Anzac Centenary event was successful held. This event commemorated the 100th anniversary of the departure of the first convoy of ships that carried the Australian Imperial Force and the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to the First World War. The official commemorative activities included a Royal Australian Navy ceremonial sunset, a troop march, a commemorative service and a ship open day. The weekend's activities were not only a fitting tribute to those who departed Albany for the First World War a century ago but a poignant reminder to pause, reflect and commemorate all those who have served since. The troop march and commemorative service conducted on 1 November 2014 were broadcast live across Australia on the ABC. For anyone interested, the ABC has produced the ANZAC Centenary: Albany convoy commemorative event special DVD set as a record of the weekend's activities.

Also a part of the Anzac Albany weekend was the official opening of the National Anzac Centre by Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The centre honours the Anzacs of the First World War and offers visitors a deeply personal connection with the Anzac legend revealed through interactive multimedia displays, unique artefacts, rare images and film and audio commentary. The key phases and events of the First World War are told within the centre through the personal stories of the Anzacs themselves, as visitors follow one of 32 Anzac related characters throughout the war. The experience concludes with the discovery of each Anzac character's final fate and a tribute wall where visitors may leave messages for the Anzacs. Fittingly, the National Anzac Centre recorded its 50,000th visitor on Anzac Day 2015.

In Narrogin, more than 400 people arrived at Memorial Park for a pre-dawn service Many returned at 9.30 am for the march from the town hall to Memorial Park, where a formal service took place in front of almost 500 people. Dozens of wreaths were laid by members of the community as students representing each school read the honour roll of soldiers who fought in Gallipoli and on the Western Front.

Narrogin Senior High School year 12 student Emily Ballantyne played the last post after addressing the crowd and remembered the nurses of World War I. She recounted their arrival on the island of Lemnos and praised them as the forgotten heroes of Gallipoli. The touching moment capped off a series of services that happened throughout the region and in Narrogin. While I could not attend all 50-plus services across the electorate, hearing these stories about the many successful services is very rewarding.

I want to finish with a quote from Narrogin RSL Sub-Branch President Ries Chattillon, who said something very poignant that resonated with me. He said, 'The centenary is simply another day to remember the fallen soldiers. The other 99 services are just as important as this one.' He is right. I think there is a tendency for people to get swept up in the magic of the number '100'. While it is important to commemorate the centenary, it is equally as important to celebrate 101 years since the landing at Gallipoli, and 102 years and so forth.

I like to hope the same types of numbers will attend dawn services next year and that next year we still want to acknowledge the legacy the Anzacs forged for the servicemen and servicewomen who have followed in their footsteps.

Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our national journey towards the centenary commemoration of Anzac Day began more than 100 years ago. At a recent Boer War commemorative wreath-laying, where some of the descendants in Nowra recognised the contribution of their forebears, we were reminded by the speaker that this war straddled Australia's Federation. This battle was the first stage of our national patriotism. That fledgling government was not to know of the deep and enduring contribution of efforts that would be initiated in 1914, would show Australia coming of age in 1915 in association with New Zealand and finally would be recognised all over our country 100 years later.

In the words of Arthur Burke OAM:

These bold, laughing soldiers were a new, unknown factor of a very old Empire.

He also refers to the words of poet laureate John Masefield as he describes Australian and New Zealand infantrymen, 'They seemed to be of one race, for all of them had something of the same bearing, and something of the same look of humorous, swift decision.' He went on to say:

These 'colonials' fought as they lived—bravely, openly, independently, and without fear. They proved that their young countries could produce men equal to any in the world, perhaps the greatest fighting force this world has known—the ANZACs.

Retired Colonel Arthur Burke also wrote that this spirit of Anzac is not just a part of history but that it lives in schools, sports fields and many other aspects of Australian and New Zealand modern-day life.

Soon after the 2013 federal election, the Shoalhaven Anzac Commemorative Committee invited me to attend. The original committee members included Nowra RSL Sub-Branch members Rick Meehan OAM, Fred Dawson, Debbie Rayner, John Bailey, Jan Bailey, and Ian Strathie; Bob O'Grady from Bomaderry RSL Sub-Branch; Stuart Christmas of Berry RSL Sub-Branch; Barry Edwards from Huskisson RSL Sub-Branch; Don Handley, Harry Back and Alan Beasley from Sussex Inlet RSL Sub-Branch; Iris Selby and James MacDonald of Callala Bay RSL Sub-Branch; and Clyde Poulton representing the Vietnam Veterans Association, South Coast. I might add that Gilmore is much more than just the Shoalhaven. Members from other RSL sub-branches including Kiama-Jamberoo, Shoalhaven Heads, Gerringong, Milton-Ulladulla and Warilla were all equally passionate and dedicated in their pursuit to keep the history of Anzac well remembered and well honoured, keeping closely connected and active in their passion and dedication to keep traditions alive and educate the young.

The committee was determined to make the most of their available funds, particularly the increased amount allocated by the new coalition government, up to $125,000 for local commemorative projects, which was an absolute godsend for our local communities. The nucleus of the committee worked hard to bring me up to speed as a matter of urgency, as many of the projects needed long lead times. In addition, the projects were to assist groups to cover the length and breadth of the electorate. Warilla RSL Sub-Branch, under the guidance of Barry Young and Kim Kearney, gained funds to support the Anzac Day event itself as well as promoting their Adopt a Digger educational program for local school students. The primary goal is to assist students research the life of a local digger and to immerse themselves in the life experience of that digger so that the student can really relate to the events and emotions of the times and empathise with the amazing resilience that our diggers had.

Shell Cove Public School established a commemorative plaque on a very large rock in their school grounds to impress upon the students just how special this event was. Kiama Municipal Council, acting as the project manager for the Kiama memorial arch, gained part funds. They worked closely with Colonel Puller, Dennis Seage and the members of the Kiama-Jamberoo RSL Sub-Branch. Gerringong had an allocation for their brand-new flag pole and commemorative plaque and rock to be constructed alongside the area where in previous years a 'lone pine' descendant had been planted. Congratulations to Garry Hingle, Bill Popple, Bill Humphreys and Joh Koehler from their local RSL sub-branch for all their efforts with this project.

Congratulations to the Shoalhaven Anzac Centenary Committee for their commemorative dinner spectacular, including a special message from the Prime Minister Tony Abbott to the 350 attendees. The Nowra RSL Sub-Branch is coordinating with Robyn Florence the centenary edition of TheWaratah March, which was the South Coast's answer to TheCoo-ee March. The Vietnam veterans, under the guiding hand of Clyde Poulton, are putting together an amazing event that not only helps to promote the book just mentioned but is also a re-enactment of the Waratah March later this year.

The Shoalhaven City Council, with Tania Morandini, Margaret Simoes and Bruce Tindale, created the In Memory exhibition, honouring the service of Indigenous men and women in the Anzac conflicts. This was a healing and special collection of memories and artefacts that has meant a great deal to members of our Indigenous community. For descendants of those who fought and returned, or those who fought and died, there has not always been a significant effort for these elders to be either acknowledged or honoured. This was a very special exhibition on so many different levels.

The new commemorative wall in Huskisson, silver-etched black granite, is nothing short of a miracle. This commemorative space that is right next to Jervis Bay is quite spectacular. Congratulations to Rod Simpson, Barry Edwards, Don Handley and Shirley Rundel. Well done also to Craig Smith, Alan Beasley, Harry Back and Stan Berriman of the Sussex Inlet RSL. The new and improved memorial wall is outstanding. The special uplights for the dawn service give this space a very solemn and honoured presence, and the community are overawed with the successful improvement.

Benjamin Barry and the students at Ulladulla High School put their heart, soul and artistic endeavour into creating banners and memorabilia for the 100 years of Anzac. The displays at the Milton Show were outstanding, and I look forward to seeing them in the Lake Tabourie Museum as part of a rotating exhibition space, also utilising the skills of the local Men's Shed and the local historic society.

The Milton Ulladulla RSL Sub-branch must have a special connection to the weather angels. After weeks of rain, contractors resorted to building the paths, laying the turf and fixing the wall together under tarps with very dedicated workers, and the project wall is brilliant. I am sure Darryl Bozicevic, Paul Warren and Bruce McIntosh are all relieved that, except for the astro turf that had to be used to protect the newly-laid real turf, the memorial was superb.

The Shoalhaven Heads Memorial Park was the scene for a talented and philanthropic local sculptor, Grant Findlay of Unreal Rocks. He crafted four life-size sculptures in the likeness of a World War I field nurse, airman, gunner and sailor, demonstrating classic Australian mateship.

Anzac Day 2015 was not a single day event. You can probably see that these memorials and events are only a part of the story, and the extra elements completed the picture for the entire region. Schoolchildren had a colouring-in competition, and children from every school in the area made the most amazing achievements in colouring-in. Kangaroo Valley had special programs and medals for their school students, as did the students at Berry Public School.

The Anzac ceremonies, always so poignant and heart-touching, began on 18 April at Jamberoo, where a special sculpture had been made with a cast rifle on a stand and a leaning slouch hat on top. Of course, the great voice of Daniel D'Amico rounded out the day's event. There was the Anzac Service at the Christ Church on Terralong Street and the Sunday Anzac Service at Warilla by their sub-branch with a huge contingent of navy and air force cadets. This was a particularly moving ceremony for some, as they had only just lost a parent who was a child at the time of the war. In addition the Kiama-Jamberoo RSL Sub-Branch worked solidly to have the logo for the Anzac commemorative event displayed proudly on the lighthouse up from Storm Bay. It is outstanding—congratulations, Dennis Seage.

Anzac Day itself was busy, but there is always the emotional connection of a dawn service. This year I was at Gerringong and I would like to take a few words to share just how wonderful this service was. Apart from the beauty of the sun gently coming up over the ocean and the rays shining through the branches of the lone pine, there was a single poignant event that truly stirred my heart, and the incident enabled me to know that the spirit of Anzac will live beyond us all. As the sounds of the Last Post were being played, there was a little boy, blonde and very active, dancing to the music, holding his Dad's hand. He noticed the descending flag, and the next few minutes went something like this: 'Daddy, the flag's coming down. Daddy, why has the music stopped?' All curious and never-ending questions, and the father quietly said: 'Sshh, this is the time that we think of the soldiers.' So little Rueben—I found out his name later—stood quietly to attention, eyes focused on the flag. Then as the Reveille sounded and the flag was raised, he said, 'So we remember the soldiers like this?' Our history is safe in the hands of parents like these, in the innocent acceptance of children like Reuben—our soldiers, sailors, nurses and airmen will never be forgotten.

There were a number of school services where children had made poppies and left them on the stage, with Indigenous people playing didgeridoo and Peter Williams playing a Boer war bugle. I would like to conclude with a poem.

When we look at the half-mast flag we think of fallen men,

Of battles won and battles lost and those who'll not come home again.

We see the flutter in the breeze,

The rise of the Southern Cross

We look to dawn with certain ease,

And know, we will not forget.

We hear the words and stories from those dark and desperate days

Thinking as they're spoken, bringing images to mind

Of pain, of courage and of great bravery displays.

We almost hear their cries of pain and rage

As they climb the bloodied hills,

Knowing that many from this day forward will simply never age,

Yet we will never forget.

We listen as the Last Post, sends shivers down our spine with sadness in those plaintive notes causing tears for all to see.

The dawn is nearly done, the light and wind combine,

The Southern Cross and Union Jack are flying proud and free.

The symbol of a nation, the coming of an age, for those who went before us, for the likes of you and me.

And on this day we stand and firmly say,

Lest we forget and we will remember them!

Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to rise tonight in this chamber to mark the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. On 25 April 1915 thousands of young Australians made landfall on a distant beach. They were cast into instant hellfire, but their bravery, their commitment and mateship saw them dig in. In the face of extraordinary hardship across a campaign that would last eight long months, up to 60,000 Australians served on the Gallipoli Peninsula—8709 of them were either killed in action or died of their wounds. A total of 61,522 Australians lost their lives in the First World War. Among this scale of tragedy, if not because of it, a young nation's identity coalesced and emerged. Those troops on the beaches at Gallipoli not only defended the values and ideas of our nation they helped to define what it means to be Australian. Those eternal Australian values of mateship and courage in the face of adversity.

This is a tradition that is surviving generations of Australians and, I am confident, will survive for generations to come. As I made my way around local Anzac services on Anzac Day, the thing that inspired me was the future generations of Australians picking up the baton handed to them from former generations, keeping that flame of the Anzac tradition burning strong. It was incredibly moving to see young Australians maintaining that tradition—something that all Australians should be proud of. This is a tradition I have seen continued in new battlefields. I have had the great honour of travelling to Afghanistan and Iraq twice to see a new generation of Australian diggers once again displaying courage in the face of adversity and upholding that ultimate Australian tradition of mateship. We should all be incredibly proud of the sacrifice made by Australians so that we can live in a free, fair, democratic society today. That is the legacy of our Anzacs and we all owe them a great debt of gratitude. To see tens of thousands of Australians in my own electorate come out to uphold that tradition is something I am incredibly proud of and all Australians should be proud of. May our diggers rest in peace.

Debate adjourned.