Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Almost 100 years ago, a group of men marched from Wagga Wagga to Sydney, through much of the electorate of Hume, to sign up recruits for the Great War. The war was underway, but casualties were high. In this centenary year, a re-enactment of the Kangaroo March has just got underway. I think today they are arriving in Bethungra, and they will be stopping in towns and villages along the way over the next four weeks. The then member for Hume, Robert Patten, walked the whole way with the men. They started with 88 recruits and finished with over 300. The current member for Hume—that is me—has parliament next week, so I will not be able to join them the whole way, but I will be joining in this Sunday, from Cootamundra to Wallendbeen, and on a couple of legs later in the journey. I will be riding my horse Whiskey, accompanied by about 20 members of the Australian Light Horse. I have copped a bit of flak about how Whiskey looks and his age. He is 15 years old, but he is a small, hardy stockhorse. That was the type of animal the men took with them on their way to war—the solid, reliable stockhorses.

The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Hon. Sir Peter Cosgrove, and Her Excellency Lady Cosgrove will be at Wallendbeen cenotaph to greet the march on Sunday.

'I go out to return by courage and faith' was the motto of the Kangaroos, but of course many of them did not come back. I am looking forward to this important community event with a great deal of pride.