Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was my sad privilege recently to attend the funeral of Jim Bourke, a retired lieutenant colonel, a true hero of the Australian forces in the Vietnam War and a man who never forgot the people that were left behind and who understood more about grief, I think, than many of the people that I have met in my life. I attended that funeral with family, with many members of the veterans community and also with former Minister for Veterans' Affairs Bruce Billson, to pay tribute to an extraordinary life—a man who had done so much in his life.

He was wounded severely in combat in Vietnam and came home a troubled man. I know that that had an impact on his family and on him. He was a man, though, who then triumphed beyond that by dealing with the issues that he had brought home and by trying to gain finality for those who had been left behind. Forty years later, he championed the establishment of Operation Aussies Home and worked very hard to get governments of all persuasions, and particularly the Defence bureaucracy, to focus on returning and searching for the remains of the last six MIAs in Vietnam. He was successful in those activities. It was an incredible triumph of perseverance, of strategy, of doggedness and of intellect. He then took that experience and, at the age of 70, qualified for a PhD in that very field—looking at unresolved grief, particularly in wartime. It was quite an achievement.

I would like to read briefly—I apologise for my attempts at poetry—from a tribute to Jim Bourke from another great soldier of that area, George Mansford:

Did you ever meet a bloke so full of life?

Always with a huge grin, even in strife

Would often share his last smoke and tucker too

Never hesitant to speak up for the likes of me and you

In peace and war for causes he led many a band

Defeat and failure he never did understand

"Cannot be done" was never part of his game

Always challenging the system gave him justified fame

Above all, he was to you and me, true blue

A mate to be trusted to see any danger through

Already we are missing you, JB

Yet always will be those proud treasured memories

So many dawns and sunsets you shared with others

Such a great honour to have called you our brother

Luv ya mate

My condolences go to Jim Bourke's family and friends. It was a life well lived but at times troubled, but you should be very proud of the man that he was.

My last comments are from Peter Aylett, a sapper and a good mate of his:

'You're still a bloody troublemaker,' he tells his mate. 'As one of your commanders said, "Lieutenant Bourke is a problem, Lieutenant Bourke has always been a problem, and Lieutenant Bourke is the kind of problem it’s always good to have around."'