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

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that Wednesday 11 November marks Remembrance Day, the 97th anniversary of the Armistice which ended World War I;

(2) commemorates the sacrifice of the more than 60,000 Australians who were killed in World War I, and the 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner;

(3) recognises the contribution of the more than 1,000 Indigenous Australians who fought in World War I;

(4) notes that by the number of deaths and casualties, World War I remains the most costly conflict in Australian history; and

(5) calls on all Australians to observe one minute’s silence at 11 am, in memory of those who have died or suffered in wars and conflict.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

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

Mr Speaker, this Wednesday, 11 November is Remembrance Day and marks the 97th anniversary of the armistice which ended World War I. In the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause to commemorate all Australians who have died or suffered in wars and armed conflicts. Clearly, the world has changed beyond recognition since the early decades of the 20th century. With the passage of time, we have seen the last of the survivors of World War I pass on. Ninety-seven years may have passed, but their service has not been forgotten. We as Australians owe it to the men and women who enlisted, who served and who gave their lives fighting for our nation to preserve their memory and to honour their sacrifice—and honour them we do. The exploits of Australian servicemen during the First World War have rightfully become part of Australian folklore. In particular, the bravery of the diggers on the shores of Gallipoli came to define the identity of our nation. The Army barracks located in my electorate was renamed Gallipoli Barracks in honour of those who served and died in that conflict. This is just one of many such tributes around the country. I also commend the ongoing work of the Australian War Memorial, under the directorship of Dr Brendan Nelson, in keeping the ANZAC memory alive.

The war weighed heavily on the resources of our young nation. It is fascinating to go back through Hansard to read about the extent of preparations for the war effort. For example, on 14 April 1915 the then Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, provided a detailed update to the House on the equipment required to clothe and arm Allied forces across the Commonwealth—the requisitioning of the output of 22 mills to provide the wool for the uniforms; and the supply of two million yards of cloth for jackets and more than one million yards of flannel for shirts and blankets, and the supply of one million pairs of boots. Much of this burden was born by Australia—a nation just 14 years old and home to a population of less than five million people; less than a quarter of what we are today.

On 29 April 1915, the Minister for Defence confirmed to parliament for the first time that Australian forces had landed on the Gallipoli peninsula. That minister was Sir George Pearce, a senator from Western Australia and my great-grandfather. On the day of the original armistice, 11 November 1918, he was once again Minister for Defence, albeit under a new prime minister. World War I exacted a terrible human toll on our nation. More than 60,000 men and women lost their lives in the conflict, and a further 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. The death and dislocation caused by the war were so great that the Bureau of Statistics figures show the population of Australia declined in 1915 and again in 1916—the first and to date only years in post-Federation recorded history that this has occurred. I use the term 'recorded history' advisedly because, at the time, most Indigenous Australians were not recorded in census statistics, nor were they permitted the right to vote. Nevertheless, the Australian War Memorial estimates that more than 1,000 Indigenous Australians fought in the First World War. Many more attempted to enlist but were denied on the grounds of race. Those who managed to successfully enlist enjoyed equal pay and generally equal treatment to all solders, a rarity at the time. Sadly, equal treatment was not extended in the postwar period, and it would be five more decades until Indigenous Australians were accorded equal rights under the Australian Constitution.

Mr Speaker, as the motion notes, in terms of the numbers of deaths and casualties, the First World War remains the most costly conflict in Australian history. I am sure that it is the fervent wish of all Australians that its human toll is never surpassed. History recalls that the world did not fully heed the lessons of the First World War and was doomed to repeat the cycle of destruction a generation later in the Second World War. Even in these relatively more peaceful times, war and conflict remains a fact of life for millions of people worldwide. On this Remembrance Day like all others, we should pause to reflect on the memory of those Australians who have died in wars and armed conflicts. A grateful nation honours their sacrifice, and their legacy is a safer and more peaceful world.

Lest we forget.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Ryan on this motion to recognise Remembrance Day. I have represented the opposition at ceremonies in northern France on Remembrance Day. I have stood on the beach at Gallipoli. I have represented Australia in a very junior capacity at the Commonwealth cemetery in Berlin. Both my grandfathers served in the First World War. My maternal grandfather, John Peek, served in the 3rd Light Horse and the family are very proud that he was commissioned in the field in 1917. My paternal grandfather, Hauptman (Captain) Bruno Danziger served in the German heavy artillery and won the Iron Cross. Both served on the Western Front, both were officers and both survived; obviously, otherwise I would not be here. Both of my grandfathers had very different fates. John Peek returned to Australia and was honoured, as we should honour all our veterans. I have to record, sadly, that my paternal grandfather, Bruno, and his wife, Margarethe, were murdered in the Second World War in Auschwitz. Nothing compares to standing on the beach at Gallipoli, and when you see those gravestones just by the water's edge it really communicates the sacrifice that Australians made in the pursuit of our national identity.

My part of Melbourne was heavily affected by the war. Up from Beaconsfield Parade, we recently remembered the Anzac girls with a wonderful ceremony for the matron there, Matron Grace Wilson. The Lemnos Greek community organised a wonderful ceremony that was part of the Centenary of Anzac commemorations. Australian personnel were shipped from Port Melbourne. Melbourne was the capital of Australia in those days. A total of 126,753 servicemen, medical chaplains and nurses embarked from Port Melbourne. On 19 October 1914, the first troop ship left from there. You can see those iconic pictures in almost every RSL in the country: pictures on the wall of the Anzacs leaving with all the streamers being thrown and big crowds down below. It was also to Port Melbourne that fewer returned. Almost one-third of the 60,000 Australians who died in the war were Victorians.

As a little boy I remember my grandfather marching to the St Kilda RSL Army and Navy Club outside Luna Park and then going with him up that scary European-style grill elevator to where we used to have the Christmas party for kids.

Representing the opposition, as I said previously, I visited the World War I battlefield at Villers-Bretonneux. I remember walking up the hill and seeing the sandstone wall on which the names of 10,000 Australians who were killed in the First World War and who have no known grave were engraved. I found on that wall the name of my grandmother's brother, David Swan, one of the thousands of Australians butchered in some of the ill-fated military operations, such as the Battle of Pozieres—probably the most disastrous event for Australia in the First World War.

I am very proud of the sculptures we have put in Albert Park. There is one by Peter Corlett to remember Matron Grace Wilson and the wonderful nurses on Lemnos, popularised in the ABC show Anzac Girls. We also have double VC winner Albert Jacka, who was the mayor of St Kilda and whose commemorations I have attended ever since becoming a member. These commemorations do not attempt to glorify war. Most monuments and speakers, including in this House, recall the horrors that war inflicts on soldiers, their families back home and, of course, the civilians caught up in the fighting.

The terrible situation in some parts of the world today is a reminder that war has lost none of its brutality. But these commemorations of the 97th anniversary of Remembrance Day remind us of the sacrifice that Australians have made for our country, for the freedom of other people's countries and for their comrades in arms. The motion for the recognition of Remembrance Day is a valuable reminder of the debt we owe to those great Australians. It is also a useful occasion for remembering those people who are on active service now in places around the world, and those who have made equal contributions in conflicts in the Second World War, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and, more recently, the Gulf.

Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for bringing this motion to the House. For the last 97 years, 11 November has marked Remembrance Day, honouring the anniversary of Armistice Day—the day the guns fell silent on the Western Front after more than four years of continuous warfare. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Allied nations simultaneously pause to consciously and solemnly remember not only those who lost their lives in World War I but all those who have fallen in times of warfare.

World War I mobilised more than 70 million people and saw a death toll somewhere in the vicinity of nine to 13 million people. For Australia, such a young nation with such great hopes, the losses were catastrophic. Out of a population of only 4.9 million in 1914, more than 60,000 Australian lives were lost and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken as prisoners of war. Consider for a moment the gravity of that loss. Ponder for a mere moment that as many as one-third of the dead have no known grave, that for each one there was a grieving mother who could not consolidate her loss with a physical burial. Almost an entire generation of young Australian men were wiped out in the most costly conflict in our history.

At the first anniversary of the armistice, King George V made a decree that all people across the British Empire should cease what they are doing at the hour of the Armistice:

… which stayed the world wide carnage of the four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and Freedom.

The anniversary of the armistice—Remembrance Day—has become representative of all the sacrifices made by our armed force to ensure that 'right and freedom' prevail.

We remember and honour our loved ones and, importantly, we remember and honour the fallen who have no name, and here in Canberra the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies in the Australian War Memorial's Hall of Memory. The tombs of unknown soldiers across the world all hold their significance in the anonymity of the remains of the soldier. The one soldier who will ever remain unknown is emblematically representative of all fallen soldiers. Across the nation, whether in small community memorial gardens or here in Canberra at the Australian War Memorial, Australians will pause in memory. I and my family will remember in particular my husband's late great-uncle, Private Ernest Marshall Baskerville. He set sail on the RMS Moolton on 11 December 1915 from Sydney as one of the 1 Infantry Battalion 9 to 12 Reinforcements. I have no doubt that, as he watched the Sydney skyline fade into the distance, his heart was full of pride to fight for his country and his head was full of hope for the safe return of himself and his mates. Sadly, Ernest was injured in September 1917 at the battle of Polygon Wood in France. Only a month later, he died of his wounds in the north-west of France at Le Treport. As Ernest's surviving family, we are able to tell his story and honour his sacrifice, knowing where, when and how he died. My heart goes out to those families who are not so fortunate as to know the stories of their loved ones. They do not and may never know where and when and how they fell. This is why Remembrance Day is so important, and why the tomb of the unknown soldier holds such great significance. I have been fortunate enough to visit the final resting place of Ernest. As I paid my respects, I contemplated the wretched heartbreak of so many mothers across the world who lost their sons—some who were mere boys as they marched off so bravely.

On Remembrance Day I along with many other Australians will wear a red poppy as a symbol of my respect and to honour those who have served and are serving in our armed forces. The iconic red Flanders poppy has long been a symbolic part of Remembrance Day. The red poppy was among the first flowers to bloom following the devastation of the battlefields in northern France and Belgium. Lieutenant Colonel John McRae was at the front line during the Battle of Ypres in May 1915. His best friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed by a German shell on 2 May 1915 and the following day, Lieutenant Colonel John McRae looked out at the fields of blooming red poppies and penned his famous poem, In Flanders Fields.

May we never forget those who have shed their blood in sacrifice for our country and for the peace of the world. May we respect and honour those who today serve in our armed forces. May we never take for granted the great sacrifices made by those who have gone before us, and by those who are defending and protecting us today and into tomorrow. I urge all Australians to pause at 11 am on 11 November to remember, honour and contemplate the sacrifices and the great loss of life upon which this nation's freedoms and liberties are won.

Lest we forget.

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

With Remembrance Day approaching on Wednesday this week, I thank the member for Ryan for bringing this motion before the chamber today. It is very timely. The Australian story, quite frankly, is an extraordinary one—one that is filled with significant events that have helped to forge our nation's identity through our achievements and through our experiences. However, in getting to where we are today, tribute must be paid to the many who have played a role in defending our nation; in particular, to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

The story of the Anzac legend started with our involvement in the First World War. Australians and New Zealanders landed on the beach in Gallipoli, and everyone knows the story of how hard fought the battle was. But it was not the battle: it was the courage and integrity of the Australians and New Zealanders that helped forge this spirit. Bear in mind, this was the war that was supposed to end all wars. In fact, it was the most bloody and most destructive conflict that we have ever been engaged in, with over 300,000 soldiers taking part in the conflicts, including 1,000 serving Indigenous members of the military. The war lasted for four years, and saw the wanton destruction of nearly three million lives. When the armistice was signed to end hostilities on the Western Front on 11 November 1918, more than 61,000 Australians had been killed and 156,000 wounded, many of those sustaining permanent incapacities. At the time, Australia had a population less than five million citizens, making the numbers of casualties during the war almost too incredible to believe, in terms of the weight carried by this small and yet emerging nation.

On Wednesday, I will join with other members and senators at 11 am at the Australian War Memorial. There will be many commemorative services taking place all over the country. A number of those services will take place in my electorate of Fowler, including services being organised by the Cabra-Vale Diggers club, the City of Liverpool RSL sub-branch, the Canley Heights RSL sub-branch and the Mounties club. These commemorative services are a salient reminder of the sacrifices that have been made by our Australian servicemen who have served our nation and who we owe so much for the lives that we live today. As a nation we must never forget the debt that we owe these Australians and we must never forget the responsibilities we have to their families. For that I commend Legacy on the work that they have done and continue to do today.

I also take the opportunity to acknowledge the efforts and work of all the management committees involved in organising the local commemorative services in my electorate, particularly George Taylor, the president of Cabra-Vale Diggers club; Kevin Ingram, the president of Mounties; Taffy Pritchard, the president of the Canley Heights RSL sub-branch, together with Bill Lottey; and the indomitable John Baron, president of the Liverpool RSL sub-branch. John plays an extraordinary role in my community in making sure that people never forget the contribution of our servicemen and servicewomen.

This year marks the 97th anniversary of the end of World War I. Australia has been engaged in a number of major conflicts, and they also deserve to be remembered at this stage—our involvement in the Boer War, World War I and World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq, and now extending our involvement in the Middle East. This Wednesday, Remembrance Day, is a time for us to reflect on the contributions of the men and women who serve our nation in all wars and all peacekeeping operations. We will pause to honour the extraordinary sacrifice that these Australians have made and remember those who have died in the defence of our values, including the often forgotten contributions that have been made by Aboriginal Australians.

We honour the Anzac spirit, which has been part of the foundation of this nation—not warlike qualities but rather a preparedness to defend the vulnerable, to defend the values which this nation has always upheld. It is a time to celebrate peace, to honour courage and to think about ordinary Australians who have lived through extraordinary times. May we never forget.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion by the member for Ryan in recognition of Remembrance Day, this year marking the 97th anniversary of the armistice which ended the First World War on 11 November 1918. At RSL branches across Australia, in communities, institutions, schools and workplaces, let us all join together at 11 o'clock this Wednesday in observing one minute's silence. Although there are no longer any remaining living veterans of the First World War in Australia, we must honour their memory amongst our younger generation and migrants in promoting awareness of the sacrifice that our veterans have made. The significance of their contribution is just as relevant today as it was nearly a century ago. It is seen in our democracy, culture, institutions and values which form the basis of our great Australian society and it has allowed us to enjoy prosperity in peace.

The lesson we can learn for our current and future generations of Australians is of greater patriotism, loyalty to our country and service to our nation. We must fight vigorously against the emerging counterculture and anti-establishment elements in our society which seek to undermine our proud national heritage. Referred to as the Great War and the 'war to end all wars', this significant conflict in our national history has contributed to our Australian national identity and the values which we hold dear, including devotion to duty, loyalty to one's mates, personal sacrifice and service to our country.

At that time, Australia was a young nation, barely 15 years out of Federation, and the First World War represented our first substantive entry onto the international stage. Patriotic Australians, keen to do their duty for king and country, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. The First World War unleashed the horror of modern warfare on an unprecedented scale with the development of small arms and automatic weapons with high, sustained rates of fire, chemical weapons, and artillery with explosive ordnance. Never before in history had such lethal and effective weapons been deployed on the battlefield, inflicting heavy casualties and loss of life. Australian troops were confronted with the sombre reality of entrenched machine gun positions and the appalling stalemate conditions of trench warfare. In these conditions of hardship and deprivation, the Anzac spirit was born out of our troops' support of each other.

From a population of 4.9 million Australians, 416,809 men enlisted, of which 59,357 were killed between 4 August 1914 and 11 November 1918; 155,133 were wounded and 4,044 were taken prisoner. On average, 38 Australians died each day during the 1,560 days of the war. There were 431,448 hospitalisations. The highest rate of enlistment occurred in my home state of Western Australia, where 32,231 men enlisted, representing 9.9 per cent of the state's population.

The contribution by women to the war effort must also be recognised. A total of 2,139 women served with the Australian Army Nursing Service, and 130 worked with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. A further 423 nurses served in hospitals within Australia. Twenty-three of these women died in service during the war.

In the context of a world that is faced with conflict and security concerns, it is important that the Anzac values be maintained and passed down to future generations of young Australians, so that we may meet and overcome the future security challenges that we face as a nation in uncertain times. The nature of war and conflict is evolving from engagement between sovereign nations and states to terrorism and guerrilla-style conflict between organised militias. Just as the diggers were confronted with modern weapons, today we are faced with new security threats in the war on terrorism.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion, and thank the member for Ryan for bringing it to us. With only a few days now until we pause to commemorate the 97th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Great War, it is only appropriate that we take time in this place to remember those who went and participated in this conflict. World War I remains the most costly conflict in Australian history, with over 60,000 of our men and women killed and 156,000 wounded or taken prisoner.

I want to acknowledge today the many of those who were injured, or who made the supreme sacrifice, who either came from or had a close association with our electorate of McEwen. Our community has a long and rich military history; a history of victories and of pain, and a history of which we are proud—particularly in the Seymour area, home to Puckapunyal Army base, which is still being used as a mobilisation and training area, as it has done since before World War I. Seymour is the home of the famous Light Horse Park, the Seymour Military Heritage Weekend and, of course, the nationally renowned and iconic Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk.

Indeed, only this year, as we commemorated the Centenary of Anzac, we launched a book from our community called There Was a Soldier Who Wandered Far Away. This book was written by respected local author Karen Christensen and it documents the story of Lieutenant Leslie Cecil Maygar, the very first Australian to win the Victoria Cross. He was born in Wandong in my electorate of McEwen.

My hometown of Whittlesea's honour roll lists the names of my ancestors who served in both the first and second world wars: Frank Kummer, killed on 25 October 1917 of wounds in France; Kenneth MacNee, the brother of Harold MacNee, DCM and Military Cross; and Keith Mitchell, who died on 25 April 1915 on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. It is said that Keith was shot through the neck on the first ridge around 300 yards inland. He was digging trenches for the stretcher bearers leading onto Anzac Beach. Right across the electorate on honour rolls in Kilmore and Lancefield are the names of family members who answered our country's call. On 30 October I had the honour of attending the official unveiling of the Whittlesea township avenue of honour plaque upgrade, rightfully ensuring that these men's and other local diggers' names will never be forgotten.

This history is not just a distant memory to us—words on a page or names on a dusty honour roll. This is real and living history that forms part of the spirit of our families and our community. The First World War shaped our identity as a people and a nation. The Gallipoli campaign in particular has come to exemplify powerful Australian values of mateship, sacrifice, loyalty and pride. As we undertake our commemorations over the next week, I encourage everyone to honour the memory of those who served by looking up into the branches of their family trees and at the stories behind the names on our local honour rolls. Try to find out, if you can, the history of your family's service. Together let us learn the story of the people who fought and who found the courage to do the truly extraordinary.

Sadly, our Indigenous brothers who fought for Australia found on their return to Australia that, instead of recognition and grace, Aboriginal diggers received ignorance and racism. They were not eligible for returned servicemen's land grants or even membership of the RSL. Grace Smallwood wrote:

I know of at least one Aboriginal veteran of World War I who was not only denied his pay packet and his pension but, on his return, was given the very same rags he had been wearing the day he volunteered, and sent back to work on the station as if the trenches, the mud and the fighting had never existed.

These diggers were ineligible to vote but they were eligible to die for this country. Cecil Fisher wrote:

They have forgotten him, need him no more

He who fought for his land in nearly every war

Tribal fights before his country was taken by Captain Cook

Then went overseas to fight at Gallipoli and Tobruk

…   …   …

This black soldier who never marches on ANZAC Day

Living in his Gunya doesn't have much to say

Thinks of his friends who fought some returned some died

If only one day they could march together side by side

His medals he keeps hidden away from prying eyes

No one knows, no one sees the tears in his old black eyes

He's been outcast just left by himself to die

Recognition at last black ANZAC hold your head high.

Let us as a new generation give meaning to the solemn national promise that we repeat. On the 11th hour of the 11th day we should remember them, lest we forget.

Debate adjourned.