Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday, we gathered at the Fish Creek RSL to open the garden created by the people on corrections in memory of Vietnam veterans and the special part of the garden to recognise 100 years of the Light Horse. The welfare officer down at Fish Creek RSL is Ros Bryan. Ros said in her introduction that individuals on corrections may have made the wrong choice at some stage, but the thought and emotion they put into designing the garden to honour those who served shows that they really do have a heart. The heart that they created on the ground in rocks was to represent the bleeding heart of the Vietnam vets. They then placed a Long Tan cross of rocks surrounded by red roses. She said:

The colours of the garden are mainly red which symbolises the blood spilt, and the white roses represent our Nurses. The only Pink bush in the Garden is in memory of Sister Rosalie Wright who was killed in action.

It was a pleasure to be there.

One of the families represented on this important day was that of Wilma Jennings and her son Stephen Jones. Wilma's father, William Jones, was a light horseman in the 14th Battalion, No. 221. She was honoured to be at the opening of the garden and wore her father's Rising Sun badge in his memory. What they've done is really good. They have the Light Horse on the wall of the RSL, done in steel. It's beautifully done. Mike Lovell, as the president of the RSL branch, was there. I was there and another of my colleagues was there with me. We care about our RSL, and we care about our Vietnam vets.