Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel. Will the Minister inform the House on the importance of Remembrance Day and of commemorating the service and the sacrifice of all of those who have died in wars, in conflict and on peacekeeping operations?

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Stirling for his question. I begin by recognising all members in this chamber on both sides of the House who've served in uniform. For the men and women at home today who are veterans or current serving members of the Australian Defence Force, can I say to you all quite simply: thank you for your service, and thank you to your families for assisting you in that service. Throughout our nation's history, two million Australians have put on the uniform of the Navy or the Army or the Airforce and been prepared to place themselves in harm's way to help those who can't necessarily help themselves, And, sadly, 102,000 have lost their lives, whether it's been in wars, in other forms of conflict or on peacekeeping missions. All of them were loved. All of them were missed dearly.

Remembrance Day was called Armistice Day at the outset, on 11 November 1918, when the guns fell silent on the Western Front. We changed the name to Remembrance Day after World War II to ensure that all serving members, all veterans and all of the fallen could be remembered. It is a date for us all to pause and to reflect, and for us to give thanks to all service men and women: to thank them for their courage, for their service and for their sacrifice. They earned the freedoms that we all enjoy here today. I think we as members of parliament commit ourselves, on this day of all days, to secure a lasting peace in their honour. Like our men and women in uniform, we must never give up in that pursuit.

This year has challenged Australians like none in my lifetime, and probably none in many of the members' lifetimes, with the drought, the floods, the bushfires and the coronavirus. Australians have never given up, but their resilience has been tested, and that test has been passed with the assistance of our Australian Defence Force members. Today at the National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, we were honoured to hear from Daniel Keighran VC, and he spoke about resilience. In his speech, Dan said: 'The events of 2020 have challenged us all. Like war, they have sharpened our focus onto what is important—family, friends and loved ones. Australia truly is the lucky country, and, even in the most challenging of times, there is nowhere else I'd want to be. We are a nation built on the foundation of mateship, rolling up our sleeves, helping our neighbours and doing it with a smile the best we can.' And Dan continued: 'In the darkest days, there is always a glimmer of light found in the mateship, comradeship and loyalty that is, at its very core, the essence of what it means to be Australian.' I want to thank Dan for those great words from a truly great Australian.

Remembrance Day is about hope. Remembrance Day is about respect. Remembrance Day is about a grateful nation keeping our commitment to our serving men and women. We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

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

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, on indulgence.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I associate the Australian Labor Party with the fine words that we've just heard from the minister. It's 102 years since the guns fell silent on the Western Front in the war that was meant to end all wars. Three hundred and thirty thousand Australians enlisted in that war, 60,000 of whom were killed. It's an extraordinary price that was paid from our country, which at that time had a population of just four million. It's an almost unimaginable sacrifice.

But, more than a century down the track, we are left with just a small clue to what that sacrifice felt like in the fact that you cannot visit in our country today a city or a town of more than a couple of hundred people without finding in it a memorial to those who served and died in the First World War. When you look at those memorials really closely, you can almost feel the aching need that people had to put those memorials in place. This wasn't jingoism or populism. This was just pain. It was solemn pain. For the families and the friends of those loved ones, the voice of their loved ones was given expression by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields

That this experience happened in the first 20 years of the federation of our country meant that, from the very earliest moment, we were imbued with a deep sense of reverence and gratitude to those who have served in the Australian Defence Force, and today is the day, as the minister said, that we give thanks to all of those who have worn and continue to wear our nation's uniform—in particular, in respect of the 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation. At the dawn and in the morning, we will remember them.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on that note, which unites all members of this House, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.