Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the launch of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Bursary on 18 March 2021 at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra;

(2) notes that the bursary is:

(a) a contribution by members of the Australian-Turkish community to the Gallipoli Scholarship, which supports the descendants of Anzacs to study at university or TAFE; and

(b) part of the new Ataturk Scholarship, which will support Turkish Australians to study at university or TAFE from 2022; and

(3) recognises that the donation of this bursary is an act of friendship by Turkish Australians, who have made enormous contributions to our country and community, helping to forge the strong and lasting bond between Australia and Turkey.

It's wonderful today to acknowledge the launch of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary on 18 March 2021 at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The bursary is a contribution by members of the Australian Turkish community to the Gallipoli scholarship, which supports the descendants of Anzacs to study at university and TAFE. This bursary is an act of friendship by Turkish Australians, who have made enormous contributions to our country and community, helping to forge the long and strong bonds between Australia and Turkey.

I'd like to welcome to the Federation Chamber today two people who I'm going to call 'parents' of the bursary: the chair of Gallipoli Scholarship Fund, retired Major General Michael Smith AO, and the chair of the Ataturk Scholarship, Mr Omer Incekara. They're both in the gallery today, and I'm really looking forward to acknowledging and celebrating the launch of their joint initiative, the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary, on 18 March.

The date of 18 March is a significant date. It's the date of the Canakkale victory, when Ottoman forces repelled the British naval assault on the Dardanelles. It's a significant day, observed as a day of remembrance for all Turkish people who have died in the service of their country, people who work in public service such as police and firefighters, as well as defence personnel. The events of 18 March were also an important turning point in history, leading as they did to the Gallipoli landings on 25 April. In eight months of brutal fighting, it's estimated that there were over 300,000 Ottoman and British Allied casualties, including over 56,000 Ottoman and almost 9,000 Australian deaths. The fighting ended when British Allied forces evacuated on 8 January 1916, but the legacy continues to this day. Many consider Gallipoli to be a founding moment in history for Australia, our birth as an independent nation. It is certainly a founding moment in the relationship between our two countries: Australia and Turkey.

Nevertheless, it took half a century for Australia and Turkey to establish formal diplomatic relations, in 1967. While Turkish migration to Australia dates back to the 19th century, when Turkish cameleers were among the first who worked on camel trains, the numbers have grown substantially since 1967. Mr Incekara and Mr Oz Girgin, the two inaugural donors of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary, are descendants of the first migrant workers to arrive after diplomatic relations were established. They made the donation as a gift to their home, Australia, and the generations of Australian defence personnel who have made enormous sacrifices on behalf of a country where most of us have only known peace. They chose a scholarship because they credit the quality education they received in Australia with setting them up for later success.

The Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary is a contribution to the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund, a fund with an interesting history in its own right. It was founded in 1996 with a $6,000 donation from a World War I veterans association which had met annually prior to Anzac Day for a number of years at the Merrylands RSL Club, which was in my electorate until the redistribution pushed it over the border—but I want it back. It's just across the road, literally. The veterans who founded the fund want to promote a better understanding of the Gallipoli campaign, particularly among younger people. It helps inform and remind Australians of the sacrifices of those who served in conflicts and peace operations and thereby contributes to the future security of our nation and the national values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law.

The first recipient of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary is Eja Collins from Melbourne. Eja is in her first year of a double degree in arts, majoring in languages—French and Spanish—and law. So here we have Turkish Australians donating to a scholarship fund established by Anzac veterans, and we have a wonderful young woman studying French and Spanish. That's who we are these days. We're an extraordinary country. Every year for at least the next four years, the bursary will support a new student like Eja to succeed in the crucial first year of study. This is an act of friendship that creates a virtuous circle, as all of these students will gain valuable skills and one day give back to their communities.

In closing, again I'd like to thank the donors—Mr Incekara and Mr Girgin—the Ataturk Scholarship, which stands behind the bursary, and the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund, for creating these opportunities for the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of our defence personnel. I'd like to thank, too, the Turkish Australians for their enormous contributions to our country and community. I know they're very proud of this. You make our community stronger and make Australia a better place, and you've also helped forge a strong and lasting bond between Australia and Turkey.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder to the motion?

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. I'll have a little bit to say in a little while.

Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have to say that, although the member for Solomon seconded the motion, we were just as keen to second the motion as well. Member for Parramatta, we mightn't agree on everything in this place, but we can agree that this is an enormously beneficial initiative to establish this bursary within the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. I echo the words of your motion: this is a true act of friendship by our Turkish Australians, who have made an enormous contribution of themselves to this country and are now giving back. I really just want to take the opportunity, in speaking to this motion, to thank them for their contributions and their generosity in establishing this. It is clear that the bonds between Australia and Turkey and within our Turkish Australian community are growing ever stronger and that everybody is keen to see that relationship flourish.

It is built on a difficult experience which is also marked by Anzac Day. I was particularly touched when our Governor-General said:

Ask almost any Australian—young or old, in uniform or civilian, those whose families have been here for generations or our newest Australians—what is significant about the 25th April and they will be able to give you an answer.

He's right. Anzac Day is a day that binds us. It's interesting that, when we as a nation chose to commemorate Anzac Day as a celebration of our forces, we chose a day that wasn't a magnificent victory but a difficult defeat. But it's a day when we come together and acknowledge the service of those who served our community and who continue to serve and those who we have lost and the great debt we owe them and their families. We reflect on the impact they have had on the Australia that we are today.

Educating our youth on the importance of Anzac Day is so important. I do it every Anzac Day with my young boy. He's three, almost four, and we talk to him about what Anzac Day means and why we commemorate it. I think he still likes making the Anzac biscuits the best! But the bursary and the entire Gallipoli scholarship program is very important to ensure our children learn the of the history and tradition at a young age.

I have the Gallipoli Army barracks within my own electorate of Ryan in Enoggera. It is so named for the commitment to our Anzac traditions. It's very strong. We have a large veteran community in the Ryan electorate, but it's also strong in the broader community—in our schools, community groups and businesses.

We saw the power and the importance of Anzac Day last year ironically when we couldn't celebrate it because of COVID, and yet many, many people were out on their driveways still to mark this significant national day as part of the Light Up The Dawn campaign. In this place, we heard MP after MP talk about their communities standing at the end of their driveways for their own little dawn services. We may have been physically apart but, on this day, we came together. I like to think it is a day that also brings together the Turkish community and the Australian community as one.

Programs like this instil values and support continuing our incredible stories of service that are so important to our nation. Our nation is one built on service. We can get a little bit caught up in this place, but it's always important to remind ourselves regularly that we are here to serve. There are few higher callings than of those who serve in our community, whether it be in this place, whether it be in the Defence Force or whether it be as a community voluntary or anything else.

I'm particularly touched by the fact that the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund seeks to perpetuate amongst young Australians an understanding of those traditions and the importance to our community of service, courage, self-sacrifice and mateship, everything that the Turkish Australian communities themselves show by their support of the Australian community. They themselves show perseverance, they give back, they have a strong sense of service, and that is so important to the foundations of our community. So I just want to thank again those within the Turkish Australian community who have established this bursary. You are to be congratulated. Both sides of politics congratulate you. We are very keen to support you.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We honour the service and sacrifice of those who have fought to defend our country. It's an important reflection of who we are and what we value, and a big part of this recognition is through memorials and commemorations. To me, the most powerful type of recognition is living memorials, acts of recognition that seek to provide opportunities to our following generations that bring Australians together. These are to me the most special kinds of recognition, and that's what we're acknowledging here today. I'm pleased to rise to speak in favour of this motion, acknowledging the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund and the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary.

The Gallipoli scholarship is a great story. It was originally established by veterans of the Great War to provide opportunities for the descendants of veterans to pursue higher education. Australian citizens who are the descendants of Anzac veterans who served in any peace or conflict operation since the First World War may apply. While the scholarship recognises academic achievement, weighting is given to the circumstances of the applicant to ensure that support flows to the most deserving candidate. I think that's really important and a credit to the scholarship.

It has expanded and today we're talking about a new and important development. The Turkish Australian community has come together to create a new bursary under the scholarship fund. The Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary will, from next year, support even more young people to pursue higher education. I attended its launch at the Australian War Memorial here in Canberra in March, and it was great to join with others, including my friend the member for Parramatta, to mark this important occasion. Ataturk, of course, was a commander of Ottoman forces at Gallipoli and went on to found and lead the modern state of Turkey. It is poignant that a scholarship fund named for the bravery and sacrifice of our Anzacs in their first great engagement will offer a bursary named for the commander of their adversaries at that time. I've been to Gallipoli on Anzac Day, and it's an incredibly moving experience. At the site, as you may well know, Deputy Speaker Wallace, is a bronze bust of Ataturk inscribed with the following quote honouring enemy soldiers who died in Turkey:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us … they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

It's an incredibly generous sentiment expressed by Ataturk on behalf of the Turkish people. The power of the Gallipoli story rests in the capacity to bring people together, and I think this bursary is a wonderful example of this.

Turkish Australians have made an outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Australia. Yes, this scholarship fund and this new bursary is a living memorial to the sacrifice of our Anzacs, but, in a larger sense, it stands as a reminder of our subsequent friendship with Turkey and the ongoing contributions of Turkish Australians. It will directly improve lives and create opportunities. It is a great Australian story.

None of this would be possible without the hard work of the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund Management Committee, including its chairman, my friend Michael Smith AO. Michael has had a distinguished career of service, retiring from the army as a major general. He also served as a founding executive director of the Australian Civil-Military Centre in Queanbeyan. He's here in the gallery today with another great Australian, Omer Incekara. Omer is the chair of the Ataturk Scholarship, and the Ataturk Scholarship contributed the bursary to the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. I thank Omer and Michael for their ongoing contributions. On a personal note, as a veteran who is the son of a veteran who himself was the son of a veteran and also as someone who is a great-grandson of a World War I veteran, I say thank you very much. It was a great honour for me to stand on the soil at Gallipoli looking out over that country and to know that this was such a big part of the story of Australia growing. And this, which you have created, is a great part of the story of our relationship with Turkey into the future. I encourage all members and senators to learn about the Gallipoli scholarship and the bursary and to promote it in your electorates.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are few stronger links than those between Australia and Turkey through the fortunes of history, but Turkey's great leader, known for his military prowess, obviously, will one day be remembered for his contributions to education. Ataturk said in the days after World War I that teachers are the only people who truly save nations. As a leader who made education one of his highest priorities, he is remembered for separating Islamic and secular law, introducing a completely new alphabet, and doubling literacy in his country between 1928 and 1940. These are the enduring legacies of Kemal Ataturk. So today, when we see Australian descendants and our Turkish community in Australia making it possible to continue that education, it has a wonderful symmetry.

In the gallery today, I recognise Mr Omer Incekara and, of course, retired Major General Michael Smith, who chairs the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. Mr Incekara along with Mr Oz Girgin represent the two families behind the funding of this very important bursary. I do want to point out the structure. The Gallipoli Scholarship Fund for Australians is being supported by the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary, which is awarded 60 per cent on need and 40 per cent on academic prowess. It's available to Australians who are studying at a tertiary level—university or TAFE degree or diploma applicants in their first year of study. There will be one every year for four years, and these will be up to four years in duration.

The lasting bond of Australia and Turkey is furthered by this investment. Eja Collins, studying here in Canberra, is the first recipient. Her father is Major Leigh Collins AFC, and her grandfather served in UNTSO in Palestine in 1982-83. There are many connections here that we see, even in the first person awarded this bursary. It's a contribution from the Australian Turkish community. It shows just how serious they are about continuing those links through education. To quote Kemal Ataturk again, 'A good teacher is like a candle—it consumes itself to light the way for others.' This Gallipoli Scholarship Fund recognises that, giving young Australians a very important chance to be part of what is increasingly for Australia a geopolitical priority—to be able to study overseas and for the world to be able to study in Australia.

If we think of what, in 50 years time, will most solidify and crystallise Australia's future as a civil democracy, it probably won't be our agrarian history or our commodities; it will probably be our education. We can feed, provide for and educate the world. To have this unique bilateral relationship with Turkey is something very special. The great leader himself is probably referred to in this Chamber more than most foreign leaders, if you were to check Hansard. There are very few leaders that I enjoy reading about more—his history and his ability to lead after a war and to go on to do great civil and social reforms of a scale that you probably won't see in any other country. So thank you today to the Girgin and Incekara families for making this scholarship possible. It's something I think Australians will benefit from. It was opened and launched at the War Memorial back on 18 March. I look forward to the next four years of Australian students benefitting from that generosity.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Parramatta for the motion, and I'm pleased to rise in support of it. In the famous words of Kemal Ataturk, what would the Johnnies and the Mehmets think of this? Across this country, here we are today in Australia, in the 21st century. A century ago people were fighting a war against one another, and today we're talking about the value of education and good will between people with bipartisan support. They would be astounded and extremely pleased, I'm sure.

Along with a number of people in this place, I was honoured to attend the launch of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial Bursary on 18 March here in Canberra. I had the opportunity to lay a wreath at the Kemal Ataturk Memorial here in Canberra. Just think about that! We have a memorial to a warrior that led an army defending his country against our troops. Opposite our War Memorial in Canberra we have a memorial to honour him. It is an astonishing thing, but it says a lot about the humanity of Australians and the humanity of the Turkish people as well.

I was here with the member for Parramatta; the member for Solomon, who spoke so brilliantly and beautifully just a few minutes ago; the member for Lingiari, a former veterans' affairs minister in the last Labor government, the member for Paterson; the member for Fraser; and, of course, the Turkish ambassador, His Excellency Korhan Karakoc. I want to acknowledge Major General Michael Smith, AO, retired. Thank you for your chairmanship of the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. I thank Omer Incekara, the chair of Ataturk Scholarship, for the good work you're doing and the communitarian spirit you bring. You are making a difference in the lives of people, and we thank you sincerely for what you're doing.

The Ataturk Memorial Bursary is part of the Ataturk Scholarship, which in turn comes under the auspices of the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. As someone who represents RAAF Base Amberley, where there are Air Force and Army units, I know that they prepare for war, but they would be delighted about people being educated for peace. Where the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund supports, of course, the descendants of the Anzacs at university or TAFE, the new Ataturk Memorial Bursary will support further education of Turkish Australians at university or TAFE in 2022. The Ataturk Scholarship and bursary were founded by members of the Australian Turkish community in conjunction with the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. It has been established to honour the Turkish origins of the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund.

The bursary is named after that extraordinary famous man, the great Turkish commander of the Dardanelles, who became the founder and the first president of the Republic of Turkey, one of the great men of history. Not many people can say they helped found a nation, and a republic at that. His words and actions did so much to rebuild relations between our two countries, with Australian and Turkish forces serving together in later conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

Ataturk was a warrior turned peacemaker. In war, he was a fierce opponent against the Anzacs; in peace, his grace and compassion did much to help rebuild respect and cooperation between our two great countries. Of course, Turkey allowed Australia and New Zealand to establish a memorial at Anzac Cove and has allowed us to commemorate Anzac Day there for many years now. This says much about the decency, sincerity and humanity of the Turkish people. We hope that, in a post-COVID world, public and popular attendance will resume at future Anzac Days. My friend the member for Solomon talked about Ataturk's famous words, written to the mothers of Anzacs. Ataturk talked about them lying side by side, 'in our bosom' and 'in peace'—peace, I note, not war. He said, 'Having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.' This bursary says much about the degree of unity and commitment between our countries.

This is an act of friendship by Turkish Australians, who've made an enormous contribution to our country, our economy and our community, helping to forge a strong and lasting bond between Australia and Turkey at a people level. While Australia was blessed by Turkish migrants during our colonial times, before Australia was federated, it's worth noting that many Turkish migrants have come to this country since 1967. They came as temporary workers, often intending to stay only a few years, but almost all chose to remain in Australia and become Australian citizens, like so many other migrants. Today there are more than 60,000 Turkish Australians, and they include two sisters, Hale and Funda Adasal, who featured in the 2017 Australian National Maritime Museum exhibition to celebrate 40 years of Turkish migration to Australia. Congratulations to all those associated with this bursary.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting