Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A question I often ask myself is what type of legacy I'll leave behind when I die and how will my family honour the life I lived? I know, what a sad start to a speech this morning! However, the story I'm about to tell you is one that I find quite inspiring and the efforts of all involved need to be recognised and commended.

This is a story about uncovering graves and what lies inside them. But the main character, Home Hill resident and RSL sub-branch secretary, Allan Petersen, is far from a tomb raider. In fact because of his efforts, I had the privilege of attending a service at the Home Hill sub-branch to commemorate over 50 unmarked war grave sites that have been carefully and painstakingly restored.

When Allan first stumbled across a cracked headstone in his local cemetery, I'm not quite sure he realised the enormity of the journey he was about to undertake. After teaming up with a local plumber to fix the final resting place of Jack Boyce, a war veteran and the first person to be buried at the Home Hill cemetery 100 years ago, Allan started wondering how many other veterans were hidden underground in unmarked graves? What started as a spark of curiosity turned into a decade-long project to ensure the memory and legacy of our past serving personnel lives on.

The project was no small feat and took a considerable amount of effort and dedication from the many members of the Home Hill community. The cement bases for each site were physically moulded by the RSL sub-branch members. Local undertaker Ken Wright supplied the polished headstones and bronze plaques, and two local high-school students dedicated their time to install the grave markers.

Allan Peterson worked tirelessly to identify each person laid to rest by scouring the cemetery maps and wading through the births, deaths and marriages website. During the early stages of the project, Allan discovered that 25 graves had no indication of a burial site and instead appeared to be vacant plots covered by lawn and left forgotten, 16 graves had headstones that failed to mention their military contributions, and 15 more were identified as British military veterans who immigrated to Home Hill after the Boer War and World War I. John Harris, a survivor of Gallipoli from the 15th infantry unit; Elizabeth Jane McBow, who served in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps; and 85-year-old Ann Rodgers Roy, who served in the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps in Scotland, are among the few veterans whose legacy will now live on thanks to Alan and his team. Lest we forget.