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

I rise today to speak about Remembrance Day. I do understand that it was a couple of weeks ago, but this is my first opportunity to speak about this very important day. For me it's right up there with Anzac Day and Australia Day as days that should be preserved for Australia. I was very fortunate this year to be in my home town of Bowen, which is located slap-bang in the middle of my electorate of Dawson. I was asked to say a few words and lay a wreath on behalf of the federal government and also on behalf of our community. I was joined by veterans; current serving defence personnel; war widows; legatees; nashos; emergency services personnel; police, fire and ambulance personnel; the principal and school leaders from Bowen State High School; and members of the public.

There were services held the length and breadth of Dawson, and they were extremely well attended. And, because it was on the weekend, they were well attended by our youth as well, which showed our ongoing spirit of remembering and acknowledging our service personnel and our veterans, some who paid the ultimate sacrifice. They paid with their lives so that we can live in the fantastic country that we live. It's also a reminder that these liberties and freedoms that we enjoy each and every day don't just come by accident. They have been hard fought for.

I'd like to name a couple of people that helped and are always there for us on the day. Roger Hine, who is the president of the Bowen RSL, did a fantastic job as emcee of the proceedings and delivered the all-important ode. Well done to Roger. Terry Hansen is the president of nashos and an outstanding Bowenite. He's been the president of the Nashos for a long period of time—services on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day. But he also goes above and beyond that and, with his wife, Elsa, he goes out to Cunningham Villas, which is an aged-care facility that looks after a lot of veterans in our area. They run services out there as well which are really enjoyed by those who live in that facility. Eileen Crouch, who is the president of the CWA, is always on hand to cook a nice cake and provide the ex-diggers with scones and sandwiches. The whole CWA in Bowen do an outstanding job. Stacher Wilson, a war widow, Alf's wife, holds court up in the corner with the legatees and the war widows. While they have their time to commemorate, they also have a good time with their friends when they get together, and they enjoy the day. There's Joy Hose as well, a friend of mine and a war widow—Bob's wife. He was in the Army. Unfortunately, we lost Bob, but he was president of the RSL in Bowen for a long period of time.

Remembrance Day is the day when the guns on the Western Front fell silent—on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Originally it was Armistice Day, and then it moved to being Remembrance Day because Armistice Day was going to be for the last war that we had, but unfortunately, less than a decade later, we had another world war and we've been having conflicts ever since.

There's support on both sides of this House for growing our Defence Force. I'm certainly keen to grow our Defence Force, but I think how we need to do that is by showing that we value our current veterans and our current defence personnel. We need to make sure that we look after the people with PTSD. There were a lot of people in that room who had nursed someone either back physically or through their mental issues.

In order to grow our Defence Force, we need to make sure that we are doing everything we possibly can for the people that have served our country. Remembrance Day is also about a time for us to say thank you for those who have laid down their lives for this country so we can enjoy it as it is. All of us should be beholden to make sure that we take advantage of the great liberties that they fought for. Lest we forget.