Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I stand to condemn, in the strongest terms, the antisemitic vandalism and graffiti which defaced the Vietnam war memorial and the Korean War Memorial on Anzac Parade in our nation's capital recently. The vandalisation of the Vietnam and Korean war memorials with antisemitic slogans is disgraceful, it's appalling and it should be called out. These extremist protests dishonour our war dead and seek to divide us as a country. It's unacceptable and it's un-Australian. The coalition condemns this ugly behaviour and will continue to call it out as bad behaviour.

I've had the opportunity to speak with my RSL clubs, of which there are many across the electorate of Wright—through the Lockyer Valley, the Scenic Rim, Tamborine and Logan Village to the Gold Coast. In each of those communities we have war memorials. On those war memorials are the names of families who I live with, the names of families who I went to school with and the names of families of my neighbours whose relatives went and fought for the freedoms and liberties that we have and that we live by today. In each of our communities these memorials are unquestionably a place of reflection, a place of honour and a place of high significance. To think that anyone here in our country feels that they have the right to criminalise, use and weaponise these memorials for what they think may be a just cause is un-Australian.

One RSL branch chairman suggested that those Australians who break the law and graffiti our memorials should pack their bags and leave Australia if they don't like living here. That was just one comment from one. Other chairmen and presidents of the Returned and Services League weren't as charitable with their comments. I can inform the House that not one of my RSL presidents and not one of those persons across my broad community supported the acts. They stood with me to condemn the behaviour.