Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the coalition to support the motion moved by Senator Evans. I want to place on record our support for the motion and our very deep regret at the tragic death of Lance Corporal Jason Marks, who was killed while serving with the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan. As a member of the government that decided to commit our Special Operations Task Group to Afghanistan, and now as the shadow defence minister, I am particularly saddened by his death. We note and record that Corporal Marks was a loyal and dedicated member of the Australian Defence Force. We on the coalition side join with the government in expressing our sincere condolences to Lance Corporal Marks’s wife, Cassandra, and their children, friends and family for this very sad and tragic loss. I also take this opportunity to express our profound wishes for a speedy recovery for the four soldiers wounded in the fighting that resulted in Lance Corporal Marks’s very sad and untimely death.