John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate record its deep sorrow at the death of Private Timothy Aplin, Private Benjamin Chuck and Private Scott Palmer on 21 June 2010 while on combat operations in Afghanistan and place on record its greatest appreciation of their service to our country and tender its profound sympathy to their families in their bereavement.

Private Tim Aplin, Private Ben Chuck and Private Scott Palmer were outstanding soldiers with exemplary service records who were held in the highest esteem by their mates. The helicopter crash that took the lives of these brave and dedicated commandos and wounded seven of their fellow soldiers is a heavy blow for Australia, for the ADF and most especially for the families, friends and loved ones of Private Aplin, Private Chuck and Private Palmer. Our thoughts and our deepest sympathies are with them today. Our grief for these fine soldiers cannot match the devastation felt today by those mourning the loss of a beloved son or brother, father or friend. On behalf of the government and, I know, of all senators, I offer deepest condolences to those personally touched by this terrible loss.

All three of these fine soldiers were part of the Special Operations Task Group drawn from the Sydney based 2nd Commando Regiment. Our commandos are highly skilled, highly trained and very dedicated. Many seek out this challenging career, but not all succeed in their training. Those who pass are physically and mentally the toughest of our men in uniform. Private Aplin, Private Chuck and Private Palmer were among that small and select group, who not only volunteered for some of the most challenging and dangerous work in the ADF but endured and excelled in demanding training to gain that opportunity. As senators would know, all commandos take the rank of private. They are equals; they are comrades; they are mates.

Private Tim Aplin completed the Commando Selection and Training Course in 2008 after 13 years in the Regular Army and willingly took a reduction in rank from sergeant to achieve his goal of being posted to the then 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando)—now the 2nd Commando Regiment. Private Ben Chuck joined the Army in 2004 as part of the Special Forces Direct Recruiting Scheme and he was posted to the same regiment. Private Scott Palmer enlisted in the Australian Army in 2001, successfully undertook commando selection and training in 2006 and joined that same 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) in November 2006. These three men served together, and tragically they died together, but they were also unique individuals who brought their own qualities and virtues to the Special Operations Task Group.

Private Tim Aplin, a team demolitions specialist, was highly respected by all for his dedication and skills. Private Aplin has been awarded the Australian Active Service Medal with East Timor, Iraq and International Coalition Against Terrorism clasps, the Infantry Combat Badge, United Nations Medal with Ribbon UNTAET, the Iraq Medal, the Australian Defence Medal, the Defence Long Service Medal and the Afghanistan Medal. Private Aplin had also been awarded the Returned from Active Service Badge from a previous deployment. He had deployed to East Timor in 2000, to the Middle East as part of Operation Bastille in 2003 and to Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper in 2009 and again this year. He was a loving husband and father and a remarkable person, who was passionate about his job and always put others first, whether it was his mates in the Army or at home with his family and friends. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Private Aplin’s wife, Natasha, his children—Ty, Shinae, Josie and Daniel—and his mother, Margaret.

Private Ben Chuck, who faced down crocodiles in a wildlife show before becoming a commando, was the patrol medic in his team. His mates say that his affectionate and caring nature and his passion for helping his mates made him especially suited for this role. Private Chuck has been awarded the Australian Active Service Medal with the ICAT clasp, the Afghanistan Medal, the NATO ISAF Medal, the Infantry Combat Badge and the Australian Defence Medal. Private Chuck had also been awarded the Returned from Active Service Badge from his first deployment to Afghanistan. He deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper three times, from May to August in 2007, from June to November in 2008 and again in February this year. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Private Chuck’s father, Gordon; mother, Susan; brother, Jason; sister, Tiffany; and partner, Tess.

Private Scott Palmer’s outstanding professionalism was driven by his love for his job and his love for working alongside his mates. He excelled at everything he did. Private Palmer was awarded the Australian Active Service Medal with the Iraq, East Timor, and ICAT clasps; the Iraq Medal; the Australian Defence Medal; the Australian Service Medal with clasp Timor-Leste; the Afghanistan Medal and the NATO ISAF Medal. Private Palmer was also awarded the Infantry Combat Badge and the Returned from Active Service Badge. He had previously deployed to East Timor in 2003 and again in 2007, to the Middle East as part of Operation Catalyst in 2005 and to Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper three times, in 2007, 2009 and again this year. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Private Palmer’s parents, Ray and Pam, and his brother, Adam.

While I cannot discuss the operational details of the work that these fine soldiers were doing when they were killed, I can assure their families and friends that they were striking at the heart of the Taliban insurgency as part of our mission in Afghanistan to make sure that extremists and international terrorist groups do not again find safe havens and training grounds in that country. This work is very much part of the protection of Australia and the Australian community. Australia cannot afford—Australians cannot afford—for Afghanistan to again become a safe haven for terrorist organisations, such as al-Qaeda, that have Taliban support, that have a global reach and are a global threat. The Bali bombing on 12 October 2002, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, was carried out by terrorists with direct links to Afghanistan.

The difficult work that our soldiers do, as all senators know, is very dangerous. Sixteen Australian soldiers have now tragically lost their lives in Afghanistan. One hundred and thirty-five have been wounded in action. They were, as their comrades still are, carrying out their work with courage and professionalism in conditions of real hardship and very real danger. We thank them for their dedication, for the sacrifices they make and the risks that they face for all of us. We thank the families of the men and women in uniform serving overseas for the sacrifices that they make and the support that they give to their loved ones. Our fallen soldiers and their families have paid a very high—an unthinkably high—price for that dedication. We will never forget, although we can never repay, that debt.

Tim Aplin, Ben Chuck and Scott Palmer were brave men, fine soldiers and outstanding Australians. Their families can be very proud of their commitment to our country. We are profoundly honoured by their service to our nation.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition joins in support of the motion of condolence moved by the Minister for Defence. Australia has a wonderful Defence Force. Its reputation has been built on the generations, former and current, of service men and women who have donned the uniform. They have given this nation great pride. Today’s men and women in uniform follow in those footsteps and are worthy successors of their forebears. Our forces enjoy an unparalleled and deserved reputation. In part, that is because of their willingness to serve in the cause of freedom—a timeless and universal value which we all hold dear. Our enjoyment of freedom today has been bought with a price. Today’s condolence motion highlights that high price.

We mourn the loss of Privates Aplin, Chuck and Palmer. Their loss is felt by the whole Australian nation; a nation which is grateful for their willingness to serve. The loss is of course felt more personally, deeply and intensely by the families, personal friends and mates of our fallen men. It is the coalition’s wish that their families, friends and mates feel the thanks of a grateful nation at this time of loss to help ease their pain. We sincerely trust that this motion serves that purpose. On behalf of the coalition, I express our wishes for recovery to our wounded personnel and wisdom to the medical support teams caring for them in Germany. Those who are joined with us in the cause of freedom in Afghanistan also suffered loss in this incident, and the coalition expresses its condolences at their loss and its best wishes for those that were wounded and suffered injuries.

Privates Tim Aplin, Ben Chuck and Scott Palmer were all fine professionals with deep experience in Australia’s recent overseas military deployments. All of them were highly decorated and had served with distinction on previous assignments in Afghanistan, and Privates Aplin and Palmer had also served in East Timor and Iraq. Their exemplary service has been more fully outlined by the minister. I believe it is important that that was put on the public record and I thank the minister for doing so.

If I may, I note the association of Private Chuck with my home state of Tasmania. His former school, the Hutchins School, is, as we speak, flying the flag at half-mast in memory of their fallen former student. I acknowledge and applaud the school’s display of support.

The freedom we enjoy comes at a price. The cause of freedom comes at a price. Privates Aplin, Chuck and Palmer were willing to pay that price. They were engaged in the fight against international terrorism. They fought for our national security and, indeed, international security. In case our nation needs reminding, the Bali bombings, which devastated this nation with the loss of 88 lives, and indeed the international community with another 114 lives—202 in total—were undertaken by terrorists, as the minister said, with links to Afghanistan. I believe it is important to make mention of that because that is the context in which our brave personnel were serving in Afghanistan. We give thanks for their willingness to serve. We mourn their loss. We share in the grief that their families, friends and mates are experiencing, and we trust that this expression of thankfulness by this nation goes some way to easing their pain.

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Finance and Debt Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to concur with the remarks of both Senator Faulkner and Senator Abetz. I note the tragic sadness that accompanies this condolence motion for those who have willingly served and laid down their lives for our country. Privates Palmer, Aplin and Chuck were all members of the 2nd Commando Regiment—a regiment in which privates serve as a true brotherhood. This is the sort of sacrifice that people in the Australian Defence Force, both men and women, willingly make. They know full well that they are in an engagement which could cost them their lives.

Private Chuck was born in Atherton, and I am sure that today the people of Atherton share a sense of deep sadness at his passing. As a medic, he was in the role of caring for those around him, and to have compassion in such a field of engagement is an indicator of an exceptionally brave character. Private Aplin was obviously a highly distinguished soldier who, in his desire to become a commando, went from sergeant back to the ranks of private so that he could serve in the endeavour that he thought was of greatest service to our nation. Private Palmer was a person who was at the peak of his physical powers and military career, a person who epitomised the valour of the highly trained soldier.

We also keep in our prayers and thoughts those who were injured in the same helicopter crash—just as our thoughts and prayers are with Privates Palmer, Aplin and Chuck. We also note the deep sadness that will now be felt by their families. There is little we can do to remove the weight of grief from their shoulders except to let them know that our nation holds the service of the men in the highest esteem. Through their endeavours, we recognise that their lives can certainly never be said to have been wasted. Because of their immense bravery and service to our nation, they engaged the enemy in foreign lands rather than our having to engage them here in Australia.

I also concur with the statements of both Senator Faulkner and Senator Abetz in reminding Australians of the many reasons that they were there. The reason that is salient for most is the horrific act of the Bali bombings and the connections back to Afghanistan and al-Qaeda. The fact of this engagement always makes people question, but we should never ever question the integrity, heroics and bravery of the combatants. If Australians were not there and these sacrifices not made then, at a future time, others would have to carry our weight for us, and ultimately the ramifications would make their way back here.

There have been many previous engagements in foreign lands, going all the way back to Vietnam and beyond, where people have at times questioned our involvement. The point that should be noted, however, is that the engagement with the enemy has to be on the terms that best favour us and not them. You are asked to seek out and close with the enemy, to kill or capture him by day or by night regardless of the season, weather or terrain. The command they give you in the infantry is not to wait until they come to you but to go to them. Privates Palmer, Aplin and Chuck exemplified Australians who were seeking out and closing with the enemy so that we do not have to engage with them here.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens join with every other senator and member of this parliament, and Australians from coast to coast, in lamenting the terrible losses of Privates Tim Aplin, Ben Chuck and Scott Palmer in the service of their nation. This is a terrible part of the mounting toll in Afghanistan, and we extend to the families, friends, comrades and communities of Privates Aplin, Chuck and Palmer our deepest sympathy. Together with our colleagues in this Senate, we express our honour and respect for these soldiers who, in the courageous service of their country, have lost their lives.

They will be honoured in the annals of Australia’s history. They have put their lives on the line for the nation, the country they loved, and have lost their lives. And now, and as a consequence, there is extraordinary misery and grieving but, hopefully, the emergent joy of knowing for the families, the friends and the communities that have to endure this dreadful news that a nation honours the lost one.

The circumstances in Afghanistan have not changed for the better. It has been my repeated asseveration that we should have a full and open debate in this parliament on the Afghan involvement by our brave Defence Force personnel, with a conscience vote and with every member of parliament here contributing his or her knowledge and reflecting his or her electorate’s feeling about our long involvement and our continued future involvement in a war where there is no sight of end, exit or withdrawal by the Australian Defence Force personnel.

I might add here, and I know that colleagues will appreciate this as well, that I am very pleased that Senator Faulkner is the Minister for Defence in this country, because his own statement today to the nation on our involvement in Afghanistan shows a deep commitment to international negotiation and to involvement on the ground at the interface in a very complicated situation in Afghanistan, and brings with that an intelligence and a heartfelt humanity and concern for Australians in Afghanistan and for everybody in Afghanistan. This is quite exemplary in the service of this nation in what is an extraordinarily difficult situation for us all to comprehend and come to terms with.

I reiterate that I think we owe it to our Defence Force personnel to have a much more wide-ranging debate about their service in Afghanistan at the behest of our government and, therefore, our nation and, therefore, all of us. I note that the Dutch forces have withdrawn. In fact, the government of the Netherlands fell because of the debate on this very issue—in a country even further away from Afghanistan. The Canadians intend to follow suit next year. I note also the absence of deployment in this theatre by much bigger and closer defence forces such as China and India. Their involvement, of course, would potentially lead to a much swifter outcome.

These are very difficult and heart-wrenching situations, and we must not flinch from taking on that difficult debate and communication with our own communities in honour of the involvement of our brave Defence Force personnel and, indeed, civilian personnel in Afghanistan. We owe it to this nation on their behalf, after such a long involvement—since 2001—and, as Senator Faulkner said, after the death of 16 of these good, true, courageous and committed Australians, and with the toll of another 135 injured.

We have heard today of these wonderful privates who have now lost their lives. I hope that when this parliament returns in August or, if it is that there is an election on the agenda, when the new parliament comes back it will give a commitment to honour that involvement and that the extraordinary anguish for all the people—the families, in particular, of our Defence Force personnel—is not repeated in the deployment to theatres of war in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is incumbent on us to debate this issue more than we have. That said, I appreciate this motion today. It is incredibly important, and I am glad we are united in it. I hope that it presents some balm for the most affected souls who are dealing with this tragedy.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Family First joins in this condolence motion and acknowledges Private Aplin’s, Private Chuck’s and Private Palmer’s dedication to our country, their service for this country and their willingness to put their lives in dangerous circumstances so that we may enjoy our freedoms. The freedoms that we enjoy today are because many others have sacrificed a lot for the safety and freedoms that we have today.

It is hard to know what it would really feel like to lose a husband; it is hard to know what it would be like to lose a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, and I think of the families of Private Aplin, Private Chuck and Private Palmer. Hopefully, this condolence motion will bring some comfort to all of them, knowing that this nation says thank you to them.

I watched the news last night and heard a couple of close relatives—I think one was a mother, and there was some other family member—just sharing about the ones who had been lost previously. I do not think that now is the time to talk about what we do with the war in Afghanistan. This is about a condolence motion and about saying thank you. Hopefully, this will bring some comfort to those families who have lost loved ones. We do also continue to extend our prayers and thoughts out to those who are wounded, for a speedy recovery for them.

Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too join my colleagues in complete support of this motion and I extend my condolences and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of Privates Aplin, Chuck and Palmer. I think my colleagues very articulately spoken about the sacrifice that has been made and about the tragic circumstances of their deaths. We are here today as a Senate to honour them for their contribution and the sacrifice they have made for this nation. I add my thanks to the Minister for Defence, Senator Faulkner, for the competence and humanity in the work he has done in a very difficult portfolio. I do not think anyone envies him in the role that he has, but I thank you, Senator Faulkner, for your openness and candour about what is happening in Afghanistan in these very difficult times. I join with my colleagues in complete support of this condolence motion.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate for the opportunity to support the motion of the Minister for Defence to honour the memories of Privates Aplin, Chuck and Palmer. The then Sergeant Aplin deployed to Iraq with my son, Captain Justin Back, in 2003 in the first security detachment to Baghdad, where Sergeant Aplin was an infantry platoon sergeant and my son was the troop commander of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. Justin reports to me that Sergeant Aplin was doggedly professional, totally dependable, a man with a wicked sense of humour and highly regarded through all the ranks. In summary, he was a great bloke and one you could rely on 100 per cent. As Justin observed and as the minister has said, the then Sergeant Aplin gave up his hard-earned rank of senior sergeant to join the commandos and I understand those same qualities carried through with him to that commando regiment.

These three men have carried on the long tradition of excellence that characterises Australian service personnel. Our hearts go out to their families, soldiers and friends. They have experienced what every service family fears, but they can take comfort in the prayers and debt that is owed by our entire community for their bravery.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.