Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 19 February 1942, Darwin was bombed, culminating in the death of 251 people. Although it remains one of the largest losses of life arising from a single event in Australia’s history, we still fail each year to acknowledge this catastrophic loss on a national scale. This event deserves its own national day of recognition and acknowledgement and today I am calling on the federal government and respective governments around this nation to finally acknowledge and commemorate what happened to Darwin and to this country on that day. Unlike Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, which form important parts of our yearly military commemorations, the Darwin bombings remain an equally important yet forgotten date on our nation’s calendar.

As the largest Japanese attack after Pearl Harbor, the bombing of Darwin marks an important part of Australia’s character. It signifies many of the values we find in the Anzac spirit, such as mateship and camaraderie. But, unlike Anzac Day, the Darwin bombings mark a time when the very remote possibility of war on Australian soil became a horrifying reality. Rather than hearing reports of Australians fighting abroad, Australians at the time of the Darwin bombings witnessed the devastating realities of war on our home soil. With the arrival of aircraft in battle, Australia’s defences were no longer concerned with maritime protection. The age of aircraft had arrived and the final and stark reality that we could be bombed from the air became a poignant point at that time in this nation’s history.

Suddenly, Australia was fighting for her life. Too often commentators point out problems with the defence but, contrary to what they say, our people, together with their American counterparts, fought bravely and well as anti-aircraft sites, machine guns and ships managed to withstand the wave upon wave of Japanese aircraft. The people who lost their lives that day helped fight off a totalitarian regime keen to expand its imperial march from Papua New Guinea. Since early European settlement, this was the first time Australia had been attacked by a foreign enemy, emphasising just how significant these attacks were within the context of the war in the Pacific. It helped strengthen Australia’s national character and underpinned our important relationship with the United States and between the servicemen from both nations—those who worked together to defend the city on that day.

As is the case with so many of these tragedies, the resulting personal stories are often the most powerful aspect. So it was with much interest that I read about the doctor who, in the midst of his efforts to help injured military personnel at the Darwin Hospital, noticed the Japanese bombers on the horizon. Darwin Hospital was one of the sites bombed by the Japanese that day. The doctor immediately alerted all he could in the hospital and tried to defend it as best he could against the incoming raid. Because some Royal Australian Air Force planes had recently left Darwin, it was assumed that those planes on the horizon were the same planes returning to base. Since the doctor had had extensive work at sea with the Royal Australian Navy, he immediately recognised that the planes were not friendly at all but rather Japanese imperial bombers. All too recently, there was an eloquent and accurate reconstruction of the early scenes of the bombing of Darwin, as seen by the Catholic priests and the Indigenous communities of the Tiwi islands, in the film Australia in which Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman starred.

In an attack that bore all the hallmarks of the attack on Pearl Harbor only two months earlier, no adequate warning was received throughout Darwin. The city was not in any position to defend itself significantly and its citizens were not in any meaningful position to respond at such short notice. Despite this incredibly short notice, however, the nursing staff scrambled to help the sick and the dying as best they could. Medical staff continued to render assistance while the Japanese continued to bomb not only naval and merchant ships in the harbour but also vital civic institutions such as the hospital. This included the now famous bombing of the Darwin Post Office, parts of which—a wall—have been reconstructed in the Northern Territory Parliament House. When civilian institutions such as these were bombed in the devastating raids on Darwin, we were reminded of the proximity of World War II and how it had not only come to the Pacific but had finally reached Australian soil. It served as a stark reminder to us all that warfare, as early as the 1940s, was no longer a vague concept that somehow implicated us remotely through our Commonwealth membership and the Anzac alliance. Suddenly, Australia was actually experiencing firsthand the cost, the shock and the tragedy of war.

Once the dust had settled and the city could take stock of the bombings, it provided some opportunity for the city to renew and transform itself into what the administrator of the time, Mr Charles Aubrey Abbott, called a ‘modern tropical city’. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, this Mr Abbott had a vision for his city and country. He commenced reconstruction work without delay and provided some real, meaningful leadership towards the reconstruction efforts of Darwin. To this very day, Darwin remains a multicultural, dynamic and modern tropical city. Every year, the Darwin City Council and the Northern Territory government, together with the Australian Defence Force, make a significant effort to commemorate the bombings with flyovers, ceremonies and speeches. Every effort is made to welcome back the veterans from those bombings and to ensure that their stories are treasured and retold and become part of the curriculum, at least in the Northern Territory.

I am pleased also to note that, thanks to the lobbying efforts of the Northern Territory government and in particular Paul Henderson, the Chief Minister, the bombing of Darwin will now become part of the new national curriculum. But I think there is a need to take it one step further. Within Darwin there is significant media coverage of the event, but I continue to be disappointed by the lack of coverage undertaken in the rest of the country. The Darwin bombings mark a significant moment in our nation’s history, particularly our military history. They were the first time in our nation’s history that Australian soil was under attack. The bombings serve as a reminder to us all that not only does warfare know no bounds but Australia is subject to attack just like any other island nation. The bombings remind us of our relationship with the United States, which is as longstanding as it is strong. They mark a moment in time when Australia came of age as a country and defended itself independently of the United Kingdom.

It is also true that during that time members of the maritime workers union, who were on the wharf that day, were the subject of these bombing attacks, and every year on the anniversary of the bombing of Darwin the Maritime Union of Australia take the opportunity to commemorate their members and workers who lost their lives on that day.

Today I am advocating that, commencing this year, on Saturday week, we have a national day of recognition of the bombings of Darwin—a national day when we all stop for one minute, just like on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, and remember the efforts of people in Darwin, the lives that were lost and the significance for our country if that attack had not been stopped. I believe a moment of silence across the nation will increase public awareness of the attacks and heighten Australians’ awareness of their connection to, rather than isolation from, the rest of the world. Further, a moment to reflect on the bombings would provide us all with the opportunity to reflect on how far our Australian character has come. Most importantly, a moment of silence will allow us to remember those who fell on that day, who died on Australian soil defending this country from an enemy attack. It will allow us to remember those American servicemen who died helping to defend our city and the civilians who died—the deaths that are a consequence when such an attack occurs during war. The remembrance of those who fell will help Australians appreciate not only what our defence forces did during that time but also our close and longstanding relationship with America and the values we mutually share and defend. It may also help Australians appreciate the connection we now have with the Japanese—the bridges that have been built and the relationships that have developed and strengthened since that time.

As the story of the doctor shows—and as does the diary I have read of a little boy who recounted his memories of the Darwin attacks—it was not just one day; it was sustained over weeks and months. It was not just one bombing attack; it was tens of dozens of attacks. The significance and the enormity of the attacks—the number of times and their length—I think is something that very few Australians know about. I think very few Australians appreciate what actually occurred in the Top End of Australia on 19 February 1942. Very few Australians will stop for one minute on Saturday week and remember the devastation that was wreaked upon our country during those bombings.

Australians historically have been of sympathetic and courageous character. A moment of silence for the Darwin bombings is not intended to rival Anzac Day, is not intended to rival Remembrance Day but is intended to complement and augment these services, because they each tell a particular and special story about Australia’s military history—about our survival and the efforts of our defence forces and civilians to maintain and protect the democracy that we so value. But this time it was on our own soil, our very own turf. It is time that this nation recognised that in a national day of commemoration.

Each of these stories tells a particular chapter of Australia’s history—its colonial underpinnings, its independence—and it charts the story of our friends and foes, past and present. Commemorating the bombing of Darwin each year, nationally and for one minute on that day—like we do on the other two days of significance during the year, Anzac Day and Remembrance Day—will help to educate our future generations about our past and honour those who have contributed to our history. It will also ensure that the events of that day are not lost; that they become part of our culture and part of us. It will ensure we finally recognise the significant devastation but also the skill employed that day to ensure the attacks on Darwin during World War II were simply that, and that at the end of the day, as a nation, we defeated that enemy. We should be proud to recognise that each and every year, as a nation.