Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge the important contribution of a number of important Australians, who are resident in my home state of Western Australia. In the heat of political debates that occur in this building, and given the increasingly busy daily lives that all Australians are leading, it is sometimes easy to forget just what a remarkable country Australia is. It is easy not to think about or, worse still, to take for granted its blessings of abundant mineral resources and its rich agricultural capacities. We sometimes fail to properly appreciate the successful evolution of our democratic institutions and practices, which place our nation amongst the most peaceful, stable and longest-enduring democracies in the world.

In our focus on the nation's economic challenges—and they are real, and I do not care for a moment to deny that—we can sometimes forget that, despite those challenges, we still live in a vibrant economy, replete with opportunities for the development of new businesses, new job opportunities and the expansion of trade in Australian goods and services into emerging markets. And, all too often, we overlook the abundance of virtue and the inspiration that is to be found in Australia's greatest resource—our people. I think that, despite the cynicism of some commentators, these are the qualities that are plentiful across the generational divide. Just two weeks ago, Australians gathered at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month at both significant monuments, such as the Australian War Memorial here in Canberra, and along humble avenues of honour in some of our smallest rural communities. In so doing, we honoured, in our own small way, the enormous sacrifices that have been made by so many of our fellow Australians, who have fought, been injured and, in the most tragic of instances, killed, in the course of preserving our freedom. I think one of the most heartening things about Remembrance Day and, indeed, Anzac Day is that, while the number of veterans is obviously decreasing with the passage of time, the size of the crowds attending commemorative events to pay their respects is not diminishing. In fact, their ranks seem to be swelling, and the ranks of younger Australians are especially well represented.

Perhaps nowhere was this more obvious than in Albany in Western Australia two years ago, when many tens of thousands of people flooded to the city to attend commemorative events associated with the 100th anniversary of the departure of the first ANZAC convoy. For me, the most striking thing about the crowds that stood five and six deep for the commemorative march along York Street that day was not only its size but its relative youth. There is clearly a deep appreciation among younger generations of Australians for the sacrifices made by their forebears, and that is something we absolutely need to applaud and encourage.

The other thing that we must encourage and foster is full recognition of the service of those who have served our nation in wartime, and that includes appropriate recognition of that service from foreign governments. However, it has also brought to light another issue: the significant number of Australian service personnel whose efforts have not been formally recognised by those nations they helped to free. One such example is France, whose liberation was secured in part due to the efforts of some 2½ thousand Australians in operations off the French coast, on French soil or in the skies over Nazi occupied Western Europe.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 2014, the French ambassador to Australia invited all eligible Australian veterans to nominate for the Legion of Honour, France's highest national award. Of course, there are some veterans in our community who remain scarred by their wartime experience and had no wish to relive the painful episodes. Commemorative events and citations can sometimes bring up these long-lost emotions. We must respect their choice to remain anonymous.

However, I have been very pleased over the past couple of years to be part of the efforts in Western Australia that afforded long-overdue recognition of the service of some of our lost heroes of World War II, who have received the Legion of Honour. These have included brothers Murray and the late Eric Maxton, Mr Thomas Lofthouse, Mr Eddie Davis and Mr Wilbur Towler. In fact, since June 2014 some 327 Australian veterans from World War II have received the French Legion of Honour.

Regrettably, however, there are some in our community who, despite significant efforts, have still not received that recognition. Mr Doug Groome, also of Albany and now aged 95, likewise flew 32 missions in Lancaster aircraft, conducting bombing missions over the heart of Nazi Germany. To emphasise the bravery of Mr Groome's service, the dangerous reality facing Bomber Command crews needs to be noted. Seventy-five per cent of Bomber Command crews died before they completed a tour, which was generally 30 flights. Nearly 330 aircraft were lost, and more than 1,400 aircrew were captured, killed, went missing or were presumed killed.

Doug Groome served in the RAF rather than in the Australian Squadron in Bomber Command. He did receive a European star and bar for service over Germany and France but, despite his active role in the liberation of France, has not received the Legion of Honour. It is one of my greatest regrets that, despite extensive efforts thus far to obtain recognition from the French government for Mr Groome's service—representations which have included those made to the British High Commissioner in Canberra, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in London and the French defence attache in Canberra—our efforts to date have been unsuccessful.

I hasten to add that the lack of success does not detract from the enormity of the sacrifices he made and the risks he took early in his life to protect others. In that respect, Australians owe Doug Groome a debt of gratitude not just for his military service but for being a powerful reminder of how important it is for us to recognise service to the community.

In that connection, I would like to briefly move to another end of the generational spectrum. Last weekend the 2017 WA Australian of the Year Award recipients were announced. As the Prime Minister has noted, each year the list of finalists offers an insight into our nation, the problems we seek to confront, the issues we want to highlight and the idea we choose to pursue. I am sure all Western Australians will join me in extending warm congratulations to WA Australian of the Year Andrew Forrest for his outstanding philanthropic endeavours, as well as the WA Senior Australian of the Year, social entrepreneur Mr Peter Kenyon. I also congratulate the 2017 WA Local Hero, anti-alcohol campaigner June Oscar AO, of Fitzroy Crossing. She has done remarkable work bringing together often conflicting parties in the Kimberley to support Indigenous families affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

I would also like to extend particular congratulations to WA's new Young Australian of the Year, Abdullahi Alim, whom I have had the pleasure of meeting only recently. Aged just 24 and a recent university graduate, Abdullahi has already co-founded an innovation lab to deal with contemporary challenges. And, as senators are aware, we face no greater challenge than national security. One of the projects Abdullahi has coordinated is an anti-extremism 'hackathon', which allows young Australians to create digital solutions to undermine the influence of violent extremist propaganda. His projects have attracted the support of our own government, Google and the United States Department of State.

It goes without saying that this is very different to flying bombing missions over Nazi Germany. The element of risk is not comparable. But the way we fight wars has also changed, and the 'cyber war', for want of a better term, is now our crucial terror front. Yet the driving principle, the commitment to service, the love of one's own democratic freedoms and a determination to protect them against real and insidious threats in many ways, are common bonds linking the service of a young Doug Groome more than 70 years ago and the contribution of Abdullahi Alim today. It is that dedication to service and determination to protect and improve the nation we all love that all Australians, inside and outside this building, should be encouraged to celebrate.