Andrew McLachlan (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

North Terrace in my state's capital is considered by many to be one of the world's the most beautiful boulevards. As you stroll down its wide footpaths, shaded by the plane trees, and gaze on the buildings that support so much of our cultural life in the city, you arrive at the National War Memorial. At the memorial's unveiling on Anzac Day in 1931, Governor Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven addressed the large crowd. He said:

It is not only for ourselves that we have erected this visible remembrance of great deeds, but rather that those who come after us and have not experienced the horrors of war, or realised the wanton destruction and utter futility of it all, may be inspired to devise some better means to settle international disputes other than by international slaughter. This memorial is the seal of South Australia's homage to her sons, who in the ranks of brave company from all parts of the Empire, gave their lives during the Great War.

Tragically, he would later in life experience the same sense of inconsolable loss, for his son Patrick fell to the enemy in World War II.

In the lead-up to each Remembrance Day, crosses are place in the lawn nearby. The creation of the field of remembrance is curated by the RSL. Schoolchildren and veterans place the crosses in memory of the dead. It is a beautiful, moving and reflective custom of community remembrance for those who fell in battle.

Yesterday, these crosses were despoiled. This act of sacrilege is heartbreaking, especially to those of us who have spent time in the service of our nation. It is difficult to understand or even conceive of the motivation for this crime. It is disrespectful to the dead and those who seek to remember their sacrifice. This pitiful act pollutes the community's time of quiet reflection on their missing sons and daughters, buried in often unmarked graves in foreign fields. I am particularly distressed by the theft of the crosses planted in memory of the Poles who were cut down fighting with the allies to defeat the Nazi regime and free their country from slavery.

I would like to think that the perpetrator or perpetrators, having reflected on their sins, come forward and repent, but I suspect we will not hear from them. There was a time when we could leave churches unlocked for prayer and reflection, and memorials and cemeteries could confidently be left unattended. I would like to think that we can return to this state. Perhaps the answer lies in the education of our youth to have not just a better understanding of our history but also an appreciation of the sacred. But today we so often have to bear witness to vandalism and theft. We live in a society where some are unable or unwilling to respect what others hold sacred. This vile act of desecration spears the very heart of the purpose of the building of the memorial and the annual ceremony of the planting of the crosses—that is, quiet reflection on the lives lost.

The memorial depicts the willingness of youth to answer the call of duty and the extent of the sacrifices which they made for us. The work of Rayner Hoff does not display a material victory but rather a victory of the spirit. While we do not need to build another memorial, we can simply remember by planting crosses for the dead. This is a simple act motivated by love.

Ahead of Remembrance Day tomorrow, I acknowledge the debt each and every one of us owes to those who fell in battle, for the freedoms we now enjoy. I pay tribute to the families who had to cope with unimaginable loss and sorrow. I will conclude with the words of Patrick Hore-Ruthven's mother. In the preface to a compilation of her son's poetry, the Countess of Gowrie wrote: 'Many wives have seen their husbands, many parents have seen their sons, go out to fight to meet, beyond the reach of the love that has always sheltered them, dangers more universal and more terrible than any our race has before experienced. Knowing, too, how fearlessly they faced their future world, we believe that they, with many of their gallant companions, are among the very brave, the very true, and we feel that they are trying to reach us and give us a greater understanding.' Lest we forget.