Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

SMITH () (): I rise to highlight a meaningful, historic opportunity to pay tribute to the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen. It's an opportunity that is in real danger of being missed, unless the new Albanese government acts quickly.

But let me begin with a short anecdote that demonstrates powerfully Her Majesty's commitment to the Australian people and her lifelong mantra of 'service before self'. On the eve of the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, our Queen telephoned her Australian representative, the Governor-General, David Hurley. His Excellency had previously written to Her Majesty to express Australia's sorrow as a nation at the Duke's passing. The Governor-General had also arranged for a phone call with Her Majesty, thinking it would take place after the funeral. Little did he expect to hear from the Queen only hours before the service. After the Governor-General had passed on his condolences, the first question the Queen had was for the welfare of the people in the town of Kalbarri, in my home state of Western Australia, after the shocking destruction of Cyclone Seroja. Amid Her Majesty's own grief and great personal loss, her first instinct was to ask about the welfare of others. It's a heartwarming tale of an Australian head of state who truly cares for her Australian people. As I mentioned earlier, it's one of countless examples of her keeping her promise of service and duty to us.

As the Commonwealth celebrates Her Majesty's 70 remarkable years on the throne, her Platinum Jubilee offers an opportunity not only to recognise her service and duty, but, importantly, those of others who have also dedicated their lives to the greater good. In this spirit, a magnificent commemorative medal to mark the 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession has been created in the United Kingdom. The criteria for receiving the medal in the United Kingdom have remained the same as for all jubilee medals. Serving members of the armed forces that have completed five full years of service qualify; volunteer reserve and ex-regular reservists qualify; frontline emergency services personnel qualify; prison services personnel qualify; members of the royal household with one year of qualifying service also qualify; and living individual recipients of the Victoria and George crosses also qualify. And, to provide some context, recipients in the United Kingdom number into the hundreds of thousands. It's a wonderful way of sharing this landmark occasion. Some of these recipients were present at the official jubilee events in London, and those watching would have noticed the beautiful silver medal with its blue, red and white ribbon.

The Platinum Jubilee has not gone unnoticed in Australia. There have been some wonderful celebrations, with major public buildings illuminated in purple; beacons lit; and even an island here, in Lake Burley Griffin, renamed in our Queen's honour.

But, sadly, Australia has not taken up the opportunity to award a Queen's Platinum Jubilee medal. New Zealand's Labor government has made a similar mistake. The year 2022 is quickly passing us by, and so is the chance to implement this very special initiative. Not doing so would be a shame for the deserving potential recipients across Australia and would represent a break with precedent.

In June 1957, Malcolm Fraser announced that nearly 7,000 Australians would receive the Silver Jubilee Medal. In 2002, then Prime Minister John Howard, without delay, announced that Australians would be eligible for Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee Medal. Perhaps in a sign of things to come, the Gillard government was reluctant to implement the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. One headline from the Canberra Times on 14 January 2012 read: 'Australia shuns medals to mark Queen's accession'. In the end, only 10 people received it.

Now, it seems to me that Australia may not mark, in this meaningful way, what is almost certainly the Queen's most important—and, unfortunately, perhaps last—jubilee. Various Commonwealth nations across the globe have done their part. For example, the Caribbean and Central American members, such as Jamaica, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda have all awarded their citizens with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee medal. Why should we make this break in Australian history and why should Australian servicepeople and civilians doing vital work on behalf of our country and community, on behalf of my home state of Western Australia, not similarly be recognised. Many of them, including our ADF personnel and police, swear an oath to the Queen. So too, I note, does the Albanese government's Assistance Minister for the Republic. But I realise the irony of this arrangement is not lost on many of my colleagues both here and in the other place.

The service of ADF and police force members would, of course, feature highly on a suggested list of criteria for Australian recipients of a Platinum Jubilee medal. I would propose that criteria might be based on that in the United Kingdom but tailored to Australian use and include qualifying members who are serving and ex-service members of the Australian Defence Force that have completed four years of service; Australian Defence Force cadet instructors that have completed four years of service; frontline emergency services personnel, both paid and volunteer; members of the police force and correctional service officers that have completed four years of service; national service men whose service has been completed; and, of course, again, living individual recipients of the Victoria Cross and the Cross of Valour.

The new Albanese government has been blatant in its republican agenda since gaining office, going so far as to create, as I have highlighted, a portfolio responsible for achieving an Australian republic. Nevertheless, I call upon it to put aside its views and policy on what ought to be a non-partisan issue at this time. It must honour the words 'service' and 'duty' by starting the process of awarding Australians with a Platinum Jubilee medal, and it must award the medal widely enough that it resonates broadly across the Australian community. This is a matter I intend to pursue over coming weeks and months, and I call on my Senate colleagues to be outspoken in their support of this initiative and other initiatives like it that at its core honour the service of Australian men and women across causes. I mean no offence to the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan, except to stress a final point: they have all done it, and Australia can do it again.

Briefly, I want to talk about another matter that is particularly close to my heart. I would like to publicly acknowledge the great work and the one-year anniversary of the National Unity Government of Burma here in Australia. The 19th of July marks the date on which a year ago they appointed an official representative to our country. It is also a great shame that in the last few days we have been reminded again of the brutality of the regime in Myanmar, and again I call on the Australian government to not waste a moment in imposing sanctions against this brutal regime.

Yesterday the Governor-General gave a speech. It outlined the government's agenda. In that speech, he said that a feature of our country—and I agree with this point—is the breadth of its multicultural community. That same community wants to see their values and their priorities reflected in Australia's foreign policy. It is shameful that the regime has brutally executed four democracy activists. The time is now for the Australian government to act, and to act decisively, because Australians like myself and Australians of Burmese heritage—the Chin, the Karen and others—want this government to stand up and to impose sanctions and not to waste another opportunity. This is a very, very critical issue. We can't live our values abroad unless we stand united in condemning again and again this brutal regime in Burma.

I congratulate the new Australian government on the announcement it made yesterday in condemning the execution of democracy activists, and I add my own views to their calls for greater international effort in having this regime condemned and driven out. I am encouraged by the unity that Burmese people of a variety of ethnicities have shown in joining together and supporting the national unity government. I congratulate their work over the last 12 months and I wish them every success in Australia in representing their views to the new government, to me and to other senators, all of whom have a great passion and care for the restoration of democracy in Burma.