Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a man who has borne witness to the ravages that war has inflicted on all involved, soldier and civilian alike, and the impact on our soldiers long after the guns have fallen silent and they have returned home, I thought I would inform the Senate of my views on the desecration of the war memorials with the vile and hurtful antisemitic slogans. I am filled with very deep sadness, sadness because there are some in our society who seek to express their views in such a cowardly way. The memorials are a soft target. They're used because they will attract attention. These evildoers went further and vandalised these memorials with very hurtful statements that I think are acts of violence against the Jewish people. There are plenty of other forums where they could have expressed and debated their views. They chose to do it in darkness. They refused to argue in the light and they expressed their views on stones that could not answer back. I doubt in an open forum they could defend their own shibboleth, their own views.

Memorials are consecrated, sacred places. They are sentinels to the inconsolable grief of mothers and fathers who have lost their daughters and sons at war. They are a constant reminder for us to remember the social compact with the dead—that is, we must live our lives with purpose, otherwise their sacrifice was in vain. To deface them shatters the social compact. It defies it. We should be rightly saddened, disappointed and angered. I urge the offenders to reflect on their behaviour. They can redeem themselves by turning themselves in. Only then can they journey, personally, on a road of understanding and redemption. Lest we forget.