ANZAC Day Commemoration Services

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:19): I would like to make a contribution particularly on recent ANZAC Day services around the electorate of Chaffey, three of which I attended. It was a great day. I was lucky enough to be at the memorial gardens at Barmera early in the morning, at 5.30am. It was a cold and pretty dark morning, but the service was well attended by some 1,000 people. It was probably one of the better attended services in the electorate.

We saw the passion and dedication of the large number of attendees who came along to that service. I want to make the point that a number of young people came to that service, as they did to all the services that I attended. That really is a mark of respect, and our young people are carrying on a great tradition. They have an understanding of those who fought for our country, giving us the freedom, which we acknowledge and enjoy, to walk the streets freely today.

The thousands of people who came out to attend services across the region reflect the sacrifice made by the Australian men and women to protect our country and those who are still deployed overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and other bases around the globe. I was so proud to be able to stand tall when I attended these services in the electorate as the Last Post rang out and as the tears ran down the faces of some of those who had such fond memories of their loved ones, of the family and friends that they now miss. It really is a very sobering thought.

Attending those services gave me the opportunity to reflect on the times when those people left their loved ones. The Riverland, particularly Renmark, has a proud history of a ratio of population who have been involved in areas of conflict around the world that is almost second to none. Some of them who came home are there to tell the story on behalf of those who were not able to come home—those who were injured, those who lost their lives, those families. Some of the stories sadly reflect the aftermath, the illness that has now afflicted some of those minds and some of those bodies.

I will reflect again on the dawn service at Barmera's Garden of Memory because, as I said, it was attended by many. The service displayed high regard and showed me that all in the Riverland are very proud of the people who went to conflict, went to war, representing them and giving them the opportunity to live the life they do.

I then drove down to Waikerie to attend the morning service. I was honoured to speak with 'Jimmy' James Bennett. What a character! He is in his mid-90s and a World War II veteran. He read the Ode of Remembrance. Jimmy is a reciter, and he proudly recites it like no-one I have heard before. He and the Waikerie RSL branch president, Maurie Summers, conducted a very dignified service at Waikerie, which had a great attendance. Every year I attend these services the numbers are increasing, so that is really great.

I was then to able to travel up to Renmark, where I attended the second service. About 500 people gathered at the Cross of Sacrifice at the dawn service. Then at the mid-morning service we had the ANZAC Day service march, with an even larger crowd there. What really rang home was a keynote speech by Loxton High School student Lily Bright, who gave a tremendous speech, as did Harry Lock, a man who enlisted in the Australian Army in 1940 when he was just 19 years of age.

He led the march in front of the local emergency services members, the cadets, the service men and women, the Renmark Cubs and Girl Guides and also the Sikh community. Again, they were part of the march. They have done an outstanding job. They have become so intrinsic to the local communities that they, too, are proud to be part of the march to remember those who served and sacrificed. The Returned and Services League clubs across the region did a fantastic job. I commend all the organisers for such a wonderful ANZAC Day.