Motions

ANZAC Day

Debate resumed.

Mrs PEARCE (King) (12:39): I feel humbled to have been able to pay tribute this past ANZAC Day to our service men and women who sacrificed so much to give us the freedom and the lives that we enjoy today. I feel humbled that we were able to come together as a community to honour, remember and give thanks to the men and the women who have served and continue to serve our nations in conflicts, peacekeeping missions and humanitarian operations around the world. We honour those who have fallen, those who were wounded and we acknowledge their extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism, and we mourn the loss of life both of the personnel and of the animals.

When I think of our ANZACs, the words that come to mind are courage, mateship, self-sacrifice and endurance, and a willingness to support others no matter what. I appreciate that when most of us picture the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, white men from Anglo-Saxon backgrounds seem to dominate. But closer examination of war service records and other sources reveal a vibrant tapestry of different cultures, languages and traditions amongst the ranks.

Men from nearly every continent and creed served in the Australian Imperial Force. At the time, many volunteers often had to overcome Australia's White Australia policy before they could be accepted. We recognise that whilst their backgrounds and life experiences were different, these brave men all shared one common goal: to defend Australia and its values. It was an honour to attend an event which acknowledged this, hosted by the Druze community. At this event, we shared stories of the many in the Druze community who served, stories like that of migrant Private Vincent Mahboub, who arrived in Australia as a baby from the Ottoman province of Syria, now Lebanon, to start a new life in Australia with his parents.

At the young age of 18, the private's parents gave their permission for their only child to enlist in war, and off he went. He fought in areas around Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux, but his time as a soldier was regrettably short lived. He was just 18 years old and had only been on the frontline a little over a week when he was killed instantly by an exploding shell. I note that his two younger brothers, born after his death, also served in World War II and thankfully they did return home safely.

In the years since the First and Second World War, our military has continued to attract men and women from diverse backgrounds. Our service men and women have served in conflicts all around the world, from Korea to Vietnam, Iraq to Afghanistan, and it is so important that we remember them all, we share their stories and we learn from them.

I would like to take a second to note that I am proud that the South Australian government is investing in the future of the state's veterans, Australian Defence Force members and their partners with the delivery of a second career mentoring program, with applications for the 2023 program now open until 11 May 2023. We are proud of our veteran community, and this program is a fantastic opportunity to support those who have served to achieve success in their professional lives.

Furthermore, in March this year the government announced that South Australia will formally recognise the contribution and personal sacrifices made by war widows and widowers with an annual day of commemoration on 19 October. These are just two recent examples of the services and support the South Australian government has invested in for our veteran community, and I thank the minister for his efforts in this space.

As we remember the men and women who wear or have worn the uniform, we also remember the families who have endured hardships and heartbreak. At this special time of year, each of us has the special opportunity to consider how we can preserve what our soldiers fought so hard to protect, extend greetings of peace and open our arms and our hearts to each other.

That is exactly what we did in my community in myriad ways. As I stated, I commemorated with the Druze community, but I also supported the fundraising efforts of the Tea Tree Gully RSL and attended their dawn service. I attended a commemoration service at a Lifestyle Village in Salisbury East, where I spoke with veterans from the Vietnam War, which this year, I note, is their 50^th anniversary. I attended the City of Playford's youth vigil, and I attended the Pegasus Pony Club's ANZAC Day Hack show.

In fact, I have one more ANZAC event to go to a little bit later this week, with a local school commemoration at which the member for Wright and Minister for Education will be joining me. All these events have been very different. All were created to commemorate and honour those who have served with the community. I thank them all, and I would also like to thank the One Tree Hill Institute and Salisbury RSL for their efforts to commemorate with our community. There was a strong attendance everywhere I looked, and I am so honoured to have stood beside so many. Lest we forget.

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (12:44): I, too, rise to speak on this motion acknowledging ANZAC Day. I thank the shadow minister, the member for Hammond, for bringing this motion before the house because it is an important opportunity for this house to acknowledge the service and to honour the sacrifice of all those who are serving and all those who have served, fought and died for our country, just as so many across our state and our country did through acts of commemoration on Tuesday morning last week.

Some of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy today hailed from my own electorate. Some 100 of those are commemorated at the Burnside District Fallen Soldiers' Memorial in Rose Park, where I attended a dawn service last week. It is a very striking memorial, listing the names of locals who fought and died for the freedoms that we enjoy today.

They were locals like Private Thomas Clifford Adams, who was born in Burnside, attended Marryatville grammar and worked as a clerk before being killed in action on 21 September 1917. He was just 32 years old, my age. Second Lieutenant Clifford John McWhirter was born in Rose Park, attended Rose Park Primary School and died of wounds on 6 October 1918 in Palestine. He was only 19. Corporal Reginald Ferguson Wark was born in Eastwood, the suburb where I now reside. He lived there most of his life, working as a civil servant, before being killed in action on 6 July 1918 in France.

I think it is particularly poignant when we look at the names behind the numbers and we look at the stories behind those names. These are just three examples of brave local soldiers, stories that hit close to home, who died fighting for the freedoms that we enjoy today. It was those three men, and the thousands of men and women like them, I remembered on ANZAC Day last week.

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the various organisations around South Australia who helped us in those acts of remembrance and commemoration last week. Locally, there are three organisations I would like particularly to acknowledge. The Friends of the Rose Park memorial arranged the dawn service that I attended last week in conjunction with the City of Burnside. The Kensington Park RSL also hosted a very well-attended dawn service. I was able to make it down there a little later in the day to enjoy a barbecue and a beer after their service.

Also, the Royal Australian Regiment Association Burnside not only hosted a dawn service on ANZAC Day but also organised a service the day before at the Regis aged-care home in Linden Park to give those residents who might not otherwise have been able to attend an ANZAC Day dawn service the opportunity to pay their respects. I thank all those organisations for their work. I once again acknowledge the sacrifice of all those who have served or are serving. Lest we forget.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:48): I rise to support the shadow's motion this morning. It is an important motion because it is a day of remembrance and it is a day of paying respect, just like I did on ANZAC Day and at functions before ANZAC Day. There were thousands of Riverlanders who were working on fruit blocks who left their families behind and enlisted to fight, and some never returned. Our service men and women showed strength, courage, determination, endurance, mateship and bravery to represent their country and give us the freedoms that we currently enjoy today.

Over the course of ANZAC Day it is one of the very proud moments in my role as an MP to be able to go out and show respect and visit those ceremonies on the day. On ANZAC Day I was able to go to a number of services. At the dawn service at the Berri Barmera Garden of Memory, we saw over a thousand people attend, and it was a great ceremony. Speeches at all of the services were quite moving, as they always are. It does just remind us of the sacrifice that men and women paid to give us freedom.

I then moved down to Waikerie, where they had their mid-morning service. There were about 500 people there. That was a very healthy number in attendance there, where, again, I laid a wreath and passed on the respect on behalf of the people of Chaffey. I then moved to Renmark, where we had the late morning service, and again that was very well attended. Renmark has two services, the dawn service and a late morning service, to cater for all those, particularly the elderly, who might be a little bit restricted with movement and getting up early unaided, and so I think it is important that everyone has that opportunity.

I also attended the Loxton RSL dinner. That, too, was very well attended. It was a mark of respect for the still acting service men and women. It also gave us time to listen to some of the stories. Howard Hendrick, a 99-year-old serviceman, is still healthy, still does not wear reading glasses and still has a very bright brain. He is very active in the community. He really is one of the great stalwarts in this country who fought and represented our freedoms.

It was a momentous day once again, as it is every year. We are seeing more young people coming to these services and more people who are engaged. Sporting communities and school communities send students and representatives to lay wreaths and to show a sign of respect. It is a very good motion by the member for Hammond. It is a motion that I think every member in this place should make a contribution to. I am a little bit sad that there are only some who have. I think by and large it is a day of remembrance, it is a day of respect and it is something that I am very proud to be a part of.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (12:52): I rise today to support the motion brought by the member for Hammond acknowledging ANZAC Day this year. Locally, it has been a longstanding tradition for the ANZAC Day service in the Henley area to be held on Seaview Road outside the memorial. In the past couple of years with the impact of COVID we had the Light Up the Dawn service, where everyone congregated at the end of their driveways.

The following year we held the service at the Henley Memorial Oval, home of the Henley Sharks Football Club, which was a fantastic event allowing everyone to spread out. Given the works that were happening at the Henley & Grange RSL, that also provided an ability for the community to get together and celebrate and remember the sacrifice of those who did that for us to allow us to continue to have the freedoms that we enjoy today.

I want to take the opportunity to thank Malcolm Whitford and his team for organising the service again this year. It is a very underestimated task to put together the ANZAC Day dawn service for the area. It is something that I am sure the community is thankful to him and his team for doing. A large number of schools were represented this year by students who came down early that morning to pay their respects and to lay wreaths. I will not name all the schools, but it certainly stood out to me that around the district more and more of our primary schools are coming down and actively getting involved in the ANZAC Day service each and every year.

The Henley service is special in that so many of our community groups do get involved, from the local Henley surf club to the over 50s club to a range of other service organisations, the Western Hospital—all of our community comes together on that morning. It is very special. When the Last Post is played during that service it is a time of solemn reflection. One of the special things about having the service so close to the sea, again, is that during the moment of silence you do hear the waves crashing in, something that does lend a tip to, obviously, the Gallipoli landing. With so many of our campaigns in war having been so closely associated with the sea, I think it is something that is extra special.

Can I again thank the Henley & Grange RSL not just for organising the service but also for their hospitality to the wider community—for welcoming the wider community into the brand-new and newly refurbished Henley & Grange RSL building that was just recently opened. It was great for them to have the opportunity to share that facility with the wider community on such an important day. Lest we forget.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (12:55): I rise to quickly make a contribution to this important motion from the member for Hammond to recognise the sacrifice of so many. The first time that this was brought to our attention as a country really was around the Gallipoli landing and the sacrifice that was made by so many and the sacrifice that continues to be made that we remember on ANZAC Day. It is a unique day in Australia: communities across our vast lands take time to stop, take time to remember, take time to recognise that we would not have the country that we have and we would not have the freedoms that we have without the sacrifice that was made by those many soldiers throughout many years.

Within my electorate there is a vast distance between communities. As the member for Flinders, it is challenging to get to the different communities, but I managed to be able to spend some time at the dawn service at Port Lincoln, which is the biggest centre but by no means the most prominent one. For me it was really important to be able to stop and remember what we as Australians should always hold dear—those freedoms which were long and hard fought for.

I would like to recognise the President of the Port Lincoln RSL, Gary Clough, as well as Private Marlee Anderson, who is an active member of the Port Lincoln RSL and also someone who shared her thoughts on what that day meant to her as a modern-day representative of the Australian Army.

Communities all across my electorate, communities all across our state take time to stop and remember on ANZAC Day the sacrifice that was made and the sacrifice that continues to be made by those who are willing to stand up for our freedoms and fight for our freedoms.

I would also like to recognise that the RSL in Port Lincoln continues to invest into the commemoration of that. They have a fantastic museum at the RSL in Port Lincoln, which I would encourage everyone to stop and visit, because if we lose track and perspective of that sort of history, I think we lose track and perspective of who we are as a country.

It is an important day to stop and remember, but every day we should continue to lean on those freedoms that were fought for long and hard by our predecessors. Lest we forget.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:58): I wish to thank all the speakers who have commented and spoken on this very, very important motion commemorating the service of men and women for well over a century for this great country. All I would like to say to all those service men and women is may we never forget. Lest we forget.

Motion carried.

Sitting suspended from 12:59 until 14:00.