Grievance Debate

ANZAC Day

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:06): I rise to talk about ANZAC Day and the commemorations that were held recently. Obviously, ANZAC Day is all about the legend of Australian service men and women over many, many years now—about 125 years if you include those who fought in the Boer War—who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula and held on for several months. This was a battle that included 489,000 allied troops and 316,000 Turkish troops. Out of those 56,000 allied troops who were killed, there were 7½ thousand Australian troops who made the ultimate sacrifice and 18,500 were wounded. Fifty-six thousand Turkish troops were killed defending their own country. This was a fight that defined Australia.

I want to salute all the service men and women who signed up to serve this country, whether they have served here or overseas. We have had over time more than a million service men and women operate in our armed forces, and it is heading north of that number now with around 103,000 sadly paying the ultimate sacrifice—and it is a real credit. At Edinburgh air base one day I said there is no greater thing than to have someone sign up for the armed forces because they are prepared to literally lay their life down for their country.

I am very proud to hold the position of shadow minister for veterans affairs. We always need to do more for the mental health of those who have come home from war. I had an uncle who survived the First World War. He got shot through the nose on the Somme—a sideways sniper shot, walking between two people. I had three uncles who served overseas in World War II and my father served here at home. I will never forget that one of my uncles had shellshock from Tobruk, and from the effects of that he blinked all the time.

Certainly, there are people who have served on other fronts. I had one uncle who served in the Navy in World War II and then he served in the Army in Korea. They had a Kapyong lunch the other day and there were four Korean veterans there and it was great to sit and talk with them.

I want to acknowledge all those from all theatres who have gone overseas and especially our Vietnam veterans who were not thanked when they came home. A lot of them are loud and proud now, or some of them do it quietly. Whether they look after the interests of returned service men and women in the RSLs, that a lot of them are heavily involved in, or in other ways, it is a great thing to recognise what they did. Obviously, over time, there were more modern conflicts where people have served.

On Saturday, I was privileged to lay a wreath with my brother Chris who served for 23 years. He served in Rwanda in 1995. Originally in his career he was an infantryman, then became an assault pioneer and then decided that if he wanted to do anything after the Army he needed to get a trade so he joined the Engineers and came out with a diesel mechanic trade. For the first time since he has been home, and with myself in this position, it was a real privilege to lay a wreath at Murray Bridge.

In the few closing seconds, I would like to acknowledge all that people lay down for this country. It is the injuries you do not see, mental health and that sort of thing. I want to add one quick story before I sit down. Recently, I met a person out one night who had served in the SAS and this person, sadly, is very damaged goods. He had served for 19 years. He had basically been blown up in Afghanistan and when I gave him my card I said, 'Come and talk to me. That's all you need to do. I don't need to do anything with it.' He said, 'At least you know a little bit because your brother served.' When you see the damage that service has caused to people—and we do not even know where they served in those special forces, I really take my hat off to everyone who serves this country.