ANZAC Day

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (15:15): Today, I am very privileged to speak about the ANZAC Day activities that I was able to attend and other events across the ANZAC weekend. These events were undertaken to celebrate 110 years since the landing at Gallipoli. First was the dawn service at Port Pirie, which has always been the case, where I am advised that the attendance was about 2,500 people, including many young children. They did an excellent job, and congratulations to the Port Pirie Regional Council and the Port Pirie RSL Club.

There was a morning event at Gladstone that celebrated not only 110 years since the landing at Gallipoli but also 10 years since the establishment of a memorial water fountain, which I was able to be part of as the member for Frome, along with the member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey, 10 years ago when we celebrated the opening. Congratulations to the federal member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey. This event was organised by Richard Stott, who is the local RSL person. Even though they do not have an RSL club there, Richard Stott has been very active in the community and surrounds for many years. There was a great response to his activities with a crowd of about 250 to 300 people.

The next event was at the Redhill RSL Club. They had a morning session where approximately 120 to 160 people were in attendance. Laying of wreaths and dedications were carried out throughout the morning. I must also say that we had the opportunity at Gladstone to lay wreaths from the Mayor of Northern Areas Council, Sue Scarman, and myself, as well as Richard Stott and members of the general public. There were a lot of young children there who also laid some wreaths.

With regard to the Redhill RSL, this event was handled extremely well. It was emceed by Keith Jackson and Rosemary Conroy, both of whom are long-term residents of Redhill. They have done an excellent job over many years. Even though Keith was a little bit resistant to actually speak, he did a fantastic job. The next event was the civic march and dedication at Port Pirie where the veterans proudly marched from the Terrace to the World War I Memorial Gates. Although the crowd was well and truly down from the dawn service, it was estimated to be around 300 to 350.

The next event was the memorial launched by the Nurom Whim Historical Group and Broughton Plains Heritage Society, which worked together towards getting a grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs to erect a magnificent marble memorial honouring those from the area who served in the various conflicts, from Gallipoli up until the current day. The memorial is located on the corner of Spencer Highway and Nurom Whim Road, and it is very evident to those travelling along this highway both north and south. It is a credit to both of those community groups for doing this together.

All these events were very well organised and well attended. However, these events do not just happen. They require very dedicated and continuous work, and each of these people deserve great admiration. I would also like to compliment the younger people who attended every one of these events, which was very gratifying given that it was school holidays on that day. During my time as the Minister for Veterans Affairs, I endeavoured to encourage the younger generation to attend not only ANZAC Day commemorations but also commemorative events to show our gratitude to those who made the supreme sacrifice, as well as to the families who were left behind.

Can I also mention and give thanks to the community associations for their refreshments. At Gladstone, the Gladstone Bowling Club were able to put on a beautiful breakfast there. There was the Port Pirie civic reception, and the Port Pirie RSL ladies, all volunteers, did a fantastic job there, and I must admit there were a couple of things that I should not have had, but still, we won't tell my partner, Lyn.

At Redhill, again the community themselves organised that and it was really, really terrific. And Nurom Whim, with the Broughton Plains Heritage Society, the ladies there did all the cakes and the teas and things like that and it was absolutely fantastic, so congratulations to everybody there. Again, I encourage everybody to encourage the younger generation to attend any commemorative events to celebrate our defence forces.