The Headstone Project

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. N.J. Centofanti:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges the importance of providing due recognition to those who served in World War I, and that The Headstone Project gives that recognition, respect and a sense of closure to World War I veterans' families;

2. Calls on the Malinauskas Labor government to support our fallen soldiers and provide funding to The Headstone Project at the requested amount of $75,000 guaranteed for three years; and

3. Calls on the Malinauskas Labor government to petition the Albanese federal government to reverse its previous decision and agree to grant The Headstone Project S.A. 'Deductible Gift Recipient' status.

(Continued from 13 November 2024.)

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (17:10): I rise briefly, but with some passion, to support the Hon. Nicola Centofanti's motion urging this council to do a number of things but specifically to acknowledge both the importance of providing due recognition to those who served in World War I and the fact that The Headstone Project offers this recognition; further, to call on the Malinauskas Labor government to support our fallen soldiers and provide funding to the project at the requested amount of just $75,000 for three years; and, further, to call on the Malinauskas Labor government to petition the Albanese federal government to reverse its decision—I think a terrible decision—to deny The Headstone Project South Australia of the deductible gift recipient status, which will cost the federal government virtually nothing. It has been done, I think, entirely incorrectly.

The Headstone Project was first established in Tasmania back in 2011 and is an entirely voluntary operation dedicated to locating and ensuring all Australian veterans who served overseas during those very dark days of World War I have their final resting places marked appropriately—and who would not want that? The Headstone Project's volunteer investigators confirm gravesites, research veterans' military and family history and then they seek to locate living relatives or descendants of the fallen soldier. Comprehensive reports are subsequently compiled and, once all inquiries are completed and cemetery authority and government requirements are completed and complied with, gravesites are marked with a prescribed military headstone and plaques that duly acknowledge the veterans' service to our nation. This is the least we can do.

The Headstone Project has been operating in our state since 2016 and is solely dependent on raising funds through various government and non-government grants—as I said, very small amounts they are anyway—donations from corporations, companies and individuals and, of course, sponsorships in-kind of goods and services. From 2018 until last year, The Headstone Project SA received recurrent annual funding via two three-year funding agreements (six years in total), and it was indeed disappointing to learn that this funding would cease when Labor released its most recent state budget. It is also very disheartening that this organisation was declined, as I mentioned a moment ago, the deductible gift recipient status by the federal Labor government, which would have been no doubt of considerable assistance to this very well-meaning and, I think, deserving charity.

It is a solemn reality that many South Australian veterans were laid to rest in unmarked graves in many places throughout the world. These were men and women who served valiantly and selflessly for the freedoms that we enjoy today, yet their final resting places remain anonymous without the honour befitting their sacrifice to our nation. The Headstone Project rightly seeks to correct this, and I support it wholeheartedly.

As the Hon. Ms Centofanti mentioned when introducing her motion, it is estimated there could be as many as 2,500 World War I diggers from South Australia buried across other jurisdictions, with approximately 680 resting in unmarked graves. There is clearly a need for The Headstone Project to continue its very worthy work of ensuring that those who served our nation are afforded the dignity, recognition and respect that they deserve, and also to provide their families and loved ones with a sense of closure and with appropriate respect.

This matter is certainly of importance to me and my own family, as members would know, given my father was in the Australian Army for just over two decades and served actively in Vietnam in 1968, notably during the famous Battle of Coral, where he was awarded citations for gallantry for this and other battles he fought in. My father, fortunately, returned home physically unharmed, but the reality of war is that there are many servicemen and, of course, servicewomen who simply do not.

I therefore sincerely commend The Headstone Project for its commitment and efforts to honour the fallen, and I urge both the state and federal Labor governments to support its endeavours however possible and appropriate and to reconsider their current position. It is certainly Liberal Party policy to reinstate the funding that Labor discontinued if it is elected at the next election. I strongly support this motion.

The Hon. S.L. GAME (17:15): I rise briefly to support the Hon. Nicola Centofanti's motion to recognise the important work of The Headstone Project. The volunteers at The Headstone Project are doing an amazing job working to recover the identity of forgotten veterans. I have long advocated for our veterans and, personally, find the vision of The Headstone Project to be deeply inspiring. Those who gave their lives in service of our great nation deserve to be remembered and honoured. Their stories need to be preserved for future generations.

Last year, I started the parliamentary friends of veterans group to raise awareness and support for veterans. We are honoured to be welcoming John Brownlie, co-founder of The Headstone Project, as one of our guest speakers at our upcoming parliamentary friends of veterans event on 18 March. The Headstone Project deserves all the support we can give them and I commend them wholeheartedly for their tireless efforts.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.