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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-09 Daily Xml
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ANZAC ACTIVITIES

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. R.B. Such:

That this house requests all schools in South Australia to hold commemorative ANZAC activities to acknowledge the more than 100,000 Australian men and women who have given their lives in the service of their country.

(Continued from 7 April 2011.)

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (12:54): I am delighted to support this motion, which has been moved by the member for Fisher, and I think it is the first time in this place that I have found myself in the happy position of supporting a motion.

An honourable member: And probably the last.

Mr ODENWALDER: Probably the last, that's right. I have to say that over the years I have been greatly encouraged by the growing involvement of our South Australian youth in ANZAC Day remembrance and commemoration activities. I have been going to the Elizabeth RSL for years, and the number of young people who get themselves up at 6am to show their respect is remarkable. The member for Reynell has previously spoken on this motion and comprehensively outlined many of the activities undertaken in our government schools for remembrance of ANZAC Day and the ANZAC spirit.

The Rann Labor government encourages the observance and remembrance of ANZAC Day in our schools through a number of initiatives. The Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize was established by the Rann government in 2007, in association with the SA branch of the RSL. The Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize is testament to this government's desire for our young people to learn about the ANZAC spirit and the sacrifice made by our servicemen and women in the Great War of 1914 to 1918. The prize is open to all year 9 and 10 students in South Australia from all government and non-government schools.

Students undertake research on a South Australian serviceman or woman who is buried or commemorated on a World War I battle site. Students then work with the RSL to research history, family, role in service and other significant information to take as a personalised commemorative item or story to honour the person's service to our nation. Prize recipients have a once in a lifetime chance to go on a study tour visiting the Western Front and to participate in ANZAC Day remembrance ceremonies.

This initiative of the Rann government provides kids with a poignant reminder of the service and personal sacrifice made by many South Australians during World War I. By researching the life and retracing the footsteps of an individual serviceman or woman students gain a personal insight into life on the Western Front and the privations servicemen and women endured every day away from their families, friends and loved ones.

This last ANZAC Day showed that our young people are involved in many of our ANZAC Day commemorations in South Australia. I understand that the recent ANZAC Eve Youth Vigil was, again, successfully conducted at the State War Memorial on North Terrace. This service, organised by the RSL, highlights the growing interest in ANZAC Day by young South Australians.

The ANZAC Eve Youth Vigil has become an integral part of ANZAC Day commemorations in South Australia, with participation from a wide range of youth organisations as well as youth from a number of multicultural groups. I am aware that the Salisbury Police Rangers and the Holden Hill Police Rangers, who I have been involved with, were also present.

One of the speakers who addressed the large number of participants and those in attendance was Miss Brigid O'Farrell-White, the recipient of the 2010 Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize. I understand that Miss O'Farrell-White spoke poignantly about the life of South Australian serviceman Corporal Alan Leschen, who she researched as part of her participation in this school prize. Miss O'Farrell-White, through her research, had gained a deeply personal insight into the ANZAC spirit, the life of our ANZACs on the Western Front and the life of Corporal Leschen, who departed our shores in 1915 and made the ultimate sacrifice on the Western Front in 1918.

ANZAC Eve Youth Vigils are also conducted at Morphett Vale, Blackwood and Marion, and I hope that over time we will see ANZAC Eve Youth Vigils conducted in the northern suburbs of Adelaide.

While most government and non-government schools already conduct a whole range of activities that highlight the sacrifice made by our servicemen and women during conflict, there is currently no compulsion for schools to run ANZAC Day commemorative activities. I think the growing appreciation and respect for ANZAC Day and the ANZAC spirit is more than evident now in the young people of South Australia and so I support the member for Fisher's motion, although I do express some disappointment that the member's motion does not adequately recognise the current level of initiatives undertaken in our schools for the remembrance and commemoration of ANZAC Day. I am happy to support this motion.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:58): I also support this motion. It is a motion from the member for Fisher that I believe will receive widespread acceptance across the house. It is absolutely critical, and it has probably been made even more critical after the events of the last couple of weeks with the deaths of four of our men in Afghanistan, that we educate this generation and future generations about ANZAC Day and the service that has been given.

We remember that some 60,000 men from Australia were killed in World War I and some 30,000 men from Australia were killed in World War II, and never forgetting the nurses and other women, particularly the nurses in the Bangka Strait massacre, and others who were killed. We remember the service of our personnel in Korea, the forgotten war, where Australia once again suffered numerous casualties, and those of us in my generation remember clearly the Vietnam War and the fact that we lost over 500 personnel, including the first national serviceman from Australia, Errol Wayne Noack, who was a Kangaroo Island lad with family connections to the island.

Then we go on to other theatres where there have been casualties. We lost two in Iraq in the Gulf War, and I think we have now lost 28 in Afghanistan. It was clearly brought home to my electorate, and the Australian community, but very much to the Kangaroo Island part of my electorate, with the death of Sapper Jamie Larcombe on 18 February this year.

It is absolutely critical that we never forget. I do not forget. I am a baby boomer, progeny of my mother and father who were married just after World War II. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.


[Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00]


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