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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-06 Daily Xml
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EXERCISE BOSS LIFT

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:23): I rise today to speak about a valuable journey I had the opportunity and honour of participating in during the winter break. Together with Nick Champion, the federal member for Wakefield, I had the privilege of travelling to the Solomon Islands to participate in Exercise Boss Lift, which the defence reserve support division of the Department of Defence coordinates. This exercise is structured to allow community business employers to visit their employee reservists on duty in the region, and allowed me to see firsthand the benefits of the valuable work of Australian defence personnel and the 9th Brigade.

As a piece of background for members here, Operation ANODE is the name of the Australian Defence Force contribution to the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). RAMSI's assistance is known as Operation Helpem Fren—Pidgin for 'helping friend'. Helping friends is exactly what I witnessed during my time with our servicemen and women.

I saw a group of professional and caring individuals, who are striving against all odds to provide safety and help, rebuild an important local nation and its people in need. Despite the domestic criticism and debates we have in this country on the subject of regional intervention and aid, especially when military personnel are involved, I was happy to see first-hand the benefits of our nation building programs for the people most in need on the ground in the Solomon Islands.

RAMSI's primary mission is to assist the government of the Solomon Islands in the maintenance of security, law and justice, economic governance and improving the machinery of government, all things we sometimes take granted in this nation. Imagine living with unexploded World War II bombs and ordnances in your backyard. This is but one of the areas the Australian defence personnel are assisting local people with. This combined task force rotation was deployed under the ANODE leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Campbell Smith, a man of dedication to his mission, a man with a dry sense of humour, which is often most helpful, considering it is a pressure filled environment in the Solomon Islands.

The peacekeeping component of RAMSI is comprised of personnel from four different troop nations: Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. The main task for the peacekeeping component is to be prepared to respond to incidents beyond the capabilities of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and the RAMSI's multi-led Participating Police Force.

This combined task force consists of around 160 personnel of which about 115 reserve and full-time troops are involved from either the 9th Brigade or other ADF units. This is commanded by the earnest and experienced Adelaideian Brigadier Craig McCarthy, who I was the guest of during my time in the Solomon Islands. Some of the reservists employers that visited the troops on the ground were from Adelaide and included people from Visy, Bendigo Bank, RAA, Bernie Lewis Home Loans, SAPOL, the Department of Environment, Flinders Medical Centre, A&E, and the Australian Federal Police.

On my return I have spoken to many veteran and community organisations about supporting South Australian reservists on duty in the Solomon Islands and throughout the region in their workplaces and their community. Last year I spoke to local businesses in Taylor about supporting our troops with care packages and messages of support. I look forward to continuing this domestic support in the lead up to the Christmas season as more people head overseas to serve our nation. This is a time when Australian personnel and reservists are separated from their families and are striving to provide help for those most in need in the world and displaying the very best of Australian society's values.

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