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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-08-05 Daily Xml
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Motions

World War I

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:05): Mr Speaker, an indulgence. I rise to recognise the 100 year commemoration of the beginning of World War I. Late in the evening in England on 4 August 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany, a moment recognised as the beginning of World War I. In Adelaide on 5 August 1914 the then premier Archibald Peake received notice from the Governor-General, through the Governor, that Australia was subsequently at war. At the commencement of question time that day the then premier advised the parliament as follows:

I have received a minute from His Excellency the Governor Sir Henry Galway as follows—

"I have just received the following telegram from the Governor General of the Commonwealth. 'War has broken out between Great Britain and Germany. I would suggest that you announce the news in the House this afternoon. I feel confident that the grand spirit of patriotism and brotherhood which binds together the peoples of the many component parts of the British Empire will carry our country triumphantly through the great ordeal, and make the Empire stronger and more confident than ever.' "

This moment confirmed the worst fears of the South Australian people at the time: that we were to enter a devastating conflict that would affect every part of our community.

Over the period of the war more than a third of Australian men aged 18 to 44 enlisted. This included nearly 35,000 South Australians, approximately 5,000 of whom lost their lives. While devastating, the war demonstrated to Australians what capacity we had to achieve. It helped shape so much of what we today recognise through the birth of the ANZAC spirit. This is an important commemoration and over the coming years there will be many more important days for us to recognise.

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): A century has passed since the start of the war, but one thing has not changed: we still remember the brave sacrifices that our service men and women made for peace and for our country. Not only is this century a time for Australians to remember the fallen, it is also a time for the world to reflect on the impacts of war. Sixteen million people died during the Great War, and such a loss of human life must never be repeated.

One could only imagine what it would have been like to read The Advertiser 100 years ago and to have been sitting in this place as an elected member listening to the official announcement in the parliament that Australia was now war. In 1914 Australia was a young and peaceful nation that had not yet seen the full atrocities of a war of this scale, and on this day 100 years ago no-one could have predicted the carnage, horror and loss of life that would follow.

As a parent I can only imagine the fear that South Australian families faced during this period, sending their children across the waters to foreign lands hoping and praying that they would return safely and unharmed. Unlike today, in a world of modern technology with social media and a 24-hour news cycle, these parents and families had to wait in anticipation for news of their loved ones. Would they receive a letter splattered with mud or would they receive the dreaded knock on the door to inform them that their child would not be coming home? In reality, one in five did not. Australia lost almost 2 per cent of its population during the war, with around 62,000 deaths. We had one of the highest casualty rates, proportionate to our population.

The war affected all communities. In my own electorate of Dunstan, the World War I memorial at the Norwood Primary School was, in fact, one of the first memorials to be constructed in Australia.

The obelisk was erected in 1916, and was designed by the school principal and built by the students. It was paid for by members of the local community, with families donating one penny per brick to pay for its completion. This was despite the government at the time limiting memorials to honour rolls.

In South Australia, we have seen our veterans community come together to commemorate the centenary of the Great War. I would like to congratulate everyone who has been involved in this mammoth task around the state. It shows that the RSL and veterans community, 100 years later, is playing a vital and everlasting role in ensuring the legacy of our veterans lives on.

Over the past 24 hours, tales of heroism, sacrifice and bravery have resurfaced and will continue to do so for the next 100 years. We truly live in the lucky country, and we are indebted to our servicemen and women. We will remember them.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:10): On indulgence, I speak to contribute because it is a very sombre day in this state's history. We pause to remember the many young South Australians who lost their lives in the First World War.

As a small country of only five million, the loss we experienced as a nation and as a state of our best and brightest young people was profound. Very few families and communities were left untouched by this tragedy, and memorials in every city and every country town across South Australia bear testament to the courage and the sacrifice of these outstanding young South Australians. These brave men and women created a culture of valour, selflessness and mateship which continued to define our Australian servicemen and women in future operations and conflicts, and continues to shape our national psyche to this day.

We honour the 60,000 individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice and also remember those who returned to us physically and emotionally damaged. At a time when there was no understanding of the term 'post-traumatic stress', when the study of psychology was at its infancy, these young men came home to mothers, to wives and to families who did not understand, and neither did they.

They returned to a sympathetic society which honoured their service; however, many struggled for the rest of their lives with their ongoing injuries. There would be many who remember a father or a grandfather or a great-uncle who returned to us changed—one who would not speak of the war—and a mother or grandmother who struggled at times to support that changed man. My nine-year-old son is named after one of them—his great-uncle—as, I am sure, are many.

One of the tragic stories of South Australia's sacrifice was that of the Watherston family of Port Lincoln. Four brothers and one cousin from one family made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Frank Watherston died of gunshot wounds he sustained at Gallipoli in July 1915. Frank's brothers—Cyril, Edward and James—all subsequently died within four months of each other in France during 1916, and their cousin Sidney Watherston was killed in action in August 1918 while serving with the 50th Battalion. What an incredible loss for one family. What a burden for one mother to bear.

The sacrifice of these men must not be forgotten. Their deaths on foreign soil, far from the comfort of home and the people they loved, is a story that was replicated across our country 60,000 times. Their service and sacrifice is etched in history along with many others—not only on the World War I honour roll in Port Lincoln Civic Centre but across the nation in the memorials in every city and in every town.

At this time of remembrance, our thoughts are also with our contemporary young men and women serving overseas as we speak, who have sacrificed their lives in overseas conflicts or returned to us bearing the same physical and mental scars. It is more important than ever to recognise them and provide them with ongoing support as they return to our families and to our communities.

The world today is a different place with many conflicts and a changing international political landscape. We must work together as a nation to ensure our current service people have our full support and the best equipment and services at their disposal to defend Australia and Australia's interests, and to support our allies, for many of us walk free today because of their sacrifice.

In closing, could I share a verse from the poem The Soul of the Anzac by an Australian wartime poet, Roderic Quinn:

The form that was mine is mine no more,

For low it lies in a soldier's grave

By an alien sea on an alien shore;

And over its sleep no wattles wave,

And stars unseen on their journey creep;

But it wakes no more from its dreamless sleep.

Lest we forget.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:15): A lot has been said, and a lot more needs to be said about the centenary of World War I. I would like to echo the words of the Prime Minister and the federal Minister for Veterans' Affairs who yesterday made comments and speeches about the anniversary.

Yesterday marked 100 years since the start of the First World War. Here in Australia, from a population of just under 5 million, 417,000 enlisted; 332,000 served overseas; 152,000 were wounded; and 61,000 never came home. Of the men aged between 18 to 42, almost one in two enlisted and, of those who served overseas, almost one in five were killed in action. Of the 270,000 who returned, more than half were wounded and many more quietly carried the psychological scars and trauma until the end of their days.

Over one-third of all the soldiers killed were 'missing', or had no known graves. They were ordinary men and women who did extraordinary deeds in the face of both catastrophic military defeats and the most stirring of victories. For Australia, the effects of the war were profound and enduring. Together with the loss of those who died and the devastation to the living, the war left a young nation in mourning. Entire families lost their next generation of sons, either in the war itself or in the years that followed as the war took its toll.

Yet, the nation took pride in the fact that Australian soldiers had played a pivotal role in the Allied victory of 1918 that liberated the invaded nations of France and Belgium. It was a defining period in our nation's history. At the end of it all, Australia's official First World War historian Charles Bean wrote the following:

What these men did nothing can alter now. The good and the bad, the greatness and the smallness of their story will stand…It rises, as it will always rise, above the mists of the ages, a monument to great-hearted men; and, for their nation, a possession for ever.

Over the next four years our nation will remind itself of the sacrifice, valour and dreadful triumph that was the First World War. For us at least World War I was not a war of conquest, it was a war of freedom; it was a war for our allies; it was a war for our values.

Those who died, they fell with their mates fighting for our freedom. Over the course of the next four years, we should reflect on the tragedy and the magnificence of the human condition. We should remember the good, the bad, what was achieved and what was not. We owe it to those who gave their lives, the families who mourned them, our generation and our nation's future, to remember extraordinary service and sacrifice made in our name during the First World War and through the century since.

We should always, as we reflect, dedicate ourselves to being better people, creating as best we can a better world. Lest we forget.

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