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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-30 Daily Xml
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Adjournment Debate

Active Service Honour Board

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan) (17:05): I would like to bring the house's attention to an event that occurred in Old Parliament House on 18 May and I was very pleased to attend, when we had the unveiling of the portrait of Arthur Blackburn VC, a member of this parliament who saw extraordinary service and was highly decorated.

It was also an opportunity for us to unveil a board which commemorated the active service of members of this parliament. Many people attended that function, members of parliament, members of Arthur Blackburn's family, and also the great Chook Fowler, Keith 'Chook' Fowler OAM, more than 102 years of age. He is a World War II veteran who was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese and served as essentially slave labour on the Burma-Thai railway for 3½ years.

One of the other people who was at that commemoration and unveiling was Bill Denny AM, BM, an extraordinary advocate for veterans in South Australia. He spoke in particular about members of this parliament who had seen active service. He put a great deal of effort into the research, and after he spoke I asked whether perhaps I could read part of his contribution into Hansard so that it is on permanent record. It was not comprehensive and he made that point, because there are 69 names on that active clubs board, but he does go through and give us a taste of some of the service. With your great generosity, sir, I plan to read part of his speech into Hansard this afternoon:

I was particularly pleased when I learned of this project. In many ways, parliamentary and military service are complementary. Both are an overt display of 'altruism'—the sincere desire to put others before self. Both share a common objective—to improve (or protect) the lot of fellow Australians. Parliamentary service at a state level looks to better the lot of every South Australian. Military service rendered on the national stage looks to protect the integrity of our nation and everyone in it.

Interestingly, however, there are differences. On the one hand no-one wants to see 'war' nor, presumably, the need to proceed on 'Active Service'. War is something that should be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, parliamentary service is indispensable to the very functioning of our state and nation. For many it is not a 'job' but a vocation.

Military service, by its very nature, involves the offering of one's life in the service of the nation. It doesn't get much more serious than that! Enlisting in the military is sometimes referred to as signing a cheque—the amount payable being described as 'up to and including my life'. Sadly, over the last century, over 103,000 Australians have had their cheque redeemed.

There is no doubt that when the need arose, our politicians were among the first to answer the call and that makes the contribution of those whose names appear on this Honour Board all the more worthy of recognition. Interestingly, not all politicians (nor all Australians for that matter) immediately threw themselves into the fray when our nation was threatened. However, true evidence of the strength of our democracy is that the right of Australians to choose not to serve was fiercely defended by many of those who did serve. This was clearly evident in World War I when the 'conscription debate' raged.

All that said, I am pleased that the offer of service made by those whose names appear on this Honour Board was not constrained by political party or persuasion. On the Honour Board before us are the names of 69 politicians. They have served in 6 conflicts over a century. They are an eclectic mix—young, old, Labor, Liberal, Independents and later Democrats. They came from the country and from the city. They have served in almost every major land action from the Boer War in South Africa to Gallipoli, on the Western Front in World War I, and in many of the major actions in World War II. They served on the sea and in the air.

Post WWII they saw service in Korea and Malaya. Then there was a pause of around half a century. None served in Vietnam. There was only one addition post Malaya and that is Andrew McLachlan, who served in Afghanistan. Many of those who served were wounded in action, some taken prisoner of war, others decorated for gallantry. One thing is certain, the politicians who served may not have seen eye to eye in this place, but there is no doubt that they were joined at the hip by a common desire to serve and protect Australia and its people. Time precludes me from mentioning the service of all whose names appear on the Honour Board, but I would like to mention a few.

Our earliest state representatives included men such as Charles Sturt, who served in the War of 1812 and the Peninsula War, and Henry William Thompson, who served in the Crimean War. None of those conflicts directly involved South Australia, but those men no doubt brought their military experiences with them when they became parliamentarians here.

Victor Marra Newland OBE, MC, DCM and thrice mentioned in dispatches was a conservative member for North Adelaide. He had a very interesting military career serving in the Boer War with the South Australia Mounted Rifles and World War I in Kenya with the Kings African Rifles.

Ernest Roberts is a name not familiar to many, but his contribution is exceptionally noteworthy. He was the Labor member for Gladstone. He served in this place from 1896 to 1902. He then enlisted for service in the Boer War. Later he served as a Member for Adelaide in the House of Representatives.

Arthur Blackburn VC, CMG, CBE, ED is our most distinguished and highly decorated soldier. He enlisted as a private soldier in 1914 aged 21. His achievements were outstanding. He landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 with the 10th Battalion as part of the covering force. He went on to serve on the Western Front. He was the first South Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross. He re-enlisted on the outbreak of World War II and commanded the 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion. He led his unit in the Syria-Lebanon campaign. On his first return to Australia, he and many other members of his unit (including Chook)—

who was present on that morning—

were captured by the Japanese in Java and spent the rest of the war in captivity.

Arthur Blackburn served in this place between 1918 and 1921. He was known as a politician of few words but ever able to make a compelling contribution to issues close to his heart. He went on to become Commissioner of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and served for a time as President of the RSL in South Australia. In his book Sacred Places, author Ken Inglis spoke of Captain Blackburn VC as being a fierce advocate for returned servicemen.

My grandfather Bill Denny MC enlisted in 1916. He was a Labor man. Inglis notes that Denny was 43 when he enlisted, which he says was 'an age when no recruiter would expect him to join up and no sane person would send him a white feather'. Grandfather enlisted as a private soldier. He served on the Western Front where he was wounded. He was awarded the Military Cross, promoted to captain and repatriated to Australia.

In his 32 years in this place, he was a strong advocate for all he saw as less fortunate. The family tells me he was most proud of his work as Minister for Repatriation and his introduction of the Female Law Practitioners Act 1911. He was not to know that his contribution was to eventually advantage his great-granddaughter, Rosemary, who was admitted exactly one century later. W.J. was also proud of his involvement in the Thousand Homes Scheme of 1924, which aimed to provide affordable housing particularly for returned soldiers and lower income groups. Ironically, those low-cost homes were built in what has become the very affluent suburb of Colonel Light Gardens. Here we are 99 years on, and housing affordability is still a major challenge.

Thomas Playford was our longest serving Premier. He enlisted for World War I aged 19. He served in the 27th Battalion and was wounded in action. By the end of the war, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant. His political career was the stuff of legend. One of his first acts on taking office was to issue a public statement in which he promised to work in the interests of the people as a whole, rather than being bound by blind party loyalties. He entered the House of Assembly as the Liberal Country League member for Murray in 1933 and served until 1968, including 27 years as Premier, a premiership that remains the longest in the history of the British commonwealth.

Des Corcoran AO is a name familiar to many. Des was a Labor member of the House of Assembly and served as our 37th Premier. He also served as our first Deputy Premier. Des Corcoran served in Japan, then as a sergeant with the 1RAR in Korea where he was Mentioned in Despatches twice! Later he served as a warrant officer second class in Malaya.

Murray Hill AM, a conservative MLC, served for five years in the Royal Australian Navy in World War II. He was on the HMAS Canberra when it was sunk in the Battle of Savo Island. Murray was the father of prominent politician Robert Hill. Lance Milne CBE was a Democrat MLC. As a flight lieutenant in the Royal Australian Airforce, he flew Spitfires in Fighter Command. More recently, Andrew McLachlan CSC served. He was a Liberal MLC and became President of the Legislative Council in 2018. In 2020 he became a Senator for South Australia and is Deputy President of the Australian Senate. Andrew saw service in Afghanistan as a Legal Officer.

Time has run out for me to read in the remainder of this excellent contribution, but I genuinely want to thank Bill Denny for the work he put into recording some of the stories. I hope when members go through Old Parliament House that they see the fine Daryl Austin portrait of Arthur Blackburn VC, that they see the Active Service Honour Board and that they will think about the service that many politicians have made for their nation over and above their service to this state. Lest we forget.

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