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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-30 Daily Xml
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ANZAC DAY

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:26): On Friday 25 April we marked this country's most important national occasion—ANZAC Day. On this day, Australians young and old remember those who fought—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Mr Acting President, in talking about such an important issue, I would like to do it without the heckling and with a show of respect. Opposition members obviously have no respect for our indigenous people, but they could at least show some respect for our ANZACs.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. B.V. Finnigan): The members on my left will come to order.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: On this day, Australia's young and old remember those who fought and died in all wars from the Boer War in 1899 to the conflicts of today, including Afghanistan and Iraq. We also remember those who served on the home front supplying material and morale to the fighting forces, for theirs was no less a service to Australia.

ANZAC Day is more than a national holiday; rather, it is a fundamental Australian tradition. On this day, we remember in particular the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces—the landing at Gallipoli in 1915—and we honour the spirit of the original ANZACs. Every nation remembers some past event, some battle, or some defining moment in history. Our defining moment came at Gallipoli, a campaign which, if not an outright defeat, was certainly not a success.

It was at dawn on 25 April that the Australian and New Zealand troops landed at what has now become known as ANZAC Cove. Thousands of men would die in the hours and days that followed the landing at that beach. Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and taking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand actions during this campaign leave an intangible but powerful legacy.

The remarkable bravery and courage shown by those young men during that time will be long remembered. The young men of Gallipoli were the first ANZACs—ordinary young Australians doing their best in a campaign of intense ferocity. The casualties were horrendous.

Of all the battle fields on which Australians fought, it is the disastrous Gallipoli campaign that has come to symbolise the Australian soldiers' courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship. The essence of Gallipoli was that, in the face of adversity and potential defeat, the Australian spirit triumphed. It is this Australian spirit that I talk about today, one which was born in the trenches of Gallipoli years ago, and one that has carried on through to future war efforts—World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and to those men and women on duty today in Afghanistan, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Sudan, the Sinai and Lebanon.

To this very day, the spirit of the ANZACs' courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship continues in times of conflict, danger and hardships such as cyclones, floods and bushfires. At these times, Australians come together to rescue one another, to ease suffering, to provide food and shelter, to look after one another and to let the victims of these disasters know they are not alone.

It gave me great sadness to learn this week about Lance Corporal Jason Marks, Australia's most recent casualty of war. Lance Corporal Jason Marks was killed and four other Australian soldiers wounded in a fire fight with the Taliban in Afghanistan on Sunday 27 April.

Lance Corporal Marks joined the army in 1999, and was a member of the Army Medical Corps before transferring to the Sydney-based 4th Battalion (Commandos) in 2005. He had been in Afghanistan for only a few weeks. Lance Corporal Marks leaves behind a wife, a five year old son and a five month old daughter. Lance Corporal Marks is the fifth Australian to be killed in action in Afghanistan since 2002.

I, like many Australians, hold the traditions of ANZAC close to my heart. My great uncle was killed at the Somme in France during one of the great battles of World War I. I often go to the War Memorial on North Terrace with my young son and look at my uncle's name engraved on the wall. I get such a feeling of pride to see my son, who himself looks at the name with admiration.

It was at dawn on 25 April that Australians gathered together at memorials in cities, towns and suburbs to honour those men and women who gave their lives for their country.

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