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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-13 Daily Xml
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POLISH AIR TRAGEDY

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (15:20): I move:

That this council—

1. expresses its sadness at the tragic air crash on 10 April 2010 that took the lives of 96 people, including the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński; and

2. extends its deepest sympathies to the people of Poland, as well as to the Polish community and its supporters in South Australia.

It is important that we take this opportunity to express our condolences to those who have suffered due to the tragic crash of an aeroplane in Russia a month ago, to the families of the deceased, to the Polish people, and to the Polish community in our own state.

I associate myself with the comments made by members in another place who passed this motion yesterday, including the Premier, the Hon. Mike Rann, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Isobel Redmond. I place on record my own deep personal sympathies to the Polish people and those of Polish heritage for the loss of life resulting from the air crash at Katyn on 10 April this year. A number of Poland's political, social, business, military and religious leaders were killed in the crash.

It is a bitter irony that the purpose of the trip was to attend commemorations to mark one of the great atrocities committed in the Second World War: the massacre of Polish troops at Katyn in 1940. A number of the victims of the air disaster were relatives of the 20,000 Polish officers killed by Stalin's secret police in the Katyn massacre (who were flying to Russia to take part in remembrance ceremonies for the 70th anniversary of that heinous event).

The crash claimed the life of President Kaczyński, his wife Maria, the chief of Poland's National Security Office, the Governor of the National Bank of Poland, the Deputy Speaker of the lower house, a number of members of parliament and senators, the heads of Poland's military, foreign affairs department and other senior officers of the Public Service and armed forces, the nation's deputy foreign minister, senior members of the Polish clergy and Poland's last president in exile.

President Kaczyński will be remembered in particular for the instrumental role he played in post-communist Poland, for his staunch defence of Polish independence and its national interests, for his distaste for corruption, and for his support of the Jewish community in Poland and their tremendous suffering through out the 20th century. Kaczyński's politics reflected his understanding of the significance of Poland's recent history.

Poland's history in the 20th century was tumultuous, having been oppressed by both the Germans and the Russians in the First and Second World Wars. Poland has borne the brunt of modern European conflict as a result of its position between Eastern and Western Europe. Poland's journey to independence was long and difficult. I express my admiration for the strength and resilience of the Polish people today.

Like the massacre of Katyn, this tragic accident will be remembered with sadness for many years to come. Poland and Russia have been working towards better relations in recent years, and it is to be welcomed that leaders of both Russia and Poland were to attend the joint commemoration of the Katyn massacre; how unfortunate that they were instead attending state funerals.

Australia has enjoyed a strong migration from Poland to our nation, particularly in the wake of the Second World War. There continues to be a strong Polish community in South Australia, and a number of representatives were present in the gallery of the other place yesterday for the same motion. We extend our sympathies to the families of those who perished, all the people of Poland and the Polish community in our state for the sadness they must feel at this time in the light of a national tragedy.

I have always had a great personal admiration for Poland and its people. There is certainly no doubt that it is hard to think of another nation that so clearly bore the brunt of many of the tragedies and suffering of the 20th century—in the First World War and in the Second World War, in particular, when I think Poland had one of the highest casualty rates in terms of the number of people lost for its population.

In particular, the Polish people were always staunch in their opposition to the Nazis and, subsequently, to the Soviets. The remarkable courage of the people in the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II in rebelling against the Nazis is certainly testament to that. The Polish people also stood firm during the Cold War.

My first consciousness of major world events was in relation to the election of a Polish Pope and the events surrounding Solidarity in Poland, when the people once again showed great bravery and continued to do so in seeing the downfall of the Soviet empire.

As I remarked, we do have a very strong local Polish community. I was privileged to go to a lecture some years ago by Lech Walesa at the Adelaide Town Hall, and I could see how strong and vibrant the local community of Polish expatriates is. It was quite interesting because some of them seemed to disagree with the translation that was coming through, so I had a number of people around me giving alternative translations as we went along, and that sometimes made it difficult to hear what he was saying.

I am sure that all members will join in supporting this motion that we remember those who died—may they rest in peace—and place on record our sadness at the events that occurred and our sympathies to the people of Poland, to those who suffer as a result and to the local Polish community. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:25): I rise on behalf of the opposition to support the motion moved by the Hon. Mr Finnigan. I quickly offer an apology if I mispronounce any of the Polish names that I will read out. The Polish president, Mr Lech Kaczyński, and his wife Maria died on Saturday 10 April 2010. With them, a number of serving members of Poland's political elite also perished when their plane crashed on approach to a Russian airport. At the time, Mr Kaczyński was only 60 years old. He, with his wife of 30 years, and the official party were travelling to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre in which the Soviet secret police killed 15,000 Polish officers in one of the most notorious atrocities of the Second World War.

Family members of the Katyn victims were also on board the President's plane. Others were waiting at the airport. Other members of that delegation included the chief of Poland's armed forces, the head of its Navy, the central bank governor and opposition lawmakers. There is no doubt that each of these people left behind family and dear friends, along with an entire country in mourning. In fact, the incident prompted a period of national mourning in Poland, and a number of countries also declared periods of national mourning.

Lech Kaczyński and his identical twin brother Jaroslaw were born on 18 June 1949. Their childhood aspirations were quite divided from anything of a political nature. They were popular child actors, with a highlight of their short but successful career being roles in what was apparently a hit movie The Two who Stole the Moon in 1962. The boys were 13 at the time. Lech Kaczyński went on to study at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. In 1978 he married an economist, Maria Kaczyńska, and had one daughter Marta, who is now 30 with two children of her own.

In 1981 Mr Kaczyński was interned under martial law until October 1982 for his involvement in the Solidarity movement, the pro-democratic anti-communist movement in Poland, the Workers Defence Committee, as well as the independent trade union movement. The fall of communism led him and his brother to be powerbrokers in Polish politics.

He was instrumental in the election of president Lech Walesa in the country's first free presidential election in 1990. He was appointed head of Poland's national security office under his presidency. In 2001 he founded the conservative political party with his brother and assumed the presidency of the party. Simultaneously, he was the mayor of Warsaw and championed a fight against corruption—which, of course, is close to the heart of the state liberal opposition.

Mr Kaczyński spurred the development of a number of culturally and historically significant buildings throughout his time as mayor. A particular one to note is the Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw. He was later to be become first Polish head of state to visit a Polish synagogue throughout an official service.

He was elected president in 2005 and named his brother as prime minister in 2006. As an inspirational leader in Polish politics, Lech Kaczyński will be sorely missed. His role in post-communist Polish politics shaped the nation and, however controversial he was, a great deal of Polish society has felt a positive influence of Kaczyński on their lives and those of their children.

Lech Kaczyński's legacy, which is extremely significant and which was mentioned by Isobel Redmond in the House of Assembly, is his image as an honest and incorruptible politician. He was not afraid to take a stand on controversial issues. He and his brother Jaroslaw have dominated Polish politics for the last decade, espousing a national conservative and often anti-Russian ideology.

The opposition expresses its deepest regret at the death of the 96 people involved in the tragic crash and, in particular, the death of Lech Kaczyński and Maria Kaczyńska. We give our condolences to the family of each of these people, to Marta Kaczyńska and her two children, and to the entire Polish community.

Motion carried.

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