Anzac Commemorations

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-97411

Hansard session: Fifty-Sixth Parliament, First Session (56-1)

Anzac Commemorations

Mr GEOFF PROVEST (Tweed) (17:50:10):

I wish to update the House on how I commemorated Anzac Day, as many colleagues have done recently. As we all know, Anzac Day is a sacred and symbolic day that is commemorated across our nation when many thousands of people show their respect to those who have died serving their country. In the Tweed I attended many deeply moving Anzac commemorations. I started the day at the 4.28 a.m. dawn service at Tumbulgum, which recently suffered significant flood damage. About 300 locals, including families of those who died at Gallipoli, attended the service. It was a cold morning and those who attended appeared through the river mist. We paid tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war.

Following the Tumbulgum dawn service I travelled to Tweed Heads where I was one of about 6,000 people who attended the Tweed Heads dawn service. Joe Russell, John Griffin, Mike Fraser and Bruce Loynes also attended the service with other leading identities from the Coolangatta RSL. I was pleased to see that families with young children and some with teenagers participated in these services. I then attended the Anzac Day march at Pottsville, where I laid a wreath. The march was attended by about 2,000 people, including John Hawes. Following that, I attended the Kingscliff main service. The service was attended by the Vice President of the Kingscliff RSL, Brian Vickery, OAM. The guest speaker was Commodore Malcolm Wise, OAM, RAN, who spoke about the future commitment of our military forces.

At the dawn services I think about what the young Australians at Gallipoli were feeling when they stormed the beach. I think about their expectations of life and their ideals and how quickly those were changed by the blood and guts on the beach and seeing their mates blown apart. There are war memorials in all our local areas and we have looked at the names chiselled into the stone of these memorials. This year being the centenary of Anzac, we recognise some of the surnames from a long time ago. It is of deep significance to the people of the Tweed that the area has lost two soldiers during the past four years.

Our most recent loss was three years ago: Sapper Rowan Robinson, a member of the Special Air Service Regiment [SAS] perished in Iraq. I knew him when he was a young lifesaver in the Tweed, and I know his family. It is one thing to honour through Legacy those who have gone before and to support their families. It is different to stand at a war memorial side by side with the mum, dad and brother of a soldier who has died so recently. Sapper Robinson made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. We hear the word "sacrifice" a lot on Anzac Day. Seeing a family who suffered a bereavement so recently is very moving. His funeral was attended by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. His highly trained and tough colleagues were pallbearers.

At the conclusion of the ceremony the officialdom went out the front door and when I walked around the back I noticed that five of his colleagues were crying under a tree. It was so moving; it brought the horror of war to me. It reminded me of the ultimate sacrifices made by those fine service men and women, their families and friends through all those wars. Young people were ripped out of towns never to return. I cannot see how we can ever repay the debt of gratitude for their ultimate sacrifices. Anzac Day is always a very solemn day. I am 100 per cent committed to Anzac Day in the Tweed.

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (17:55:00

): I thank the member for Tweed for his great work in attending many local Anzac Day services on and around 25 April 2017. Anzac Day is one of the few commemorative days that is universal in its meaning to all Australians, whether one is a new Australian or an Indigenous person whose lineage extends back thousands of years. Each and every one of us appreciates the great sacrifices of the young service men and women who defended the democratic values of this country. Anzac Day allows us all to show our eternal gratitude for the freedoms that we enjoy each and every day.