Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Words, however heartfelt, are never enough to replace what Corporal Cameron Baird's family have lost. But I must say I know how heartfelt are the words of the member for Lingiari, the former veterans affairs minister. The member for Lingiari is a hard man but I know he was choked with emotion at the end of that very eloquent speech. I have not seen that before, and I pay him great credit for his very emotional words. He knows what men and women in uniform do for our nation, for our nation's spirit and for the Anzac spirit which lives on. I can only endorse the very eloquent words of the member for Lingiari. Well done.

The member for Lingiari said, 'God bless you,' to Corporal Baird at the end of his speech. That is so important. I know that Senator Barnaby Joyce finishes most of his speeches with, 'God bless you.' It is an antiquated, Christian phrase, but it means so much. As a nation and as a people, we say, 'God bless you,' to Corporal Baird, who gave his life for his mates and for a just cause—a righteous cause.

Before I came to this place I never really thought about the fact that the people who wear our military uniform—they wear it so well!—voluntarily go off to war. They want to do that. They serve with great pride and distinction, but they do it because they want to. Before I entered parliament I did not realise how much of a heavy heart I would have when I learned of each and every one of those 40 deaths. Of course it meant a lot to me. It means so much more to me as a parliamentarian because it is the parliament which enacts the legislation that sends those young men and women off to do battle on behalf of our nation and on behalf of a cause. I learned of each and every one of the 40 deaths in Afghanistan with such a heavy heart.

I know that view of those deaths is shared across parliament. This is not a partisan thing. This is not a political thing. We are all Australians in this parliament; we all want our men and women who go off to serve our nation, to come home. Godspeed them home. Thankfully, they are coming home from Afghanistan. Their duty is done in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a far better place now than the one which our troops—our brave men and women—first entered. It is a far better place. It has taken a heavy toll. We have lost 40 of our bravest young men—our best and our brightest: heroes, all. We can only say, as a nation, 'Thanks.' But words are never enough.

On 13 February the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and others, made fine speeches at the announcement of the Victoria Cross for Australia award of valour for Corporal Cameron Stewart Baird VC, MG. When the announcement of the VC was made, many parliamentarians from both sides lined up and passed on their condolences to the family of Corporal Baird. I will never forget his mother. She was not shedding tears. She was so stoic. It is hard to find words to say to a mother who has lost a son in such tragic but extraordinary circumstances, a son who gave his life—paid the ultimate sacrifice—on behalf of his nation. What can you say to a mother who has lost her boy but, 'Thanks; I am sorry.' She said, 'No, no; this is recognition for all his mates. He would have wanted this recognition for his mates. He would have wanted it to be shared with his mates.' No individualism; that is the Army way. It is: do it for the team. Do it for the unit, the regiment, the Army as a whole, but most of all do it for your mates.

It is hard to grasp that concept of self-sacrifice but our men and women have been doing it since the first men from these colonies went to the Sudan in 1885. The Boer War was the first war in which the Victoria Cross was awarded to Australians. Now it is the Victoria Cross for Australia but back then it was the VC. Sixty-four VCs were awarded in World War I, two of which went to people from the Riverina who could proudly call the Riverina home. There were others with connections to my region but there were two in particular who were born and bred in the Riverina. William Jackson from Gunbar, between Hay and Carrathool, was and still is the youngest ever VC recipient. He was 18 years young when he received his Victoria Cross for bravery in France, on the Western Front. He was also the first recipient of a VC in action on the Western Front. Like Cameron Baird, he went out again and again to help his mates, to look for others who were wounded, to repel the enemy.

Some time later, William Jackson was helping Sergeant Hugh Camden to bring in mortally wounded Private Alfred Robinson when he was hit by an exploding shell. Jackson said the he didn't feel much, just a numbing sensation, but he had actually lost his right arm. His right arm was just hanging like a limp thread. Sergeant Camden, from Moree, told a local reception for Billy Jackson later, 'Bill had gone out looking without his arm. Not looking for a VC but for a cobber.' That is what I am sure Corporal Baird also did—not looking for any accolades or awards, certainly not a VC. He just went there to do what he was trained for: to do his best for his mates. Another VC recipient from Tumut was Jack Ryan, who earned his VC just weeks out from the armistice in 1918, on the Hindenburg Line—another brave hero from the Riverina.

In World War II we had Jack Edmondson, who earned his VC in Tobruk. I talk about the Riverina and Corporal Baird was familiar with the Riverina because he, like so many of his comrades in Afghanistan, did his initial training at the Army Recruit Training Centre—previously known as the First Recruit Training Battalion—at Kapooka, just south-west of Wagga Wagga. He enlisted on 4 January 2000 and did his initial training with many of his mates at Kapooka. Each time there has been a casualty, let alone a loss of life, in combat for Australia, it has been with a heavy heart that I have always stood in the parliament and talk of that loss, because so many of those brave young souls did their initial training at Wagga Wagga. Wagga Wagga is a tri-service city. It is unique for an inland regional city to be a tri-service city. Even though we are a long, long way from sea water, we have a Navy base, we have a historic Royal Australian Air Force Base, and every recruit who enlists with the Australian Army—that wonderful organisation—goes through ARTC at Kapooka, where we have a new commandant in Steve Jobson, who is doing his best to turn out the fine men and women to serve in our Army.

As I said, Corporal Baird's mother, Kaye, is very proud of her son, as she should be. His Victoria Cross award is for most conspicuous act of valour, extreme devotion to duty and ultimate self-sacrifice at a village in Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan as a commando team leader. You do not get to become a leader unless you are very, very special. (Time expired)

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