Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the past few weeks we have heard a lot about the special events that have been held to commemorate the Centenary of Anzac. It is 100 years since brave soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps went ashore at Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915. In the lead-up to this important centenary, I met many people around the electorate of Capricornia who had their own personal connection to the story of the Anzacs.

One of them was Rockhampton's Ron 'Tiny' Clark from the Capricornia RSL sub-branch. Tiny showed me his father's medals from World War I. His father, William Malcolm Clark, served in Gallipoli in 1915. According to a commanding officer's diary, it appears William Clark may have been the last or second last wounded soldier to be carried to safety by John Simpson Kirkpatrick and his famous donkey, just before Simpson was killed. Simpson and his donkey became an iconic and heroic symbol of Gallipoli.

During this centenary year, I have also learnt about other local soldiers who played a role in the Gallipoli conflict. Among them was a bloke called Albert Tiegs. Private Tiegs enlisted for World War I from Rockhampton. He found himself having a 'good last meal' on board an Australian ship, before climbing into a small boat heading for the beach at Gallipoli. Private Tiegs managed to keep a detailed and fascinating war diary, with a blow-by-blow account of his days spent amid the action as an Anzac.

I am pleased to inform the Australian parliament that Private Tiegs's war diary has been brought to life in audio and visual form in a new display at the Central Queensland military museum in Rockhampton. Titled The Gallipoli Experience, this project was supported by a federal government grant to mark 100 years since Gallipoli. Recently, I had the privilege to officially open the project. And I can honestly declare that this display is one of the most moving local tributes to mark the Centenary of Anzac that I have seen. When you enter this display, you take a seat in a small boat and watch a film on a huge screen displaying re-enactments of extracts of Private Tiegs's Gallipoli diary. While sitting in the boat watching the film, you get a heightened sense of what it was like to make your way onto the Gallipoli beach.

The Central Queensland military museum sits in a historic building that once served as the original Rockhampton military barracks. I commend the work of museum volunteers for their contribution in preserving local war history. Like many non-profit organisations, the volunteers here carry out an important task. Without their enthusiasm, this history and the stories that go with it would be lost. The Central Queensland military museum project was one of 15 projects in Capricornia funded by the federal government to respectfully mark 100 years since Anzac. The projects range from the re-enactment of a troop train journey through Central Queensland, the publication of local history books, the re-enactment of a famous 100-year-old war recruitment photograph, new memorials and the restoration of World War I artillery guns for public display.

One of the most significant events to recognise the Centenary of Anzac was the re-enactment of a troop train journey that took place 100 years ago. The original 1915 steam locomotive embarked from Winton in outback Queensland en route to Brisbane via Longreach, Emerald, Blackwater, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Maryborough. Estimates suggest up to 1,000 people turned out to greet the re-enactment train, which stopped in Rockhampton a few days before Anzac Day this year.

Other key Capricornia projects marking 100 years since Anzac include local history books. In Sarina, the RSL sub-branch received a federal grant of just over $21,000 to publish a local history book about World War I. I have opened a new office to service Sarina, and I was delighted recently to meet Sarina RSL sub-branch Anzac book committee members Gail and Brendan Maguire and Sharon Price. The book they are working on is titled More Than Just a Name and depicts the lives and service history of men and women who served in World War I from the Sarina region. The names were taken from the town cenotaph.

In Rockhampton a $9,268 federal grant went to the Central Queensland Family History Association towards the publication of a local history book titled The Great War—Stories from Home and Abroad. The book provided an opportunity for families in the Rockhampton district to tell the stories of their loved ones who contributed to the war effort. I was fortunate enough, just before Anzac Day, to officially launch this book at a family history open day. In other Centenary of Anzac projects in my region, nearly $15,000 was given to the Livingstone Shire Council to install plaques at both the Emu Park and Yeppoon Centenary of Anzac commemorative precincts. St Joseph's School, Park Avenue, used a $2,500 grant to create an Anzac memorial at the front of the school.

The sum of $1,211 went to the Keppel Sands State School P&C to establish a Centenary of Anzac Memorial at the school. St Joseph's School at Clermont received $7,624 for a Centenary of Anzac commemorative walkway. The sum of $16,124 went to restoring and relocating two World War I German artillery guns to the site of the John Leak VC memorial on Rockhampton's riverbank, sited under the Rockhampton Regional Council. The Nebo RSL Citizens Auxiliary received $3,167 towards the restoration of existing honour boards and memorabilia at the Nebo Memorial Hall. The Nasho Combined Central RSL Sub-Branch received $6,050 towards the refurbishment of a World War I German Howitzer artillery gun, held by the Rockhampton Regional Council at the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens. The Capricornia RSL and Rockhampton sub-branch received $6,050 for re-enacting original local World War I recruitment activities. This included re-staging an historic photograph with members of the local community and Capricornia Living History Unit. The sum of $5,631 went to replica uniforms for the Capricornia Living History Unit for Centenary of Anzac commemoration services. There was $3,112 used for a Clermont Historical Centre display relating to an Anzac heroes and heroines exhibition in the Isaac Regional Council. These projects all marked a respectful way to honour the tradition and Centenary of Anzac in Capricornia. Lest we forget.

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