Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to rise to speak on this commemorative motion about the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli Cove, the Centenary of the Anzac tradition. Anzac Day, April 2015 is one of the most important commemorative events that has occurred in our nation's history and appropriately so. It was the Anzac legend that shaped our nation like no other event before it or since, and 100 years later it is extremely pleasing to see millions of Australians across our nation turn out in such large numbers to remember the sacrifice of an entirely different generation from so long ago.

It is important that the Anzac and Gallipoli landings be remembered in context. It is an example of epic military failure. It is an example of epic disaster—unquestioned casual treatment of human life by military commanders. It is important that Australians understand, in the modern context, that never again should we treat human life so casually, either in a conflict zone or in our endeavours as a nation more generally. I think people are right to question 100 years later: 'Is this a relevant event?' I think people are right to say: 'What does it mean? What is the sacrifice for? Why did it happen?' These are the questions that are asked by millions of people, as they commemorate that important sacrifice of young men and their families and their women. And I think they are right to answer it and say: 'This was one of the most significant events in Australian military history.' This was one of the most significant events in a young nation's history, because almost an entire generation of people were lost in what ultimately was a fruitless and pointless endeavour. Out of that, of course, came so much courage, so much sacrifice, so much mateship, and so much of the legend that we understand modern Australia to be was forged and born—out of that great adversity and that great disaster that Gallipoli was.

Locally, I was so proud of my own community, who turned out in such significant numbers. Outside of the Sydney Basin, I believe it was probably the biggest single event—there were almost 25,000 or 30,000 people at the commemorative service in my electorate. I was very proud of the Centenary of Anzac committee that I put together. It was chaired by Colonel Don Tait, who worked tirelessly and in fact put in one of the first applications in the nation to put together a program of significant events that would ensure the whole community shared in the story and learned from the experience and benefited. Twenty-one events were conducted in the Centenary of Anzac program. They honoured the 22 Anzac veterans from my district who went to Gallipoli as well as the 539 veterans from the Hills district who went to World War I more generally.

The logistical management was expertly coordinated. It was extremely well received. There was a Centenary of Anzac children's tour launch. There was a film displayed at the events cinema. There was a Lego display which was actually really profound. There was a recruiting centre. The launch in our district was officially done by the New South Wales Governor, the Hon. David Hurley, and we thank him for attending. There were over 7,000 people at the launch. There was the Centenary of Anzac stage play. We had a Sunday commemoration service, with thousands of people attending, and the stage show and dawn service were attended by about 30,000 district people. It was a major program, expertly managed by Colonel Don Tait, who has his own very proud record of military service.

I also want to thank the many people who worked tirelessly who never did get thanked, especially from the Castle Hill RSL sub-branch, including David Hand, Barry Newman, John Payne, Sjouke Havenaar, David Cronan, Mike Yeo, Des Brady, Brian Walters, Graham Handley, Chas Naylor, Jeff Lowe, Peter Westwood, Allan Roderick, Ron Smith, Mike Lee, Claude Zavattaro, Barry Russ, Phil Evenden, Robbie Duncan, Bill Dokter and Eva Want. All of these people made great contributions and worked around the clock for the better part of a year to 18 months, giving up their time selflessly. And almost all of those people are veterans of conflicts.

I also want to take some time to pay great tribute to some particular people from the Hills district who served during the First World War. Septimus James Lewis, of Castle Hill, was a farmhand before enlisting on 16 September 1914, aged just 19, in the Australian Imperial Force, where he served with the 13th Infantry Battalion and was part of the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. On 30 March 1917 he was wounded in the chest, and he was returned to Sydney on 19 September 1917.

George Sidney Cook, of Baulkham Hills, enlisted in the AIF in August 1914. He joined 2nd Battalion, H Company and embarked for war on 18 October 1914. In his military career he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. In addition, Cook was the son of Australian Prime Minister Joseph Cook, an interesting bit of local history that many locals know.

Keith Wemyss MacKenzie, of Rouse Hill, was an accountant before enlisting in the AIF in January 2015 and joining 17th Battalion, B Company. By February 1917 he had been promoted to captain. He was awarded the Military Cross and Bar, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

We remembered not just those significant veterans but all of the veterans—including the 22 Gallipoli veterans, only eight of whom survived—from the Hills district. We remembered all of those who served in World War I. In the commemoration of Anzac, we also recognised the service and the sacrifice of all the brave men and women who serve our nation. Military service is unique and it is a great service to our nation.

This is perhaps one of the most important commemorations in our nation's history, and it is vital that we continue the trend that we have in Australia of encouraging our future generations to continue to remember important matters like this that have shaped and guided our nation's development. I know those 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds—even younger in many cases, where they forged their ages—who went to war would be so grateful to us today, 100 years later, for the fact that we did stop, pause and remember their service and their sacrifice and that we did say to our future generations that we need to continue remember the bravery, the courage and the sacrifice of so many people. It is not because we glorify war, not because we think that Gallipoli was a great success—we remember it was a great disaster; we remember it was a great military disaster; we remember it was a great spectacle of human misery and chaos—but because out of it was forged the great tradition of mateship and courage, of people working for their mates and for each other, of people who were prepared to give up their lives for one another in that great tradition of Australian mateship, where we look out for each other, even under the worst, the most difficult of circumstances. That is something worth remembering for another 100 years.

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