Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have the honour of representing the electorate of Solomon, which, aside from being one of the most gorgeous parts of Australia, is home to some six thousand members of the Australian Defence Force. I am also chair of the coalition's Backbench Policy Committee on Defence and Veterans Affairs, a role that I am very proud of, particularly given the fact that my electorate is home to four major defence bases: the Larrakeyah Barracks, the Defence Establishment Berrimah, the RAAF Base Darwin, and, of course, Robertson Barracks.

For these reasons I take a keen interest in defence matters, especially those that relate to the welfare of those I have responsibility towards. Since 2001, ADF personnel, including thousands of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel from my electorate have served with distinction in Afghanistan on both Operation Slipper and its successor, Operation Highroad. Recently, as part of the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program, I was offered an opportunity to visit Afghanistan to see firsthand the fantastic work our Defence personnel are doing in the region. I want to say, right from the beginning, that my while my visit was a short one, it was, as far as possible, a safe one. I got to have a peek behind the curtain at what our troops have to endure in the theatre. I will not pretend for a minute to be able to relate to those who have endured tour after tour of several months duration. I have never had to endure the fatigue, the cold, the heat, the fear, the isolation from loved ones that our men and women in uniform endure. And of course I have never suffered any injury or seen comrades in arms injured or killed. It was an absolute privilege to meet the men and women of our Defence Force who are deployed in the Middle East region. I would like to mention a couple of people who have Territory links: Private Laura Sabbert, Corporal Aaron Birrell and Corporal James Rosengrave.

Despite the dangers they face, despite their duties and their responsibilities and despite the climate and isolation, they all maintained a very good sense of humour and of course a very professional manner, and I was honoured to spend a little time with them. I was able to make a small contribution to their sense of humour and maybe even cure a little bit of homesickness by presenting some Territory care packages, having lugged them all the way from Darwin. I was delighted to present a number of copies of What a Croc!, which you have seen here, Madam Speaker. It is a collection of the best headlines from the NT News, the best newspaper in the country. l was also able to give out a few Tim Tams. The troops knew that these special care packages were for Territorians, and all of a sudden there were a lot of Territorians! NT News editor Rachel Hancock and deputy editor Matt Williams were very pleased that their What a Croc! has now gone international and that the books were hand delivered, and they were pleased with some of the pictures. So I think now we can start a special care package for our troops overseas so that they can buy copies of What a Croc! from NT News online, and I think we should send them over to our troops over there.

It is very easy in this safe and comfortable work environment to make decisions. My time in Afghanistan has shown me the faces of those who will be affected by the decisions we make here. It has reminded me that for every resolution this parliament makes on national security there are some very brave, highly skilled men and women who have to turn these decisions into reality. So, in the last few seconds I have I want to place on record that I commend the fantastic work our Defence Force personnel do, not only in the Middle East but everywhere. They make us very proud, and I do not think there is one person in this parliament who is not proud of the wonderful work they do.