Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise with great pride this evening to support the motion put forward by the member for Melbourne Ports. I note the member for Calwell’s comments about the Turkish RSL sub-branch here in Australia. I visited her electorate, when I was Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, to attend a very large Turkish function.

We have had a unique relationship with the Republic of Turkey. Today we celebrate and once again commit ourselves as a nation and as members of parliament to continue to build on that relationship, which established itself not necessarily 40 years ago but following the First World War. The immortal words of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, ultimately gave rise to the friendship we have with the people of Turkey as Australians and in this parliament. Australia lost more than 8,000 young Australians on the shores of Gallipoli. The Turkish people lost something like 80,000 of their population. British, Indians, French and South Africans were also lost. It is very hard to comprehend the loss and sacrifice on both sides. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk  said these wonderful words in the 1930s:

You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

I think those words are what started to grow the relationship and break down some mistrust and bitter memories of the loss on both sides at the time of the First World War. When Australia landed on Turkish shores at Gallipoli in the First World War as part of the Anzac forces, as a young nation with less than five million people it was a time in our history when we lost our innocence forever.

As Minister for Veterans’ Affairs from 1996 to 2001, I had the great privilege of travelling on a number of occasions to Turkey and to Canakkale, the region where Gallipoli is located. I was able to establish a new site for the dawn service to be held outside of the Commonwealth war grave. Imagine going to another country and seeking some of their sovereign land to place a memorial where Australia as a nation could commemorate our landing on their shores during the First World War. I had great cooperation from the governor of the Canakkale area and from the minister and from the highest level of government in Turkey. That site has become a place of pilgrimage for so many young Australians, reinforcing the relationship between Australia and Turkey. I am told that the majority of Australians who were at the dawn service at Gallipoli this year were under the age of 25. What that says to me is that the relationship will only strengthen, given that a younger generation has now taken up what is their gift forever, the touchstone of what it means to be Australian, the place where Australia came of age as a nation and where that Anzac spirit was born.

Since the start of Turkish migration to Australia, the Turkish people have brought an enormous amount to our country and contributed in so many ways, not only making us a more culturally diverse nation but bringing with them things that have only made Australia a better place. Of course, from the trade point of view, our trade with the Turkish nation grows year on year, and that is another positive. I also want to mention the great embassy that they have established here in Canberra. The ambassadors and their staff and spouses have also made a great contribution to the community here in Canberra. It is not just about the relationship and the celebration of the 42 years since those agreements were signed but about the fact that the Turkish people and the Turkish nation have a real commitment through the embassy to build and grow this relationship. (Time expired)

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