David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak in favour of this motion moved by the member for Herbert. This is a really important motion because it goes to the importance of cadets in our community. Cadets of course provide a really important stepping stone for a lot of young kids in our community to learn about the elements of a military life and to participate very constructively in our community. Although I have never served in the military, I have immense respect for those who have. Their efforts underwrite our security and enable us to enjoy the lives that we do.

The Australian Defence Force Cadets, as a stepping stone for some, is a very important institution. I can go right to the top, to our Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, for a testimonial about cadets. He served in the Waverley College Cadet Unit. He said:

Even as very young men, we understood that the privilege of wearing the uniform, being part of the tribe, was accompanied by a burden—more of an obligation to accept an ethos of decency, respect, cohesion and effort.

That was from his experience in the cadets. The only Australian to be appointed as a field marshal, Sir Thomas Blamey, was an Army cadet, as was Sir John Monash of the Scotch College Cadet Unit. Of course, he went on to command our forces in World War I and do many other things around our nation.

The cadets provide a really good way for young kids to find out more about the ADF and to participate in our community. There are exchanges available for cadets. We have arrangements in place with Canada, Germany, South Korea and the United States, where our cadets travel over there and similar organisations from those countries come to Australia. That exchange and informal learning about the culture—social and military—of other countries is a really important thing.

There are also cadet bands, which we see at so many of our different community events. I see them frequently in my electorate of Banks. Cadets also learn great skills through things like the Chief of Army Cadet Team Challenge, where groups of cadets from different regions participate against each other in a series of drill challenges, sporting challenges and other activities—all with that focus on learning more about oneself, which is such an important part of growing up, and learning how to be part of a team and how to make a contribution.

Cadets do a whole lot more too, including community services and fundraising activities. They assist across so many different elements of our community. It is a big commitment for young people to get involved in cadets—meeting about once a week after school and on weekends—learning those survival skills, bushcraft and so on and really becoming a more rounded person.

Not everyone who joins cadets goes on to the ADF—in fact, a minority do. But, regardless of whether or not people go on to serve in the military, they undoubtedly obtain fantastic experiences from it and contribute strongly to our society. We have over 25,000 cadets right across the country in 440 units and squadrons. This is one of the largest organisations for young people to get involved in anywhere in our nation and represents about 12 per cent of total enlistments in the Defence Force. So it is a really substantial group.

I am really delighted to be able to speak in favour of this important motion. I salute and honour our military. I congratulate our cadets on everything they do in our community. I thank the member for moving this motion.

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